Pee Dee Shortchanges its Readers

Pee Dee editor Susan Goldberg obviously has been trying to find a way to keep junk from dominating the paper’s front page to meet the growing criticism of a Page One that disgusts many readers.

The front page of Saturday, December 29, reveals the strategy I’ve noticed.

Junk dominates. Dutifully, the orange Browns football helmet accompanied by a meaningless promotional piece sits atop the page. It runs three inches deep across the entire top of the page.

Below it, we are given a second sports presentation. A big one. It runs five-and-a-half columns wide, 13 plus inches long. This piece is about Cleveland’s “latest pro hockey team.” It’s more a free fluff ad posing as news.

This has become the prototype Pee Dee front page.

However, Goldberg does give us NEWS on the front page. There is a one column headline over an honest to goodness news story. It tells about death penalty lethal injections by the state based on a released report.

A second legitimate piece runs below the Pee Dee’s dominate “sports” coverage. It is a compilation article about the developments of the Benazir Bhutto assassination. It’s about two-and-a-half inches across most of the bottom of the page.

So, apparently, Goldberg is protected. Yes, Virginia, there is NEWS on the front page of the Pee Dee.

But scarcely. It’s ass-covering for the editor.

If newspapers are to compete in this media saturated environment they must produce news of value.

Otherwise, they are self-inflicting the death they all seem to fear.

Cimperman – A Politician Bought & Paid in Full

Councilman Joe Cimperman is an ambitious fellow.

Nothing really wrong with that.

Cimperman wants to be a Congressman. However, he has chosen to oppose a sitting fellow Democrat – Dennis Kucinich.

Advice to Kucinich: End your quixotic run for President and return to do the job of a legislator and raising issues, which better suits your talents.

The question, however, arises, since Kucinich represents his constituents well and he pursues a progressive alternative to the usual status quo politician, what and who will Cimperman represent?

We should find out clearly later this month. Candidates’ financial documents will be available to reporters. The reports at the board of elections will detail just who Cimperman contributors are. If the documents are well reported, as they should be in the Plain Dealer, the article will detail not only who is funding Cimperman but what relationship those donors might have to the role of Cimperman as the downtown councilman.

In essence, are the developers funding Cimperman?

With each significant donor, the reporter should apply the standard, “Has the donor ever received, or might expect to receive, special favors from the downtown Councilman.”

The truth is that Cimperman has been a sponge for donations from the top developers in Cleveland. Or anyone else within reach.

Just how eager he is to be a supplicant of developers was revealed by comments Cimperman made about a developer who didn’t seek handouts from the city.

Cimperman lamented the lack of a request for subsidies by a Los Angeles developer who is renovating a property at 5300 Lakeside.

It must have hurt Cimperman’s feelings that said developer didn’t come to him asking for a favor.

A favor given, of course, is a favor owed.

Cimperman, in this case, mourned that the developer didn’t at least ask for the quickest, easiest of gifts, a mere $250,000 in public funds. Cimperman told reporters that his simple signature could unleash the $250,000 from the city’s coffers to the developer’s pocket.

Oh, why didn’t he just ask? Cimperman questioned.

What does this kind of corporate welfare indicate about Cimperman?

That he’s an easy mark for manipulation by those who make a business practice of corporate welfare – taking whatever they can get from government.

It says to me that Cimperman lacks the discrimination necessary to distinguish between need and want.

This is a quality too evident in our politicians.

They are too free with taxpayer money.

Too eager to dish out tax money from a city that supposedly experiences a great shortage of revenue.

Cimperman also has been playing a cute game at Council. He has supported Council President Martin Sweeney (and thus Mayor Frank Jackson) when it seems clear that City Hall has been undistinguished and likely the weakest City Hall team I can remember. Cimperman may be the key reason Sweeney hasn’t been tossed overboard.

Cimperman’s reliance on downtown interests offers Kucinich just the kind of issue that the long-time West Side politician has used to spur his troops and soil his opposition.

Now, the Pee Dee has had a target on Kucinich’s back and Cimperman the Easy will be the paper’s choice. This is especially true if the editorial page boss, Brent Larkin, the chum of politicial manipulators, has his say – and he will. Larkin – and the newspaper generally – seem to harbor deep resentments toward Kucinich. I can’t say that there are no reasons for this animosity but they take it to the unseemly extreme. One has to wonder if all the new faces in the hierarchy of the paper might avoid past animosities and try to be more even-handed.

I’ve written before about Cimperman’s donor avarice. What was true in 2003 is true today.

The following I wrote in March, 2003:

Joe Cimperman is a political charmer. Popular and ubiquitous, the young politician also can claim to be City Council’s foremost moneygrubber.

Less confident colleagues hold out a tin cup in hope of some financial sustenance, but Joe unabashedly uses a silver cup in his drive for campaign money. If you haven’t received an invitation to a Cimperman fund-raiser, don’t count yourself among the city’s movers and shakers.

The youthful jumping jack of politicians seems to have his hand out constantly for donations. He doesn’t ask for dimes, quarters or even a ten spot. He’s into hefty donations especially from people who do business with the city.

Cimperman caters to the right people. He had a fund-raiser at Johnny’s, a favorite restaurant of civic elites, including Dick Jacobs. Johnny’s (gave) a $750 in-kind contribution by donating the event place and food but Cimperman paid $1,500 as “tips” of $100 each for 15 servers.

He collects more dough than any city councilmember in the city’s history has. The money comes in small, large and larger denominations.

His annual campaign declaration filed in January shows Cimperman collected a hefty $63,210 in 2002 alone, an amount that brought his bank account to $150,004 before expenditures. More than a tidy sum for a council member to provide on his or her own. He spent $59,113 in 2001-2002, leaving him an enviable balance of $90,891, more than two years before he needs to seek re-election. Not bad or a supposedly good-government politician.

As the council member serving the downtown area, the ubiquitous Cimperman is in a good position to tap the city’s top developers and owners of real estate interests. He does not much miss the opportunity. His ravenous fund-raising efforts raise the question of how indebted he has become to those who feed his campaign kitty.

Cimperman can be a creative, energetic fighter for a number of worthy causes he espouses. He has fought for the homeless, union workers and artists. Thus, he can be a progressive force. He’s also a media favorite because he gives reporters easy access. (Some colleagues, however, read his thirst for self-promotion to be showboating.)

Nonetheless, his unquenchable fund-raising creates worries.

The need for a huge campaign fund mirrors his lofty ambitions. In 2002, he desired the city’s top job. He played a clever game by having his name titillating out there as a mayoral candidate. However, he didn’t scratch that itch, coyly dropping out after enjoying public attention. Now he has another yarning for a county commission seat. However, he does have a problem. Fellow Democrats hold all three seats. Running against an incumbent Democrat would give his ambition a bad name.

Some Cimperman financial backers are particularly worrisome. For example, the Forest City gang now is pressuring politicians for its plan for a convention center at a cost of some $500 million (before interest), fattened Cimperman’s kitty by $4,000, all last June.

Donations of $500 each came from Al Ratner, Forest City co-chairman; another $500 from Charles Ratner, president and CEO. Donations of $300 apiece came from others of the Ratner clan: Audrey, Betty, Brian, Deborah (Salzberg), Illana (Horowitz), James, Mark, Ronald and Tawny, contributed in alphabetical order. In addition, Forest City co-chairman, treasurer and premier political string-puller Sam Miller added $300.

Former Cleveland baseball team owner and developer Dick Jacobs – who wants the convention center built near his empty Public Square real estate holdings – sent Cimperman $1,000 checks – twice. As a known skinflint Jacobs somehow must have fallen under the spell of the liberal Cimperman. Or else, Jacobs is simply looking forward to building another tax-abated hotel with Cimperman’s blessing. (It was interesting also to watch the usually aloof Jacobs, with cane, amble in to hear another convention center decision-maker, Mayor Jane Campbell, make her state of the city speech.)

Many of Cimperman’s generous contributors hit his begging cup with $1,000 gifts, no small amount for a council member. Among them were the political law firm of Climaco, Leftkowitz, Peca, Wilcox and Garofoli; Joseph Hanna, parking; East 4th Street downtown developer Rich Marin, twice; Joel Cole, downtown parking; Harvey Oppmann, real estate; Jason Lucarelli, temporary work firm; former Councilman Benny Bonanno and his employer Bob Kanner of Bobbie Brooks; North Point properties and its principal John Ferchill, back into development here; Robert Pfaff, $1,500, of Carney family interests, and on and on.

The $500 plus list also was long. Continental Airlines, which does business with the city’ as does anti-labor law firm Duvin, Cahn & Hutton; architect Paul Volpe, involved in lakefront development; Pete Spittler, an architect offering a convention center proposal (two at $500); architect Richard Fleishman, also involved in a convention center pitch, $550; and the elite law firm of Jones Day, $850.

At $250, there are such notables as the Cleveland Browns; the mayor’s chief buddy Nate Gray; pricey council consultant John Zayac; Shaker Square developer Adam Fishman and others.

Cleveland needs vigorous political leaders. The question is: Who will have more influence with Cimperman when vying interests inevitably must divide limited resources. He certainly hasn’t shown himself to be a fighter against heavily subsidized downtown developments. In fact, he’s usually quite ingratiating with developers.

At some point, we may get the true answer to “What makes Joe run?”

From Cool Cleveland conmtributor Roldo Bartimole roldoATroadrunner.com
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