In Vino Veritas

Late last year I wrote a column entitled Château Hough. In it I proposed establishing a winery in my neighborhood of Hough, specifically in the Upper Chester part of Ward 7 that abuts Cleveland Clinic and University Circle. I then used every means at my disposal to invite everyone who might be interested (ward residents and non-residents alike) to an exploratory meeting on Jan. 15.

Now, I fancy myself a fairly good communicator, but somehow my idea for what amounts to a factory that bottles wines (and, by the way, would perhaps employ 40 or 50 people when fully operational) and ships the product to retail stores locally and hopefully eventually all over the world, turned into two other things. The message somehow got garbled and now I'm supposedly planning to establish vineyards to grow grapes, or open up a beer and wine joint where I plan to sell cheap glasses of Champipple.

For the uninitiated, according to the Urban Dictionary: “Champipple was first used as a phrase in one of the early Sanford and Son episodes. It was defined as a drink which was a mixture of ginger ale (not champagne — which is too expensive in the hood) and Ripple.”

Neither is true. First, there isn’t enough land in all of Ward 7 to establish enough vineyards to grow enough grapes to make wine commercially, and second, my wife and I engineered a referendum to dry up our precinct over four years ago because of a bothersome (and value-deflating) carryout store that was located right across the street from our home. So I’m definitely not trying to open any kind of beer and wine outlet in another part of the ward.

I think some of the confusion and misinformation is politically inspired; some folks want to control the ward so badly they will spread lies to keep any project they did not propose from coming into being — such is politics in Cleveland.

These folks purposely avoided coming to the meeting and getting the straight facts, just so they can spread inaccurate rumors. However, there are always going to be impediments to progress in any community, but these kinds of challenges only make the accomplishment sweeter when it does come to pass. The good thing is, I know how to deal with these kinds of folks (I’ll refrain from calling them “snakes”) — since hardball is the game I know well and love to play best.

But enough of the negative — let me get to the good news. Over 60 folks from all over Cleveland (and beyond) braved one of the coldest days of the year so far to attend the meeting and I want to sincerely thank all of then from the bottom of my heart. They got to hear people like Michael Loos, the expert from the Ohio State Extension Service explain how Cleveland can become a national leader in the green movement by testing the soil, utilizing remediation where necessary, and then planting grapevines and other types of crops on the vast vacant acreage in the City of Cleveland, and how we can teach young people about healthy eating choices, food production, and careers for residents that can’t be shipped overseas.

Next they heard Giancarlo Callicchia (a vineyard owner, sculptor, and local businessman) explain how the “must” to make wine can be purchased from all over the world until local vines can begin producing grapes in four to five years, and how we can perhaps begin producing small batches of private label wines for area restaurants later this year, training and utilizing local residents to carry out the work.

They also heard from attorney Richard Herman, who explained the EB5 visa, a federal program that would allow millionaire investors from all over the world, and especially from China, to invest in the winery idea, as well as other business startups in minority communities. The new stores and shops along stretches of Payne Avenue (Cleveland’s newly emerging Chinatown) is something we in Hough should be seeking to emulate in our own community, and outside investors have assisted in the development of many other areas of the country. Columbus redeveloped an entire section of the city with the efforts of African immigrants — many of whom we slammed the door on here in Cleveland.

The visa program is relatively simple and straight forward: If a foreign national invests $1 million in a business that creates 10 jobs, the investor and his immediate family are granted green cards — the first step to American citizenship. Other investors — some that don’t care to leave their home countries — are looking to invest a great deal more. They’re holding literally trillions of US dollars abroad and know that the American economy, while at low-ebb now, is one of the most stable in the world.

Take the Medical Mart for instance. According to Herman, Chinese investors stand ready to put up all of the money to make the project a reality (instead of us taxing ourselves to raise the funds). The City of Philadelphia recently went that route on their proposed convention center. When our elected officials give a dozen reasons why something can’t be done here that is being done successfully elsewhere, the smell of bullshit begins to permeate the air.

The visa program has been in effect since 1990, but not utilized here in the Greater Cleveland area due mainly to xenophobia. Our public officials evidently don’t care to use money put up by “those people.” The Bush Administration dragged their feet for years, but the Obama Administration can change that from day-one by simply ordering immigration officials to just process the paperwork, the laws are already on the books. Yes, under the new Obama Administration this truly can turn into new day in America, and projects like Château Hough can become a community-stabilizing reality.

Thanks to a lot of help from some very talented and dedicated people who assisted me in staging the event, a lot of energy was created around the winery idea, and we’re looking forward to capitalizing on that energy.

Cleveland can be a national leader in the move to a greener economy but we first have to adjust our thinking. We’re never going to be a 500,000 person city again, and perhaps that is a good thing. However, if we spend our efforts chasing the impossible, rather than attempting to make Cleveland the best 350,000-person city it can become, we’re going to lose. Those who fight against the tide of the times always lose, and in terms of cities, the smart conclusion around the world is that “smaller” is better. Things are about to get real interesting in America, and I want Cleveland to be on the cutting edge of the change. A winery in Hough? Why not?

From Cool Cleveland contributor Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com

Read Mansfield's book From Behind the Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race, and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate. It is available again in hardcover through the author. Visit him online at http://www.frombehindthewall.com. (:divend:)