Great American City

let's get it on

2006-01-02T19:38:00.000-05:00

New mayor promising hope for Cleveland

CLEVELAND (AP) — Frank Jackson was sworn as Cleveland's 56th mayor on Monday, promising to bring new hope to city where nearly a quarter of residents live in poverty and whose population continues to decline.

Jackson said his dream was to make Cleveland a city "where we are one people, that we are one community, living and working together, joined that there will be respect and equality and justice."

The inauguration was held before a packed audience at East Tech High School in the impoverished neighborhood that Jackson represented in City Council for 16 years.

A free inaugural party will be held Saturday at the Cleveland State University arena.

Jackson, 59, an Army veteran of Vietnam, worked his way through college and law school and ran for City Council when his beloved mentor died and Jackson disagreed with the new councilman. He became council president in 2001.

In his inaugural remarks, Jackson said he revitalized the ward he represented on council by unifying people to overcome a "rising tide of hopelessness and despair."

The city has been marked by poverty and a declining population.

Cleveland was ranked 12th on the Census Bureau's latest American Community Survey last year with 23 percent of its citizens living in poverty, nearly twice the national average.

Cleveland ranked first the year before.

Census figures also show the city's population fell to 458,000 in July 2004, down 3.9 percent from April 2000.

The soft-spoken Jackson won election by beating a fellow Democrat, incumbent Mayor Jane Campbell, the city's first woman mayor. Her re-election chances were hurt by tough financial times that led to teacher, police and firefighter layoffs.

Campbell served in the state Legislature and had an urban-suburban constituency as county commissioner before her election as mayor in 2001. She plans to teach during the spring semester at Harvard University as part of a fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

here we go

2006-01-01T19:39:00.000-05:00

Coincidentally enough, the very Plain Dealer would have you believe that some departments at City Hall are now professionally managed. To bad we can’t say the same about the Plain Dealer. This is the same plain paper that endorsed Jane Campbell.

When you consider that City programs are largely administered and funded through tax payer’s generosity, grants and contracts, the circumstances created by so called unsupervised professional managers provides an unprecedented opportunity for fraud, waste, and abuse.

Poor leadership, findings of fraud, waste and abuse at the Water Department and the Airport tell me that our citizens are being lied to.

The Administrators hired by the former Mayor have been failures.

Happy New Year - Jackson 2006

2006-01-01T14:58:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Mayor Jackson!

As we gear up for a new era, the winds of change in Cleveland are about to blow. Blow like they do during a blustery Cleveland winter morning. If you close your eyes and open them one year from now, our City as you know it now will have a very different look.

It's all about to change and change in a big way. Enjoy!

Congratulations Mayor Elect Frank Jackson

2005-11-08T19:02:00.000-05:00

WE WIN!

Thank You CLEVELAND!

Frank Jackson for Mayor

2005-10-26T17:40:00.000-04:00

Four labor groups endorse Jackson

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Four labor groups, with a large percentage of Cleveland members, endorsed Council President Frank Jackson for mayor Tuesday.

The groups include the United Food & Commercial Workers, which has about 3,000 members in the city and UNITE HERE, the hospitality and linen workers union, which has about 1,000 members in Cleveland.

Also endorsing Jackson are the Cleveland Association of Rescue Employees, with more than 300 members and the Vanguards of Cleveland, a black and Latino firefighters group, with about 180 members.

In other campaign news, the first mayoral debate between Jackson and Mayor Jane Campbell will be at 6:45 tonight. The event will be in the atrium of the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, East 17th Street and Euclid Avenue. The event is free but reservations are required.

Call 216-781-8375 or e-mail info@lwvcef.org. WKYC Channel 3 will televise the debate live.

Frank Jackson for Mayor

2005-10-25T23:38:00.000-04:00

BREAKING NEWS

If the election for Mayor of Cleveland were held today, it would be a landslide victory for Frank Jackson.

That is what our exclusive Channel 3/Survey USA poll is predicting.In a poll of 587 likely voters, 54-percent would vote for Jackson, while 34-percent for Jane Campbell. Eleven percent of Cleveland voters are undecided.The mayor is ahead on the west side with 47-percent of the vote.

Frank Jackson is preferred by 43-percent of west-siders.On the east side, Jackson out-polls the mayor more than two-to-one. Sixty-two percent of east-siders favor the council president. Twenty-seven percent would vote for Mayor Campbell.Our poll was taken Saturday through Monday with 587 likely voters. It has a margin of error plus or minus 4.1 percent.To see the entire survey, click on the related link.And Wednesday night will be the first of three mayoral debates. It's sponsored by the League of Women Voters. You can watch it live on wkyc.com beginning at 6:45 p.m.

jane campbell is a failure

2005-10-24T21:04:00.000-04:00

Don’t Reward Failure

Cleveland, under Jane Campbell and her inept staff have returned the City to a time that we want to forget. They have taken the City down the slippery slope toward the end of a once great American City. This administration has fallen into complacency, apathy, and political expediency. She has led this City towards the path of diminishment, failure, and demise, and has tarnished our once great City.

Most of the problems facing our City are the fault of Jane Campbell. Having said that, the solutions to these problems are nowhere to be found in this Administration. The questions require thought and leadership, and as we now know, does not exist. The problems require innovative thinking and creative solutions. Most of all, they require a deep and brilliant understanding of Cleveland. What we have for leadership at City Hall today is a Mayor consumed with rhetoric and saving her political future. We have a social Mayor, one who loves living large at the expense of our poor.

Nov. 8th 2005 Elect Frank Jackson!

2005-10-23T13:47:00.000-04:00

Frank Jackson’s Code: Don't lie. Deliver on promises

We can not afford to allow another four years of failed leadership under Jane Campbell.

She has failed us time after time, is a habitual liar, has lost the support of major power brokers, is not supported by major elected politicians that once supported her, and is the first mayor in 26 years to loose in the primary.

We can not allow this race to be divided by the east and westside. We are all in the same boat, and this boat is sinking fast. We must come together to fill in the hole that is causing us to sink.

The current mayor and her administration have failed in there efforts to lead our city. We all must go with the best candidate out of the primary and that person is Frank Jackson.

Please read the PD article in Sundays paper (attached below). If anyone is looking to learn more about Mr. Jackson, this wondeful article will win you over. We have to change the direction our city is headed in under the current mayor.

Mayor Campbell is a disease and with some diseases you can treat them with medication, others you have to have surgery to "remove" the disease that is killing you. This mayor is a disease to the city of Cleveland and the region. She is killing us all with her failed leadership. No one wants to work with this woman because she is a liar, and cannot be trusted, and is the worst mayor ever elected in the history of Cleveland. She must be voted out of office on November 8, 2005.

I ask all Clevelanders who did not vote for Frank Jackson on October 4th, 2005 to give him the opportunity to lead our city by casting your vote for him on November 8, 2005.

Vote for Frank Jackson on November 8th and expect great things.

Jackson's lifelong code drives run for City Hall

Sunday, October 23, 2005
Olivera Perkins and Mark Naymik
Plain Dealer Reporters

Frank Jackson remains an enigma for Cleveland despite 15 years in public life.

That sets him apart from the woman he aims to unseat in the Cleveland mayor's race Nov. 8. Everyone knows Jane Campbell. She seems to have been everywhere these last four years.
But to know Jackson is not all that hard. It comes down to understanding what he describes as his personal code - principles implanted by his parents and shaped by his years on Cleveland's streets.

He says the code is simple: Don't lie. Deliver on promises.

The code explains what makes Jackson so famously stubborn and deliberate. It gives him his often single- minded passion for helping Cleveland's poor. It's what Jackson, 59, says propelled him into public serv ice, where his hallmark with colleagues has been his integrity.

He says that people who violate the code infuriate him, often prompting him to make life-changing decisions. Such perceived violations triggered him to enroll in college and run for City Council, and angered him enough to give up his $80,000-a-year position as council president to challenge Campbell.

That code also explains his obsti nance and why people say he has interfered with Cleveland's progress. In 1991, for example, he blocked a road that would have brought much- needed economic development to his neighborhood.

He also opposed the Gateway project and Cleveland Browns Stadium. His only interest in a new downtown convention center was leveraging money for neighborhoods.

Jackson admits he gets angry when someone slights his honor.

One of the first times he reacted this way, he says, was toward a new teacher at Max Hayes High School 40 years ago. As Jackson recounts it, the teacher wanted to establish his reputation as a disciplinarian. He falsely accused Jackson of fighting and dragged him into the principal’s office. When the teacher mistreated him a second time, Jackson belted him.

In his 20s, Jackson believed an employer refused to promote him because he is black. So he quit.

Four years ago, he thought Council President Michael Polensek had failed to deliver on promises. Jackson collected the votes to take Polensek’s job. And two years ago, he said, he came to believe that Campbell had repeatedly lied to him.

So he decided to take her job, too “There is one thing I learned from street life,” he says. “That there was a code. It is the code I live by now. Today it’s how I deal with the mayor and council.”
A world view in black and white

Jackson says he knows what it means to straddle Cleveland’s racial divide.
His father, George, a factory worker, was black. His mother, Rose, a homemaker, was white. The couple met in the 1940s in Uniontown, Pa., but soon moved to East 83rd Street in Cleveland’s predominantly black Kinsman neighborhood. Jackson presumes they hoped for more acceptance in Cleveland.

“Back then interracial marriage wasn’t a thing that people did,” he said.

Jackson said his light skin gave him a unique point of view growing up.

“What are you?” is a question people continue to ask him. He perceives that people treat him differently based on whether they believe him to be black or white.

Growing up in the black Central neighborhood, where his family moved when Jackson was young, Jackson felt like an outsider with people who saw him as white.

When he was in a white neighborhood, he blended in when he was not with his black friends. But when he was with them in a white neighborhood, he felt police harassed the youths, and passers-by glared at them. Jackson has always considered himself black.

After high school, he was drafted into the Army. He said family and friends warned him that an inner-city black man would end up on the front line. They told him to “play crazy” and offered other ways to dodge serving. But Jackson said he wouldn’t lie.

Ironically, being black may have kept him safe. When Jackson arrived in Vietnam, a black sergeant assigned him to a warehouse job. Jackson believes the sergeant gave him that assignment to protect him.

He returned home to a factory job and took a computer course. Soon he wanted to transfer from the factory floor to the computer department. The company said no. Jackson blamed racism because all the computer workers were white. So he quit.

The spell of joblessness that followed was an eye-opener. He spent much of his time running the streets and he says he noticed an irony about street life. The subculture followed his code more closely than the business world.

“It wasn’t the law that kept us in check,” he said. “The law was the law. It was the culture and that identity and that spirit of that community that people just didn’t do certain things. . . . You knew what the code and the unwritten rules were and you abided by them. If you did that, you had no problem.”

He finally took another factory job when his mother scolded him. He soon found himself taking offense at the white college students who worked there during the summers. “This was in the early ’70s, so they had this liberal thing going on,” he said. They talked about race and poverty. He didn’t think they knew what they were talking about, but he figured the only way to get credibility with the educated was to get educated. He enrolled at Cuyahoga Community College. A decade later, he had a master’s degree in urban studies and a law degree from Cleveland State University. He then passed the bar.

As a young man, Jackson said he was heavily influenced by the politics of one of his closest friends, Lonnie Burten, a crusading Central neighborhood councilman who fought for public housing tenants.

When Burten died of a heart attack in 1984 at age 40, Jackson was crushed. Even today, he can’t discuss Burten’s death without getting choked up. Jackson originally backed Burten’s successor, Preston Terry III, but he came to believe that Terry failed to live up to Burten’s vision. In 1989, he launched a campaign to take Terry’s seat. Jackson’s campaign promise was simple: To protect the neighborhood from “neglect by design,” as he frequently described the intentions of political, business and civic leaders.

And, in what would become his mantra for more than a decade, he pledged to fight anything that didn’t directly benefit his ward, even at the expense of the city overall.

“I’m willing to hold up anything that doesn’t help Ward 5,” he warned during his campaign. “I won’t be bashful.” Jackson beat Terry by nearly 1,500 votes.

His resistance to downtown projects — including the Gateway sports complex, Playhouse Square’s Wyndham Cleveland Hotel and Cleveland Browns Stadium — was like an allergic reaction. If a project wouldn’t produce jobs for the city’s poor or boost services, Jackson refused to support it.

Jackson said his opposition was not just about residents in his ward. He said the poor throughout the city benefited. He was even at odds with a local community group promoting development in his ward. The group asked Jackson in 1991 to support a study on building a four-lane boulevard through the ward, creating a link between the East and West sides by connecting Shaker Boulevard with Interstate 490.

The group’s leaders believed the project would spur retail and business development in a depressed area. Jackson feared the government would use the study to poach residents’ property. So he blocked it.

He then helped build new homes along the proposed route, dooming the project.
His protective spirit can border on special treatment.

Jackson for years has asked city inspectors not to fine homeowners in his ward for code violations. Jackson said the city and banks failed for decades to make money available for repairs, so it’s unfair to punish people who can’t afford home maintenance. Residents in Jackson’s ward have received the fewest number of housing fines since 2001: 24. The Collinwood ward that Polensek represents got the most: 330. Jackson acknowledged that he lobbies the city not to fine residents he represents.

“I will fall on the side of the people and do what’s right for them even though I know my butt is exposed to those who want to criticize me,” Jackson said in a recent interview with The Plain Dealer.

Critics accuse him of detachment

Jackson kept a low profile as a council member for 12 years, staying out of the day-to-day internal politics and never making headlines with public attacks on Mayor Michael R. White.
He was trying to stay true to his code through issues he championed — jobs for the poor, money for AIDS programs, and public housing development in his ward.

He rarely engaged his colleagues on such pressing citywide issues as the city’s airport, Water Department or lakefront development.

“He was not an active or aggressive guy within the body,”
said Polensek, who has been on council during Jackson’s entire tenure. “Frank was always behind the scenes.”

His critics, including former and current colleagues, view his quiet demeanor as detachment or parochialism.

Tony Coyne, a city Planning Commission member for 14 years, said Jackson has not been involved on big-picture projects. Coyne said he can’t remember seeing Jackson at any of the numerous community meetings on the city’s lakefront plan.

“He’s not somebody who’s said a word, and these are quality-oflife issues,” Coyne said.

When Coyne appeared before a council committee in 2003 to discuss a new convention center, “Frank didn’t ask a single question” about the building, Coyne said. Jackson’s only interest was in money the project might generate for neighborhoods, Coyne said.

Jackson took the lead promoting the convention center, but on the condition that its financing include $250 million for neighborhood development in the city and suburbs. When the extra money became unlikely, Jackson stopped talking about the convention center.

Jackson dismisses his critics as politically motivated or out of sync with his vision.
“The problem people have with me is that they think I’m two-dimensional. But I may think fouror five-dimensional,” he said.

Public housing effort brings Arbor Park

The best example of Jackson delivering on his promises to Ward 5 is the transformation of housing. He brought nearly $500 million in new public and private housing and stores to the ward. The developments were paid for largely by federal dollars. Jackson’s work with housing officials and elected officials was crucial. He’s most proud of Arbor Park Village, an $111 million housing project. It replaced Longwood apartments, a vivid example of blight, decay and failed dreams of urban renewal.

Jackson fought to rid the ward of places like Longwood but — in true form to his council campaign pledge — not their residents. He believed that the private market would not absorb a flood of low-income families, nor would suburban families accept them as neighbors. So he worked with federal officials to redevelop public housing in Central. Norman Krumholz, a city planning director in the 1970s and professor of urban studies at Cleveland State University, said Jackson was right.

Krumholz, who in the mid-’80s was a board member of the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, advocated spreading public housing around the county.

“That’s no more likely to happen now than then,” Krumholz said. “So looking at the reality of things, Jackson was right on the money — much more than I was in terms of respecting public housing and trying to make it better.”

Westbrook became an ally, Polensek a foe People who adhere to Jackson’s code win a loyal friend. One of Jackson’s closest political allies is West Side Councilman Jay Westbrook. The two formed a partnership in 1989, when Jackson agreed to back Westbrook for council president in exchange for help against Terry. The deal also let Jackson fill the two seats on the public housing board that the council president controlled. “I’m loyal to Westbrook — he never crossed me,” Jackson said. But Westbrook and Jackson lost power in 1999, when Councilman Michael Polensek staged a coup and unseated Westbrook as president.

Jackson, out of the circle of power for the first time since he was elected to council, quietly worked on a banking law that protects city residents from predatory lenders. He also continued to work closely with colleagues on a law requiring contractors to hire Cleveland residents on large-scale city construction projects. Jackson never got over Polensek’s coup. It was born, Jackson said, “in treachery and deceit.”

Driven by anger over what he saw as an increasingly dysfunctional council, Jackson began lining up support to topple Polensek in the summer of 2001. When he took the reins as council president, he dumped senior members of council appointed to leadership positions by Polensek.
“I don’t believe I owe any of these people anything,” Jackson said in a recent interview. Initially, Jackson allowed Polensek to continue to lead the powerful Finance Committee. The move was part of a deal he made with Polensek – to let him keep the high-profile position only until Polensek found a better- paying job outside of council. But Jackson says he dumped Polensek after learning he turned down a good county job. Polensek strongly disputes Jackson’s version of events.

“He crossed me within two months,” Jackson said.

Position as president meant change in focus

As council president, Jackson no longer could focus on Ward 5. One of his toughest challenges was the controversial Steelyard C o m m o n s s h o p p i n g c e n t e r , which isn’t in his ward. It includes the city’s first Wal-Mart. The company often is criticized for hiring nonunion workers. Suddenly, Jackson had competing interests counting on him. Some council members wanted to make sure neighborhood stores and grocers were protected. Others just wanted a Wal- Mart. The unions wanted Jackson’s support. But tax dollars, jobs and a $120 million investment were at stake, along with the perception that Jackson is anti-development.

Jackson supported the shopping center, but that point was lost even though he quashed anti-Wal-Mart legislation. Ultimately, the project went through because the developer slipped into City Hall and obtained building permits. Some council members neglected to follow up on legislation that would have doomed the project. Today, Jackson said his goal was just to broker a deal with which all sides could live. “Everybody was mad because I didn’t please anybody,” he said. “You know what? The outcome is what I wanted. Those council people didn’t fight. The legislation was gone. Steelyard Commons did happen.”

Jackson said loyalty is important to his code, and that might explain the favor he shows to friend and council spokeswoman Maxine Greer. She collects about $70,000 a year from the city but does not adhere to the residency rule.

The council president hires council employees, such as secretaries and consultants. When Polensek was president, he hired Rodney Jenkins as the council spokesman, a full-time position that required Jenkins to live in the city.

Jackson hired Greer, a former ranking Plain Dealer editor who he says was the best qualified for the job. But rather than give her a full-time job, he hired her as a consultant. Consultants don’t have to live in the city. Jackson made the arrangement despite his avid support of the residency law.

For his first two years as council president, Jackson thought Campbell adhered to his code.
Ultimately, though, Jackson decided that Campbell was dishonest. He says today that she lied to him about a lot of issues, but the one that infuriates him is the law that requires contractors on big projects to hire residents. Early in his career he made a promise that residents would get work on projects the city pays for.

Campbell publicly supported the law, but when the federal government threatened to withdraw money for projects if the law was enforced, Campbell opted not to enforce it. Jackson said Campbell did not tell him of her decision.

He saw her behavior as a betrayal. Of him. Of the city. Jackson said he could not abide a mayor he perceived as dishonorable. So he decided to risk all and try to take her job. He could have been council president for years, his colleagues say. He could have kept collecting his $80,000 a year and wielding power.

But for Jackson, who grew up on the streets of Cleveland and returns home every night to one of the poorest neighborhoods in one of the nation’s poorest cities, the mayor must be singleminded in trying to raise the standard of living.

“This ain’t no theory to me,” he said. “This is real.”

Winds of Change are blowing!

2005-10-23T01:35:00.000-04:00

Elect Frank Jackson

Major Endorsements

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones
County Treasurer Jim Rokakis
County Prosecutor Bill Mason
County Auditor Frank Russo
County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones
County Recorder Pat O'malley
Judge Robert Triozzi
Councilman Jay Westbrook
Councilman Joe Cimperman
Councilwoman Dona Brady
Councilwoman Sabra Scott
Councilwoman Fannie Lewis
Councilman Roosevelt Coats
Councilman Martin Sweeney
Councilwoman Pat Britt
Councilman Kevin Conwell

don't reward failure

2005-10-23T01:19:00.000-04:00

County treasurer backs Jackson

WKYC

CLEVELAND -- Another endorsement for Frank Jackson's bid to be Cleveland mayor.

County Treasurer Jim Rokakis is backing Jackson and blasting Mayor Jane Campbell.

Rokakis charges her failure to change conservative investment policies cost Cleveland Schools $15 to 18 million in interest.

Rokakis claims he told Campbell about this three years ago and despite several news stories it took years for the schools to hire an investment adviser.

"I asked her to call the CFO or CEO and she refused to do either,” Rokakis says.

“Jane Campbell's failure to deal with this problem is inexplicable, inexcusable and unforgivable. It speaks of indifference and incompetence at the highest level."

Campbell’s campaign strategist Gerry Austin answers that Rokakis lives in Rocky River and calls this "nothing but politics."

Rokakis endorsed Campbell four years ago.

Don't Reward Failure

2005-10-23T01:16:00.000-04:00

County treasurer backs Jackson

WKYC
Tuesday, October 18, 2005 1:05:36 PM

CLEVELAND -- Another endorsement for Frank Jackson's bid to be Cleveland mayor.
County Treasurer Jim Rokakis is backing Jackson and blasting Mayor Jane Campbell.
Rokakis charges her failure to change conservative investment policies cost Cleveland Schools $15 to 18 million in interest.

Rokakis claims he told Campbell about this three years ago and despite several news stories it took years for the schools to hire an investment adviser.

"I asked her to call the CFO or CEO and she refused to do either,” Rokakis says.

“Jane Campbell's failure to deal with this problem is inexplicable, inexcusable and unforgivable. It speaks of indifference and incompetence at the highest level."

Campbell’s campaign strategist Gerry Austin answers that Rokakis lives in Rocky River and calls this "nothing but politics."

Rokakis endorsed Campbell four years ago.

Can you say uncle Tom

2005-10-14T13:26:00.000-04:00

Dapper Draper

"They smile in your face, all the time they wanna take your place," Backstabbers-- every City has them, and by the looks of things we’ve found ours.

Don't Reward Failure

2005-10-14T13:16:00.000-04:00

WHERE IS MAYOR WHAT?

This has been the lynchpin of Campbell’s management of our City.
Mayor What’s election as Mayor was an error.

Schools admit attendance error

Not just 620 students were out,
Cleveland district says, but 519,000 Friday, October 14, 2005
Janet Okoben

Plain Dealer Reporter

A Cleveland schools official acknowledged Thursday that the exceedingly high attendance rates it reported to the state the last few years were clearly erroneous, perhaps off by as many as half-a-million student absences for last year.

"It appears we made mistakes, and we're committed to fixing them," said Lisa Marie Ruda, the district's chief of staff.

State data on Cleveland's attendance rate for the last school year shows the district reported only 620 excused absences for 63,500 students. When combined with 333,357 unexcused absences, it gave the district a sky-high attendance rate of 96.7 percent.

District staffers who have looked at numbers again in the last week, Ruda said, now say the figure for excused absences is probably more like 519,000, which would lower last year's attendance rate to about 93 percent. Ruda cautioned, however, that the numbers are still being checked.

If the district's attendance rate had been below 93 percent, it would have failed to hit one of the standards the state uses to measure a district's effectiveness. Attendance rate was one of two standards, out of 23, that the district met last year.

The district earned a point on the annual school report card in each of the past four years because it met the attendance goal.

Ruda said it appears that someone changed the district's computer system in 2002 so that students with excused absences would be counted as present.

A special category of "excused with homework" was also created during that time with the mistaken understanding that as long as students completed schoolwork while they missed school, they would be counted as present, Ruda said.

The district's attendance rate shot from 89 percent in 2001 to 93.8 percent in 2002.
Secretaries and others who monitor attendance at individual schools are not to blame, Ruda said.

The phony numbers appear to have been calculated when data were being prepared for transmission to the state, long after attendance numbers were sent in by schools.

Ruda said the district's legal department is still interviewing current and former employees to find out who authorized and made the changes.

And when they do, she vowed, "systems will be put in place to keep this from happening again."
Unlike the recent scandal that resulted in the repayment of $729,000 in state money after the district reported the wrong number of student bus riders, the attendance rate is not connected with any kind of money.

The district's goal is to determine the true attendance rate for the years in question, Ruda said Thursday.

The Ohio Department of Education has been notified about the investigation, but the state probably won't change the district's previous numbers because the data-collection period for last year has closed, said J.C. Benton, a spokesman for the Education Department.

"We look forward to receiving their data from this year," Benton said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jokoben@plaind.com, 216-999-4535

2005-10-12T13:04:00.000-04:00

Don’t Reward Failure

FIRE JANE!

As Jane Campbell’s political woes widen, she has become a dead duck leader. With many of her top losers looking for work, her leadership is described as disturbing and a display of inept leadership.

It is disturbing that Jane Campbell would continue to be in denial about the level of disgust for her and her staff. A Mayor whose leadership is so despised even among her own staff, and who is regularly referred to as a failure. This Mayor is the symbol of failure and we need to send her packing.

Jane Campbell deserves to be fired by the hardworking Citizens of Cleveland.
As Mayor, it is Jane Campbell’s duty to tell us the truth, something she is incapable of doing. Unfortunately, by publicly demonstrating that she is the “Ribbon Cutting Mayor” she displayed her inept leadership to the Citizens.

On November 8, send this liar packing.

Looks like everyone hates Mayor What

2005-10-10T16:30:00.000-04:00

Campbell's woes are mostly of her own making
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Brent LarkinPlain Dealer Columnist

A few weeks ago, Mayor Jane Campbell telephoned County Commissioner Tim Hagan, desperately seeking his endorsement.

Not that Hagan's support would have mattered a whole lot, but Campbell didn't get it. She didn't get it because, for Campbell, loyalty is a one-way street.

She expects others to support her — even when she does little or nothing to support them.

Hagan told her as much during their conversation, but prior to that phone call Campbell's selfish political style had already alienated all but a small handful of her colleagues in public life.

Contrast that alienation with four years ago, when Campbell was enthusiastically endorsed by County Prosecutor Bill Mason, Treasurer Jim Rokakis, Auditor Frank Russo, Recorder Pat O'Malley and Engineer Robert Klaiber.

This year, not one of those elected officials has endorsed her. In fact, most of them don't even like her. All this speaks volumes about this mayor's it's-all-about-me-all-the-time style. Yesterday, voters made Campbell pay for that style, relegating her to a humiliating second-place finish in the mayoral primary election.

We've known for more than a year that Campbell was vulnerable. Anecdotal evidence about voters not liking her, coupled with bad poll numbers, motivated seven people to run against her in yesterday's primary election.

It's worth noting that Campbell's television commercials didn't include a single shot of the mayor speaking to the camera. Her advisers have obviously figured out that she doesn't wear well with voters.

Nevertheless, given the large size of the mayoral field, Campbell should have easily finished first in yesterday's balloting. Instead, she got clobbered by Council President Frank Jackson, who will enter the five-week mayoral runoff campaign as an odds-on favorite against an unpopular and battered incumbent.

"Jane needs a Hail Mary," former Rep. Dennis Eckart said last night. "Her role model for the next 35 days must be George Bush. She must convince voters her record is safer than her opponent's direction."

It's true that Campbell's only hope may be to heighten voter fears about Jackson. But it's much tougher to wage an effective negative campaign when the candidate doing the attacking is unpopular.

Then there's the tricky matter of the police and fire unions. Campbell needs whatever help they might bring to her campaign. But the safety unions, especially the police, traditionally make a lot of political noise and deliver only a few voters. Yesterday was no exception to that rule. Just ask Jim Draper.

What's more, if Campbell reneges on her past positions to appease the safety forces, it could prove catastrophic for her on the East Side, where tensions are building over recent police shootings.

"Obviously, voters out there aren't very happy with the job she's done," County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora said last night. "She has to persuade voters to take a long hard look at Jackson, but she's got no big guns with her except Dennis Kucinich. She's in trouble because she does her own thing. She ignores those who want to help her by offering, advice and suggestions."

Campbell inherited a bad economy and a dysfunctional City Hall. The economy may be getting a bit better. And she's fixed many of the horrendous problems left by her predecessor.
By all rights, Jane Campbell should have been a prohibitive favorite for reelection. Instead, she's a mayor in deep political trouble.

When asked why she's in trouble, Campbell points fingers of blame in lots of places.
Yesterday, voters placed the blame where it belongs.

Larkin is director of The Plain Dealer's editorial pages.
Contact him at: blarkin@plaind.com, 216-999-4252

Mayor What is void of reality

2005-09-09T16:57:00.000-04:00

Rev. Moss doesn't back Campbell

“Campbell said she still has the support of the Rev. Otis Moss, also among the most influential black leaders in the city” Cleveland – Plain Dealer 9/06/05

Moss says 'adviser' label misleads

Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Reverend Otis Moss, Jr.
Cleveland

The Sept. 4 article listing me as "top adviser" to Mayor Jane Campbell is seriously misleading. There is a vast difference between dialogue and top adviser. I have had dialogue with elected officials since I met with the mayor of Atlanta (October, 1960) as a student sit-in representative demanding that all lunch counters be desegregated and all charges against student protest participants and leaders be dropped, including charges against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Since that time, I have met with mayors, councilpersons, commissioners, congresspersons, senators, presidents and ambassadors. These dialogues, except in cases of personal, pastoral and confidential matters, have focused on civil rights/human rights, justice, human relations and compelling moral and spiritual issues. The focus has always been local, national and international.

I am not "top political adviser" to anyone. This is not my area of expertise. Whatever I have to offer, I offer as a committed disciple of Jesus Christ - one whose calling demands service, suffering and sacrifice in the context of nonviolence and unconditional love. My witness is unashamedly African-American and unapologetically Christ-centered and embraces all humankind and reaches out to all faith traditions.
Reverend Otis Moss, Jr.

Moss is pastor of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church.

Just In – Corrupt Campbell is exploiting our Children on Labor Day!!!!!

2005-09-04T19:37:00.000-04:00

Hide your wallet, corrupt Jane Campbell wants to steal your money. On this Labor Day weekend, Jane Campbell is exploiting our underage children in the pursuit of a second term for her immoral regime. This site have learned that the fraud Campbell is hiring children and paying them $5 an hour to pass out candy and flowers at tomorrow’s Labor day parade on the East Side.

This hypocrite of a politician will crouch to the lowest level so she can keep her office and keep the illicit money flowing to family and friends at the expense of our citizens. Jane Campbell is clearly a "candy store for the well connected".

Also we learned that Campbell the quacksalver was given a pretty nice standing ovation at the fight last night, oops meant to say that she was booed for several minutes and then she went and hid her ugly exploiting face behind Don King’s hair. Shame on this low lifer for exploiting our children on this Labor Day. Well, her days are numbered.

The Empty Suit Candidate, James Draper…

2005-09-01T11:45:00.000-04:00

Let us start with an unmistakable perspective on who do we support for the Mayor’s office in 2005, it’s Frank G. Jackson. This man got the vision, leadership, integrity, and the skill to be the 56th Mayor of this great city. One of the most significant uniqueness of Frank Jackson, he is a TRUE Clevelander. Frank was born, educated, worked, and put his life on the line for his country and his beloved city. I have nothing against James Draper, I simply don’t believe the man have the skill, vision, or the experience to run Cleveland.

Moreover, if Mr. Draper is a man of the people; why is it his campaign is being exclusively funded by his Republicans millionaires’ friends who live outside our city? Well, he is their bagman. So we have a man whom day in and day out serves the people of this city, and then we got the patsy candidate controlled by rich Republicans, who is my vote going for; are you kidding me?

In 2001, when we saw the typical lies and shaded half-truths from the corrupt Campbell, none of it seemed dramatically different from the lies and half-truths being uttered by James Draper now. In our opinion, Draper and the corrupt Campbell are hypocrites of approximately the same level, so it's almost immaterial to us, which one of them ends up at his bottom of the heap on October 4.

Campbell’s and Draper platform? No jobs, no schools, no safety, and certainly no economic development. Both are definitely revolting. A person that loudly declares his plan is to deny the children’s of our city the right to good education is a person run amok. James Draper is more in line with the Republican Party platform for building more prisons for our children.

On October 4, we are going to crush the Campbell’s policies forged by kickbacks, fraud, and cronyism, James Draper will not be any different. Therefore, we will pray and work hard for the election of Frank G. Jackson as our next Mayor in hopes of returning Cleveland to its glory days.

The mid-night bandit strikes again…

2005-08-31T10:31:00.000-04:00

Again, fraudulent Jane Campbell shows us it is good to have friends like her as Mayor. When you team up a contractor with deep pockets and an immoral politician like Campbell, we the public lose. After being dis-qualified by the City in July 2005, Independence Contracting was awarded the $40 million airport deicing contract by Campbell and Mockery. Indeed good things happen to you when you buy off deceitful mayor like Campbell.

Mendacious Campbell has illicitly steered a $40 million in public money to her campaign friends from Independence. Her bungling idiots will claim that there was $4 million difference between independence and Allega, but I can see all the change orders and claims ready to roar from Independence when no one is paying any attention, unless your name is Jane Campbell when they steer some of that cash to you and the family.

Moreover, mark my word, by magic these change orders will equal $4 million, give or take few hundred thousands for the helpers. With the mayoral race underway and pocket full of $25,000 increments, call Campbell the burglar's if you want a city contract.

Get amused with the corrupt Jane Campbell

2005-08-29T19:34:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I decided to get away from all the politics stuff, and have some fun at the expense of our corrupt so-called Mayor. Besides, we have many days ahead of us to still discuss politics. Enjoy!!!

Four years ago, Corrupt Jane Campbell ran for the Mayor’s office, what is she doing now? Nothing. The thief got elected.

Why don't we ever hear of a thief burglarizing corrupt Campbell’s office? Professional courtesy.

Jane the inept: What makes you think our daughter will be a politician?
Hunter “City vehicles”: She says more things that sound good and mean nothing than any other girl on our rich Shaker block, just like the stupid Mayor.

A political pollster knocked on the door and a sour-faced Hunter answered. What party does your corrupt wife belong to? he asked. Hunter responded angrily, I, sir, am the party she belongs to.

A bus full of the corrupt Campbell and her inept directors were speeding down a road looking for forged signatures (she is short on the 3000 required) when it swerved into a field and crashed into a tree. The farmer who owned the field went over to investigate. Then he dug a hole and buried them all.

A few days later, the sheriff drove by and saw the overturned bus. He knocked on the farmhouse door and asked where the corrupt Campbell and her inepts had gone. The farmer said he had buried them. They were all dead? the sheriff asked. Well, some of them said they weren't, replied the farmer, but you know how Jane Campbell lies.

A high-priced call girl brought her girlfriend, the corrupt Campbell to her fancy apartment. The corrupt Campbell admired the fancy furnishings and the art and asked how she was able to amass such splendor. She replied that those really were her father's, that he was a crook politician like Campbell. Campbell said, How come you didn't follow in his footsteps instead of choosing this way of life? She sighed and said, "Oh, just lucky I guess. Besides, I had my moral standards to uphold.

And we go on until we rid Cleveland of this corrupt immoral person we call Jane Campbell.

Take Back our City

2005-08-28T15:39:00.000-04:00

Spencer’s Cleveland City Council Pick’s

Ward 1 Andre White

Ward 2 Mary Bounds

Ward 3 Rodney White

Ward 4 Marcia McCoy

Ward 5 Danny Williams Sr.

Ward 6 Pat Britt

Ward 7 Fannie Lewis

Ward 8 Sabra Pierce Scott

Ward 9 Kevin Conwell

Ward 10 Roosevelt Coats

Ward 11 Michael Polensek

Ward 12 Olga Sarbinowska

Ward 13 Laurel Wamke- Taylor

Ward 14 Nelson Cintron Jr.

Ward 15 Ricardo Pena

Ward 16 Clifford Hawkins Sr.

Ward 17 Matt Zone

Ward 18 Jay Westbrook

Ward 19 Dona Brady

Ward 20 Martin Sweeney

Ward 21 Colleen Corigan

Campbell’s Record of Repeated Failures: Can We Trust Her?

2005-08-25T17:38:00.000-04:00

ineptness in her DNA...

Mayor Corrupt, look at your own failed record and then open your mouth to advise and lecture us on schools, jobs, or safety. Have you collected the “honest” leadership under the umbrella of pay-to-play contracts schemes? If a corrupt mayor cannot act on her own promises, how can she complain about the other candidates in this race? One ounce of action is heavier than one ton of words, but she is not even good with that. She has created nothing but disastrous conditions for this great city of ours.

There has always been a very wide gap between what this corrupt Mayor says and what she actually does. In addition, whatever she does, has almost invariably turned out to be catastrophic; in some cases it is bordering on illegal conduct.

This site compiled a list of decisions this corrupt, inept Mayor has taken since she became mayor. It turns out to be so depressing, one loses faith in the ability and the mental capacity of this person to take any, repeat any, correct decision, unless she had no choice, or unless it personally benefited her or the family. At worst, she does not have the judgment or the ability to make sound decisions; at best, that ability is debatable.

Here are some of the key disasters she has inflicted on us:

1 - School District, Once again, under mayoral control, the school district is quickly becoming the worst in the state; as a matter of fact, it might be taken over by the state again next year. I am not going to even mention the latest failure on the school levy.

2 - The loss of jobs, Just look at her record on job losses, not creation. With one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, especially among African-American men, it is really a shame. Add to that the migration of thousands of jobs from the city to other parts of the state and the country and the losses of retail downtown.

3 – Safety, Again, we have the dubious honor of being the unsafest city in Ohio according to crime records compiled by the FBI.

4 - Pay-to-play scheme – Just check her campaign contribution records and it will clearly show that businesses who contributed to her campaign of gap scholarship fund got new contracts or extension of existing contracts, with the Airport and Water being the most corrupt in the City.

5 - In the August school levy issue her decision-making power was exposed to the limit as the levy took away over 70 percent of her credibility, and then she comes out and says August was the wrong month to vote for a School levy. This levy will be looked at as the beginning of the end for this corrupt, dishonest mayor.

6 - She hired friends, family, and inepts to run city departments, which exposed her decision-making ability. Again, she puts personal gain and interest before public interest.

7 - An open-and-shut case of bribing top city officials on her watch so they can extend public contracts at our expense for her political benefit and their benefit and gain.

After four years, Jane Campbell has shed all pretense of honesty, ethics and morality in the name of collecting money so she can be reelected so she can keep on stealing from us. Campbell has been the biggest disaster to hit Cleveland in several generations; we cannot afford to make that mistake again in October. She has near total disengagement with reality.

Message to our friends…

2005-08-25T04:05:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

I apologize for the intermittent posting, I have been ill for the past few days. However, I am getting better and will be back later this week to our regular daily posting. One last note please, this site will go away when this corrupt inept Mayor goes away. Stay tune, the elections just got started.

Spencer

liar .. liar.. pant's on fire

2005-08-20T18:54:00.000-04:00

Mayor What has no clue when it comes to the needs of our residents. She has forged ahead with her irrelevant agenda, which ultimately destroyed our momentum as an All American City.

Mayor What has no clue when it comes to priorities. Her supporters know the truth, but must get her reelected to protect their careers. In other words, her minions are unemployable.

It has been a sad and pathetic four years in Cleveland City government. Let’s not forget her budget debacle, her failed adopt-a-can plan. Mayor What dropped the ball on the Convention Center project as well as the Casino. Can anyone forget the red light camera mess. The icing on the cake came with the failure of the school levy.

Although, I must admit that it is amusing to listen to the current government minions all trying to put a positive spin on Mayor What’s failed record. I have news for her minions, Mayor What can run from her failed record but she can’t hide from her failures.

Corrupt Jane Campbell is Racking up Frequent Liar Miles…

2005-08-17T14:11:00.000-04:00

She is a worthless liar...

Jane Corrupt Campbell a Scam, a Phony, and Delinquent. Corrupt Campbell cannot run on her record. She is a worthless corrupt mayor. She is the cause of all economic ills to have been inflicted on Cleveland.

For the next 60 days we are going to be repeatedly reminded of Campbell’s disastrous record, she is going to deceive us on her colossal failure on schools, jobs, and crime, but we know better. If she says once more that our school kids are her priority, the voting public will finally catch on to her unrelenting lies. She has said it thousands of times before and will not stop at anything in her inept quest for another mayoral term. What a lying stiff.

The reality is that her record speaks for itself, she is a failure of the highest order and she has to go. Character? Class? Corrupt Campbell is void of both. Campbell’s claim about her care for the children is the most dishonest you will witness from a politician. Campbell spewed a lot of empty rhetoric, but never laid out a detailed plan on how she will deal with the challenges at the school district.

The utterly disgraceful Campbell has no shame, no guilt, and no conscience. She says whatever Gerald Austin tells her to say. She does not have a mind of her own. She thinks she is another knock-off Diane Sawyer (you do remember when she bleached her hair blonde on ABC’s Good Morning America when she thought she is a Governor material). Beware of this scary programmed snake oil. The fraudster Campbell stares into the TV camera and, without blinking an eye, declares: “I will always tell the truth.” That may be the biggest lie of all!

As for being an outright thief, (check out the airport contracts with mockery mok). It does not get any worse than this with this corrupt useless swindle.

Like a thief in the night, Jane corrupt Campbell came…

2005-08-16T10:40:00.000-04:00

Jane corrupt Campbell is a crook, make no mistake. She has been stealing our money and losing our good paying jobs for the last fours years. Did you check out the latest blow we received from Office Max? They are moving to Chicago with 600 good-paying jobs thanks in great measure to the ineptness of this corrupt so-called mayor.

With this latest move on this corrupt mayor watch, Cleveland’s standard of living will be dragged down further to level unseen in several generations. How? As more good-paying jobs go to other communities around the country, many of the hard-working people who did lose or will lose those jobs will be victimized into low-paying and minimum wage jobs, read: Wal-Mart. All this thief is capable of scheming part-time jobs that have no future and no healthcare benefits. Thus, Jane corrupt Campbell results in theft of a good standard of living and healthcare benefits.

But, hey, her friends are getting multi-million dollar contracts at the airport and water and they kickback few $$$ to her and her family. After all, for this corrupt Mayor that is all that counts.

The thief in the night wins again. For Jane Campbell keep your hands off her stack.

College Here I Come

2005-08-12T18:03:00.000-04:00

For additional information regarding the Nate Gray scholarship fund, please contact Mayor What

Gray trial witness claims money went to college bill
Friday, August 12, 2005
Steve Luttner
Plain Dealer Reporter

Akron- Prosecutors have described a never-ending series of contract-rigging schemes and other sleazy behavior in the municipal corruption trial of businessman Nate Gray, but this is one of the more striking episodes.

Rony Joel, a civil engineer who now lives in Florida, testified in U.S. District Court Thursday that when he worked for the engineering firm of Camp, Dresser & McKee in Cleveland in the mid-1990s, he came across a deal designed to help put a Cleveland official's daughter through college.

Joel had come to Cleveland to try to find business for the firm. He said he asked Julius Ciaccia, then the water commissioner, which consultant to hire to help navigate the political and contractual waters of Cleveland. Ciaccia recommended Gray.

Gray is on trial in U.S. District Court in Akron for 37 counts involving contract-rigging and bribes in East Cleveland, Cleveland, Houston and New Orleans.

Gray became a $2,500-a-month consultant to Camp, Dresser & McKee, and eventually, the firm won a $7.1 million contract with the city's water department. After Joel noticed that Gray's monthly billing inexplicably increased by $425 per month, he was told the extra money was being kicked back to Ciaccia to help send his daughter to Kent State University.

"I didn't think it was proper," Joel told a jury Thursday. Joel said he told his boss in New Jersey about the alleged deal, and then kept quiet about it - something he says he now regrets.

"This has eaten me up for 10 years," Joel told a reporter Thursday after he testified. "I was weak."

Patrick D'Angelo, Ciaccia's lawyer, said it never happened, and Ciaccia has not been charged with any crime.

"Ciaccia adamantly denies that he received anything from anyone relative to his daughter's education," D'Angelo said in a telephone interview Thursday night.

Ciaccia has provided the FBI with his banking records so they can see for themselves that the kickbacks were not paid, D'Angelo said.

In Gray's first trial, which ended when the jury could not reach a verdict last month, Gray's attorney challenged the government to prove the extra cash went to Ciaccia. "There is no evidence that Ciaccia's daughter's tuition was paid by anyone because it didn't happen," Bill Whitaker told jurors.

The retrial continues today.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
sluttner@plaind.com, 1-800-628-6689

Don't Reward Failure

2005-08-11T22:02:00.000-04:00

I disagree with the residency law. Living in any major City should be based on lower taxes, a successful school system and safe neighborhoods. The residency Law is an unsuccessful law, which only prolongs a City's agony.

Cleveland must compete with other City’s if it wants to thrive. Residents should want to live here by choice, however there’s no reason they should.

Give me one reason to stay here and I'll turn right back around

Baby just give me one reason - Give me just one reason why

Mayor What, fix the schools, reduce our taxes, make Cleveland neighborhoods safe again and maybe just maybe your employees will invest in Cleveland and raise their families.

Not everyone can afford to live in Shaker.

Can cities require workers to live within borders?

Cleveland to fight to keep residency law
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Mark Naymik
Plain Dealer Politics Writer

Already battered by job losses and a distressed school system, Cleveland could soon face a fight over its law requiring employees to live in the city -- a law that city leaders say is vital to protecting neighborhoods.

Ohio legislators, who for years have debated whether to repeal residency laws statewide, are closer this time to actually doing so. That would be a blow to cities like Cleveland, where the residency law keeps middle-class workers in city neighborhoods.

State legislation banning residency laws would likely lead many of those workers to migrate to the suburbs.

Many of the workers in Cleveland are clustered in the city's more prosperous neighborhoods, such as North Collinwood and West Park.

"It could have a very detrimental effect on the economic vitality of the city," said Mayor Jane Campbell.

She is preparing for a court battle if the legislation passes.

"We have a legal strategy and we are ready to meet the state in court," Campbell said.

The unions representing the city's police officers and firefighters have led an effort to persuade state lawmakers to repeal residency laws since Cleveland voters overwhelmingly passed one in 1982. They have argued that workers should have the right to choose where they live.

They also want to send their kids to suburban school districts.

Of Cleveland's 9,000 workers, more than 8,000 live in the city (those hired before 1982 are not subject to the law).

This year, the unions have more support in Columbus, in part because previous opponents are no longer in the office.

The Ohio Senate narrowly passed the legislation in June, and it awaits a debate in an Ohio House committee when legislators return from summer break.

In the past, Senate leaders have quashed the legislation because they didn't want to pit the state against municipalities with "home rule" - which means they are governed by a city charter.

A spokesman for House Majority Leader Jon Husted said the bill will get a thorough hearing.
Cleveland leaders believe the legislation will eventually pass. So does the Ohio Municipal League, which is lobbying lawmakers to vote against the measure. The league says 125 cities in Ohio have a residency law.

"Residency requirements have been around since 1914 and no court has ever struck them down," said John Mahoney, the league's deputy director.

Republican State Sen. Tim Grendell of Chester Township was the lead sponsor of the current Senate bill. A constitutional lawyer, Grendell touted his support of the bill during a news conference Tuesday to kick off his bid for state attorney general.

Speaking to an audience largely of police officers and firefighters, Grendell said they "have the same rights to live in communities of their own choosing as all Ohioans."

Bob Fisher, head of Cleveland's firefighters union, said the effort to ban residency laws received a boost from key Democrats, such as State Sen. Dan Brady, a former Cleveland councilman who co-sponsored the Senate bill, and State Sen. C.J. Prentiss.

Brady said in a statement that passage of the bill would have a "very minimal" impact on Cleveland's economy.

"People who work in the city and live in the suburbs would still pay income taxes to the city," he said. "I believe that we should keep our eye on the bigger regional economic picture - that is, how can our citizens find employment, educate their children, and enjoy a decent quality of life?"

Campbell said the city is ready to argue in court that state legislators have no right to dismiss the will of Cleveland residents.

"It's pretty horrifying to override a very clear vote of the city residents," she said.

Cleveland Councilman Michael Dolan, who represents the West Park neighborhood, called state legislators "nitwits." But he said he welcomes passage of the legislation because he wants the courts to settle the issue once and for all.

"I think it will pass, but I don't believe it will withstand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court," Dolan said.

Councilman Michael Polensek, who represents North Collinwood, has long been a vocal critic of city workers and union leaders who want to eliminate the residency law.

"If the city's good enough to put a paycheck in their pocket, then it should be good enough to live in," he said Wednesday.

He also worries about the impact on his neighborhood if the law is lifted.

"You will see 4,000 for-sale signs, and anybody with kids is out of here," he said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
mnaymik@plaind.com, 216-999-4849

Children First!

2005-08-10T18:07:00.000-04:00

Show Mayor What the boot.

Since becoming Mayor Jane What has been an absentee overseer of our schools. Mayor What will be held solely responsible for the condition of our schools.

Wrong again Mayor What.... our Children will always come first.

First the candidate, then the salary
Campbell wants emphasis on finding Superintendent
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Janet Okoben
Plain Dealer Reporter

As Mayor Jane Campbell and Cleveland school board members took the first steps Tuesday toward finding a new superintendent, they were immediately confronted with the last issue they say they'll settle when they make a hire.

The pay.

At $278,000, the salary of Cleveland schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett is among the highest in the nation and has often been criticized by taxpayers. She announced Friday that she will leave the district as soon as her replacement is found.

In one comparable district, Boston Superintendent Thomas Payzant was paid $185,000 in 2003. He declined a bonus because of the district's tight finances.

"We'll determine a salary when we have a candidate to negotiate with" was as much as Campbell would say in response to questions at a news conference Tuesday to announce a search committee.

Local AFL-CIO President John Ryan wonders why Cleveland hasn't considered hiring a superintendent at a relatively low salary, then having the superintendent serve on local nonprofit boards to supplement that salary. That would keep the pay at roughly the same level but use less public money, he said.

Tim Quinn, director of the Urban Superintendents Academy at the California-based Broad Foundation, said school districts are looking at several ways to lure candidates while keeping salaries at a level acceptable to the public.

Some offer a lower salary with the chance of a big performance bonus, he said. Byrd-Bennett enjoyed two bonuses in excess of $50,000 in her time in Cleveland, but Quinn said candidates may be wary of bonus promises because school boards can renege if money gets tight.

Other districts have worked with a local university to offer a faculty appointment to supplement the salary. Any way you slice it, Quinn said, Cleveland is going to have to pay the next school leader well.

"The bottom line is, if you want high-quality people with a proven track record, the [salary] bar has risen significantly," he said.

Cleveland's search for a new CEO will be led by school board members Louise Dempsey and Larry Davis, who will work with a private firm to find and screen candidates.

An advisory group to help Dempsey and Davis was also named Tuesday. It will be led by Ralph Johnson, a McKinsey & Co. executive and member of the school district's Bond Accountability Commission.

He will be joined by Charles Ratner, president of Forest City Enterprises; Terri Hamilton-Brown, president of University Circle Inc.; Joanne Schwartz, retired dean of Kent State University's College of Education; Larry Howard, pastor of the Greater Friendship Baptist Church in Glenville; teacher Chris Campion; and student Crystal Ramos. Campbell said more members could be added soon.

Campbell emphasized that Dempsey and Davis will be in charge of the search, with the final decision made by the mayor and school board.

Dempsey and Davis will meet with the advisory group in about 10 days. The salary question isn't likely to be settled for many months.

"The decision will be made in a very deliberate, careful, open way," said Board Chairwoman Margaret Hopkins.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jokoben@plaind.com, 216-999-4535

To Stupid to lead

2005-08-09T21:14:00.000-04:00

Jane Campbell, Wrong choice to lead our City, Wrong choice to lead our Schools.

In a mad rush to deflect condemnation, Mayor what appoints her buddies to the CEO selection committee. These are the same folks who created this mess. The selection committee must include parents and students.

How many of your appointees live in Cleveland?

At a press conference today, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell and school board Chair Margaret Hopkins announced the names of several people who will help with the search for a new schools CEO.Board members Louise Dempsey and Larry Davis will represent the board in identifying a professional search firm and making other decisions involved in hiring a replacement for Barbara Byrd-Bennett.

On Friday, she said she will not renew her contract, which expires at the end of September.Dempsey and Davis will also be helped by an advisory committee led by Ralph Johnson, an executive at McKinsey & Co. who recently served on the school district's bond accountability commission.

Also named to the committee were: Charles Ratner of Forest City Enterprises; Terry Hamilton-Brown, president of University Circle Inc.; Joanne Schwartz, retired dean of the Kent State University's College of Education; Larry Howard of the Greater Friendship Baptist Church in Glenville; Christine Campion, a teacher at Newton D. Baker Elementary; and Crystal Ramos, a student at SuccessTech High. Campbell said others will be named to the committee soon and the group should begin meeting in about 10 days.

Unfit to lead

2005-08-09T12:19:00.000-04:00

Mayor What is unfit to lead our City, let alone our schools. Even her subordinates and appointed lackeys don't listen to her.

Your the CEO stupid.

Campbell, board's Hopkins reach agreement to find new schools CEO

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Janet OkobenPlain Dealer Reporter

Before a replacement for Cleveland schools Chief Executive Barbara Byrd-Bennett can be chosen, Mayor Jane Campbell and Cleveland school board Chairwoman Margaret Hopkins had to decide on who gets to choose.

Late Monday, after both claimed authority to lead the search, they agreed to work together. They're expected to announce formation of a committee today.

"I'm confident that we are moving forward in a consultative, collaborative way," Hopkins said.

Each started making a separate plan for a new schools chief almost immediately after Byrd-Bennett announced Friday that she will not seek a new contract once hers expires Sept. 30.
"I'm going to be leading this," Campbell declared on Friday, saying she wanted a search committee similar to the one that worked with a private firm to choose an airport director in 2002.

Hopkins saw things differently, firing off an opinion piece to The Plain Dealer on Monday morning reminding Campbell of the state law that gives the board the balance of power in picking the new CEO.

"The board's search process will be inclusive, in consultation with the mayor and other elected, civic and community leaders," Hopkins wrote.

But by early evening, Hopkins and a spokesman for Campbell said the differences had been worked out.

The search committee, which will include board members, will report back to the board and mayor.

"They've spoken, and she and Mayor Campbell will stand together tomorrow to announce the next steps in the search," David Fitz, the mayor's spokesman, said Monday.

Cleveland is the only school district in Ohio governed by a mayor-appointed board. When mayoral control was instituted, in 1998, state law put most of the power to choose and fire a CEO in the hands of the mayor.

After a transition period of 30 months, board members got the power to hire and fire the CEO, with the mayor's "concurrence."

The selection of a new schools CEO has already become a top issue in the race for mayor. On Friday, candidate James Draper outlined plans for his own search.

Draper said in a statement that he cannot allow the decision to linger, adding, "I have asked my advisers in the education and civic communities to help me find a new leader for this district."
While Hopkins has preached a need for a methodical search that may take many months, Campbell is eager to start.

Fitz said Campbell "has absolutely no candidate for an interim or a permanent replacement in mind."

One rumored contender, Ohio Sen. C.J. Prentiss, said Monday that no one has spoken to her about the CEO post.

"I'm reading about it in the papers," she said. "I'm frankly honored."

Plain Dealer reporter Scott Stephens contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jokoben@plaind.com, 216-999-4535

On October 4th Dump Campbell

2005-08-07T13:12:00.000-04:00

DON’T REWARD FAILURE!

Mayor What, I think you're destined to be a door-mat. You truly believe your own rhetoric. It was you that put the school levy on the ballot and now you say:

"I didn't think an August vote was a great idea in the first place."

If this is not talking out of both sides of your mouth, than I don't know what is.

This is why you are a failure and this City is leaderless.

Campbell gets heat after a tough week for the city schools
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Joseph L. Wagner
Plain Dealer Reporter

Ribs, steaks, wings and Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell were on the grill Saturday at the 13th annual African-American Family Festival.

A smiling Campbell showed up in force, flanked by aides carrying Roman Army-style standards bearing her name. As hip-hop music blared, she danced with a city worker, one of dozens handing out yo-yos, stress balls and other novelties at city booths.

The festivities at Luke Easter Park followed a depressing week for many as voters trashed the Cleveland schools' property tax request and embattled district CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett announced she will leave after seven years.

For Campbell, the merriment offered no escape from political reality as she seeks a second term amid a wide field of potential challengers.

"The school system is in a stage of meltdown," said Council President Frank Jackson, who with other mayoral wannabes at the picnic were spinning the week's events as a referendum on Campbell, possibly testing a campaign strategy they will use in the fall if they qualify for the ballot later this month.

Campbell was not buying that theory, saying of Tuesday's tax defeat: "I didn't think an August vote was a great idea in the first place."

Noting the light voter turnout in predominantly black wards, she wondered aloud what some of her opponents did on behalf of the critical property tax.

She shrugged off the criticism of her leadership on school issues saying she plans to focus on recruiting Byrd-Bennett's replacement. If the tax vote was a referendum on anything, she added, it was on the Republican-controlled state government, which she said has done little to improve education in the state.

Her possible opponents disagreed.

"People simply do not trust her leadership enough to give more money for the schools," said former city councilman Bill Patmon.

Former safety director James Draper, who was openly embraced by Cleveland police officers - ignoring protocol - as he strolled through the crowd, said Campbell's plan for a stealth campaign misfired.

"What happened was a backlash by voters," Draper said.

"When you employ a strategy that you are going to suppress certain turnouts, people get suspicious and people feel left out."

Candidate Anthony Brown said voters were miffed that Campbell did not support Byrd-Bennett during "media attacks" against her.

"Jane Campbell did not stand up for her," Brown said.

With the mayor's race still in pre-season, picnickers were largely indifferent, as witnessed by political literature blanketing the ground. A booth offering free ice cream received considerably more attention than the parading pols.

Wide-eyed adults and children stared at sky divers who dropped in and a haunting on-stage performance by robots.

One vendor was not moved by any of the political messages, as he hawked yard signs that read: "Vote for Jesus."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jwagner@plaind.com, 216-999-4906

no thanks

2005-08-06T16:36:00.000-04:00

Don’t Reward Failure!

On October 4th Send Mayor What and all of her losers Packing.

Cheers & Jeers
Plain Dealer
August 5, 2005

Jeers…….. to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport’s radio ad campaign, which succeeds all too well in emulating the muffled, garbled sounds of a PA system echoing through an airport concourse,”…..bottled water…save $75.00…CLE…” what was it they were trying to say? Oh, well never mind.

Failure........ again

2005-08-05T16:31:00.000-04:00

Don’t believe a word when Mayor What says that it was a glitch that caused the delay. Don’t believe a word when Mayor What says that it was not her fault.

In these sad days, we couldn’t help but wonder: If they’re capable of doing anything right.

Cleveland's traffic cameras hit a red light
Friday, August 05, 2005
Olivera Perkins and Susan Vinella
Plain Dealer Reporters

Red-light and speeding cameras, which were supposed to be installed on Cleveland intersections this month, won't go up just yet.

The city, in fact, cannot say for sure when all the cameras will be installed. Cleveland originally wanted to install the first batch of cameras by mid-August to catch drivers speeding and running red lights.

But the city's public service director, Mark Ricchiuto, said Thursday that the first 12 cameras - six at intersections and six attached to police cars as part of a mobile unit - probably won't be working until at least mid-October.

The rest are scheduled to go up by the end of the year, he said.

He blamed a glitch in contract negotiations with Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, the company that's supposed to install and run the cameras, for the delay. Ricchiuto said he could not discuss details but said he hopes to have a contract finalized by Sept. 1.

"We can't have any hiccups because it will destroy public confidence," he said. "I'd rather have some delays."

The delays, though, could mean a hole in the city's budget.

In her latest projection, Mayor Jane Campbell planned to have the city generate $2.5 million in revenue by the end of the year from tickets issued to motorists caught running red lights and speeding. That was based on having 18 of 42 cameras working this month.

After negotiations with City Council members, Cleveland officials this summer picked 23 intersections and six streets where cameras would be installed. Twenty-four cameras would catch motorists who run red lights, 12 would catch speeders and six would do double duty.

The cameras would take pictures of the license plates of cars speeding and running red lights, and the owners would be mailed tickets.

The delay with the cameras isn't Cleveland's only budget problem. The city also was counting on $3 million this year from the sale of a tree farm to Brecksville. But that deal is on hold.

In April, council approved selling 75 acres of the Brecksville farm - where Cleveland used to grow shade trees to plant in neighborhoods - to the city of Brecksville. The sale included a stipulation that the land only be for municipal use.

On Wednesday, Baker informed council that Brecksville was only interested in buying the land if Cleveland capped the municipal use limitation to 30 years.

Brecksville officials also wanted Cleveland to grant the suburb the option of buying the remaining 34 acres of the farm. Brecksville was willing to pay $25,000 for this right.

Several council members expressed concerns with the terms, including Michael Dolan, who said the city should keep the option of selling the land to the buyer willing to pay the most.

With money from red-light cameras and the tree farm sale now up in the air, Council President Frank Jackson said he would call a meeting soon to determine whether a deficit is looming.

"We passed a balanced budget based on the tree farm and the red-light cameras," said Jackson.

"Here we are five months later with the administration trying to renegotiate the tree farm sale and them telling us that the red-light cameras are not ready."

But Finance Director Robert Baker said it was too early to be alarmed about Cleveland's budget, which totals about $478 million.

"I'm concerned, but at this point I do not believe we are in a panic situation," he said.

To reach these Plain Dealer reporters:

operkins@plaind.com, 216-999-4868
svinella@plaind.com, 216-999-5010

Mayor What and her web of lies

2005-08-03T18:09:00.000-04:00

Jane Campbell a proven failure..........

“Backers of the tax ran no television or radio ads and mailed fliers only to a carefully screened list of likely supporters, hoping that opponents would forget about the vote."

"The tactic failed.”

"There was no literature on the West Side and they're livid,"

“School officials said they had hoped a smaller request than last fall's $68 million tax proposal would be more palatable to taxpayers.”

Voters reject school levy

65 percent say 'no' to Cleveland tax

Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Janet Okoben
Plain Dealer Reporter

Despite a low-key campaign intended to bring out only supporters, the Cleveland schools tax was crushed in Tuesday's election by angry West Side opponents.

Thirty percent of all votes cast on the issue came from Old Brooklyn and the city's far West Side, neighborhoods known for their aversion to school tax increases. Only about 43,000 voters turned out at the polls, or about 13 percent of those eligible, which shows that a core group on one side of town sealed the fate of the issue.

Unofficial results showed 65 percent of voters against the tax and 35 percent in favor, an even bigger margin than the failed school tax issue in November.

School leaders, who have laid off about 1,400 employees in the last two years and permanently closed 11 schools when classes ended in June, have no choice but to cut some more.

The tax would have raised an additional $46 million annually, and $30 million of it would have offset a projected deficit for next year. The rest of the money would have brought back some laid-off teachers and restored other cuts.

"The needs are not going away and the problems we have now are going to double and triple a year from now," said Council President Frank Jackson, who pushed Mayor Jane Campbell to hold a special election.

He said Tuesday night he still thinks it was a good idea.

Campbell briefly thanked a crowd of supporters on the deck of Jillian's in the Flats. Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett kept her comments to a few words of thanks.

Campaign manager Chris Carmody said confusion among voters about the difference between an operating tax and the construction bond issue passed in 2001 contributed to the loss, as well as a bad local economy. He also blamed negative press coverage in the last week.

Backers of the tax ran no television or radio ads and mailed fliers only to a carefully screened list of likely supporters, hoping that opponents would forget about the vote. The tactic failed.

Emily Lipovan Holan, a candidate for the City Council seat that includes Old Brooklyn, said she was surprised by the anger of voters who thought a tax was being forced on them without their knowledge.

She said opponents seemed to come out in the last four days.

"There was no literature on the West Side and they're livid," Lipovan Holan said. "They're very angry with the mayor that they didn't include the West Side."

School officials said they had hoped a smaller request than last fall's $68 million tax proposal would be more palatable to taxpayers.

Now district officials say they must regroup.

The campaign had less than $500,000 to spend, and most of the resources were devoted to mailings to likely supporters.

Volunteers held small gatherings at homes for potential supporters and knocked on doors in neighborhoods likely to turn out in support.

"We campaigned on the East Side and the West Side, and we'll keep working until we get it done," Carmody said.

Plain Dealer reporter John Coyne contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jokoben@plaind.com, 216-999-4535

ELECTION UPDATE

2005-08-02T23:21:00.000-04:00

Mayor What fails our Children again......

Cleveland Schools levy

463 of 463 precincts

FOR: 15,008 35.32%

AGAINST: 27,485 64.68%

I am with Frank G. Jackson for the next Mayor of Cleveland...

2005-08-02T17:19:00.000-04:00

He is my man...

I want to make my position crystal clear once and for all so you can all see it; I am 100% squarely behind this man. He has the integrity, vision, and the leadership required to lead this great city after four disastrous years of the corrupt Jane Campbell. I have the utmost respect for all other candidates (with the exception of Campbell of course); however, I don’t think they have the skill set required to manage this great city. Pick who you want, and I fully respect that; but please don’t cry if I am supporting Frank Jackson for Mayor. If you don’t like it, you can start your own weblog.

Spencer…

Message to one-term “the Corrupt” Jane Campbell…

2005-07-31T17:53:00.000-04:00

It seems that I am addressing an empty chair since you are very busy shaking down more and more money from businesses for your soon-to-be-failed attempt for re-election. After four years of your colossal failure, your attempt to coast into office again will not go unnoticed, like in 2001; the people of our great city already know about your failures and corrupt ways. You will be lucky to make it out before you make a much deserved detour to the state penitentiary.

During the four years of your corrupt management at City Hall, we Clevelanders were never given a fair chance to prosper and make our city a better place to live, work, and raise a family. It seems the only people who are enjoying your corrupt term are you and your family, the consultants, contractors, your campaign contributors, and your outfit cronies who lack any skill set, yet are still making six-figure salaries thanks to the hard- working people of our city.

The reason why you have failed spectacularly is because you are an inept, corrupt politician with the IQ fit for a con-artist. However, you are the best when you are counting checks from your contributors, and if you fall short, you start dialing phone numbers demanding checks or else; do you remember when you called Cleveland businesses for your birthday bash in June demanding checks from them? I do.

Let me remind you of your record again, and I will not stop until you are gone for good. Failed schools, unsafe neighborhoods, corruption at city hall, jobs left in thousands, fired police officers, steering public contracts to political contributors, the poorest city in the nation. On the top of that, you are the most untrustworthy person in Cleveland.

Mayor Corrupt, you are desperate, and desperate people do stupid things; but with someone like you doing stupid things, well, that’s par for the course for a person with your corrupt credentials, and mental capacity. Your days are numbered…

Save Cleveland - Layoff Mayor What

2005-07-30T16:23:00.000-04:00

Aside from the noise surrounding Mayor What’s first failed term in office, as well as her late summer re-election intentions. One common thread that that holds her blouse together is her very cozy relationship with non-Clevelanders. Mayor What dashes to the whims of the very few over the needs of our impoverished community. She has effectively failed the City with her stall tactics (Casinos, Schools, Police Layoffs & Convention Center).

Her inability to make functional decisions should set off alarm bells within our neighborhoods.

Mayor What’s ill thought layoff of our safety forces, along with the dismantling and redeployment of tactical units and firefighting resources made no budgetary sense. Rather, our City is now exposed to the increase of violent crimes.

Analysis: In budget battle, mayor brandishes the ax but muddles the message

11/26/03

Mark Naymik and Mike Tobin Plain Dealer Reporters

Cleveland's budget battle has turned into a fight for the hearts and minds of its residents.
Facing a $61 million deficit in the city budget, Mayor Jane Campbell and her finance team concluded that without substantial concessions from its biggest unions, she will be forced to lay off more than 700 city workers, mostly firefighters and police officers.

Union leaders immediately denounced the plan as a dangerous gamble with public safety. Campbell countered that the cuts can be made without putting the public at risk, that leaner and more efficient safety forces can do their jobs just as well.

Even with the cuts, she argued, more officers will be on the street than under the current system, which she said is rife with inefficiencies.

For example, Campbell proposes reducing the six-person staff of the police property room to two officers and cutting the number serving as deskbound administrators to commanders and deputy chiefs. She also wants to change work rules that encourage weekend absenteeism among firefighters - and contribute to the city's multimillion-dollar overtime bill.

She even plans to disband the Police Department's popular mounted unit.

"We have to make choices," Campbell told Plain Dealer reporters and editors yesterday. "We can do 9-1-1 calls, or have a horse in the parade."

But from the moment layoffs became a possibility, the police and fire unions have controlled the debate. They packed council meetings with men and women in uniform, many with children in tow. They did the morning radio shows and became somber fixtures on the TV news.

They offered incendiary sound bites echoing the same theme: that the mayor's plan will plunge the city into "chaos and lawlessness."

Only in the last week or so did Campbell start trying to sharpen her message.

To help craft and deliver her budget proposals, the mayor brought in PR troubleshooter Nancy Lesic, who was press secretary to former Mayor Michael R. White. On Sunday night, hours before Campbell was to present her plan to the public, Lesic joined her and longtime political adviser Gerald Austin for an intense discussion in the mayor's City Hall office.

Also present was Campbell's mother, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, who the mayor said has helped her "communicate with passion" in previous speeches, including her inaugural and State of the City address.

During a noontime news conference on Monday, Campbell began laying out her case, outlining how the city's stagnant economy has crippled tax collections and scrambled the budget picture.

She also stressed that layoffs could be minimized with more cooperation from the unions.

But she didn't describe, for example, how the language of the city's contract with firefighters makes it difficult to control absenteeism that sometimes reaches 20 percent on summer weekends.

So when Clevelanders turned on the TV news Monday night, they saw only the heroes of Sept. 11, toddlers perched on their shoulders, packing the City Council chambers in protest.

Campbell's arguments not only failed to make the airwaves, but even drew unfavorable comment from Bob Beck, head of the police union that backed her in the 2001 mayoral race. He said she is using the threat of layoffs as a bargaining tool in upcoming contract negotiations.

"I thought these kinds of tactics would have left with the last administration," Beck said, referring to his long enmity with White.

The mayor insisted yesterday that she is focused on fixing the city's financial crisis, not winning a public-relations battle with the unions.

"We are all looking at trying to do the right thing for the city," Campbell said. "If we do the right thing, then we have to be able to communicate that."

But one of the most persistent problems during her two-year tenure has been communication, from her ambivalent message on building a new convention center to the PR debacle involving her husband's questionable use of a city-owned Explorer.

She took time out of her Monday news conference to address the SUV story, announcing at last that she had given up use of the vehicle. But the issue is sure to resurface again and again and to be used against her when she is up for re-election in 2005.

For now, however, Campbell said she isn't thinking about the damage to her image, and what it could do to her political prospects.

"The best way to get re- elected is to do a good job," she said.

To reach these Plain Dealer
reporters:
mnaymik@plaind.com, 216-999-4849
mtobin@plaind.com, 216-999-5079

Charcter is the issue in this mayoral campaign…

2005-07-29T18:24:00.000-04:00

And Jane “the corrupt” Campbell has none. She is only concerned about enriching herself, family, and friends at our expense. Almost four years into her catastrophic tenure, her economic centerpieces are adopt-a-can and the ghost casinos.

After four years of Cleveland becoming the poorest city in the nation, with the highest unemployment rate, four years after endless corruption at city hall embodied by the head burglar herself, and four years after becoming Ohio’s most dangerous city with a bankrupt school system, where is the corrupt Campbell? Well, she is busy giving contracts to her friends and enriching herself. After talking our ears off for almost a year of her silver bullet approach to economic recovery with her casinos plan, all of the sudden it vanished like so many of her tricks. As I said before she has no plans, none whatsoever. Campbell’s mental capacity is too diminutive to think in these broad and complex terms. Campbell- the-Corrupt faces a city that she has taken apart brick by brick since January 2002, and she still wants to be mayor for life; this must make many people wonder why this fraud would want to carry on.

It is the question that refuses to go away: after four years of her destructive policies, why would corrupt Jane Campbell still want to run? There is one obvious answer. Her rich friends, for the sweetheart deals and wink-of-the-eye city contracts she provides, have invested too much cash in corrupt Campbell to let her walk away. After all, they want to make their investments worthwhile. Nice formula, they milk the public through her, and she gets to keep her job with a few extra dollars for the family and her close friends. She is a corrupt politician of the first order.

For Campbell it is just about the cash, and keeping her shiny cars with the security detail. Please remember, Campbell lies and we suffer; she is incapable of telling the truth. Remember that on October 4.

Poor Mayor What

2005-07-28T09:37:00.000-04:00

Whom does Mayor What represent? Is it her developer friends to whom she regularly gives lucrative contracts? Or is it the people of Cleveland?

Who Owns Jane Campbell? " Suburbanites finance mayor's campaign war chest
By Alexander Parker and David Eden

If Jane Campbell is elected to a second term as Cleveland's mayor, it won't be because city residents are financially supporting her campaign. In 2003, Campbell collected at least 284 checks of $1,000 or more from individuals for her campaign war chest — a total of $284,000 out of $442,155 collected — and only 65 of those $1,000 donations were from people claiming a Cleveland address. And many of those 65 campaign donors live outside the city and used their business addresses.

Although Campbell, who sends her children to Shaker Heights High School, proclaims herself “proud to be a Clevelander,” a review of her 2003 campaign finance report reveals that about 80 percent of her political contributions come from people who don't live in the city of Cleveland. And if campaign donors who use a Cleveland business address and not their residence are included, the number jumps to more than 85 percent.

It's a safe bet that people who live outside Cleveland — and who have city business interests and seek city work — are trying to refinance Campbell's reelection.

In fact, Campbell receives very few small donations from Clevelanders. About 90 percent of the mayor's individual contributions come from donations of $500 or more, and at least 70 percent from the elite $1,000 bracket or higher.

Only about four percent of the mayor's 2003 campaign contributions came from people who donated $100 or less. But even in under-$100 donations, about 60 percent are from people who live outside the city.

Campbell is regarded as the most prolific fundraiser in Cleveland City Hall history. She raised around $2 million for the 2001 mayoral campaign, and in 2003, an off-year for fundraising, she added more than $442,000 to her coffers. Soon, she plans to hold another “birthday” fundraiser for her 51st, charging attendees $1,000-a-head.

Among the $1,000-or-more contributors in 2003 who listed a Cleveland address but live elsewhere are: Forest City's Sam Miller and several Ratner family members, Richard Pogue, Barbara Robinson, Lee Weingart, John Climaco, Thomas Embrescia, James Carney, Zachary Paris, Ronald Weinberg, Eric Friedman, Ken Fisher, William McDonald, Ozanne family members, Bennett Yanowitz and many others.

Most of Campbell's campaign contributors live in affluent Cuyahoga and Lake county suburbs, including Shaker Heights, Westlake, Beachwood, Brecksville, Pepper Pike, Orange, Strongsville, Rocky River, Lakewood, Mentor, Hunting Valley and more.

For example, the Ratner family, most of whom reside in Shaker Heights or Lyndhurst, collectively, donated a total of $9,000 to Campbell's reelection campaign in 2003. Other notable suburbanite campaign contributors include National City Bank's David Daberko, John and Melissa Ferchill, Nate Gray, Judge Alvin “Buddy” Krenzler, Shaker Heights
Mayor Judy Rawson, Martin Lax, William McDonald, Carole Hoover, Benny Bonanno, Transtar Industries Monte Ahuja, A. Malachi Mixon, Michael and Kimberley Osborne, George Aronoff, Norma Lerner, Thomas Adler, Sam and Jason Lucarelli, Michael Wager, Peggy Gries Wager, Tom Bonda, Paul Volpe, Dennis Wilcox, Herb Marcus, Marty Marcus, John Marcus, Mark and Amy Morgenstern, Robert Hurwitz, Mitchell Schneider and many more.

As the incumbent, Campbell benefits from large Political Action Committee, or PAC, contributions. They are from law firms, insurance companies, banks, unions and more. Among those who contributed at least $1,000 are: Medical Mutual PAC, FirstEnergy PAC, Mansour, Gavin, Gerlack & Manos Co LPA PAC, KeyCorp PAC-Ohio, Calfee Halter & Griswold LLP Fund for Good Government, US Bancorp Political Participation Program, Eaton Public Policy Association, Communication Workers of America PAC, Duvin Cahn & Hutton PAC, Jones Day Ohio PAC, National City Corp. PAC-Ohio, Local 744 Boilermakers Union PAC, Local 55 COPE Committee, Huntington National Bank PAC, Continental Airline Employee Fund for a Better America PAC, SBC Ohio Employee PAC, West-O-PAC, and the Washington Group International PAC. In addition, the Cleveland Browns Football Company contributed $500.

Campbell's contributors also come from other Ohio cities, including Akron and Columbus, and from out of state. FirstEnergy executive Anthony Alexander managed to make it to at least one Campbell fundraising event in Akron, as did prominent attorney Lewis Adkins. Both donated $1,000. Realtor Annette Trembly and engineer Andrew Eribo, both from the Columbus area, also managed to chip in $1,000.

About nine percent of Campbell's campaign contributions in 2003 came from out-of-staters living in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey, Louisiana, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York. That includes Don Evans of Englewood, Colo., president of Operations Management Incorporated, a water management and wastewater facility that has been doing business in Greater Cleveland. In addition, Vicki Scharnhorst of Weston, Fla., a manager with MWH, a technology and engineering firm that has been working with Cleveland on the STEP education program, also contributed. And nine out-of-state employees of Malcolm Pirnie, an environmental consulting firm with offices in Cleveland, donated a total of $5,000.
Among those who worked for Campbell in 2003 who contributed at least $100 are: Julius Cicaccia, Jr., James Draper, Galen Leigh Schuerlein, Subdohe Chandra, Melodie Mayberry Stewart, Kevin Gibbons, Richard Horvath (of Shaker Heights), Jonalyn Krupka and others.
Among notable elected and business leaders who donated at least $100 are: Peter Lawson Jones, Fred Nance, Natalie Ronayne, George Humphrey II, Michael Schwartz, Seth Taft, Edward Lohn, Tom Schorgl, George Dixon, William Burges, Lauren Gallagher, Friends of Frank Russo, the People for Joe Cimperman, and Bruce Hennes, husband of PD Metro columnist Regina Brett.

No hiding place: Sham Jane Campbell will melt under the heat of corruption

2005-07-27T13:50:00.000-04:00

Corrupt Jane Campbell still undermines Cleveland’s public trust by trying to steer city contracts, and by using public funds in order to improve her dark image. Campbell’s fraud contributes to economic loss when her illegal activities result in having Clevelanders pay additional costs for basic infrastructure and services.

Jane Campbell has abused her office for personal gain, in possible violation of many laws, and her friends provide her with campaign cash in turn for city contracts.

The latest example of her corrupt actions, at Cleveland Hopkins again, where the inept Mockery is trying to stick his finger in Cleveland politics to make this corrupt Mayor look good. After all, Mockery knows when Campbell is toast in October, he has no other options but to pack and leave Cleveland for good after his disastrous work at Hopkins. Again, it’s all for personal gain and keeping their six-figure jobs at our expense. The latest from Hopkins, Mockery, at the urging of Mayor Corrupt, is spending over $250,000 to celebrate Cleveland Hopkins’ 80th Anniversary this week, hoping Mayor Corrupt will get some free publicity stunt using public money in an election season to improve her dreadful image.

By her actions, Jane the Corrupt undermines the foundations of government and democracy. Her public corruption affects us all and must never be tolerated. It’s time we make her pay for her crimes.

Mayor corrupt disaster tenure on business comes home to roost…

2005-07-26T13:49:00.000-04:00

It’s astonishing that the CORRUPT Jane Campbell has the audaciousness too even hint that Frank Jackson is anti-business. This is from the Mayor who thinks that business development is how much cash she can squeeze out from stuggling businesses within our city so she can finance her re-election campaign and stash away few dollars for the hard days ahead when she gets kicked out of office. You can run Mayor corrupt, but you cannot hide from the truth.

Can Cleveland be saved from corrupt Jane Campbell?

2005-07-24T15:51:00.000-04:00

Not that a contest for dumb comments by corrupt Jane Campbell wouldn't bring in a lot of comical entries, but her latest on trying to steer a $40-million contract jumps out. It leads the pack of her corrupt acts and influence peddling for the benefit of the rich few at the expense of the hard-working people of Cleveland.

In a move that demonstrates the pathetic level of Campbell’s shady practices in our city, Jane "Corrupt" Campbell is still trying to connive her way into a second term as Mayor of this great city. As if we haven’t had enough of her corrupt and destructive policies that she has inflicted on the honest, hard-working people of this great city, we must tolerate her delusional belief that her rule will be extended by four more years.

There are a lot of forbidden, that is, things we’re not supposed to talk about, in our community. One of those things is the topic of corrupt politicians, and the impact it has on Cleveland, in both short- and long-term consequences. But the topic can no longer be ignored, because of the profound impact corrupt Jane Campbell has as the Mayor of this great city. And, on our progress and ability to compete for investment and jobs in today’s global economy, again it’s organized political corruption, as personified by corrupt Jane Campbell, that is the biggest impediment to progress and development in our city. The consequence of allowing her all that power now makes this fraud looms like the shadow of doom over Cleveland.

Cleveland is in one of her most challenging periods as a city, because it's corrupt politicians like Jane Campbell, who call themselves servants of the people, who have taken us where we are today.

Someone please sit this corrupt mayor down and discuss with her common sense, decency, and ethics before she makes her way to the federal penitentiary and soon. Maybe a long prison term will reform her; I even doubt that.

Message to dear Mayor Corrupt…Jane “the conniving” Campbell

2005-07-23T02:28:00.000-04:00

I love one color only, and its green baby...

Since you were caught in a lie trying to steer a $40-million contract to your favorite money man, it seems you are at your best using your favorite lying tricks on the hard-working people of our city, you are nothing but a first-class mendacious politician who lied and is trying to stay in office at our expense so you can keep on enriching yourself, your family, and friends while Clevelanders lose jobs by the thousands. So here is my advice, Mayor corrupt.

Step One: Admit the lie. You were trying to steer that immense (your size too) contract. It would help you to appear sincere and sad. However, since you are a first-class counterfeit, that won’t help you.

Step Two: Apologize for lying. Look somber and contrite. But you are an arrogant bumbling charlatan, so you will not do that either.

Step Three: Explain why you did it. This is the most important part. It's best to do your explaining while emotionally naked (but fully clothed). Since we have been the target of your lies for the past four years, try to tell us "I am so sorry I hurt you. It was juvenile, pathetic, spiteful, and I'm so sorry. I was trying to make myself look weighty and worthy by stealing your money and giving it to my family and my cronies. This is not an excuse, just an explanation. Please forgive me, I have sinned." Finish with, "What can I do to make this better?”, but I like the shiny cars so much, please vote for me. I wanna be your mayor for life.

Then STOP lying and give it time. If nothing gets better, find new friends with lots of GREEN color stuff who don't know your devious history. And then, stop lying. However, since everyone and their brother in Cleveland know you are a first-rate fraudster, my advice for you is to move back to where you came from, Ann Arbor. You were never a Clevelander, and you will never be one.

Hasta La Vista Baby…

Why Jane Campbell is an Undesirable

2005-07-21T17:28:00.000-04:00

10 reasons why you shouldn’t vote for Mayor What.

10. She’s stupid and she thinks voters are.

9. Lying to us as the “Education Mayor”

8. Bankrupt our school system

7. Adopt a Can

6. Mayor What is dim

5. Everything about Mayor What is fake

4. Lacks leadership skills

3. to stupid to be Mayor

2. Laid off our Cops.

1. We cannot afford 4 more years!

Long Live the inept John Mockery and his Queen Corrupt Campbell…

2005-07-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

The Head Thief, and The Head Con-Man...

The Bible says, "Thou shalt not steal." Jane Corrupt Campbell adds, "Unless you are John Mockery". Campbell the corrupt just declared her position as politician who lie, steal, and rob Cleveland blind. Give money and property to herself and her cronies while destroying our city. Mockery gets caught again trying to rob from us on Mayor corrupt behalf, the pig is caught again. Mockery, you ain't seen nothing yet!

Please see below the latest and greatest courtesy of the primate John Mockery.

Annonymous from Airport Wrote,

The VMB manager Kevin Ferguson, directors Mok's private mechanic has returned the vehicle to 49th and Harvard. The truck is going to be turned over to EMS or Fire because these two sections are the only departments approved for such a type of vehicle. This vehicle was not approved by mayor stupid for mokasshole. Mokasshole had Kevin Ferguson write up the specifications as if the truck was going to ARFF at CHIA.

No one had a problem signing off on the order because it was to be a safety vehicle. It went through the state bid process over a year ago and the truck was delivered three weeks ago. Kevin Ferguson loaded the truck with police lights inside the side signal lights, mounted a Nextel cell phone holder, programmed mokassholes garage door openers to his home and was ordering a GPS system until they were caught.

Living high on the hog, Campbell the deceitful and Mockery the con…

2005-07-19T03:50:00.000-04:00

Johnny's new toy and Mayor corrupt...

This corrupt Mayor adores shinny new cars for herself and the family. John Mockery Mok worships huge SUVs. Hey, you cannot blame the little fellow for liking big fancy cars when the taxpayers are footing his bills, and traveling business first class courtesy of Continental Airlines.

Their arrogance is beyond stunning. The latest scandal from Jane Corrupt Campbell is her so-called world-class airport clown John Mockery Mok has himself a big new toy. As a reward for him overseeing the loss of near 4 million passengers (many went to Akron), Mockery ordered himself a gigantic new extravagant SUV. John Mockery has a brand spanking new 2005 White Ford Excursion. The Excursion is Ford's largest SUV. You see the Full-size SUVs aren't for everyone, unless your name is John Mockery. They use a ton of gas and they're very expensive, but they fill a need for people with many inferiority complexes like Mockery, because with a huge fancy SUV he would feel worthy and great. Mockery’s XLS version comes in style features an overhead console that houses air conditioning controls, courtesy lights and bins for a garage door opener and his expensive sunglasses. A second-row overhead console incorporates climate controls. A dual-media audio system is standard for Mockery. A six-disc, in-dash CD player is standard so he can listen to Jane’s music. A DVD rear seat entertainment system is available so he and Mayor corrupt can watch their favorite Disney movies; Mockery’s version features wireless headphones (why bother with all the wires). With the 5.4-liter V8 engine (lots of power babe), this baby does just about 12 miles to a gallon, with 44-gallon capacity, this honey takes about $103 per tank in gas alone, but why would he care when he gets his gas free courtesy of Cleveland Taxpayers.

When many thousands of our Clevelanders are going even without food on their table under the evil regime of Mayor Corrupt, Mockery’s new plaything will cost you just about $48,000.

What happened to the public servant serving the people? in Jane Campbell’s twisted mind, it is the other way around. We the people should be serving her royal needs and the dolts she has around like Mockery. The latest on Mockery’s toy is he has it hidden somewhere in a city garage when he learned that we are going to run a story on him, may be he is waiting to roll it out after November when Mayor stupid gets re-elected, at least that’s what the dimwit thinks.

They don’t know when to quit, do they?

Plundering Jane Campbell undermines Cleveland…

2005-07-18T10:54:00.000-04:00

In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse of public office for private gain. Isn’t that what Jane Campbell is all about?

Unchecked corruption is our City's major woe as long as Jane Campbell is around. Thanks for this corrupt mayor; we have the dubious distinction of being classified as the poorest city in America, and soon the most corrupt along with the 'banana' republics of this world. According to several studies, corruption is the single most critical factor inhibiting the progress of a country or city. Jane Campbell’s corruption is primarily responsible for tens of thousands of Clevenderas being out of jobs and below the poverty line, even though if you watch her lying lips moving, significant amounts of public money have been spent on city development. Where did the public money go mayor corrupt?

In four years of her corrupt regime we have made no progress to effectively control corruption, it is because her friends and their cohorts in the bureaucracy benefits mightily of Jane Campbell’s sleaze. They are the beneficiaries of Jane’s fraudulent system and pay only lip service to integrity in public life. Isn’t it a matter of disgrace that the mayor of a major US city gets caught sending emails to her minions trying to steer a public contract to one of her contributors?

Undoubtedly, there are still a great many honest and dedicated Clevelanders who serve our city, but their number is declining. I had the privilege of working with quite a few of them in the last four years, and they are first class citizens that Cleveland should be proud of.

It is indeed difficult for an honest city employee to survive under Campbell’s fraudulent regime, with constant threats of vindictive transfers, adverse performance reviews. Add to that, the number of her cronies she hired so they can all benefit from the public largesse.

Campbell’s overwhelming scale of corruption can be observed from the case of her attempt to steer $40 million airport contract, and the ongoing trials and investigations at Water.

We cannot under any circumstances believe that she is the nice clean politician she wants you to believe. What we got here folks, is a case of the worst corrupt politician to walk the streets of our city, we got Jane Campbell. Its time we take her to task, Cleveland cannot afford four more years of Jane Campbell’s sleaze.

The splendid failure of Mayor corrupt…

2005-07-16T11:40:00.000-04:00

We elected a person who turned out to be a corrupt mayor with no qualifications to do the job. Now she is like a kid in a candy store. Jane Campbell is enjoying herself on the taxpayers' money because, she wants to be Mayor for life; and she wants her rich contributors to give her lots of money in exchange for $40 million contract.

The queen of Cleveland is still the crooked politician that she is. Did you apply at Wal-Mart yet? if they have any sense they will turn you down, because you are an inept, corrupt, sleazy politician. We will see you on October 4.

Elect Corrupt Jane Campbell…to Life in the State Penitentiary...

2005-07-15T16:14:00.000-04:00

What’s the difference between our corrupt mayor and former Connecticut Governor John Rowland? Jane Campbell isn’t behind bars!

I was amused to watch channel 3 give Mayor corrupt free pass last night. http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=14266&sid=37938&bw= As someone said, if you are explaining, you are losing. And the corrupt Mayor is losing big. However, I must thank Mayor corrupt for the free publicity she gave our weblog last night; apparently we got under her skin. You see, Mayor stupid is mad as hell because we exposed her crimes. Just watch her sweat, Jane Campbell is on the run, and we are not letting go of her until we exile her permanently from our great city. Our corrupt Mayor only doesn’t deserve to be re-elected, she doesn’t deserve to walk the streets as a free person.

Jane Campbell thumbed her corrupt, arrogant nose at our great city far too many times. Her crimes include perpetuating corruption at the highest places in our city government, colluding with a contractor at the airport for political and personal gain; she has been screwing us for the last four years out of decent jobs, safe schools, and our personal safety. She is responsible for the loss of many lives due to her insane idea of laying off police officers and firefighters to help trim the city's growing deficit. She is lying her ass off and hiding in her office while messing up our great city. She has inflicted several horrors on our city, with her inept corrupt clique.

It’s unfair that corrupt Jane Campbell should hamstrung her impotence and childish tantrums on Channel 3 last night. The whole city saw the e-mail SHE WROTE and sent to her inept circle asking them to change the game rules, so her rich contributor can get a $40 million airport contract funded through passengers’ taxes and Federal funds. Everyone knows Campbell tried to put a positive spin on it, when in fact she dug herself a deeper hole, and pissed off even her inept people at the airport with John Mockery taking the lead role as the head clown.

The unfairness lies in the fact that channel 3 tried to divert attention from Mayor corrupt’s other scandals, blunders and failures, which are almost too numerous to count. Her crimes will come to sharper focus when we dump her on October 4, 2005.

Several of the biggest revolve around the scandal-plagued Water department, which is shockingly similar to Hopkins International Airport. The only difference, Julius Ciaccia is doing her bidding at water, not having enough trust in that inept John Mockery, she decided to do it herself at the airport, and were caught. Though there are certainly great hard working people throughout the City of Cleveland. However, the Water and Airport are obviously controlled by a clique of her corrupt pigs, including Jane Campbell.

As troubling as Jane Campbell’s admiration for corruption and stupidity is her contempt for our city, as evidenced by the state of our schools, and the firing of our police officers.

As I said to you before Mayor corrupt, your days are numbered. Go get a job application from your friends at Wal-Mart. You are finished…

The culture of lies and our corrupt little mayor at City Hall…

2005-07-14T15:55:00.000-04:00

How can you tell if Jane Campbell is lying? Her lips are moving.

Please go to http://www.actionnewsnow.com/global/category.asp?c=14028&nav=0ycq and see her lying lips moving.

There is many ways to lie, and Jane “the con-artist” corrupt Campbell is lying about just everything, and anything to the citizens of our great city. Just take a look at her pathetic face and you can see she is a little bad liar. If she has nothing to hide, then why is she defensive in the interview with Tom Meyer?

You see, our stupid so called mayor is a first class corrupt liar. She’s a liar. And not a particularly convincing one. Jane you ignorant lying slut, your days are numbered!!!

Significant milestone for the removal of the corrupt Jane Campbell….

2005-07-13T16:53:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

A significant milestone for the removal of this corrupt mayor has been reached today, with today’s million-mark hit, this milestone validates our weblog role as a significant push in helping to unseat Jane “What” Campbell on October 4, 2005. Our continued momentum with unparallel support from our great readers and contributors is the driving energy behind this great effort.

Several times, I thought about putting an end to this effort, it takes dedication and resolute effort to keep up this fight and this weblog. However, every time I thought about what a rotten deal our city has gotten with this corrupt Mayor, I got more determined energy to keep going. The upcoming mayoral election is just too critical for the future of our children and our city to stop now. In fact, I will not stop until Mayor “What” is gone, and we get us a decent person such as Frank Jackson as our next mayor. Besides today’s numbers, what stands out is the quality of people who frequented this site, for them I want to say thank you. This weblog has come to occupy a special place in exposing the shady dealing, ineptness, and the corruption of Mayor “What” and her cronies.

As I said before, I am keen on uncompromisingly documenting the breathtaking disasters of Mayor “What” and her cronies. Her failed policies and non-existent vision represent the extreme incompetence of this individual and her circle of people. A wretched catastrophe we call Mayor “What”.

I am doing this, because many of us Clevelanders believe that Cleveland can be the All-American city once again, but not unless we can overcome the forces of evil that have incarcerated the creativity of this great city.

I will keep on fighting this fight until Mayor “What” is gone. Please never forget that this is your fight, your city, and your weblog, so please join me, the stakes are high, we just cannot stop now. Please join Frank Jackson in making Cleveland great once again.

Again, thanks so much for your great support,

Spencer

Jane Campbell betrayal of Cleveland…

2005-07-12T23:26:00.000-04:00

Omnipresent Corruption is a very dominant feature of Jane Campbell’s office. Just look at her latest foray trying to reward a political contributor with $40 million construction contract at the airport. Cleveland must extinguish political corruption at the Hall by electing Frank Jackson as our next mayor. The fact of the matter is, Jane Campbell is a disease that has infected our city, and impeded our progress for the last 4 years. We need to cure it on October 4, by showing her the door once and for all. Her corruption is not an isolated phenomenonm, but part of a complex system that she set in motion when she took office in 2002, for the benefit of her family and friends.

Her city officials (airport and water to name few) have taken her corrupt art into uncharted territory. Rumors, allegations, and evidence abound of misconduct, and even criminal behavior within the hallowed halls of Cleveland city hall on Jane Campbell’s orders.

As you see her stupid political hits on Radio and TV, disguised as campaign commercials, it is already evident that she is going to outspend her mayoral opponents in 2005. She is going to spend over $2 million by November, that is if she makes it out of the primary. How much of that is from 'Special Interests', her friends who have city contracts, and expecting a return for their investments? She is a case of one of the worst elected officials in the history of our city. She thinks she is immune or above our laws. Her misconduct and betrayal of the public's trust happens all the time.

In a city where presently more than half of the population has to put up a daily struggle to make ends meet, she is enriching herself and her money friends. Jane Campbell is a shameless dirt bag.

Expect Great Things With Frank...

2005-07-11T16:13:00.000-04:00

As the Mayoral Campaign heats up, as we witness one colossal failure after another by Mayor inept. We need to show our support for the person with the vision, leadership, and commitment for Cleveland. Again, we want to focus on Frank’s positives rather than Mayor inept failures. As such, I want to follow up with part 2 of Grass Root campaign for Frank. Our goal is still to have 1000 registered voters who list their first name, initial of their last name and their age and please tell us why you voting for Frank G. Jackson. Let's go my friends and start showing mayor corrupt the door on October 4. Please sign your name on this post, we need lots of them. Please talk to your family, and friends about Frank's positives.

On a different note, if you are free on Saturday, July 16, I would urge you to join Frank at his West Side office at 10:00 am, the office location is in the heart of the West Side on 11808 Lorain Avenue. Yeah, Frank belongs to the people of the entire city; he will serve the people of the entire city, West and East side. I will see you there.

Spencer,

Jane “the colossal failure” Campbell

2005-07-10T18:35:00.000-04:00

After extensive documentation of Jane Campbell’s failures, denials and deceptions over an 4-year period and a long litany of serious ethical violations of her commitments to the residents of Cleveland, this article nonetheless concludes without a reasonable doubt that she has neither the will nor the mental capacity to lead Cleveland. She is a colossal failure.

Campbell folds casino plan, for now

Drive short of names needed to make ballot
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Tom Breckenridge
Plain Dealer Reporter

Mayor Jane Campbell's effort to gain a statewide vote on casinos this November has died for lack of signatures.

Critics say they aren't surprised - the mayor's proposal would have allowed too many casinos, with too little control.

But Campbell says her campaign to amend the Ohio Constitution and allow local votes on casinos will live on, with sights set on November 2006.

Gerald Austin, Campbell's political adviser, said the Ohioans for Local Option campaign has collected 116,000 signatures, not enough to ensure the campaign would have the 322,899 valid signatures needed by Aug. 10.

The campaign required more time and money, Austin said.

Campbell announced her push for a casino last December, as part of her economic development plan for Cleveland. A casino would mean 4,000 jobs for the city, she said, while capturing crowds that leave for casinos outside the state.

But the campaign got off to a halting start, eating up two months with repeated efforts to get Attorney General Jim Petro's approval of ballot language.

Austin stopped just short Friday of accusing Petro, a staunch gambling opponent, of purposely hobbling the effort. Even if the signature effort started sooner, Austin acknowledged, there was no guarantee the all-volunteer campaign would have gathered enough names.

Austin had said the signature campaign needs up to $1 million, mainly to hire a professional petition-gathering company. The campaign has taken in less than $100,000, Austin said.

Campbell's re-election campaign spent $95,000 on advertising pushing the "local option" campaign.

"I'm fine with that," Campbell said Friday of ending the November effort. "We've got 100,000 signatures that will be good for next year . . . I'm going to keep working at it."

All along, critics have said Campbell needed to shelve the effort and back a proposal that would allow casinos in a limited number of big cities.

As written, her initiative would have allowed up to 50 cities across the state to vote on casinos. It also left casinos under local, rather than state control, which experts in the gambling industry said was a recipe for trouble.

City Council President Frank Jackson, who is running for mayor against Campbell, criticized the plan last week as "poorly conceived."

Owners of horse racetracks were likely to join gambling opponents in campaigning against Campbell's plan, if it made the November ballot. A proliferation of casinos would hurt tracks.

Lobbyist Neil Clark, who represents a Columbus track, said polling shows Clevelanders support casinos by a big margin.

But Campbell's plan raised the specter statewide of a casino in every back yard.
"The Cleveland proposal would play to the fears of the anti-gambling people in the worst possible way," Clark said.

He's leading an effort by a coalition of gambling interests to land Las Vegas-style gambling in the state.

The group talked briefly of a November initiative, but is now looking to 2006. Their polling shows that a percentage in the high 50s of Ohioans would favor racetrack slots and casinos in a limited number of cities, if a cut of the proceeds went to a public benefit.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
tbreckenridge@plaind.com, 216-999-4695

BUSTED!

2005-07-09T10:42:00.000-04:00

Pay-to-Play

The political climate in Cleveland is dirtier today than it was 4 years ago. By and large, Mayor Campbell’s arrival into the public arena to “improve the quality of life” for our Citizens failed, instead she chose to line her own pockets.

Documents uncovered by our investigators reveal that, In a letter dated Thursday June 23, 2005 to airport officials, Independence Excavating and Mayor Campbell wanted to twist the rules asking to “waive the mandatory attendance” to the pre-bid meeting. The City’s response was "No additional Mandatory Pre-Bid meeting’s will be held. The requirement for Mandatory attendance of the Pre-Bid Meeting will not be waived."

Nevertheless, concerned citizens have churned up evidence that Mayor Campbell and her sugar daddy businessmen have dirt on their hands. Airport bidding documents reveal that administration insiders engaged in pay-to-play politics, accepting cash from Independence Excavating in exchange for contract work.

Given the incriminating documents, a well placed City Hall insider said that she was visibly upset. Mayor Campbell and her minions are scrambling to spin this damning story.

This time the Mayor’s Pay-to-play scheme backfired. Busted!

Mayor Con-Artist involved in airport contract debacle

2005-07-07T13:40:00.000-04:00

BREAKING NEWS!

Mayor Campbell’s direct intervention of a major airport contract award has enraged airport officials, and she now faces new questions of improperly trying to steer a $40 million airport contract.

It now appears that Independence Excavating has a very "friendly" relationship with Mayor Campbell and a review of her campaign finance documents shows that the contractor gave Mayor Campbell $25,000.00.

Mayor Campbell’s actions ... demonstrated a lack of impartiality with respect to Independence Excavating and created the appearance of improperly influencing the award of the airport deicing contract.

Email from Mayor Campbell to her minions

-----Original Message-----
From: Mayor Campbell jlc@city.cleveland.oh.us

To: Brown, Darnell ; Mok, John ; Baker, Robert ; 'alsch3291@adelphia.net' ; Ronayne, Chris ; Beasley, Teresa

Sent: Fri Jul 01 21:09:30 2005

Subject: Protest on bid process for de icing We have a protest on the bid for the deicing. One of the bidders (or prospective bidders) reports that the notice in professional journals did not come out before the mandatory pre bid conference. Please get this resolved before taking any further steps. Bids are due wed so it needs immediate attention. Darnell are you back in time to coordinate?

Mayor Jane CampbellCity of Cleveland----------Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

More to come.........

Frank Jackson will win mayor’s race

2005-07-07T09:26:00.000-04:00

As I have been saying all along, I strongly trust that Frank Jackson will be the next Mayor of our city.

After a comatose (mostly Campbell’s brain) term tainted by corruption, ineptness, and hideous misconduct at City Hall, Mayor “What” will lose in favor of a man who has the integrity, vision, and commitment to make Cleveland great once again. A tested leader who put his life on the line for our country in times of crisis.

He is the only person in this race who will bring this great city together. Frank Jackson is as Clevelander as they come. He was born, raised, worked, lived, and served his city ceaselessly.

Frank Jackson is already positioning himself as a unity and visionary leader with the can do attitude who can bring the racial and ethnic groups in our great city that is 51 percent African-American, 42 percent White, and 7 percent Other. He will be the marquee candidate in a field with no equals.

Campbell created a legacy of unchecked crime, failing schools, the disappearance of jobs, and became the master at collecting checks from businesses with City contracts.

In Frank Jackson, we have a leader who speaks from the heart, and does not spin. Moreover, we have an appalling mayor, who is crook, and is not up for the job. The people of this city want substance rather than style. The people of Cleveland want results rather than Mayor “What’s” rhetoric.

Frank Jackson will bring a much needed fresh start to the city. A city in need of visionary, honest, tested leadership. He is a person who believes in the people of Cleveland. We need to support him on October 4.

Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

2005-07-06T11:37:00.000-04:00

With Mayor Campbell.... Expect Failure

Can anyone think of a greater violation of the public trust than to bear false witness to Mayor Campbell’s pursuit of her short-term irrelevant political agenda. Under the pretend leadership of Mayor Campbell, Cleveland was thrust into a rapid spiral decline, unlike any other we have seen before, and she is directly responsible for it.

It now appears, clear as day, that Mayor Campbell assumed office on fraudulent pretext. In other words she was all “bullshit”.

Since Campbell’s unfortunate arrival on the Cleveland political scene, a couple of unprecedented things have happened, which, her predecessor, would never have allowed. One, the layoff of police and fire, the honorable men and women sworn to serve-and-protect. Two, the hiring of an irresponsible, incompetent and aloof cabinet, and a failed political agenda that has destroyed our City. Succumbing to her own selfish greed, she has burdened Clevelanders with a non-existent phantom agenda for the sake of her re-election.

It is very difficult to make sense or come to terms with Mayor Campbell’s failed leadership. We went from the verge of greatness to the verge of bankruptcy in a matter of a few years. Mayor Campbell and her aloof cabinet, void of intelligent ideas tend to purposely distance themselves from things such as logic and facts because they can't handle it.

At this point in the game Mayor Campbell is a non-entity. Regardless of her poorly scripted speeches, regardless of her failed school initiatives, regardless of her failed economic and political agenda, Cleveland just can’t afford 4 more years of her failures.

Jane “the con artist” Campbell, Selfish bottom line…

2005-07-05T12:48:00.000-04:00

The citizens of Cleveland will have no more of Mayor “What” web of deceits. The despicable Mayor Stupid and her pimp are mouthing off lies about her economic development. Gerald Austin has to lie and spin on Mayor Stupid’s behalf. When she goes out in October, no more multi-million dollar contracts for Austin. It is all about her selfish interest. Our coward Mayor seems to care nothing about the struggles of the everyday citizen, only her own selfish bottom line, and the bottom lines of her friends (when will Gerry Austin tells us about his contractual dealings with the Indian Tribes).

Now on to her record, where do we start: The over-the-top security details for her and her family, the nepotism galore at City Hall, the pay to play scheme for many businesses at Airport and Water, the corruption, the unceasing assault on Cleveland’s economy that resulted in 14.1% unemployment rate, the emptying of downtown, her mirage casino plan, her phantom convention center, her naive lakefront development, the summer of 2003 fiasco, losing NASA jobs, the adopt-a-can to balance city budget, giving tax-credits and other forms of funds to the biggest corporate welfare company in America; Wal-Mart, disrespecting all the black folks at the NAACP in 2003, her husband city owned SUV for private use, the soaring crime rate, the schools going into State receivership by 2006, the cronies who act as if they're above the law, the insane idea of laying off police officers and firefighters to help trim the city's growing deficit.

We constantly hear about her mirage plans, yet it is our citizens who continue to suffer due to her inept leadership that resulted in our Jobs going south, bad Schools, and no Safety.

Mayor stupid is spending excessively (well all the money she shaked down from firms who got city contracts) on her false media campaign, with seemingly little afterthought of the effects on this city. Mayor what still has no clue of the damage she continues to inflict on us.

If Clevelanders re-elect this person, Cleveland will surely go into receivership in her second term. However, we are smarter than that, in fact, we are going to dump her in October.

She is a selfish, thoughtless little person. Cleveland, we need to throw the bum and her cronies out. Folks, do not listen to me, it is about her miserable record. Let that be your guidance.

The little thinkin’ panicking charlatans...

2005-07-04T11:36:00.000-04:00

From the start of her appalling term, we quickly learned that we have an inept and amateur running our City Hall; she is amateur hour at its finest. Not only has Mayor “What” accomplished nothing, but she has managed to set back our city and this region by a decade. As you recall, this blog pointed out earlier this week, to hear something from the losers, Mayor “What” or her political pimp on this long holiday weekend, hoping no one is paying attention. Guess what, Gerald Austin is in today’s PD defending her non-existent Casino plan.

As the lead planner of her spectacular failure, Gerald Austin is defending Mayor “What’s” phantom record. They quickly blame Governor Bob Taft for Cleveland’s problems, which have to be one of her best excuses. You have to look at today’s PD and see Gerry Austin ranting. Jane Campbell is panic-stricken and Austin is her mouthpiece gasping for political help. Her political pimp is trying to defend the un-defenseable, trying to cover up a 4-year record of utter failure. Mayor “What” failed miserably, she failed our Schools, our Safety forces, and took our Jobs away. Austin failed to mention in his entire rant, that her casinos scheme, at best, even if it passes muster (never will); will NOT yield any JOBS for Cleveland real or imaginary for at least 4 years (unless you counted Gerry's job being a multi-million dollar consultant for Indian Tribes), why didn't he say that? In addition, Mr. Austin for full disclosure neglected to mention if he has any consultancy contracts with Indian Tribes interested in opening a casino or two in Cleveland. She is sweating folks, just read between the lines; her days are numbered, and she knows it.

Clearly, panic is setting in with Mayor “What” and her political pimp. No Casinos, no campaign money for Mayor Stupid, and certainly no million dollar contracts for Gerald Austin from Indian Tribes. The only thing she cares about is lining hers and Gerry’s pockets with lots of $$$.

Mayor What is Bad for Cleveland

2005-07-03T23:26:00.000-04:00

It seems that more and more conversations about Mayor What and her stupid ideas keep popping up in articles like this one. I'm pretty sure that I have been saying that all of her plans are poorly developed and their implactions to our community are very troubling and irresponsible. There is no substance to her casino scheme, none. It was only a ploy to get re-elected and it backfired, just like everything else she conjures up.

Community News Briefs

Plain Dealer

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Casino plan criticized

City Council President Frank Jackson on Friday described Mayor Jane Campbell’s effort to legalize casinos in Ohio as a poorly conceived plan that she is pushing as a panacea for Cleveland’s economic woes. Jackson, who is running for mayor against Campbell, described her casino effort as a re-election ploy that backfired when she couldn’t collect enough signatures to get it on a statewide ballot. The purpose of the effort, he charged at a news conference in front of City Hall, was “to create a political side show.” The mayor proposed a ballot issue in which local communities could decide whether they wanted casinos. Earlier this week, her campaign manager said it was unlikely that organizers would collect enough signatures this year. Jackson would not say if he was against casino gambling in Cleveland. Campbell’s spokesman, David Fitz, said the mayor did not pitch the casino idea as a panacea but rather as “one piece of an economic development plan.”

Independence Day With Frank...

2005-07-03T05:53:00.000-04:00

If you got time, please stop by for a chat with Frank at Luke Easter Park on Monday, July 4. Our future Mayor is going to be there between noon and 3pm. He is going to have hot dogs, chips, potato salad, soft drinks, and cookies to munch on. Please feel free to ask Frank any question you got on your mind. Trust me, he is going to tell you the truth; he is not good at spin like mayor nobody.

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful nation on earth.

I will see all of you there. Look me up, I will be the one with the Frank Jackson for all of us nice looking T-Shirt. On well, I cannot give me up, at least not yet. But I will be there.

Spencer

Jane Campbell’s Fiction…

2005-07-02T10:18:00.000-04:00

Jane Campbell’s vision (that is an oxymoron word) in her Cleveland 500,000 + campaign calls for, Strong, Smart, and Safe Cleveland. She precisely said elect me because I want to accomplish the following:

Campbell’s Fiction: A stronger Cleveland economy that builds wealth creation opportunities for Clevelanders.
Fact: She faked her way to bring blackjack dealers jobs, and she failed even at that. The city’s economy is witnessing one of its worst periods in its history under her inept administration.

Campbell’s Fiction: She said she is going to bring a smarter workforce, a safer, healthier, livable city with great neighborhoods.
Fact: Our schools are being shuttered, and our teachers are being fired. Our neighborhoods? Cannot even walk in them for fear of being shot, assaulted, or robbed because she fired our police officers and hired her City Hall cronies

Campbell’s Fiction: She said that she is going to bring good, prosperous jobs for Clevelanders.
Fact: We have 14.1% unemployment rate, while witnessing the loss of thousands of good paying jobs to cities around the country. However, we cannot complain, she and her Wal-Mart friends will create a fictional 1800 jobs.

Buh Bye Jane…

pissing in the wind

2005-07-02T00:57:00.000-04:00

sitting here reading and re-reading in bewilderment Brent “both sides of his ass” Larken’s try at cleaning-up Ciaccias’ image, I can’t help but marvel as to why and how Mr. Larken thinks the Ciacciaster is being unfairly targeted. Let me guess….a friend of the family. A more accurate title for his opinion should have been “pissing the wind”.

Twisting in the wind

The Plain Dealer
Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Cleveland Public Utilities Director Julius Ciaccia has not been a defendant in the federal bribery and corruption trial that now awaits a verdict from jurors here.

But Ciaccia may feel like a defendant. And anyone who has followed news of the case might wonder why he is not.

Federal prosecutors spent nearly two weeks detailing a web of dirty dealing that reached into the city halls of Cleveland, East Cleveland, New Orleans and Houston. They maintain that Cleveland consultant Nate Gray stood at the center of that web, parlaying a friendship with former Mayor Michael R. White and a penchant for largesse into juicy public contracts for his many clients. Those clients included Camp, Dresser & McKee, a Massachusetts engineering firm whose former vice president, Gilbert Jackson, is on trial with Gray and Cleveland City Councilman Joe Jones.

According to the prosecutors, Ciaccia steered city business to Gray's clients when he was overseeing upgrades in Cleveland's water system. They charge that Ciaccia changed the standards on one bid to help Jackson's firm. In return for such favors, Gray showered Ciaccia with cash and tickets to pro sports events. Prosecutors played tapes on which Gray apparently boasted of how thoroughly he controls Ciaccia.

Gray's lawyer insisted there were no bribes paid to Ciaccia - or to the public officials in other cities who were also implicated by the government, but have yet to be charged. But Ciaccia never got to say a word in his own defense. He was not called as a witness and, since he was not on trial, he had no forum to challenge the allegations against him. It was left to Ciaccia's attorney to issue periodic denials.

Ciaccia has known for months that the government suspected him of wrongdoing. Against the advice of counsel, he met with FBI agents and prosecutors. He has proclaimed his innocence to his own web of contacts forged over nearly three decades in public life. Mayor Jane Campbell, for one, has expressed confidence in Ciaccia and made no move against him.

Government investigators said during this trial that their probe is not over and that more indictments are likely. Perhaps one of them will charge Julius Ciaccia. Certainly the actions that prosecutors in the Gray case attribute to him constitute a betrayal of trust.

Ciaccia now twists in a curious and perhaps unfair spot. He certainly is not asking for a federal indictment; no sane person would. But if the allegations against him are indeed false, he must be wondering where he goes to get his reputation restored.

Queenly Attitude…

2005-07-01T17:49:00.000-04:00

Jane Campbell just does not seem to get it. She wants to live the high-life at the taxpayers' expense. She dines at expensive restaurants while many of Cleveland’s low-income families who go out for dinner must choose between Wendy's and McDonald's. She rides with her family around town in a shinny Grand Victoria, while thousands of those same taxpayers barely scrape together the money to keep their aging vehicles running. She gives jobs to her cronies and friends, while Clevelanders go unemployed in the thousands. She sends her children to Shaker Heights Schools while our children and teachers are witnessing the worst period in the School district since Cleveland voters gave the control back to the mayor's office. She has taxpayer paid for bodyguards for her family, while our city became the most dangerous city in Ohio.

Jane Campbell is constantly ridiculing our city; while she indulges herself, her family, and her cronies at the expense of hardworking taxpayers.

why expect anything different

2005-07-01T00:07:00.000-04:00

In Mayor What's world failure is the only option.

The word in Cleveland from many of the business leaders is that Mayor What is bad for business. Many very influential business leaders are nervous of her lack of vision and are now speaking out against her failed leadership and her irrelevant initiatives. She has become an obstacle from allowing this region to move forward.

Clevelanders should view all of her ill-thought ideas with deep suspicion, and for good reason. She is incapable of formulating a single logical idea on anything of relevance. Mayor What’s “adopt-a-can” proposition a failure, Convention center a failure, Casino gambling a failure, Police and Fire layoffs a failure, business development a failure, population growth scheme a failure … get the point!

Cleveland population lowest since 1900

Ohio's big cities smaller after population drops
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Rich ExnerPlain Dealer Reporter

Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo lost residents last year at a rate that was among the highest in the nation, according to census estimates being released today.

Worst among Ohio's big cities was Cincinnati, which lost 4,031 people, or 1.3 percent of its population. The Queen City's percentage loss trails only St. Paul, Detroit, St. Louis and Boston.
Cleveland's population fell to its lowest level since the 1900 census, dropping 1 percent. The loss of nearly 5,000 residents put the city's population at 458,684. Since 2000, Cleveland has lost nearly 20,000 residents, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Cleveland Planning Director Bob Brown said Cleveland is on the rebound, noting the addition of 1,500 houses, condos and apartments last year and plans for many other new housing projects in the city.

"Our perception from the amount of housing that is being built vs. the lesser amount that is being torn down is that our population has stabilized and we are on the verge of rebounding," Brown said.

Brown questioned the accuracy of the census numbers, pointing to other studies that have said the census historically undercounts poor people and new immigrants.
The Census Bureau ranked the 251 cities across the country that have populations of at least 100,000 from 2003 to 2004.

It looked at building permits, mobile home shipments and estimates of housing unit losses, among other factors, in making the new estimates.

Nationally, the fastest-growing cities were Port St. Lucie, Fla.; Elk Grove, Calif.; and North Las Vegas, Nev., as the migration to the South and West continued.

Despite an 0.1 percent drop, New York remained America's largest city by far, with 8.1 million people, more than twice the size of No. 2 Los Angeles.

The only big city in Ohio to gain population last year was Columbus, which grew 0.2 percent to 730,008 people.

Among those that lost was Toledo, whose population fell to 304,973 after losing 3,471 people. Dayton lost 1,539 people, dropping its population to 160,293. Akron's population fell to 212,179 after the city lost 635 last year. Cincinnati's loss dropped its population to 314,154.
Statewide, though, the Census Bureau estimated Ohio's population at 11.5 million people for 2004, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier.

While many older cities, including most places in Cuyahoga County, have lost population, outlying areas are growing.

No city in Northeast Ohio grew faster than Avon, which picked up 1,048 residents to reach a new total of 14,880, the Census Bureau estimated. Avon's 7.6 percent growth was third highest among cities (with more than 5,000 residents) statewide, behind only the central Ohio towns of Powell and Pickerington.

Some 370 homes were built in Avon last year, Mayor James A. Smith said.
"We're the first city out of Cuyahoga County on I-90. That's part of it. [Neighboring] Westlake is full," Smith said. "And our school system is one of the best in the state. That's what draws people with children."

David Beach who, as head of EcoCity Cleveland, promotes urban living, said regional solutions are needed to reverse the trend.

"Cleveland can't do it alone," Beach said. "There are countless ways that government subsidizes the movement of people outward to new locations," such as spending on new roads and economic development.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
rexner@plaind.com, 216-999-3505

Mayor “What”: Today you lost your bet for a second term baby….

2005-06-30T14:28:00.000-04:00

yeah, crash and burn baby...

On the same day the US Census Bureau announces that Cleveland’s population is the lowest since 1900, Mayor “What” economic/development centerpiece for Cleveland’s future goes up in flames. As I said before, Mayor "What’s" casino plan is not a plan after all. The news today tells us that Mayor “What” and her political pimp Jerald Austin, are giving up on her mirage economic plan to create blackjack dealers jobs in Cleveland because they cannot collect the required signatures to put it for a statewide vote in November 2005. It seems that Mayor “What” chances for second term are going up in flames as well, she is panicking. Her plan for the quick get-rich scheme for her friends, especially Gerald Austin, is no more.

The facts were very clear all along: Mayor “What” never had any economic plans real or imaginary for Cleveland, and she is frantic to be seeing as doing something, just anything. We have a Mayor who acted to mortgage our future and bet against all odds on the future of our city with her phantom casinos plan, so she can keep her job. As far as she is concerned, we can all go on eating cake. As long as she holds on to the big office, the shinny chauffeured cars, and her ribbon cutting fun stuff.

Campbell the wicked, and her pimp Austin will make an announcement over the 4th of July holiday indicating that they are putting their mirage plan on hold until next year, hoping over the extended holiday weekend that no one will be paying attention to their sneaky attempt. She can run, but she cannot hide from the catastrophe she inflicted on us for the last 4 years.

Grass Root Time For Frank...

2005-06-29T20:49:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

As I stated last evening, this blog is shifting into a higher gear. We should focus on Frank’s positives rather than Campbell’s negatives. We still have plenty of opportunities to shine the light on her ineptness and the corrupt machine she instituted at City Hall (and we will do so still). Last evening, a reader suggested that this blog collects 900 registered voters who list their first name, initial of their last name and their age as voters for Frank G. Jackson.

We still have 3.5 hours until midnight, let’s go folks and start showing Campbell and her cronies why Frank Jackson is going to be the 56th Mayor of Cleveland. We can do this Clevelanders; the clock is running…

Your friend,

Spencer

Open letter to our readers, The task ahead, and the person to lead it…

2005-06-28T20:19:00.000-04:00

The devastating reign of Jane Campbell has been a period that has featured 14.1% unemployment, with 42,000 African-American men gone unemployed; flawed political economic plans, becoming the poorest city in the nation; the highest crime rate in Ohio; and our schools almost going into state receivership. The campaign for the Mayor’s office should be a distinguished forum to discuss the issues of concern to our citizens and this city. This year's campaign is going to be between two different and distinct individuals: Jane Campbell, a politically deaf, inept politician, and undistinguished mayor who has never seemed truly up to the job, and the eventual candidate from the October 4 primary, Frank Jackson, who leads by example with the vision and the integrity to match.

However, Clevelanders must make their choice and soon, as must the readers of this blog. It is an easy call as far as I am concerned, especially against the backdrop of the worst four years in the history of the city of Cleveland. Please let us make it Frank Jackson, not Jane Campbell. In the end, one can do no more than guess about whether in a second term Jane Campbell would prove more competent, rather than more inept.

This blog has taken some critical criticism lately, some of it warranted. When I started this, I made it clear to all of you out there that this is not my blog; rather, it’s yours. Therefore, three months after its creation, I am asking for your opinions on how we can make this better blog by helping Frank get his message out. I want to focus on Frank’s positives and his message to our city, rather than Campbell’s negatives, for the sake of this city and our lives and the future of our children. My thoughts have varied lately from making it interactive, where many folks can contribute with ideas or even their own posts. I have no concerns about that; just email them and I will post them.

We still have nearly 100 days until October 4, and nearly 120 days until the general elections; it is going to be a long hard slug until we collectively help Frank Jackson becomes the next Mayor of Cleveland. I am trying very hard, but for this to succeed in helping Frank Jackson be elected, it’s going to need your collective help. Please let’s keep it going, I need to hear from you.

Frank's Message To Cleveland...

2005-06-28T14:23:00.000-04:00

Cleveland, we do have an alternative to the inept, lackluster, and corrput practices of Jane Campbell.

We have a candidate who has the vision, integrity, and courage to make the hard decisions that will make Cleveland great once again.

Please read below some of Frank's thoughts on where he wants to take this city:

Cleveland - it is time for us to be great again. It is time for us to determine our own fate. It is time for us to tell those who don't believe in Cleveland and who don't have our best interests at heart to step aside.

The next mayor of the city of Cleveland will determine our fate and we need a mayor that knows what is best for Cleveland.

WE NEED a mayor who understands what we need to improve public education.
WE NEED a mayor who will create jobs and grow our economy.
WE NEED a mayor who recognizes that Cleveland needs to be strong in the region.
WE NEED a mayor who is willing to reform the way the city operates so that residents and businesses get what they need

WE NEED a mayor who can make the streets of Cleveland safe. These are the things that we need. And together, you and I can make these things happen.

John Mok: The Unprofessed Bigot...

2005-06-27T13:26:00.000-04:00

John "Mockery" Mok earned his racist stripes by being of service to his bigoted master; Jane "What" Campbell. So you can say he learned his stuff from the best.

An employee at the airport wrote this article dated April 4, 2004 from the PD Letters section.

"Regionalizing will only deepen injustice to blacks". This letter reinforces the e-mail John Mok sent to his Asian friend.

In response to the March 28 article "Reframing the debate - Some black leaders warm to regional thinking, but will anyone listen?":

As a city of Cleveland employee, a black male and a manager at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, I experience and see clear acts of racism, discrimination and favoritism often at an airport that more than likely will become one of the top three places looked at for the start of regionalism in Cleveland.

No blacks or Hispanics work in positions of authority at the Department of Port Control. What I mean by a position of authority is one who works directly under the current director and one who can make decisions - such as deputy-director, chief of staff, chief planner or chief financial officer.

On the Hopkins side, there is only one black male in a position of authority. The position became available to him due to a white male going to jail for 30 days and being demoted.

Under former Mayor Michael R. White's administration, a number of white airport employees either quit or were demoted. Some of them are now back at the airport with pay raises, different titles or even the same job. How can you expect black people to accept or support a regional government when we know that these rules do not apply to us?

What will apply to us is being out of a job and getting an unemployment check. If we cannot currently have a diverse management work force, then what can you expect from regionalization of both Hopkins and Burke Lakefront Airport?

What you can expect is a board of directors who live outside of the city of Cleveland and who do not give a damn about residents of our city having a job at either airport.

The city of Cleveland must keep its local political power base and forever forget about a regional government that will be full of the good-old-boy networking system.

Just Ignore Them...

2005-06-26T20:41:00.000-04:00

In the last couple of days, I have witnessed a disturbing trend by some people who happen to be Campbell supporters on this weblog to display clear and unequivocally ugly comments about the black community in Cleveland. I will not allow this to go on. Those ugly extremists seek to polarize the West Side against the East Side, blacks against the whites, whites against non-whites, and so on.

Racism has a very ugly ring to it, and I have witnessed some Campbell supporters exposing their racist tendencies on this weblog lately.

I am here to say this once; this site does not welcome Mayor Campbell’s racist supporters or their comments. Do not waste your time coming here because you are not welcome. You can write all the ugly racist comments you want; I will simply delete them. I am giving you fair warning.

Now, we are facing the ugliest forms of racism again in our city today, and they happen to be loud supporters of our wonderful Mayor. Please do not stoop to their illiterate level.

We, the people, must be vigilant about not allowing racism to once again continue to poison our city and divide us. We have come a long way, but an exciting future lies ahead for Cleveland when we dump Campbell on October 4th.

Attention My Friends: Traffic Cameras Locations in Cleveland.

2005-06-25T21:23:00.000-04:00

Location...Location, Courtsey of Mayor nobody...

Mayor “What” is at it again with her cockamamie traffic cameras. She has no concern for traffic safety in the city of Cleveland; it is all about the money. If you recall, her propaganda minister David “the blossom” Fitz first touted this bright idea as a revenue-generating scheme. Folks this not about saving lives, it is about more taxes being imposed on us by Mayor “Corrupt” and her cronies, it is about showing her the money! This folks is pretty much the extent of her economic development blue print for Cleveland.

One interesting bit of data, according to the US Census 2000; Cleveland total population is 478,403 with 51% being African-Americans overwhelmingly residing on the East Side. This begs the question, if our population is almost evenly split between East and West Side, why is it almost 70% of these cameras are being installed on the East Side, and 30% are on West Side?

Mayor "What" says she is not racist, her actions tell us otherwise. We will respond on October 4th.

The new Security cameras will be installed at the following intersections. These cameras will record license plate number, and then a traffic ticket will be sent to your home, be careful!

East Side:

Chester Avenue at Euclid Avenue
Chester Avenue at 71st Street
East 55th Street at Carnegie Avenue
Carnegie Avenue at East 30th Street
East 131st at Harvard Avenue
East 116th at Union Avenue
Carnegie Avenue at East 100th Street
Carnegie Avenue at ML King Junior Drive
Lakeshore Blvd at East 159th Street
Saint Clair Avenue at London Road
Chester Avenue between East 55th Street and East 40th Street
Woodland Avenue between East 66th Street and East 71st Street
Broadway between Harvard Avenue and Miles Avenue
Lee Road between Tarkington Avenue and I-480 Ramp
Shaker Blvd. at Shaker Square
Shaker Blvd. At East 116th Street
Cedar Road at Murray Hill Road
Euclid Avenue at Mayfield Road
Prospect Avenue at East 40th Street

West Side:

West Blvd. at North Marginal Road
West Blvd. at I-90 Ramp
Grayton Road at I-480 Ramp
Warren Road at I-90 Ramp
West 117th Street at I-90 Ramp
Pearl Road at Biddulph Road
Memphis Ave. At Fulton Road
Clifton Blvd between West 110th Street and West 104th Street
West Blvd. between I-90 Ramp and Madison Avenue

Frank Jackson: Leadership That Matters…

2005-06-24T13:07:00.000-04:00

Frank Leads, Campbell and the Others Follow...

On June 22, 2005 Mayoral Candidate Frank Jackson, urged others running for mayor to attend a meeting at 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 23, at the First United Methodist Church "to discuss how all the mayoral candidates can put politics aside" to support the School Levy. This morning, the Plain Dealer writes that Campbell and Robert Triozzi were there to discuss with Frank Jackson how best to move this Levy forward for the sake of our Children. James Draper is opposed to the Levy; I suppose Mr. Draper wants to build more prisons in Cleveland.

The reason I wanted to bring this meeting to your attention to show all of you finally, who the leader here and the followers are. Frank Jackson is the authentic leader of this city and he got the qualities and the record of accomplishment to back it up.

He leads and Campbell clearly follows. He communicated and the others listened. You see, Frank got the visionary outlook on where he wants to take Cleveland, where other lack. His actions on our Children and their future speak volumes, because he clearly understands that Cleveland’s future is entwined with how good of an education we provide our Children. Frank’s actions speaks louder than words (take notice Mayor “What”).

Most importantly, he is an honest man. He is honest with his city and us. This man is full of integrity and a leader who will never compromise that. That is perhaps the reason Frank’s integrity is considered the most admirable trait. He keeps it above all else.

What's this - political unity? Mayoral candidates link for levy
Friday, June 24, 2005
Olivera Perkins
Plain Dealer Reporter

There they were, three mayoral candidates standing side by side, smiling for a photo and pledging to work together for the same cause.

Mayor Jane Campbell, Council President Frank Jackson and Municipal Judge Robert Triozzi - rivals at least until October's primary - decided Thursday to put political differences aside and work together for the Aug. 2 Cleveland schools tax.
As they posed for the photo, intended for levy campaign literature, a question lingered: Would the candidates' showy support for the tax issue work for or against it?

Last week Jackson invited the candidates to meet and agree to work for the tax. A few days later, Campbell said publicly that she would bring a $25,000 check from her campaign funds to the meeting to help with the effort. She asked her challengers to suspend radio and television advertising and other attention-grabbing campaigning until after the tax vote.

On Wednesday, candidate James Draper said he was against the levy partly because he believed it lacked public support. He didn't attend Thursday's meeting.
Levy campaign manager Chris Carmody said organizers wanted to run a low-key campaign. No television ads. No advertising blitz. No big fuss. But so far, the schools tax has emerged as the biggest issue in the race for Cleveland's top office.
"I don't think there is any issue more important than preparing our children for the future," Jackson said at the half-hour meeting at First United Methodist Church. "Now is the time to stand up as a unified force."

Before the meeting, Carmody described the mayoral candidates' support as a mixed blessing. Their enthusiasm was welcome, along with that of the foot soldiers in each organization who could carry the message that raising $46 million a year is essential for the schools' continued progress. But if the issue becomes a focal point in a high-profile mayoral campaign, all the attention could rouse voters to the polls who oppose the measure.

Still, Carmody said he welcomed the candidates' support. In turn, they said they wouldn't do anything that would work against the school tax.
"Mr. Carmody is the campaign manager. I will take his orders," Jackson said.

Campbell, who has so far raised significantly more money than her challengers, came with the check she promised. She also came with a statement she wanted the other candidates to sign pledging the same amount and agreeing to suspend campaigning.

Jackson said he intended to give at least $5,000. Triozzi didn't make a commitment. Both declined to sign the pledge.

"I don't think we needed that kind of posturing added to this dialogue," Triozzi said.

Campbell said she accomplished her goal without signatures.

"They didn't have to sign as long as we are willing to work together," she said.
Jackson called for a photo to capture the unity.

But nobody had a camera.

David Fitz, Campbell's press secretary, pulled out his camera phone and snapped a photo. A few minutes later, Community Relations Director Jeff Johnson returned from his car with a camera.

The three candidates posed.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
operkins@plaind.com, 216-999-4868

Jane Campbell the racist, the myth is reality…

2005-06-23T11:03:00.000-04:00

Our Little Thinkin' Mayor is Evil...

Hay, hay, ho, ho, the racist Jane Campbell has to go! Hay, hay, ho, ho our racist mayor has to go!

Our buffoonish mayor finally showed her true colors in plotting her re-election strategy. Well, after all she is a principal bigot.

According to her political hack Gerald Austin, (please see story in today’s plain dealer), Mayor incompetent strategy to STEAL the election again is to get as many black votes as she can on the East Side and deny her presumably black candidate (fill in the blanks Frank Jackson) opponent white votes on the West Side. We thought we are beyond seeing us just as black and white people in Cleveland. However, Mayor “What” strategy is let’s make it black on white, and white on black. She is a vile person with ZERO morals. Watch out people, she is panic-stricken and will do just about anything un-ethical and illegal to get re-elected.

Just as she has done to thousands of Clevelanders, she needs to be handed the pink slip on October 4.

Once again, Nepotism pays if you are a friend of the family…

2005-06-22T16:03:00.000-04:00

Mr. Mockery, can you spell Nepotism...

Clevelanders; we received this wonderful email (with all of the usual suspects involved) from a number of concerned City employees at Cleveland Airport. This was accidentally distributed during an ethics seminar yesterday (too funny). It shows Mockery giving a sweat heart job to a friend of the family at our children’s expense.

While our Cleveland Children beg for opportunities and summer jobs, Mr. Mockery doles it out to non-Clevelanders as if he owns the joint.

Mr. Mockery’s hand was caught in the cookie jar… again!

Actual Email Reprinted:

Czaplicki, Mary
____________________________________________

From: Goersmeyer, Marcia
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 3:52 PM
To: Czaplicki, Mary; Hogan, Mark
Subject: FW: Prospective Summer Jobs

Please let me know what Chris’s situation is: working at the airport. Thank you.

Mark, please add this to your agenda for tomorrow’s meeting.

Marcia

-----Original Message-----
From: Mok, John
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 3:51 PM
To: ‘Christopher Chin’
Cc: Goersmeyer, Marcia; McGraw, Candace; Hogan, Mark
Subject: RE: Prospective Summer Jobs

Christopher,

Welcome home for the summer, I trust you enjoyed your freshman year at Duke. We will be pleased to have you assist us this summer. Having just initiated the Baldrige Award for Excellence process at CLE and there is a wealth of work involving data management and communications that must be assembled. Additionally, we are implementing a regional marketing campaign to promote Cleveland as a destination which will require assistance as well. Marcia Goersmeyer will contact you to arrange a time for you to come meet with my staff and I to discuss what may be the best fit for you.

John C. Mok
Director of Cleveland Airports
Hopkins International and Burke Lakefront
5300 Riverside Drive
Cleveland, Oho 44135-3193
216-265-6022 (voice)
216-898-2249 (fax)
jmok@clevelandairport.com
http://www..clevelandairport.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Chin [mail to: chrisjchin@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 11:44 AM
To: Mok, John
Subject: Prospective Summer Jobs

Dear Mr. Mok,
It’s been a while, but how are you doing? Kids still Columbia bound?
In regards to an internship, I am good with numbers and computers. I would be willing to do pretty much anything, but would prefer to be exposed to a more enriching environment, especially working with computers or finances.
My work with my mother has given me practice in putting together brochures and projects, including some work with her website. I would appreciate anything you could find for me.
Thank you very much,
Christopher Chin
(919) 623-4883

What yah gonna do when they come for you…Bad Mayor… Bad Mayor

2005-06-22T11:18:00.000-04:00

Oh me oh my! Once again Mayor “What” disregards all legitimate standards and practices. Rather than sack her suspected lawbreaker, Utilities Director Julius Ciaccia; she is standing by her man.

Hopefully he will stand by his woman on October 4th, 2005 when you get your ass kicked.

Witness says water official took bribes

Gray defense questions evidence
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Mike Tobin
Plain Dealer Reporter

High-ranking city official Julius Ciaccia got payoffs in exchange for awarding a $7.1 million contract to a client of Cleveland consultant Nate Gray, prosecutors said Tuesday.

But Gray's lawyer said Ciaccia received no money. He said prosecutors have no evidence backing up their claim.

The statements came in the trial of Gray, Cleveland City Councilman Joe Jones and New Orleans businessman Gilbert Jackson at U.S. District Court in Cleveland. The three men are accused in a conspiracy to trade bribes for public contracts in Cleveland, Houston and New Orleans.

In 1995, Rony Joel, an engineer for national engineering firm Camp, Dresser & McKee, was trying to open a Cleveland office. He testified Tuesday that he and his colleague, Jackson, met with Ciaccia, who was city water commissioner at the time. Joel asked Ciaccia if they needed to work with a local consultant to win city business.

"He mentioned a gentleman by the name of Nate Gray," Joel said.

Gray was a close friend to then-Mayor Michael R. White at the time and often advised the mayor on city issues. Several people testified earlier that Gray held a lot of influence with White.

Camp, Dresser, McKee signed Gray as a consultant in April 1996, paying him $2,500 a
month. A few months after that, the Water Department awarded the firm a $7.1 mil lion contract to do planning for water plant overhauls.

In November 1996, Gray's monthly invoice to the company went up an additional $425, Joel said. He asked Gilbert Jackson - Gray's boss at Camp, Dresser, McKee - about the increase.
Jackson told Joel to pay the money and not to worry about it, but Joel pressed for an explanation of the expense, Joel testified.

"It is to pay for Ciaccia's daughter's tuition," Joel recalled Jackson telling him.
The company approved the expense, to be paid monthly. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said the extra money went to Ciaccia to pay a daughter's tuition at Kent State University.

Bill Whitaker, Gray's attorney, challenged the government to prove the money ever went to Ciaccia.

"There is no evidence that Ciaccia's daughter's tuition was paid by anyone because it didn't happen," Whitaker said. "There will be no evidence."

Ciaccia served as water commissioner for more than 20 years and was promoted to chief of public utilities in 2003. He has not been charged with a crime, although Dettelbach has repeatedly accused him of wrongdoing during the trial.

Pat D'Angelo, Ciaccia's attorney, also denied Ciaccia did anything wrong.

"It's simply untrue," D'Angelo said. "Ciaccia never asked for money and Ciaccia never got money."

One person who did receive money is Diane Pinson, a Water Department employee who said she often socialized with Ciaccia, Gray and Jackson.

Pinson told Gray in 2002 that she planned to go to a music festival in New Orleans. Gray had attended the same festival a year earlier and stayed at an expensive hotel.

Gray later met Pinson in the Water Department's parking lot and gave her a check for $1,078 to cover the cost of her hotel in New Orleans. Jackson gave her free tickets to the music festival, Pinson said.

Pinson said she did no special favors for Gray or Jackson in exchange for the money and tickets.

Our little thinkin’ Mayor…

2005-06-22T10:08:00.000-04:00

Don't you love this smile Cleveland...

Yesterday, our dense Mayor announced that she is running for re-election. So my dear readers here is what our dim-witted Mayor said last night: My fellow citizens, I hereby announce that I am running again for the Mayor’s office because:

I destroyed the Cleveland School District.

I am an opportunistic Scum Bag with no moral compass.

Under my watch, Cleveland became the poorest city in the nation.

I made you the most dangerous City in Ohio

I presided over one of the worst economic periods in the history of Cleveland.

We witnessed the highest increase in home foreclosures since 1998, while I am busy collecting checks from Cleveland businesses.

I am always in denial. When it comes to telling you right to your face that black is white, no one compares to my audacity.

I love to discriminate. Just go check my bitch Mockery at the airport.

Moral Deficit: I got no morals.

Failure was never an option in my life, its mandatory.

Money Controls Policy: Now that brings a smile to my face, money, money, money.

I love to exploit the people of this city, did you check out my latest billionaires’ friends from Bentonville?

I love my political contributors who fill my campaign chest. Then I send them to have fun with Julius and Johnny Mockery until these pesky feds get involved.

Political Nepotism, don’t you love Chrissie Ronayne and his Q-tee Natalie? And my “Tiger” Craig, roar baby roar. I mean we are family.

I know I am stupid and arrogant, but I love the mess I made in Cleveland. So on October 4th, when you cast your ballot; always remember you got a LOSER in me.

Now on to more serious note from Spencer. Why we shouldn’t vote for Mayor “What”? If Mayor “What” is not a complete moron, and she is, she is pathetic little fraud, pandering to a city that she cannot possibly like since we don’t belong in her privileged class, and sacrificing the future of our city for her and her friends’ financial gain.

Is that a good enough reason to not vote for her? Absolutely yes.

Where in the World is Jane Campbell?

2005-06-21T11:12:00.000-04:00

Dear bloggers: Where is Jane. See Jane run. See Jane stumble and cry.

Community leaders scrambling to keep federal jobs in Cleveland

CLEVELAND -- The last ditch effort to save more than 1,000 federal jobs in Cleveland is underway.

Business and political leaders are planning a big rally later this week, when the people who recommended the cuts come to town.

The rally will be held near the free stamp sculpture next to Cleveland City Hall on Thursday.
That’s when retired Air Force General Lloyd Newton will be here to see how the “defense finance and accounting service” works.

The Pentagon is considering moving 1,200 jobs from DFAS to Columbus and Indianapolis.
General Newton is a commissioner on the panel that is backing the move. But business and political leaders hope a big rally will help to change his mind.

“So, we are seeing elements of a case that could be made,” said Joe Roman, Greater Cleveland Partnership. “So, the important thing about Thursday is that we can bring a BRAC commissioner here to have him feel and see what we think is a productive center here in Cleveland.”

The push won’t stop at the rally.

Next week, business and community leaders will go to Buffalo for a hearing to argue their case.

Congressman Steve LaTourette calls this a bad time to reshuffle the system that pays our fighting men and women. He claims any savings would take years to realize.

Jane Campbell’s poor leadership on business comes home to roost.

2005-06-21T10:56:00.000-04:00

I love money!

It’s astonishing that Queen Jane has the audaciousness too even hint that Frank Jackson is anti-business. This is from the Mayor who thinks that business development is how much cash she can squeeze from the businesses within our city.

City's poor ranking on business-climate list hits home
Sunday, June 19, 2005

I've learned about Ohio's business climate from my family's work experiences.
In just a few short years, my relatives have gone through all the unpleasantries of trying to remain gainfully employed in the Buckeye State.

One of my brothers-in-law went south after his accounting division at one of Cincinnati's largest insurance companies moved to Texas.

A sister-in-law, who left Ohio right after college, pingponged from Florida to California to Mexico with a circuit board maker that was looking for cheaper locales in which to build its products.

Another brother-in-law recently moved to Alabama when the Boston-based biotechnology company employing him decided it no longer needed a Cincinnati presence. Then, in less than two weeks in Alabama with a biotech startup, he landed a $2 million deal worth more than the total of his deals with the Ohio firm.

And a sister-in-law with an artistic bent secured her dream job at a Cleveland-based greeting card com pany, only to find her self downsized a few years later.

So I really didn't need Forbes magazine to tell me that Cleve land ranks 113th out of 150 metropolitan areas for best places to jump-start a business or career. (The full Forbes rankings can be viewed online at www.forbes.com/bestplaces.)

It also wasn't surprising to see high-tech hubs like Raleigh-Durham, N.C., or Austin, Texas, or Albuquerque, N.M, come out among the top 10. (Boise, Idaho, was No. 1 in the ranking, which rated cities on nine factors ranging from cost of doing business and cost of living to job and income growth.) Others in the top 10 were Washington, D.C.; Hunstville, Ala.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Norfolk, Va.; Atlanta; and Madison, Wis.

In Ohio, nearly all the state's major metro areas fared better than Cleveland. Cincinnati ranked 31st, Columbus 51st, Akron 84th and Dayton 91st. Only Canton, Toledo and Youngstown scored worse.

Among the nine factors, Cleveland's best individual ranking was for its culture and leisure. That's a tribute to the region's ample museums and theaters - long hailed by the region's marketers - and its plentiful golf courses and sports teams.

Visit a local golf course on any sunny Saturday in summer and you'd leave convinced the economy is not only robust but downright roaring. Pent-up demand from cruelly long winters can be deceiving.

Cleveland also scored in the top third in crime rate - measured by crimes per 100,000 people. That's great for those of us already here.

Here's where the region ranked in job-related categories that seemingly matter most:

Cost of doing business: 103rd.
Cost of living: 80th.
Educational attainment: 87th.
Income growth: 62nd.
Job growth: 140th.
Net migration: 139th.

Interestingly, the magazine also weighted its rankings to take into account the number of engineers as a percentage of total employment. Cleveland's in the middle of the pack, at 78th.
The danger of rankings like Forbes' is that they can create an inaccurate generalization of a city.

Does this sound like the Cleveland you know?

The region is predominantly populated by reasonably educated engineers who spend discretionary income on the arts or sports, who work at companies that pay well but aren't hiring, and who live in safe neighborhoods filled almost exclusively with native Northeast Ohioans.

Perhaps.

Forbes' portrait of a working Clevelander points to weaknesses that can't be overlooked.
Quality of life is a strong selling point for Northeast Ohio. But if jobs aren't being created to make Cleveland a destination for a diverse group of job seekers, how long can the region sustain the very things that make it so attractive to begin with?

Paul O'Donnell is The Plain Dealer's business editor. He can be reached at podonnell@plaind.com, 216-999-4358.

Mayor "What" is La Cosa Nostra...

2005-06-20T11:24:00.000-04:00

Anonymous said...

Mayor "What" laid off about 300 people. Where did they go. Public Utilities. Now the Water Department is in the red to some 14 million. However the Queen kept filling up her office and the legal staff with employees, even during the hiring freeze. Can you say regionalism. The City has no money to hire back Police Officers and Firemen, but can spend over 22 million for a VOIP system that won't do all it has claimed to. Also, let's look at Debbie Monroe (who is she?). She was in charge of Telecommunications for the Cleveland IT Department. She came from Nextell. Low and Behold the city got a cellphone contract with Nextell. The phone service sucks. Verizon and others had a better plan at a lower cost and now we are stuck and Miss Monroe has left the city. What's up with that? Ms. Debbie Monroe is the cousin of ex-Chief of Staff Deb Janek (followed by C Roynane). Nepotism, here I come.

The pimping of Jane Campbell…

2005-06-19T20:49:00.000-04:00

Is she a political pimp or a prostitute? You decide...

Mayor "What’s" casino plan can be summed up in six words: Mayor Stupid has a casino plan?

We Clevelanders are becoming accustomed to the disastrous incumbency of Jane "What" Campbell. The news today tells us that the Plain Dealer in a scathing editorial is against Mayor "What’s" Casino plan (this blog said the same on May 12, please see archives). Her plan is a quick get-rich scheme for her friends, especially Gerald Austin, to make millions of dollars in consultancy fees from Indian tribes (very soon we are going to start calling him the Jack Abramoff of Cleveland) and in the process hopefully squeeze in another term for this crackpot we call mayor. The facts are clear, this person never had any plans real or imaginary, and she is frantic to be seeing as doing something, just anything. This’s very wicked, we have a Mayor who wants to mortgage our future and bet against all odds on the future of our city with her chaotic casino idea. You know why? Because she wants to be Mayor again.

With an unemployment rate of over 14.1% for Clevelanders, she turned to casinos as her economic savior for Cleveland’s revitalization. With Cleveland being the poorest city in the nation, what is her answer? How about a casino or two to pay the bills, and while we’re at it we can build 50 others around the state, so she can keep Gerry’s business thriving. Well, she is so much in debt to Gerald Austin, she has to make it worthwhile so he can stay busy collecting millions in consultancy fees from Indian tribes. It’s all spin. The fact of the matter is, and mark my word, the people of this State will NEVER approve a gambling initiative in Ohio, not now. We all have to remember President George W. Bush was re-elected with an extremely conservative base in Ohio in 2004; these are the very same voters who will defeat her destructive plan.

So, there you have it, she never had any plan, she is only playing for time, folks, until she gets re-elected. Then, she will tell us to go back and eat cake.

We have been had by this charlatan in 2001, are we going to make that mistake again? Cleveland, please say it ain’t so.

Mayor “What’s” Dummies Guide to Corruption…

2005-06-17T21:07:00.000-04:00

who needs school...

I read the Pee Dee article “Airport work part of Gray’s probe” this morning with a great deal of amazement. Mayor stupid's problem is that all of the potential suspects named in the same article are also major contributors to her re-election, as well as her Gap scholarship fund.

The US Attorney’s office should consider opening an inquiry into possible public corruption charges involving accusations that Mayor Jane Campbell granted city contracts in exchange for political contributions.

The public needs assurances that the integrity of our Government is being looked after because of the possible violations relating to campaign finance, municipal, and federal law by Campbell and her minions.

As part of its investigation into the mayor, the feds should look into the award of contracts at the airport, public service, and water department after Mayor Pickpocket took office in 2002.

Frank Jackson and Integrity….

2005-06-17T12:35:00.000-04:00

A MAN WITH INTEGRITY...

When we go to cast our ballot on October 4, 2005, we need to look for three things in a candidate. The first is personal integrity, the second is intelligence, and the third is a commitment to Cleveland and its people. However, if the person doesn’t have the first, the last two don't matter.

Integrity is a value, like courage. Even more than that, the value that guarantees all the other values. Frank Jackson is a man who lived his entire life to the degree to which is consistent with the highest values that we as people of this great city espouse. Integrity is the quality that Frank Jackson utilized to fight for his ideals and causes, and he consistently lived with them. Integrity is the foundation of this man’s character.

With the recent scandals and federal investigations swirling around City Hall, ethics and personal integrity are on everyone's mouth these days, which is why we can never trust Jane Campbell. You see, Jane Campbell is a counterfeit.

How do we, as citizens of this great city, close the trust gap? First, we must surround ourselves with the right leaders, someone like Frank Jackson. After all, it is relatively easy to teach a skill set. However, it is unfeasible to teach a person to have integrity. Moreover, that is the essence of Mayor “What’s” problem, she has no integrity.

That is why more honorable leaders like Frank Jackson make integrity their top priority when promoting and protecting Cleveland, especially in this Campbell's era of unchecked corruption.

The Fish Stinks from the Head down Mayor Stupid …

2005-06-16T20:53:00.000-04:00

Its a matter of time mockery mok...

This Weblog urges the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Inspector General office to start an immediate investigation of allegations for miss-appropriations of federal grants at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The airport director, John Mok and his chief of staff Candace McGraw, knowingly and willfully violated federal laws by using their respective offices as conduits to steer multimillion-dollar contracts ( financial consultant, wifi, airport planning, management oversight, and carpet selection for starters) using Federal AIP money to support their friends and Mayor Campbell’s political committee.

We believe that massive Federal and Municipal laws violations have occurred in 2002, 2003, and 2004 under John Mok, Chris Nielson, and Candace McGraw. These violations involve millions of dollars in contracts awarded to Mayor Campbell political supporters and friends of John Mok from Dallas, New York, and Chicago.

The issues raised here are of fundamental importance to the integrity of our laws. In tracing of these massive violations, some of the contracts awarded we used: a) close proximity in time between the award of such contracts b) and political contributions of these vendors to Campbell’s re-election committee.

We want to take this opportunity to thank the airport employess who contributed to this post. In addition, we want to let Mok and McGraw know that the beginning of their end at Hopkins is well underway, they just don’t know it.

The Queen of Darkness…

2005-06-16T11:17:00.000-04:00

Darkness descended on Cleveland when she became Mayor...

The upcoming mayoral election is quite possibly the most crucial election in Cleveland’s history. Jane Campbell is a colossal calamity at every turn of her tenure and needs to be shown the door for the good of Cleveland. Jane Campbell has consistently proven herself as inept idiot.

Everything Campbell has said lately (Casinos, Jobs, Crime, Wal-Mart) is a catchphrase designed to get her re-elected. It has nothing to do with any real plans, because she has none. She turned out to be a worthless fraud who squandered city money on her family and friends. It’s a fact that Mayor “What” and her pals presided while we became the poorest city in nation.

Mayor “What” is the primary reason people should vote against her on October 4th. The person is deceitful, a chronic impostor and a charlatan. Could you find a more unhinged personality than Mayor “What” to put in charge of our city? She has the record to prove it. She lacks the vision, knowledge, intelligence and perspective to actually make sensible decisions affecting our city.

Unless parroting the responses issued to her by Gerry Austin, she doesn’t seem to know what is going on. She is at the total mercy of Austin, her greedy donors, and the Plain Dealer.

Over and over, she has proven herself as a dismal failure. With a horrible record to run on, almost nothing she says or will say in her upcoming campaign for re-election is the truth or has anything to do with reality. She is a degenerate person who is going to lie about Frank Jackson.

She does not represent this great city, or our values. She has ruined many lives in Cleveland with her clumsy administration. Campbell and her mob needs to be removed from the Mayor’s office for the good of Cleveland and its citizenry.

Buy one fired Mayor, get Hubby for free...

2005-06-15T16:41:00.000-04:00

buzz off Cleveland, its your former queen...

Courtesy of our friends at the Free Times.

Mayor “What’s” Legacy…There are too many hungry people in Cleveland

2005-06-15T13:35:00.000-04:00

The Mt. Pleasant area is anything but pleasant under Mayor "What"

Mayor “What’s” Scorecard:

1) Cleveland's unemployment rate is the second highest among the 100 largest U.S. cities. At 14.1% unemployment rate, that is more than double the State rate of 6.3%, and the national rate was 5.4%.

2) We have over 42,000 African-American males unemployed in Cleveland.

3) Our poverty rate is the highest. 31.3% in 2003, compared to a US average of 12.7%.

4) Less than one-third of the region's workers are employed in the city.

5) In 2003, Cleveland's school system had a 37 percent graduation rate of ninth graders, dramatically limiting the future pool of an educated workforce.

6) We are Ohio’s most dangerous City, and the 20th most dangerous in the nation.

7) Hundreds of teachers and Police Officers and EMS workers were laid off from city, while she puts her family and cronies on the public payroll.

8) Bringing more poverty to Cleveland with Wal-Mart. While, subsidizing her newest billionaire pals from Bentonville to the tune of $32 million.

Just look at her scorecard, Mayor “What” on: Jobs, Schools, and Public Safety, she is a colossal failure in performance and judgement!

A message from a real Frank Jackson Supporter…

2005-06-15T10:50:00.000-04:00

I got this post on the comments section last night. I was moved by how sincere this person is, I decided to post it.

Sincerely,

Spencer

Anonymous said...

To help you with your electoral decision, I am voting for Frank Jackson. I know where he stands on all of the issues and I truly and honestly believe that he is the only one who can make Cleveland great again.

The mayor tries to paint him as anti-business, but that is not true. He probably is the best business negotiator around.

The mayor is going to try to bad mouth him in the ward that he represents; however, everyone knows that a council member legislates and it is the mayor's job to administrate.

Unfortunately, she does not understand the separation of the branches of government, nor how government functions. I am here to tell you that I live in the ward and from the first day I became a homeowner, Frank made sure that my family was aware of all of the resources available to me and what he could do to make our transition to ward 5 a great one. I moved into the ward when he was in year 10 of trying to build housing and revitalize the once drug invested Longwood plaza. I remember driving by the plaza without looking over or blinking an eye; now, I stop and shop at the plaza. This man is dedicated and he is for us.

He also encouraged me and my family to attend the monthly ward club meetings (2nd Saturday of every month at vgs on east 55th street) where he always educates all of us on the issues in city hall and facing the city.Any and every politician that aspires to run for office or reelection comes to our ward club for endorsement.As the old saying goes, "he is the real McCoy." there is none greater.

Sincerely,

A real Frank Jackson supporter

Judas is among us…

2005-06-14T12:15:00.000-04:00

Thanks for nothing.... Mayor "What"

It should have come as no surprise that in today’s Plain Dealer, Julius “the snitch” Ciaccia stands accused by the US Attorney’s Office of being the Cleveland City official demanding bribes. Nate Gray gave up Mayor “What’s” Utilities Director by implicating him in his testimony yesterday, as the person who gave cash and Indians tickets to steer city contracts to Camp, Dresser, and McKee, the beneficiary of a multi-million dollar contract under Mayor “What”. Camp, Dresser, and McKee got $15 million in Cleveland Water Department contracts between 1996 and 2003 (that figure doesn’t include airport work).

On this weblog we published a post (please see June 2nd archive) that shows Mayor “What” and her entrusted gang, may have violated a number of laws relating to campaign fundraising, the steering of government contracts toward political contributors, and the abuse and misuse of City departments (including the Water Department and the Airport). In exchange for campaign contributions for her reelection and Gap Scholarship fund. It also shows that she was aided by, among others, the current Water Commissioner Chris Nielson, and Utilities Director Julius Ciaccia. However, the person who seems to dodge the Feds is the current Water Commissioner, Chris Nielson.

If you recall, When Mayor “What” was elected in 2001, she appointed Mr. Nielson (her trusted neighbor in Shaker and the local Director of Camp, Dresser and McKee in Cleveland) as the Deputy Airport Director in charge of the airport expansion, where Camp, Dresser, and McKee had a multi-million dollar contract. In fact, Chris Nielson was so good; he quickly and specifically asked for $25,000 from several businesses that had contracts at the airport; the explicit understanding was that when you pay, yet get rewarded with city contracts. This is the same Mr. Nielson who left City employment in the late nineties to become the Director of Camp, Dresser, and McKee in Cleveland. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house! In fact, Chris Nielson was so good; he quickly approved a contract change order for a contractor at the airport for $3.0 million, while he was enjoying his weekly poker game. The same year Mr. Nielson requested and received at least $25,000 from firms doing business at the airport. Again, multi-million dollar contract extensions were the payback. As a job well done, Mayor “What” promotes him and sends him to a civil service, protected position as the Water Commissioner. And who do you think benefited? You guessed it, Camp, Dresser, and McKee. That’s why she is regarded as one of the best in the city’s history when it comes to pay-to-play schemes.

In the Plain Dealer article Ciaccia blames Mike White for his misfortunes. I’m sure that Mayor White held a gun to his head and demanded baseball tickets and college tuition.

The residents of this city demand the immediate removal of both Ciaccia and Neilson. As Sherlock Holmes would say, the dog that didn’t bark (Campbell) is as important as the dog that did (Ciaccia and Nielson).

NOTE: A special thanks goes to the wonderful hardworking men and women at Utilities who contributed to this post.

Cleveland: The most dangerous city in Ohio under Mayor “What”...

2005-06-13T14:32:00.000-04:00

She lies like a rug...

In 2002 (Mayor “What” first full year in office), Cleveland earned the dubious title as the most dangerous city in the State of Ohio ahead of Dayton, and Cincinnati. This ranking was based on population of 75,000 and over. Parma is the safest in Ohio. The rankings are based on a city's rate for six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. And for Mayor “What”, you can run but you cannot hide from your failures.

Overall Cleveland Crime Total for 2002 = 33209
Per 100,000 People = 6900.23
National Average per 100,000 People = 4118.8

Cleveland Murders = 80
(*) Per 100,000 People = 16.62
National Average per 100,000 People = 5.6

Cleveland Forcible Rapes = 619
(*) Per 100,000 People = 128.62
National Average per 100,000 People = 33

Cleveland Robberies = 3263
(*) Per 100,000 People = 677.99
National Average per 100,000 = People 145.9

Cleveland Aggravated Assaults = 2402
(*) Per 100,000 People = 499.09
National Average per 100,000 = 310.1

Cleveland Burglaries = 8096
(*) Per 100,000 People = 1682.2
National Average per 100,000 People = 746.2

Cleveland Larceny/Thefts = 13250
(*) Per 100,000 People Total = 2753.11
National Average per 100,000 People = 2445.8

Cleveland Motor Vehicle Thefts = 5499
(*) Per 100,000 People Total = 1142.59
National Average per 100,000 People = 432.1

Cleveland Arsons = 489
(*) Per 100,000 People Total = 101.61
National Average per 100,000 People = N/A

The (*) Indicates Cleveland crime level worse than national average.

Based on 2002 Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Reports. Population data used for crime calculations is based on the Cleveland crime collection area and may not match US Census data.

Lets try something that works, lets give Frank Jackson a try...

2005-06-13T11:16:00.000-04:00

He is a Cleveland Leader...

Frank Jackson is considered by many people in this city as a visionary leader and an honest self-made man at a time when corruption in politics gone unchecked under Mayor “”What”. Aren’t we tired of Mayor “What” who continues to mislead and betray Cleveland, with the Wal-Mart catastrophe being the latest episode in her haunting history. Isn't it refreshing to hear one of Cleveland’s top leaders finally speak honestly to us? This is a man with moral fiber.

I am honored to learn more and be able to write about Frank Jackson. He vigorously seeks to place the needs of the people and the city of Cleveland at the front of his agenda, political, economic, or social. Today, I went to City Council web site and decided to insert a biography about Frank Jackson on this blog. He is just not any politician; he deeply cares about this city and its people.

From City Council Website:

Frank G. Jackson became president of Cleveland City Council in January 2002; and since being elected, he has worked with his colleagues to affect change under the motto of "Moving Cleveland Forward."

President Jackson, 56, became a city councilman in 1990 when the residents of Ward 5 decided he was the best man to help improve their crime-ridden, economically depressed community that had the highest percentage of poor people in the city. During his first term in office, the Central area comprised most of President Jackson's ward. He now represents Central, North Broadway and portions of Kinsman. Since being elected to office, President Jackson has led his community on a housing renaissance and is working hard to reinvigorate retail development.

Ward 5 community residents are seeing run down housing complexes demolished. In their place are new housing developments that provide residents with safe, decent, affordable housing. One example is the $111 million redevelopment of Longwood into a complex now known as Arbor Park, which, upon completion, will have more than 600 townhouses reserved for low-income individuals and families. Hundreds of new single-family homes are also being built throughout the community.

President Jackson is a Vietnam War veteran. After being honorably discharged, President Jackson returned to his E. 38th St. home and began taking classes at Cuyahoga Community College. In 1975, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in urban studies and history from Cleveland State University. He continued his education by enrolling in CSU's graduate studies program where, in 1977, he earned a masters degree in urban studies.

President Jackson worked his way through law school as a night clerk at Cleveland's Municipal Clerk's Office. In 1983, President Jackson received his law degree from CSU's Cleveland Marshall College of Law. After graduation from law school, President Jackson worked as an assistant city prosecutor, but left the prosecutor's office to run for the Ward 5 council seat.

Brent "Peddling Gossip" Larkin…

2005-06-12T12:26:00.000-04:00

please start reporting and stop peddling

Yellow Journalism is defined as journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers. Well, in today’s PD inside politics, Brent Larkin personifies that characterization. He is rambling about Frank Jackson’s campaign once again. Mr. Larkin discusses in exceptional detail (two paragraphs) the Jackson Campaign woes since his consultant Alan Melamed left this week. His argument is so inconsistent that it is not even worth the time to counter it.

If I recall, on May 31, Mr. Larkin utilized the section allotted to him to indirectly rib into Frank Jackson on how he failed to take on Campbell, and more critically did not offer himself as the alternative to the Cleveland voters. All political campaigns have difficulties; Mr. Larkin uses this par-for-the-course occurrence to stealthily attack Frank Jackson. Newsflash for Mr. Larkin: maybe it would be worthwhile for you to take a stroll on a Saturday morning at the West Side Market, or go to Tremont and see what opinions city voters have of Frank Jackson.

Brent, please do not mistake gossiping for real news.

GOTCHA Cleveland...Mayor "What"...

2005-06-11T22:29:00.000-04:00

say cheese...for Mayor "what" money camera...

I wrote this post on May 3rd. Sam Fulwood in today’s PD talks about the same thing. Mayor “What” is beyond inept, she has the symptoms of a person with detrimental conduct for our city. It’s high time for her to go see a shrink. Please see below my re-post.

Mayor Ribbon has no concern for traffic safety in the city of Cleveland; it is all about the money. However, that money will end up in the pockets of the vendor; Affiliated Computer Services ( I wonder if high ranking city officials solicited $25,000 for her “Scholarship Fund” so she can build her imaginary political base). The motive behind these big brother cameras is not intelligent traffic safety, but higher revenue at the expense of the taxpayers so the money will follow to multi-millionaires in Dallas, BREAKING NEWS FOR MAYOR Ribbon Gamble: (THE TAXPAYERS ARE TAPPED OUT). This does make you wonder what happened to her illusionary $6.5 million revenue projection. These systems are expensive to buy (between $60,000 and $90,000 a pop). However, these babies generate so much money so quickly that they practically pay for themselves in the first year. After that, it is pure profit for Mayor Gamble; may be that is why she wants casinos in Cleveland.

The images these cameras produce then sent to a center called Lockheed Martin IMS which is based in the DC area; yes the same Lockheed the big weapons manufacturer. In 2001, Lockheed sold the IMS division to Affiliated Computer Services of Dallas for $825 million. It is at that center that ACS specialists, not only develop traffic films, but also DECIDE which images merit tickets (she lied again about our police officers involvement in the decision making process). It has been estimated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study that the registered owner of the vehicle, the one ticketed after ACS matches a plate number to a DMV record, is the actual driver of the car only 72 percent of the time.

It gets better folks. Now some people may ask will ACS engineers who install these cameras are tempted to reduce the amount of time that the traffic light stays yellow before turning red. Exactly, because it will likely increase the number of drivers who run red lights, this adjustment allows the camera system to catch more red-light runners, and thus generate more revenue for mayor ribbon gamble. Sadly, altering the timing of the traffic light also causes more rear-end collisions, and thus more injuries to drivers and their occupants (the readers digest had a story on this).

In addition, further industry studies suggest that these cameras are already being used to justify reductions in the number of police officers assigned to our streets; did she say we need more cops to patrol our neighborhoods? What we need folks isn’t fewer cops equipped with mayor ribbon cameras. We need more police officers who are from our communities to serve and protect.

With all due respect, I disagree with city council decision passing this controversial measure last night. However, a decision has been made, now we go forward. Mayor Gamble has abused her office before; she will do it again. City Council has a solemn duty to watch over a mayor who has gone wild. If you recall, her propaganda minister first touted this bright idea as a revenue-generating scheme. Folks this not about saving lives, this is about showing her the money!

Folks, This's pretty much the extent of her economic development blue print.

The fight goes on…

2005-06-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

thank you so much...

I want to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for taking the time to visit this weblog and contribute to this public debate about Jane Campbell. I hope your investment in this weblog will prove fruitful on October 4th, when we unseat her. In the last 36 hours, this weblog witnessed over 4000 hits, the most since I started it on April 24, 2005. I cannot tell what happened yesterday; it seems my post about her betryal of Cleveland was the tipping point for many of you out there who decided to sign on and participate. When I started this, I consciously decided to leave it free for all; I did not want to act as a censor based on whether I like people’s comments or not. This weblog is raw with emotions and I want to keep it that way. However, after reading all of the comments from last night’s post, I might have done a few things differently, especially regarding the ones that mention racial issues. Would I like to change the language of some of the profanity as well? Absolutely, but again, I did not want to be your editor. You see, Campbell is such a polarizing figure; it’s difficult to remain neutral. Please stop by, provide your input, and keep the public debate alive.

We need to work toward our common goal so we can unseat Jane Campbell on October 4th. This weblog will be much less powerful without your participation and input. I would like to continue this to further our common objectives to make this city better for our families and us once we get rid of Mayor “What”. Once again, thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Spencer

Mayor “What’s” Web of Deceit…

2005-06-10T10:17:00.000-04:00

Trust Me, Our Streets Are Safe...yeah right Mayor "What"

It's understood that incumbents campaigning for re-election will spotlight the good news like a Hollywood premier and downplay the bad. The problem for Mayor “What”, with the election just four months away, is that the bad news keeps pouring in like Niagra Falls and there’s NO good news in sight. So she claims bad news as good. You see it’s the dishonesty thing. It's the recent pattern of lies and twisted logic that we have a good economy (14.1% unemployment rate), the schools are getting better (read today’s PeeD), we are creating jobs (ask NASA and Charter One), and improving the neighborhood (yeah, Shaker is safe).

Again, she cannot make a distinction between fact and fiction. It's a pattern of calculated dishonesty. Her credibility on matters relating to Jobs, Economic Development, Schools, Police Officers, Firemen and the diminished City services answers the lingering question of her leadership and integrity. SHE HAS NEITHER.

Mayor “What” is indeed in denial, when it comes to telling you right to your face that black is white, no one compares with Mayor “What’s” audacity.

I found this article in the Westside Sun News. It’s pretty amusing, especially with most of the attendees city employees working for her Majesty. It therefore begs the question. Step out on your front porch and ask yourself; do you feel safe?

Mayor sees progress throughout the city
Thursday, June 02, 2005
By DAVID PLATA
West Side Sun News

Things may not be perfect in Cleveland, but they're not all that bad, either, to hear Mayor Jane Campbell say so.

I have about had it with people talking about what's wrong with Cleveland, and I'm not going to stand here and tell you it's perfect. It's not; we have challenges. But we're meeting them, she told about 250 people, including her cabinet members and City Hall staffers, who packed into the gym at Our Lady of Angels School May 26 to hear her State of the Neighborhood address.

Campbell, who is seeking re-election this year, noted there are 36 neighborhoods in the city, but said she couldn't hold a similar session in each one. Instead, she lumped together the Edgewater, Cudell, West Boulevard, Jefferson, Kamm's Corners, Puritas-Longmead and Riverside areas.

We have made progress in each of the neighborhoods represented here, she said. But she also spoke about the city as a whole.

For instance, Campbell said she inherited a city in financial disarray, which took more than two years to correct, but that the city now has a professional finance department.
While those difficulties led to lay-offs of safety forces, she said, more than half of the laid-off police officers have been brought back, and the city is on track to bring back firefighters. She noted her recent budget proposed bringing back 45 officers, a number reduced by City Council to 30.

In 2001, she said, the First District, stretching from West 65th Street to the far west of the city, ranked second in violent crime out of the city's six police districts.

Last year, the First had the lowest of all districts in the city, she said, receiving applause from the crowd.

Campbell was introduced by Councilman Michael Dolan, D-21, in whose ward Our Lady of Angels is located.

She received a mostly friendly welcome, answering questions ranging from the airport noise insulation program (she asked the questioner to talk privately with John Mok, airport director) to the negative impact of bringing Wal-Mart to Cleveland as part of the coming Steelyard Commons project in the Flats.

Campbell said every problem that Wal-Mart creates, including paying low wages and increased competition for neighborhood businesses, are offset by the fact that Clevelanders already shop at suburban Wal-Marts, and that the city will reap the taxes the company will pay.

Campbell also asked for support for the upcoming August levy request for the city schools, noting it seeks one-third less than the last failed ballot. She said the schools administration has been cut 20 percent through lay-offs or attrition, while closing under-used school buildings to further cut costs.

The moves are to help stave off a $36 million budget deficit, school officials have said.
Campbell said the graduation rate five years ago was 28 percent and will be slightly less than 50 percent this year.

I won't be happy until it's 100 percent, but we're moving in the right direction, she said.
Campbell said the administration is meeting her target of creating 1,500 new housing units per year.

One of the biggest challenges we face is job creation and job retention, she added, saying the coming redevelopment of the east bank of the Flats and the Steelyard Commons development will help with that.

And she said her initiative to legalize casino gambling, if approved, will create 4,000 jobs in Cleveland.

I'm not a big gambler, but I'm big on jobs, she said.

In the mid- and far-West Side, Campbell noted, her administration has made park improvements, including a water park at Halloran Park and reconstruction of the Maplewood Baseball Diamonds.

She also noted several road projects in the area and the planned streetscape renovation in the Kamm's Corners area.

We need to do a little bit of a facelift, to upgrade it to make sure it will last for the future, she said.

Jane Campbell Betryal of Trust…

2005-06-09T14:16:00.000-04:00

can you trust this person?

On October 4th, the people of this city go to the polls to elect a new mayor. We cannot re-elect Jane Campbell to a second term in the face of allegations of abuses of power by the Mayor and her cabinet. Such the allegations about Water Department pay to play scheme, which is still under federal grand jury investigation. The Water Department is not the only city agency that has been politicized by the Campbell administration: so too have been the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and Public Service. The allegations about the Campbell administration’s abuses of power are becoming well known in Cleveland. Frank Jackson, should not let her "stonewall" the issue any longer. This not about her “character” only, it is about the abuse of her office to the benefit of the privileged few.

The question of abuse of power goes beyond the matter of Campbell’s character: Rather, it is an imperative substantive issue. In a Mayoral campaign, no single issue is more important than how an incumbent Mayor uses her office, and whether as Mayor she has adhered to her oath of office. This issue needs to be debated during this campaign. The issue of Mayor Campbell’s abuse of power cannot (and must not) disappear: it must be faced, if we are to remain a city governed by the rule of law.

The Grand Jury investigation will point out that officials in her cabinet may have personally profited from their offices. She certainly did politically by imposing on many Cleveland businesses the “donation” concept so she can fatten up her political coffers.

It takes a Jane Campbell's evilness to raze a city.

Ten Things Wal-Mart Doesn’t Want You To Know…

2005-06-09T10:56:00.000-04:00

Ten things Mayor "What" doesn't want Cleveland to know about her newest pals from Arkansas...

What we have here, is a Mayor and her friends trying to enforce their elitist attitude on tens of thousands of Cleveland residents. The more you read, it becomes evident that Wal-Mart is the latest corporate donor to have Mayor “What” in their pockets. This is an outrageous proposal to bring Wal-Mart to the heart of Cleveland without even a whiff of public participation about this proposal. Will she ever stop? Not until she thoroughly and completely finishes off this place.

By Jared Cram, Temple University

Living on a college campus brings with it two immutable truths: last call always comes about four hours too early and you never have enough money in your pocket. Given this second fact, I’m sure most of you have ventured into your local Wal-Mart at least once. (Sure, that same Wal-Mart is probably the fifteenth to open in your town and maybe even qualifies for its own zip code at this point.) But the next time you’re tempted by a color television selling for about ten bucks, consider the following ten facts that Wal-Mart doesn’t want you to know about the real costs behind its “everyday low prices.”

1. Wal-Mart regularly violates federal law and flouts international human rights standards.
The right of workers to organize labor unions is protected by the National Labor Relations Act and is also cited as a basic human right by the International Labor Organization. In 2002, 43 distinct charges were filed against Wal-Mart for violations of the National Labor Relations Act and since 1995, 60 complaints have been filed against Wal-Mart with the National Labor Relations Board. These complaints and charges range from illegal firings to threats and intimidations against workers who attempt to exercise their right to organize. In fact, Wal-Mart provided store managers with a “toolbox for remaining union-free” that includes lists of warning sings that employees may be organizing and a hotline number to summon a corporate anti-union SWAT team.

2. Wal-Mart regularly falls below industry standards for employee pay.
In 2001, the average pay of a Wal-Mart worker was $8.23 per hour, more than two dollars less per hour than the average supermarket employee wage of $10.35 per hour. Furthermore, Wal-Mart associates only average 32 hours a week, causing many employees to be classified as “part-time,” thus restricting their access to health care and other benefits exclusively earmarked for full-timers. In fact, Wal-Mart wages are so low that the average Wal-Mart worker’s annual salary in 2001 was almost $1,000 below the federal poverty line of $14,630 for a family of three.

3. Wal-Mart has made the glass ceiling wider and thicker than ever before.
In 2001, six female employees in California filed suit against Wal-Mart, triggering the largest class action lawsuit in American history involving more than one million current and former female employees. Women in the Wal-Mart “family” make up more than two-thirds of its hourly employees, but hold only one-third of managerial positions, according to a report in the Financial Times. The report also notes that only 15 percent of Wal-Mart store managers are women. Check out Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart to learn more.

4. Wal-Mart sometimes doesn’t even pay its low wages at all.
Poverty level wages are bad enough. But Wal-Mart apparently feels that not paying wages at all is even better for its bottom line. As of December 2002, 39 class action lawsuits in 30 states were filed against Wal-Mart claiming tens of millions of dollars in back pay owed to hundreds of thousands employees. These lawsuits included instances of Wal-Mart forcing employees to work through breaks, forcing employees to work off the clock, and even deleting hours from employees’ time sheets without their knowledge. According a former Wal-Mart manager in Alabama and Mississippi, Wal-Mart’s central office threatened to write up managers who didn’t reduce labor costs and this led to managers leaning on assistant managers to falsify time sheets and force employees to work without pay.

5. Wal-Mart routinely makes health care unavailable or unaffordable for its employees.
Wal-Mart’s company health insurance is too expensive or practically impossible to get for many of its employees. Just over 40 percent of Wal-Mart employees have insurance through the company plan, far fewer than the 66 percent that is typical of a firm the size of Wal-Mart. There are a few causes for this: classifying employees as “part-time,” increasing the waiting period for eligibility, and refusing to allow employees to extend coverage to spouses and children. The end result of this is that the public is forced to pick up the slack with our tax dollars. According to a study put out by the Institute for Labor and Employment at the University of California-Berkeley, Wal-Mart employees received $20.5 million in public health care assistance in California alone. And Wal-Mart is more than happy to keep this subsidy gravy train going. Knowing that its employees can’t afford the company health plan, or because they just refuse to make it available to employees, Wal-Mart encourages employees to apply for public assistance programs like Medicaid that are meant to be last resort safety net options, while Wal-Mart continues to bilk American taxpayers for millions in health care costs.

6. Wal-Mart regularly drains public coffers at all levels of government.
The government subsidization of health care for Wal-Mart employees is just the tip of the iceberg. Wal-Mart routinely uses taxpayer money to finance its never-ending corporate growth. A report commissioned by the House Committee on Education and Welfare estimates that a two hundred person Wal-Mart store costs federal taxpayers approximately $420,750 a year, or $2,103 per employee. These costs include:
-$36,000 a year for free and reduced cost school lunches,-$42,000 for Section 8 housing assistance,-$125,000 for low-income family tax credits and deductions,-$100,000 for additional Title I expenses,-$108,000 for state children’s health insurance expenses, and-$9,750 for low income energy assistance
State and local governments also lose when Wal-Mart comes to town. A study commissioned by the Los Angeles City Council in 2003 found that Wal-Mart is a net loss for the communities it moves into. An influx of “big box retailers” such as Wal-Mart was estimated to cost an additional $9 million in state health care costs and a loss in pensions and retirement benefits so large that the increase in public assistance necessary to make up the shortfall could not even be covered by increased sales and property taxes.

7. Wal-Mart makes a habit of flouting immigration laws and regulations.
As Wal-Mart continues its race to the bottom in worker compensation, Wal-Mart routinely seeks out the most vulnerable and powerless workers in the American economy: undocumented immigrant workers. On October 23, 2003, federal agents raided 61 stores in 21 states leading to the arrest of 250 janitors who were undocumented workers. Similar raids in 1998 and 2001 led to the arrest of an additional 102 undocumented Wal-Mart employees. In addition, the 2003 raid led to a grand jury being convened to consider federal labor racketeering charges against Wal-Mart executives. These charges were bolstered by wiretapped conversations between Wal-Mart executives and labor contractors that proved Wal-Mart knew its employees were undocumented immigrants.

8. Wal-Mart has played a major role in the outsourcing of American jobs overseas.
Although Wal-Mart has always tried to pass itself off as a company deeply concerned with the well-being of everyday American workers, actions speak louder than words. No longer content to follow its old motto of “Buy American,” Wal-Mart now imports over 50 percent of its merchandise from overseas. In 2003 alone, Wal-Mart purchased one-eighth of all Chinese imports to the United States. And by insisting on the low prices that only sweatshop labor can provide, Wal-Mart has used its tremendous power in the marketplace to bully American firms into moving their production facilities overseas. And once overseas, these firms are required to keep prices low at all costs to please Wal-Mart; even if it requires forcing employees to work in sweatshop conditions for little pay producing products that the factories lose money on.

9. Wal-Mart has consistently discriminated against disabled workers.
Wal-Mart has also been an equal opportunity discriminator by choosing to ignore federal laws banning discrimination against the disabled. Wal-Mart has been the defendant in a number of suits alleging this kind of discrimination and in 2001 alone it was required to pay $6 million to settle 13 such lawsuits. These lawsuits were brought not by individuals, but by the federal government through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These settlements also required that Wal-Mart change its hiring practices and provide more training for employees in anti-discrimination laws. Nonetheless, on January 20, 2004, Wal-Mart was again in court after refusing to hire a man in Kansas City because he required a wheelchair.

10. Wal-Mart routinely puts its employees at risk of serious injury or death.
Wal-Mart has also chosen to flout federal worker safety regulations on a regular basis. This is most apparent in its policy to “lock-in” employees overnight. Wal-Mart claims this is to prevent employee theft and unauthorized breaks. In order to enforce these rules, Wal-Mart threatens to fire any workers who use the fire exits and only provides a key to unlock the doors to a manager. On many occasions, workers have been locked in overnight without a manager, forcing employees to wait until morning to receive treatment for injuries such as broken bones and lacerations. And although it has yet to happen at Wal-Mart, American history teaches us what happens when employees are locked in with no way to get out. In 1911, 146 employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, mostly young women, were burned alive behind doors locked by the owners. More recently, in 1991, 25 workers were killed when a fire broke out in a chicken processing plant in North Carolina where the employees were locked in. The reason for the locked doors? Management concerns of employee theft and unauthorized breaks.

In the end, it’s pretty obvious that Wal-Mart is one of the most irresponsible employers in America today. It is hard to narrow its corporate misdeeds to only ten points. This list doesn’t even include Wal-Mart’s penchant for censorship or its damaging environmental record. As the largest retailer in the United States, Wal-Mart is a giant whose dominance allows the company to set standards in the retail sector and instead of acting as a responsible corporate citizen, it has chosen to lead a race straight to the bottom for American workers. Carry this list with you next time your wallet looks a little empty and you’re deciding where to shop.