By Roldo Bartimole
“Habit conditions more deplorable scenes than conspiracy could contrive.”
That’s one of those gems written by Murray Kempton that I have used before because it presents such a concise summation of how most human events unfold.
I think, however, that “habit” often has the element of planned deception without having the formal structure of a conspiracy.
Why is Cleveland the way it is?
If you don’t know the “way it is,” I’ll explain it from my perspective.
Cleveland is a dying organism. Maybe a manslaughter victim, too.
There are interests that are trying to keep it alive. However, there are interests that are also not averse to seeing it die, at least large parts of it. It gets rid of the “rot,” so to speak.
Those are interests of power. They include corporate, political, foundations and other money takers.
I’ve only watched these powerful forces at work for slightly more than 40 years. However, they have been seriously at work here since the end of World War II.
The purpose was to reverse Cleveland’s downturn and recapture the Cleveland that was headed toward an industrious city of one million people.
This, of course, isn’t going to happen and all now recognize that it will not happen.
However, there are still forces at work that want to at least head it back in that direction.
What helped ruin Cleveland 40 to 50 years ago was the civic (read: corporate) plan for urban renewal. Civic leaders would use a federal program to revive the city. They planned badly, executed poorly and failed miserably.
I bring all this up because there is a sense of despair again about Cleveland and what to do about it.
Seems nothing has worked.
Then I hear from people in Cleveland – some who moved into the city with the hope that the effort was an act of local loyalty – who now question that move.
One talks about “tagging,” or more commonly known as graffiti.
He says there’s “tagging everywhere in Ohio city.”
“The latest display appeared overnight this week and covers the entire wall of the supermarket (on West 25th Street),” he writes. He called Councilman Joe Cimperman but Cimperman did not return the call. “Nothing,” he says, “gets done.”
The writer lives, however, on the east side and bemoans the changeover of his street from homeowner to primarily rental now.
“Properties that surround my home feature – rear porch that fell off the house and (is) leaning against building – junk cars – garbage in yard – garbage cans strewn around the house – frequent blaring of hip hop and other music – car stereos blasted all night.”
His final two words are, “I’m moving.”
This is the new urban renewal, or as called in the 60s, urban removal.
People are pushed out by conditions.
The city has no money to create enough livable neighborhoods, particularly where the poor live. Poverty comes in the macro and micro in Cleveland – the city itself and its people.
There are powers that maybe feel this exodus by poor services could be the only way to revive Cleveland. Let natural forces drive the unwanted out as subsidies help draw the wanted in.
Mike Polensek, dean of City Council, probably has been around too long. He expects someone to cry out when he sees the poor conditions in his ward and city, and the limited resources of the city.
That’s why he wrote a letter to Dan Gilbert, chairman of Quicken Loans and owner (with minor shares still with Gund interests), about his plans to move the Cleveland Cavaliers to Independence for practices in new facilities. (The Cavs have a practice court and weight room into the Arena, built by Gateway. Says one vet sports reporter, “Only in a pampered society” would the arena facilities be inadequate).
Gilbert comes close to the billionaire club with assets of $900 million, according to Forbes magazine. The Gunds are billionaires even without the $365 million Gilbert paid for the team they had bought for $20 million some years before.
“For the record,” wrote Polensek, “Independence is a fine community. However, it is not Cleveland and it is certainly not the city that expended almost a half billion dollars along with the Cuyahoga County Commissioners and unwritten by our citizens to build the Gateway Complex so that the Cavaliers would have a new downtown home and would not� have to continue to play in a corn patch where they were drawing 10,000 fans on a good night.
“The city of Cleveland went above and beyond the call of duty to help the Gund family and the Cavaliers to have a first-class facility an to build a competitive franchise which obviously you recognized or you would not have purchased the team,” wrote Polensek.
Polensek was concerned that Gilbert was taking income tax revenue out of Cleveland to Independence. Taxes from players, executives and others. Cavs first approached Independence officials about the relocation plans, Polensek said.
For some reason, Mayor Frank Jackson welcomed this deal as if it were a winner for Cleveland and fitting for his regionalism itch. However, this is less regional cooperation than trying to make the best of a bad deal.
Why Jackson took the platform for the deal’s announcement with the Cavs executives and Independence Mayor Fred Ramos I cannot fathom.
Jackson was quoted in the Plain Dealer saying, “I’ve always been opposed to poaching, stealing from one another.”
He has also said, “We can and should encourage business to locate where it is in their best interest to do so, without stealing jobs and revenue from our neighbors.”
Well, what does he call what Independence has taken from Cleveland, borrowing? The facility will cost some $20 million.
The story put out was that Cleveland splits the income tax revenue from the players when out in Independence. However, splitting what belongs to you does not seem a bargain to me.
Was Cavs chief executive officer Mark Stornes trying to amuse when he told the press that, as the Plain Dealer put it, “… the Cavaliers have asked for no property tax incentives to make the move and that he would not support anything like a tax abatement that would hurt the schools.”�
Stornes also said, amusingly, that the Independence facility would be “convenient to downtown Cleveland.” Duh, isn’t the Q where the Cavs practice now IN downtown Cleveland?
That alone should have sent shock waves through Mayor Jackson. The Q arena, including the practice facilities built within the arena for the Cavs, pays NO PROPERTY TAXES on its downtown building. Cleveland, as Independence, has school to pay for.
Cleveland tax laws state rather categorically: “In the case of employees who are non-resident professional athletes, the deduction and withholding of personnel service compensation shall attach to the entire amount of compensation earned for games that occur in the taxing community.
“In the case of a non-resident athlete not paid specifically for the game played in a taxing community... the compensation earned and subject to the tax is the total income earned during the taxable year…”
Sounds to me as though the Cavs owe for the games played or the annual salary, not for practice sessions.
Polensek is worried about the loss revenue.
“The City of Cleveland is at the financial crossroads and we need every dollar we have and then some in our effort to maintain basic City services and programs. Our economy (has been) flat and for many years, the city has confronted a fiscal crisis…. The city’s available revenues continued to decline (in the 2000s) and we faced soaring costs both to compensate our employees and to deal with� general inflationary trends for expenditures such as utilities and health care,” Polensek wrote to Gilbert.
Polensek also noted “… the overwhelming majority of Clevelanders and their children will never get to see LeBron James play a single game because they simply cannot afford it.”
Polensek said he was told that the Cavs want a high-class place for the players and to keep LeBron happy. “It needs to be a luxury complex,” Polensek said Stornes told him. “They want to cater to the player’s every whim,” said Polensek. “They even want a putting green.”
They can have whatever they want. However, they should start to understand that they should pay for it themselves, not take half of the income tax due Cleveland with them.
Gateway chairman Bill Reidy in a message response said the Cavs management never told him of the move to Independence. Nothing in the lease would preclude the move, he said. However, Reidy said some believe the Cavs should remain in Cleveland. “I don’t necessarily disagree with that,” he said.
Most interesting is that no one else aside Polensek has had much to say about this latest stab in the back. City Council once again appears late and lame on this issue. (Council earns a rubber stamp quality since Jackson’s ascendance to mayor.)
No PD editorial, no PD columnist or sportswriter that I have noticed has attacked this deal. Should I expect it? No. By now, I know that habit conditions more deplorable scenes than conspiracy and the news media are in the habit of favoring the rich and powerful.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Roldo Bartimole roldoATadelphia.net
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