The Observation Deck

I like to write letters to the Plain Dealer more than they like to print them. I don't know if this one will make the cut so I thought I'd post it here:

I see the recent report that the Cleveland area leads the nation in job losses was buried in the business section. Was this an attempt to avoid the issue? If so the Plain Dealer missed an opportunity to debate the last 20 years of development policy in the Cleveland area.

Can it be that our regional leader’s fondness for pyramid style projects like stadia, arenas, convention centers and taxpayer subsidized apartments, condos and hotels are actually the cause of our economic malaise?

Subsidies to politically connected institutions and business are not an investment strategy but crony capitalism, the worst form of economic malfeasance. Small innovative companies are being crowded out, business without connections are being forced out and individuals without opportunity are moving out. That’s the reality. Can we face it?

It’s time to debate and examine the policies of the last 20 years. We cannot afford to hide from the problem and embark on another round of subsidies for another group of well-connected investors.

Hi Bill,

I definitely admire the spirit but am missing some specifics:

* What small, innovative companies (specifically) are being crowded out?
* What businesses (specifically) without connections are being forced out?

Can you name any or is this hyperbole? I totally agree we can do better but, if this was your letter to the editor, without any specifics, it isn't as strong as it might be.

Just my humble opinion,

Matt

Matthew Lee wrote:Hi Bill,

I definitely admire the spirit but am missing some specifics:

You mean something more than whining?

This is all over my head but I'll give it a try.

I'm not going to rehash the problems of our crony capitalist model here in Cleveland. This story about France applies to the Cleveland area as well:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/1039 ... rrage.html


How about solutions?

Well...

Economics:

Stop the subsidies. We don't need a tax payer subsidized hotel in downtown Cleveland.

Stop the Downtown centered economic model. Our current efforts are giving us parasitic growth and not organic growth.

Challenge the institutions:

The Cleveland Clinic:

is not an economic engine. It's growth comes at the expense of the independent doctors practice and the emptying the local office building. Any savings achieved are wasted away in Taj Mahal projects that dilute economic activity and increase costs and duplicate what we already have. Somebody in a position of political authority needs to say is out loud. The Clinic is the General Motors of the health care industry. What General Motors did to Detroit the Clinic will do to Cleveland.

Tri-C and CSU:

are failed institutions that cannot compete and are held together with propaganda and more and more tax dollars. The institutions should be merged and allied with local high schools to provide a $10,000 college degree (for the whole 4 years, not $10,000 per year) and the 6 year high school education. Every once in awhile the Plain Dealer writes a story containing lines that "10,000 jobs are unfilled" because employers can't find skilled workers. Tri-C and CSU need to be jobs focused.

Political:

I'm not a big fan of government redistribution. Howver, in an environment where all the powers of government at the State and national level are focused on stealing from one region to give to another we need to elect better theives. If Columbus wasn't the capital it would still be a cow town.

To a big extent we are victims of the econmic policies of the Obama administration but there is not much we can do about that. We are on our own.

We need to challenge the government unions. The millions spent on fire departmet overtime is just one example of the kind of waste that eats away at a City. Another are programs that provide $6 million in pension payments to "public servants".

None of that is going to happen of course. In Countries like Greece and Spain the youth unemployment is 50% and the economies are in a state of permanent depression. Any chance either of those two will embrace freedom? None.

It's pretty much the same with Cuyahoga County. We are hooked on the government centered economic model. It works here just as well as it works anywhere else.

60 years ago Korea was a basket case and Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Now the sitution is revearsed. Why? The lesson there applies to Cuyahoga County as well.

Bill,

The above type of analysis should go into your letters to the editors.

It will increase the likelihood that your letters will be published ... if you can get the letters within the word limits.

Matt

Bill Call wrote:I like to write letters to the Plain Dealer more than they like to print them. I don't know if this one will make the cut so I thought I'd post it here:

That's the beauty of The Lakewood Observer Project! It belongs to YOU ... and YOU get decide what to write/publish/print!

Peter Grossetti
Associate Editor for Community Engagement
The Lakewood Observer Project

[quote="Peter GrossettiThat's the beauty of The Lakewood Observer Project! It belongs to YOU ... and YOU get decide what to write/publish/print!

Peter Grossetti
Associate Editor for Community Engagement
The Lakewood Observer Project[/quote]

I'm sure by now you realize that that fact annoys a lot of people.

Bill Call wrote:[quote="Peter GrossettiThat's the beauty of The Lakewood Observer Project! It belongs to YOU ... and YOU get decide what to write/publish/print!

Peter Grossetti
Associate Editor for Community Engagement
The Lakewood Observer Project

I'm sure by now you realize that that fact annoys a lot of people. [/quote]

Oh, darn ... I had better stop then! Boohoo! Waaah!

Thank you sir, I'll have another:

The Plain Dealers recent article about the Federal lawsuit against Lakewood got my goat.

Lakewood is doing much better than other cities in the area. Here some statistics on the increase or (decrease) in home values since 2007:

Lakewood (-9.5%)
Cleveland Heights (-41%)
Parma (-29%)
Fairview Park (-9%)
Middleburg Heights (-12%)
Euclid (-61%)
Independence (-14%)

If you take a short drive down Detroit or Madison you can see the new development and vitality up and down the street. Home values are rising, the schools are excellent and the population is actually growing (slowly).

What undermines that positive message? The housing policies of our local institutions.

Lakewood apartments are being converted to half-way houses. Those half-way houses are centers of crime and disorder that undermines EVERYTHING the city and its residents are trying to accomplish.

Mental Health Services has relocated residents of its homeless shelters to apartments in Lakewood, converting Lakewood apartments into homeless shelters. How much can a City take? Is that even good policy on any level?

Adding to insult to injury is the fact that apartments like Hidden Village are the centers of violence and drug dealing and the courts have basically ordered the City to stand down. How much can a City take?

Lakewood has what many other cities wish they had and everything the Plain Dealer says a City should have and yet our own County institutions are waging war against the City.

There has to be a story there somewhere.