His government might have given him a hand up rather than a smack down. In NYC, the NYTimes reports today,

To Avert Blight, City Will Repair and Resell Vacant Homes

Now Frank's home was not "vacant, abandoned", but I wonder if it might not today be a boon to the Tremont neighborhood had he been given a bit of assitance instead of a bulldozer and police presence. 

There you go commissioners - spend that $42 million you have collected to renovate and resell homes that have been foreclosed and abandoned. We can compete with New York, but not with a medical mart. We can compete with programs that address social equity and economic development in our neighborhoods. 

Last night while walking my dog, I walked around and peered in the windows of a renovated house on the next street. Yes, like several others this house was purchased by an investor and I have been watching the work since the summer. Trees whose roots had invaded the basement came down (the new owner left the wood in hte yard with a sign - free firewood, please help yourself), the front yard was dug up to replace the faulty sewer connection, bricks on the stoop were carefully removed scraped and reused to rebuild the new steps, the inside was beautifully restored and tasteful new kitchen and lighting fixtures were installed, all windows were replaced with new thermal panes, oak floors were refinished and the house got new paint inside and out. The lawn was reseeded and under the snow is a brilliant green lawn. Each time I walked by, a white van with a handpainted sign was in the drive. Local contractors - a family affair (husband, wife and son) were hard at work each day. Last night as I walked around peering in the windows of the lighted rooms, I was struck by the beauty of this lovingly restored colonial home. Another home down the block from me is undergoing the same treatment. I live in the Heights. Why coudn't this happen in the city of Cleveland, too? We have $42 million after all... it won't solve the problem, but it would make a dent. We could begin with a few homes where the folks are still living in them and paying taxes. We could begin by given a hand up rather than a smack down. 

Susan, your comments remind me of the little yellow house at 3406 Denison, now lovingly renovated by a man who has moved to the neighborhood and is investing his talents--he is an architect, who can actually build things with his hands, because he started as a contractor. We have people in Cleveland with these skills, people who work with their hands and, if given a house, they will give back to the community

In a matter of months, the architect took a house that was on death row and has made it a signature, defining home of the neighborhood.  If you look at the taxes on the house, $1,623/year, you see that he is not being gauged or given special treatment.  He is contributing to the tax base of the City of Cleveland.  Frank Giglio was paying a comparable amount until the City started harassing him.  As a matter of fact,  I have been watching the auditor's site and it seems to me that numbers keep changing on Frank.  I am also finding some people drop off the auditor's list.   I also find other Tremont residents with much lower tax assessments.  

But, I digress and I know that these inequalities will never be examined by the PD, so my original proposition is this--how do we start a new Arts and Crafts movement in Cleveland from the ground up??

  It is obvious to me, too, that this agenda, if you can call it an agenda...it seems to be heavyhanded, blundering, obvious profiteering, designed to benefit a select group.  What do we do? You say:

I'm mapping all this out - all you really need to do is list all the non-profits involved in the SIIs and look at their boards and then the funding boards and then follow all the money - it stays within that pool.

I agree.  Now, where do we go from here?

  I know I am meandering, but in the short term, I wonder how Frank Jackson's administration will parlay technology and social networking into the economic recovery. So far, NEO has not shown any real advance in our local economy through one community and social networking.

Meanwhile, DC as an urban center, will benefit enormously with our  wonderful nerd-in-chief.  Obama's mastery of technology and social networking has the city abuzz with a new-found energy and $$$.  The immense orchestration of events and family attractions astounds me.  And, his administration wisely invites other cities to capitalize on the moment.  How will Cleveland fare on the inauguration day?  Will restaurants and businesses see an uptick in activity?

  Please see this post at Preservation Sans Politics.

Gund Foundation reported their losses and warned that we will all have to tighten our belts - nonprofits seeking their cash that is; Cleveland Foundation said they were OK... for now.

"Earlier this week, the Cleveland Foundation said that it is making changes too in response to increased demand from local agencies supplying food, shelter and medical services.

Spokesman Scott Tennant said the Cleveland Foundation's endowment had assets of $2.2 billion early last year but lost between 10 percent and 15 percent by September. Fourth-quarter losses haven't been totaled yet.

Because of the losses, the foundation will defer issuing capital grants, which typically are given out in the spring, Tennant said. Board members will decide if they can afford to give them out at all this year, he added.

Tennant said the foundation had its best year ever for fund raising last year. A $39 million gift from a Pepper Pike couple's estate boosted donations to $71 million. It's one reason the Cleveland Foundation expects it won't see a major drop in grants in 2009, he said.

But if the economy continues to slide, it could affect the Cleveland Foundation dramatically in coming years, Tennant said."

Looks like that story has changed.

See the report here: THE RECESSIONS IMPACT ON THE SAFETY NET IN OHIO AND PENNSYLVANIA

Folks, when community foundations have their hands out for federal assistance, does this give anyone an indication? It's a depression. Do we have to wait to hear that from the Federal Reserve a year from now? And as we wade into this depression is it the right time to be building convention centers and extra highways and making plans to move the port?

Is it not time to make funds available to put people to work repairing homes and moving families into them? Is it not time to grow food locally and dispense with the crap the city wants to put in the way of getting a lot on which to grow a breakfast lunch or dinner? Is it not time to stop talking about an extended freeway to the CCF's backdoor? Is it not time to admit that no one is going to be able to afford the expense accounts of big convention shindigs and they will learn how to use technology (the internet and videoconferencing) to make their critical purchases? Is it not time for mother's or fathers to be able to return to homemaking, cooking, mending, reading to their children, entertainment that consists of free activities like walks in the woods or a nearby park?

What if the new building projects didn't happen? Could CIA survive a few more years in their current location? Could we do without a convention center? Could the port increase business right where they are? Could doctors learn to take the transit? 

Ease on out of your denial... this is gonna be one hell of a rough ride. The only balm is that rich people got swindled, too.

“Just visualize a dining-room table with everything laid out in rows,” Sherman said. “They’ve taken the jewelry out of the safety-deposit box and laid it out—all the earrings, and then come the bracelets and the suites of things that go together.” Often, the house is for sale, too. “Everybody down here has David Webb jewelry,” Sherman said, referring to a company known for its gem-encrusted animals. “And there’s all the inherited jewelry: things from the twenties that are from the great-grandmother. And then the grandmother’s things are from the forties and fifties, and now Mom is selling her things that are from the seventies.” Sherman helps them prioritize: “I always say, ‘Well, now, have you worn any of it? Or is there anything you’re still emotionally tied to?’ ” She does a bit of therapy: “Most of them never thought about having to come up with money to pay regular expenses." Sell-off: FAMILY JEWELS

  I spoke with a contractor today, who admitted to me that he has been offered to have back taxes, demo liens, water/sewer liens  "waived" for picking up the right project.  How does it work?  Who are these people?

 2000 Denison

Stay tuned for another Denison demo nearby to benefit the NRP scheme--the address plate has been removed from the house.  I do have a camera now.

  Who can we attribute this quote to?:

" The fact of the matter is that people living in government houses, sending their kids to public school, and receiving TANF, WIC, ODC, and subsidized utility bills, consume from the system without contributing a dime back to it. That burden falls on those of us who are educated and work hard. I'm personally okay with that. I'll pay my taxes to Cuyahoga County if it means that someone else doesn't feel the need to hold me up at BP and rob me of a 'hood tax.'"

When does some one wake up and suddenly find themselves one of the elite?

Speaking of families doing things - I just want to share something.  Last summer I took my granddaughter 4 at the time out in the yard - she was playing dress up - an old pink easter hat, a red christmas dress - her favorite red shoes, a pink rose bouquet she'd made herself - and we took lots of pictures - she posed all over the yard in front of flowers, she sat on the steps, all kinds of poses - I downloaded them  and made a bunch of copies - then she and I took a bunch of magazines and sit down on the floor and cut out whatever pictures she liked - animals, plants, anything - then we got some construction paper and folded it in a book form tied it together with a pretty ribbon - got some glue, glitter and her photos - we cut her out of her photos and then pasted the magazine pictures on the pages of the book - went back and pasted her into the book in different scenes  like sitting on the edge of a river or standing in a forest - walking with big dogs - where ever her pose would fit.  Then when we finished we could turn the pages and tell the story which was then about her and an adventure and the story could be different every time we looked through the book - we had so much fun and she adores the book - now she wants to make more books.  It only cost pennies and makes such wonderful memories.

  Winter is the time to dust off our ability to entertain ourselves.  Great idea :)

flour paste and my grandma's house -

thank you Jerleen!

  Here are photos of the Olney Museum taken today 2/8/2009

Please scroll to the top and see other photos that relate to the intersection of West 14th St. and Fairfield in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio.  Mayor Jackson in his City Club address today 3/5/2009 acknowledged that the preferred City of Cleveland solution to the Inner Belt bridge crisis is to build two separate bridges--one to keep open, while the other is being built.  So, the obvious question would be how does this existing land clearing fit into the overall scheme???

 Note: in the last photo taken of Frank Giglio's house, the new windows
had been "harvested."  The house with the windows intact actually looked more presentable than the current state of the Olney Museum and the adjacent Victorian buildings.

View Larger Map

  For the parking garage going in to this vacant landscape?  Has anyone seen the plans?

I wish that I could find a photo of the large house that served as the offices of Donlevy* Construction. It was solid and well-maintained and located on Fairfield and torn down along with the Greek coffeshop. Donlevy also had an adjacent and fenced parking lot, which was excavated as part of this scheme. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=fairfield+cleveland+OH+44113&oe=utf-8&clie... Turns out I was able to find a photo of the street before the demolitions, although the contractors had moved out before this photo, so it looks weedy. (I actually remember the Donlevy building closer to West 11th, so it looks like it came down before the google photo). Who paid for these demolitions? Did we pay for these demolitions?

Anyone know what is planned for the former Eikona gallery building across from Parallax? At one time, the Greektown folks tried to desperately buy it before Eikona purchased it. Eikona finally let it go. Is it slated to be demolished, too?

*(Not quite sure on how it is/was spelled)

But I may be able to get a few phone numbers if soneone needs them to check in on Frank.   You are good to be concerned. 

  Henry--can you give us an update on the Inner Belt bridge meeting held tonight 4/21?  Chris saw you there--he noted that several houses have been demo'd on Fairfield west of the I-90.  The alignment of the new bridge will obviously be west of the existing Inner belt.  What is the purpose of the land clearing on east Fairfield and demo of Frank's house?  For equipment staging??