Submitted by lmcshane on Thu, 02/25/2010 - 05:39.
Cleveland nonprofit sold homes to employees, a violation of city and federal rules
February 18, 2010, 8:58AM
(NOTE: I originally published this as a comment--but I am republishing in light of the recent Westown CDC story published in the Plain Dealer)
The end for most CDCs in NEO, can't come soon enough for me. My opinion stems from my experience working at Tremont West Development Corporation and from my time served as a board member (I was later run off the board).
These organizations suck the life blood out of our neighborhoods. While there are many well-intentioned folks who work at some of these organizations--for the most part, CDCs do next to nothing for residents other than when they try to occasionally justify their existence with popular, highly visible community events like Taste of Tremont.
What concerns me, especially, on top of the CDC bloat, is the gross reorganization of services and federal funds that the Cuyahoga County Reform agenda proposes and how this structure will relate to the tangled CDC web of funding.
Where will the funding come to elect and run the eleven proposed Cuyahoga council offices? It seems to me that we will continue to NOT receive basic city services, to have LESS representation and MORE pork, than we have now as we construct a more bloated, and ever more polarized bureaucracy.
Tell me there is not some master race politics going on here...from the CNDC "toolbox": https://web.archive.org/web/20060207170425/http://www.cndc2.org/
Population changes
- Block estimates CDC summed total
- Changes in Black Population in CDCs
- Changes in Black Poopulation in SPAs
- Changes in Hispanic Population in CDCs
- Changes in Hispanic Population in SPAs
- Changes in total population in CDCs
- Changes in total population in SPAs
- Foreclosure Crisis Data
But back to the story--Will the Plain Dealer just scratch the surface of this story--or will they investigate insider transactions at all of the local CDCs??
BTW, the photo above is 2915 Tampa Ave.--recently reported as "sold" by the CDC Old Brooklyn Development Corporation--picked up from HUD in May 2009.
Westown Development Corporation is supported by CDBG funding from Councilwoman Dona Brady. Old Brooklyn Development Corporation is supported by CDBG funding primarily from Councilman Kevin Kelley.
(originally posted Aug 4, 2009-reposted Jan 15, 2010--reposted/updated February 24, 2010)
(AND...no... poopulation is not my typo :)
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CITY OF CLEVELAND ANNUAL GRANTEE PERFORMANCE REPORT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM (CDBG) NOTIFICATION OF AVAILABILITY FOR PUBLIC REVIEW The Department of Community Development is in the process of preparing its 2010-2011 Year 36 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER), including a report on the affordable housing activities, for submission to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on August 24, 2011. The CAPER details how the City of Cleveland spent federal CDBG funds between June 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011. Copies of the City's Year 36 CAPER are available for public review at: THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CLEVELAND CITY HALL- ROOM 320 601 LAKESIDE AVENUE CLEVLEAND OHIO 44114 Individuals wishing to obtain information regarding the CAPER or any aspect of the federally funded program administered by the Department of Community Development may do so by contacting Kellie Glenn, Interim Compliance Manager, Division of Administrative Services, at 216-664-4070. Written and/or verbal comments regarding the CAPER will be accepted through September 12, 2011 and should be directed to: DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CLEVELAND CITY HALL ROOM 320 601 LAKESIDE AVENUE CLEVELAND, OHIO 44114 ATTENTION: Kellie Glenn FRANK G. JACKSON, MAYOR DARYL P. RUSH p.d.aug.19,2011 2694818
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See this article and please cc. the supervisors of local HUD Director -
Douglas Shelby, director of Cleveland's HUD field office, said the agency is examining the city's use of Afford-A-Home dollars.
http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2010/02/mayor_frank_jackson_orders_rev.html
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Comment from Catch5 on Thomas Ott's reporting and PD's lackluster efforts to investigate racketeering in Cleveland...
by ANGELnWard14 December 18, 2011 10:10 PM EST
Community Development Corporations (CDC's) funded through HUD grants which trickle through cities like Cleveland city Council have been a direct player in this entire scheme as well....the 36 year cycle which has been abused by not for profit administrators that are codependent on annual funding allocations has made this a real "Political" playing field(endorsements/bribes, etc.). CDC's live large planning, stategizing, networking, and implementing ALLEGED plans for the future and completing rehabber type work in the communities to build low to moderate income housing with federal dollars...but in many cases; it results in housing developments that are far outside the "affordable costs" of the demographic populaces that they were allegedly built to serve. Humorously, once the devastation came in the aftermath of defaults.....they found a new way to get rich quick....investing in the demo business.... Funny part...all along the City and County Planning Commissions were implementing long term visions and cycles of deprivation of CDC funding to TARGET (Low Income) AREAS.....why? Because they knew long ago that the real plans were to DEMO those exact neighborhoods for things like Highways and Green Space Parks (Unknowing citizens were caught in this trickbag for years. They went to solicit assistance from these CDC's and were denied (unknowingly) on "LOCATION" alone.).....Through the years, the politicians steered out the citizens who questioned the practices and soon---you had a free for all of corruption and backs being scratched for profit by these leaders....Gentrification became the game....heck, they even practically paid citizens with down payment grants to MOVE OUT of cities like CLEVELAND. Collusion, corruption, and chronic abuse to the citizens with a complete lack of protetive measures empowered this housing boom nightmare to escalate and then crash....Our local government leadership based their (FALSE) Budgets off of those Projected Taxes...never anticipating that the people couldn't sustain the fraudulent inflation on both of valuations and taxes that was being portrayed on them.... via who other than their very own government leadership....living large like (CONVICTED) Frank Russo (OUR COUNTY AUDITOR) and countless other public servants....
Too much to think about? Just think of all those disenfranchised citizens who have seen it all first hand one way or another... Pay to play is the game. Our citizens of Cleveland, Ohio have seen some of the most disgruntling, abusive, and violating actions in this country by our alleged, "LOCAL LEADERS!" They enjoyed the benefits more than any citizen in our community....including the luxuries of trips to Vegas etc. May God Bless the survivors of this reckless disaster in Cleveland, Ohio.
See the Frank Giglio story on Realneo.us... Don't get in the political regime's way locally or you'll become a target of their affection with everything from code enforcement tickets to deprivation of public benefits or resources. It's an amazing story here in Cleveland that will come to light in the years to come.... For now...Keep the faith and know that exposing the crooks who violated the public at large continues regularly by our local FBI.
In the interim, there are countless families like those cited who need help to overcome the odds and progress forward with what's left of their American Spirit. All the best.
ANGELnWard14
realneo.us
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laura
your links are not working.
I can't wait until the dirt comes out about TWDC. Their disgusting housing gustapo tactics that are destroying lives in the Tremont area is sickening. Giglio, Bell, Schmitt and now Finley among some of the victims of TWDC and their actions.
Racism? nah,,,,, Welcome to the Tremont area and home of the "Housing Gustapo." One may think is is racism since it is so hard to believe that this can actually happen, but unfortunately this is quite common.
I hope that the attention from Finley will draw light to what is actually happening in Tremont , regardless of race, class or connections. It all boils down to location, location, location.
"Right to the City"
excerpt from recent speech by Juan Gonzalez upon his acceptance of the Justice in Action Award for journalism:
"This epic injustice is the complete takeover and reengineering of the modern American metropolis by our nation’s wealthiest sectors—the seizure of public parks, public schools and public lands, largely through the use of land use and zoning policies and executive tax breaks, so that the largely black and brown and Asian populations of those cities, along with the officials they elect, get to have only the most minimal say over a city’s most precious resources: the public commons. "
"The American city is being reengineered along the European model, with the poor pushed out to the far-off suburbs, and only the wealthy and middle class able to find housing in a central city core protected by thousands of surveillance cameras that track and record all who enter."
this is not a new theory, it has been a topic for years. Tony Roshan Samara, Assistant Professor of Sociology at George Mason University, has been speaking about this for awhile. As he writes in ColorLines, the national news magazine on race and politics, and as I mentioned in my book "gone":
"As urban scholars have documented, major cities have become global command centers for moving money across borders. The decline in urban manufacturing in the United States and Europe has left many cities with thousands of people who have no jobs or entry into the new economies but who do live on valuable city land. The implications for poor people of color are clear: where they were once segregated in abandoned downtowns while whites fled to the suburbs, now they are expected to disperse to the peripheries as cities are taken back. Increasingly, their presence in the city in any capacity other than as cheap labor is unwelcome, a blight on the landscape of the new entertainment city. "
Certainly it could be argued Cleveland is preparing itself for this movement. I assure you the Levin College of Urban Studies is certainly preparing their students for this. Urban education at CSU is now almost entirely focused on development.
Media WASTELAND
Thanks-Dbra. Could not have said it any better.
my opinions do not reflect the opinions of my employer, my spouse, my cat, my neighbors, my extended family or anyone I happen to acknowledge on the street, bus, etc.
Urban education at CSU is now almost entirely focused on...
If Urban education at CSU is now almost entirely focused on development, I hope the graduates will go out and replace our current leaders, educators and government crooks as soon as possible. God bless you - ignore everything you learn at CSU about urban planning and learn with your eyes and ears in the real world - leave here immediately or REALLY make a difference - we do not need any more followers of wrong here... depopulation is better.
Word to the wise - young CSU urban planning folks - you've seen what your leaders have done to your community... what they are doing today... they will eat your young too.
Disrupt IT
Is Norm Krumholz still alive?
Is Norm Krumholz still there.
The last words I recall hearing him saying were "we need 1,000 Citizen Hausers in Cleveland" and it seems NOBODY but I heard him. So I assume he has been executed.
Am I correct?
Disrupt IT
he retired
His courses were the only ones I found to be of any value, I was fortunate to take two.
No, they are teaching them the instruments of urban cleansing - I hope I didn't come across as the opposite of what I meant to say.
It is obvious that is what they are teaching
And it is obvious Norm Krumholz legacy is dead.
Disrupt IT
Tremont and Land BANKS...
Public Perception of Land Banks: Sending the Right Message
Because you are doing amazing work does not necessarily mean that anyone knows about it or even really understands what you do and if you don't take the lead on spreading the word about your work, someone else will set the tone for you. Hatha Communications President Katherine Bulava, who has been working with the Cuyahoga Land Bank on comprehensive communications for more than a year, will discuss creating a message and an image of your organization, generating and taking advantage of press opportunities and using electronic media such as video, websites and social media to create a public perception of your work.
From:
http://www.thrivingcommunitiesinstitute.org/conference_sessions.html
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function changeYear(obj) { var ls_parcel; ls_parcel = "008-16-089"; if (obj.value != "") document.frm.year.value=obj.value; SubmitThisForm('taxbill.asp') }
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Zillow appraisal: $133,490
Lily
I seriously doubt that the PD will dig very deep on this story--
laura
I doubt it too, but one can always hope. Someone needs to do some digging on the CDC's and Tremont West would be the best place to start.
Tremont West has been getting away with stuff for years and not one word said. They think they are invincible. I would like to think otherwise.,,,,,,,,,
The mysterious case of Abe Bruckman
Real estate director at Ohio City Development Corporation and before that Clark Metro...and vice president of the board at Old Brooklyn Development Corporation...his Mack Court house purchased at an inflated price by HUD...now in the witness protection program at CSU.
Oh the intrigue is endless...but we should get some sleep now.
CDCs and School Levy-your $$$
How do taxpayers feel about this?? Your tax dollars used to campaign for the school levy through CDC staffers???
https://www.facebook.com/OhioCityIncorporated
https://www.facebook.com/events/417445551637593/
And related story:
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/contractors-say-cleveland-councilman-tj-dow-didnt-pay-them-for-work-on-his-charter-school
self-interested enlightenment
is what someone once referred to it as.
was offered as a criticism of working class westsiders and why they do not prevail at sitting on such boards, which oftentimes are top heavy with urban-pioneer (i.e. exsuburb - transplants and the such.)
was told that "people like you (whatever that means) don't get it"
self-interested enlightenment is how these non-profit board members get things done!
krumholz
He is still around.
No he isn't
But I'm glad he is still breathing.
Disrupt IT
Norm Krumholz is no GOD
He voted to approve the NRP housing built on top of a landfilled creek/tributary to the Cuyahoga River. I hope that it weighs on his conscience--just as it should weigh heavily on Councilman Cummins conscience.
The next takedown planned for the part of the city known as Brooklyn Centre? The demolition of St. Barbara's for a gas station (the church property is conveniently located off I-176 at Denison with maximum visibility to passing travellers).
This is now Councilman Cimperman's ward. Will you have this congregation on your conscience, too--Joe?
The demolition of St. Barbara's for a gas station
Nobody needs more gas station anywhere in realNEO - and I live near a gas station ghetto
ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT THIS?
IS NORM STILL PERCHED AT BUILDING AND HOUSING OR LANDMARKS OR SOMEWHERE IN CITY HALL?
Sure don't see him quoted about anything in the PD... I honestly thought he was dead.
Disrupt IT
DEAD serious
And for any one who cares to know--I am not at work...I am at home, when I post here.
my opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer, my spouse, my cat, my neighbors, my extended family or anyone I happen to acknowledge on the street, bus, etc.
RICO
In the spirit of civic journalism--I will not reveal my source:
Count 1: Violations of Chapter 96 of United States Code" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_18_of_the_United_States_Code">Title 18 of the United States Code, 18 U.S.C. § 1961–1968, RICO
Crimes Committed:
1) Violations of the Federal Fair Housing Laws, Including Steering for gentrification
2) Target Enforcement to push out citizens in collusion with the Planning Commission.
3) Creating a politically collusive environment where the councilman funds the CDC's, paying for CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS to do the job of the CITY INSPECTORS thereby making the CITY INSPECTORS "PUPPETS ON A STRING" to the CDC and Councilman and moreover going to court with inspectors as witnesses against homeowners in Criminal Housing Court and PERSECUTING investors(anyone who owns a home) who are not members of thier CDC's and who whistleblow on their behaviors that include violating the civil rights and due process rights of citizens when they are subjecting them to an environment that prevents citizens from getting assistance.
The housing court program is designed to protect tenants (even the bad ones) as though they are being violated by all landlords...criminalizing landlords and thereby fining them $10's of thousands of dollars and turning our city housing court into a profiting entity while designing a system that rapes the spirit, dignity, and desire to do well in this community, protecting the bad tenants, and retaliating against the people who speak up and out against the political regime that wishes to leave ethics at the door.
The small percentage of families that actually receive assistance from CDC's are a cross between people who are both cornered by the system and who have been targeted by the political regime. They are unaware the the people in office are the ones who are actually criminalizing them through this collusive model.
The agencies continually say that they are funding projects.... but who's getting those trickle down funds? Few and far between homeowners are getting those funds.
Realistically speaking, with Ward 14 getting over $400,000 per year alone in CDBG funds....our community could have been rebuilt many times by investing into the small businesses/factories that were the glue of cashflow in our community keeping the families working and keeping the idea of being a homeowner in our community open. However, it has become a joke to own property in Cleveland at all.
The local government has been out of control for a very long time. The leadership is not investing it's funds into the community or inviting investors in to start up businesses or supporting small business ventures...it is utterly avoiding that task all the way around...and formidably relying on the CDC model for that effort...and yes, they know that the majority of the CDC's have been non-performing for many years...except that the staff are all very well-paid for giving referrals all day long... and for being puppets on a string to the local leadership...and if they are not working directly for the Councilman, then they are totally denied assistance....Like Santiago did to CMDC during his time in office.
This is a pyramid scheme of funnelling money from the Federal CDBG funds to the CDC's and then to GOD Only knows where...but be assured that the middle-man, the councilman is acheiving his goal of preventing the little people from having any opportunity at all at receiving CDBG funding. It's a big party for the leadership of all these organizations so that they can claim to making a difference in our community....
BUT WAIT....look at our ghost town? Why should I be a landlord...the tenants have learned to play the system...they pay the first/last month rent...and nothing in between until you evict them...and they keep it up....once you evict them, they get paid to go somewhere else by another agency.... as long as our little people are used as tools and the courts do not hold them accountable-our system and our society are in huge trouble.
Don't you see, as demographic pawns...we need quotas of indigent, low income, and ignorant people who empowers the leadership to cry wolf and ask for federal dollars to "fix" our problems?
At the end of the day...this is a welfare cycle that only benefits the administration to the large scale....while controlling, dictating, and disempowering the citizens. It's total corruption that annihilates the spirits of the folks truly trying to achieve the American Dream, working on a spirit of hope to overcome their socio-economic status quo, and believing in the possibilities of living a productive life in an enriching community.
You see.... the people have been devasted for way too long. They don't vote, they close their doors, because they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
The politicians are simply retaliating at the whistleblowers...
I condemn you all under the federal RICO laws.
Don't put on your happy faces of misguided trust and illusions of granduer that has devasted our community....JUST LOOK AROUND AT THE RESULTS OF YEARS of ineffective planning, investments, and wasted tax dollars...
Tell us how proud you are of protecting the vandals from accountability and why you cannot put measures in that actually make their games harder? Tell me why you steer the old people out to build new homes for the yuppies...oh how wonderful for them to come in and pretend to be helping our community....bike paths, community gardens, and arts districts....nice... my kid still cannot participate in those things...we cannot even get a grant to put a park on our street in the vacant lot of a CDC venture...
It's an upside-down pyramid scheme..... Top Heavy NFP's gloriously keeping tabs and demographics on the low income...aww...figure out who is who so that you know where you are powerful and where you are not...
Competitive grants for CDBG Funds are planned out before a Councilman evers goes into office. There's never any left for the small folks... never any opportunities to seek those funds out either.
I am a whistleblower. They all know it. I get the sneers. I fear for my life. But I am going to go to my grave knowing that I stood up for what is just and right on behalf of a community of families who don't have this insight, direct experience, and ability to put the big picture into perspective so that the Law Enforcement, Attorney Generals, and other agencies can begin the process of dismantling this highly corrupt, collusive, and well organized business structure that has a history of violating the civil rights of families who speak up across NEO.
Next, they'll find a way to put me in jail so that they can shut me up...
This model of government has been a joke that hurts people instead of helping them for way too long. I believe that it is time to completely dismantle our city hall corruption and get back to the basics.
Upon restructuring our local government, we may find some sense of transparency, accountability, and complete oversight to the actions of those in positions of power. The backroom deals of councilmen supporting CDC's outside of a ward should be stopped.
Those are our funds....they should have been used to invest in our ward....for productive and positive things...that improve the quality of life of every, creating more jobs, etc.
Yet, unless you have hundreds of hours to sit at a computer researching, reading, learning, and figuring out what's been going on all of these years...you are simply wasting your time...and you are wasting it if you think that this cold hearted, well oiled machine is going to let benefit from their work-other than to have your property stolen under receivership and taxed for repairs and let the pretend that they don't know what's going on.... when from the beginning they are doing this again and again.
Although some of the RICO predicate acts are extortion and blackmail, one of the most successful applications of the RICO laws has been the ability to indict or sanction individuals for their behavior and actions committed against witnesses and victims in alleged retaliation or retribution for cooperating with federal law enforcement or intelligence agencies.
Violations of the RICO laws can be alleged civil lawsuit cases or for criminal charges. In these instances charges can be brought against individuals or corporations in retaliation for said individuals or corporations working with law enforcement. Further, charges can also be brought against individuals or corporations who have sued or filed criminal charges against a defendant.
Anti-SLAPP ( participation" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation">strategic lawsuit against public participation) laws can be applied in an attempt to curb alleged abuses of the legal system by individuals or corporations who utilize the courts as a weapon to retaliate against whistle blowers, victims, or to silence another's speech. RICO could be alleged if it can be shown that lawyers and/or their clients conspired and collaborated to concoct fictitious legal complaints solely in retribution and retaliation for themselves having been brought before the courts.
Although the RICO laws may cover drug trafficking crimes in addition to other more traditional RICO predicate acts such as extortion, blackmail, and racketeering, large-scale and organized drug networks are now commonly prosecuted under the Enterprise" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuing_Criminal_Enterprise">Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute, also known as the "Kingpin Statute". The CCE laws target only traffickers who are responsible for long-term and elaborate conspiracies; whereas the RICO law can be charged for a variety of organized criminal behavior.[6]'
a-
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lmchane
well written and right on target.
But will the abuse ever end?
very well written lmcshane
thank you
lmcshane CDC's are all about
lmcshane
CDC's are all about control - controlling neighborhood development, who can and cannot open a business, who gets railroaded into housing court, how might qualify for a crumb or two of federal funds, who gets to keep their old run down house and who don't, who is allowed to participate in community forums, who can vote, who can and cannot speak, just to mention a few.
I want to know how we can get our Council people OUT of the CDC's. They just keep handing these organization all this money and does anybody ever see where that money is used or goes?
CDCs
all about control and abuse of power.
The ABCs of CDCs
Chris Roy has also penned some insightful articles at Historical Cleveland.
Link to PDF: http://www.tremontwest.org/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=newsletters/dec2016jan2017.pdf
Fulltext: by Chris Roy- biography at Cleveland Housing Network: Christopher Roy is the founder and president of Sundial Business Services, which provides marketing and document-development assistance to consulting, accounting and law firms. Prior to establishing Sundial, he was employed by Price Waterhouse and Computer Sciences Corporation in the position of marketing director. Mr. Roy is a member of the Tremont West Development Corporation board, serving as chairperson of the organization’s Marketing Committee and member of the Arts, Housing and Economic Development Committees. He holds BA/Communication and MA/History degrees from Cleveland State University.
According to the resident-survey results profiled in Inside Tremont last month, more than four out of five Tremonters are familiar with Tremont West Development Corporation, the community development corporation (CDC) that serves our neighborhood. People also have a good sense of what Tremont West does and how its role in the community might be enhanced. But how many locals understand what a community development corporation actually is and how such entities came about?
This article discusses the origin of CDCs and takes a brief look at how Tremont West functions as a CDC. The Birth and Growth of Community Development Corporations Like many urban innovations, CDCs began in New York City. In 1966, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and his aides floated the idea of a “community development corporation”—an opportunity, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan explained, to “get the market to do what the [government] bureaucracy cannot.” The nation’s first CDC was subsequently launched in New York’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Over the next 10 years, similar nonprofits were formed, usually in poor innercity and rural areas. One such “early adopter” was Pittsburgh where, in 1968, an inner-city block club, a local bank, and a foundation collaborated to give home-improvement loans and advice to residents whose low incomes rendered them too risky for conventional banks. In Cleveland, the first CDC was the Hough Area Development Corporation, formed in 1968.
Similar to the BedfordStuyvesant model, HADC was supported by the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity. HADC received an initial federal grant of $1.6 million, which it used to implement programs focused on low-income housing and communitycontrolled enterprise. Between 1968 and 1984, HADC helped create more than 600 units of low-income housing, a mixed-use community center and a manufacturing subsidiary that employed as many as 100 people. More Cleveland CDCs soon came into existence, albeit without the direct federal funding that HADC enjoyed. One such pioneer was Famicos Foundation, a Glenville-area initiative formed in 1970. Famicos is considered the first Clevelandarea CDC to apply a “lease-purchase” model, which involves acquiring and rehabilitating vacant or condemned homes and leasing them to poor families with the intent of enabling tenants to purchase the home after a 15-year residency. In 1981, Famicos helped launch the Cleveland Housing Network. One of CHN’s flagship programs—tying “low income housing tax credits” to affordable homeownership opportunities—is a highly successful example of the lease-purchase model.
Tremont West Development Corporation was created in 1979 as an outgrowth of the Merrick House Arson Committee, which was formed to combat arson and insurance fraud perpetrated by landlords. Under Chris Warren, its first executive director, Tremont West soon involved itself in activist causes, often in collaboration with entities such as Low Income People Together and Citizens to Save Our Metro Health System. Organizations like Tremont West also lobbied corporations to set up operations in city neighborhoods. Success in this area was moderate at best, as were efforts to attract small-scale enterprises such as supermarkets. However, CDCs—Tremont West included—soon became skilled in real estate development, finance and management. Armed with this expertise, many shifted their focus to housing, for which there were both subsidies and increasing demand. Stabilizing the lives and residences of low-income people thus became the most vaunted and successful mission of Cleveland’s early CDCs. Other core missions included community organizing, political advocacy, and helping to give residents a voice in local government. Virtually all CDCs have now become cornerstones for community planning and implementation.
By 1989, the City of Cleveland had formalized its support for CDCs and neighborhood housing development by dedicating nearly $9 million to housing-focused non-profits through the Community Development Block The ABCs of CDCs By Chris Roy Grant (CDBG) program. To this day, these grants constitute the financial backbone of most Cleveland CDCs. The other primary chunk comes from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (formerly Neighborhood Progress Incorporated), an outgrowth of the Cleveland Neighborhood Partnership Program. NPI was created in 1987 by the Gund Foundation, Cleveland Foundation and Mandel Foundation to support community development. The organization leverages corporate and foundation support to consolidate funding for CDCs. For most Cleveland CDCs, smaller grants and donations compose the remainder of their funding. Tremont West Today Tremont West Development Corporation continues to provide community organizing and housing/development assistance through a network of 11 block clubs and more than 20 fiscal agent relationships with community-minded residents and organizations. Some 500 members meet annually and elect a 14-person board of directors and a board president—all of whom are either neighborhood residents or local business owners. Any Tremont resident or business owner can become a Tremont West member. Nearly all board and committee meetings are open to Tremont West members and the general public; meeting times are published monthly in Inside Tremont. These meetings focus on all major aspects of Tremont West’s work: community organizing; safety; housing and economic development; strategic planning; governance; event planning and implementation; marketing; fundraising and the arts. The contributions Tremont West Development Corporation makes are more vast and complex than the activities noted above might suggest. For this reason, the next issue of Inside Tremont will include a “Year in Review” article, in which we will overview our CDC’s focus areas, activities and successes in 2016. Article Sources • Executive Summary: Re-thinking the Future of Cleveland’s Neighborhood Developers Kathryn Hexter and Norman Krumholz, Center for Community Planning and Development, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University, 2012 • Neighborhood Progress Incorporated http://www.clevelandnp.org/cleveland-cdcs/ • The Community Development System: Urban Politics and the Practice of Neighborhood Redevelopment in two American Cities from the 1960s to the 1990s http://progressivecities.org/wp-content/ uploads/2010/12/Yin-Community-Developmnet-in-Cleveland-Dissertation-Chapter.pdf • The Past, Present, and Future of Community Development: The Changing Face of Achieving Equity in Health, Education, and Housing in the United States http://www.shelterforce.org/article/3332/the_past_ present_and_future_of_community_development • Overview of Community Development Corporations (CDCs) http://community-wealth.org/strategies/ panel/cdcs/index.html
Cleveland CDCs East • Buckeye Shaker Square Development Corporation • Burten, Bell, Carr Development • Collinwood Nottingham Villages • Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation • Famicos Foundation • Harvard Community Services Center • Little Italy Redevelopment Corporation • Midtown Cleveland, Inc. • Mt. Pleasant NOW Development Corporation • Northeast Shores Development Corporation • Slavic Village Development • St. Clair Superior Development Corporation • Union Miles Development Corporation • University Circle, Inc. West • Bellaire Puritas Development Corporation • Cudell Improvement, Inc. • Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization • Kamm’s Corners Development Corporation • Metro West Development Office • Ohio City, Inc. • Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation • Tremont West Development Corporation • Westown Community Development Corporation Downtown • Campus District, Inc. • Downtown Cleveland Alliance • Historic Gateway Neighborhood Corporation • Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation • Flats Forward CDCs by the Numbers • 4,600: Estimated number of CDCs across all 50 states • 96,000: Average annual housing production across all CDCs • 7.41 million square feet: Amount of commercial space orchestrated or facilitated annually by CDCs • 75,000: Number of jobs created by CDC activity per year • 17%: CDCs that have equity investments in business operations • 21%: CDCs that operate one or more businesses Source: http://community-wealth.org/strategies/ panel/cdcs/index.html (Figures gleaned from surveys in 2006 and 2010)
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it is likely to be in the application
it is likely to be in the application that the City puts in to request the funds and how they can be used. We need to look at that and if that is incorrect, find out how the money gets requested and set up a citizens panel that will determine how that money gets spent. Keep it out of the hands of the council person all together. Believe me, they would fight this tooth and nail.
PD expose
It is interesting to me that the Plain Dealer has done "exposes" on the big wigs in the Democratic Party, including most recently--Bill Mason, but remains hog-tied when it comes to looking at the machinations and network established by Jim Rokakis. Why is he above reproach and, as NPR's Dan Mouthrop declared, "taint-free?"
Given our so-called effort to "reform" Cuyahoga County, shouldn't we examine the track record of all of our major politicians representing Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland??
I'm questioning the integrity of every leader here now
I'm questioning the integrity of every leader here now, to their faces.
Disrupt IT
Fluff reporting
PD--you've done your fluff work on McFaul, Russo, Dimora and, now, Mason, so, why the kid glove treatment to Rokakis? We know from your reporting that Rokakis is a double-dipper, but that's not a crime, right?! Play fair:
Question the Board of Revision and the Land Bank administration--question that network and who benefits? Question Rokakis' friends. Who happens to get demolition contracts with the City of Cleveland and suburbs??
The Plain Dealer has already cast aspersions on Mason's friends. Now, give equal time to every Cuyahoga County administrator including our treasurer.
1.) On what basis are tax foreclosures prosecuted and what tax delinquency is the threshold for a tax lien sale?????
2.) How does the Cuyahoga County Treasurer's office work with city inspectors and the code enforcement process once demolition liens are attached?? Afterall, Frank Giglio, Desiree Schmitt and Tom Bell were persecuted for code violations and threatened with condemnation. Why them and not the many others with far worse violations??
3.) Why are some folks allowed to buy multiple properties with very small tax liens at tax lien sales and allowed to use these properties as Sect 8 rentals for years without paying their taxes???
Just a few questions I would like to see answered by the Plain Dealer. I won't hold my breath.
no words needed,, it speaks for itself.....
please don't hold your breath,,,
we need you around!
A FEW MORE CONNECTED DOTS? YOU BE THE JUDGE
TO: Jerleen Justus and Councilmember Cimperman
Members of the all the local advisory committees to the Landmarks Commission, including the committee for Tremont Historic District, are appointed by vote of the Landmarks Commission.
Typically, the Landmarks Commission responds to nominations by the local community development organization or the local Councilmember. Typically, most committee members are architects and other members are typically local residents, business owners or property owners.
Members of the advisory committee in Tremont include the following:
Michael Augoustidis, John Briggs, Herbert Crowther, Glenn Murray, John Rakauskas, Sandy Yambor
Robert N. Brown, Director
Cleveland City Planning Commission
"...the Landmarks Commission responds to nominations..."
So who nominated who? And are these typical candidates, by Bob Brown's standards?
Disrupt IT
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fraudulent letter ... dot connecting...
It is important to note that the fraudulent letter was written right around the time Frank Giglio's home was demolished and just after the Landmark's Commission decision.
Tremont Dot Connector
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CDCs and Community Development fraud
Mark Gillispie's article was buried in this week's PD
--the City of Cleveland apparently released a report. Can anyone find it??
Watch OCNW and Flats Oxbow story
There's a lot of demolition needed in the Flats, so you can expect the attention and focus on more demos for developers aka your tax dollar spent there.
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/01/flats_oxbow_associat...
OCNW Director Eric Wobser ran Cimperman's unsuccessful campaign against Dennis Kucinich.
Rokakis fawned praise for Wobser on his exit interview at WCPN, but that story is somehow not found anymore...go ahead, try and google it:
NPR.org » WCPN » The Sound of Ideas: Jim Rokakis (Tuesday)
m.npr.org/stations/rss?callLetters=WCPN&num=14&item=22 - Cached
Here's more of a backdrop to the developing story:
http://www.buckeyestateblog.com/cimperman_gets_nailed_by_local_press
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In related bits and pieces...Don Heckelmoser, long-time Old Brooklyn Development Corp person*, got some sinecure at City Hall.
All this hiring and shifting around of personnel....
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/04/judge_blasts_clevelands_hiring.h...
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/01/mayor_fires_cleveland_personne.h...
And...sad news to report...Michael Gill is not at the Scene Magazine. What happened there?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*lives outside the City of Cleveland, like most of the CDC folk....
Found our mole
That was easy.
CSU...a great place to hide useless political egos! I should have known.
http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2010/12/22/the-next-step-for-treasurer-jim-rokakis
whistleblower
I am a whistleblower. They all know it. I get the sneers. I fear for my life. But I am going to go to my grave knowing that I stood up for what is just and right on behalf of a community of families who don't have this insight, direct experience, and ability to put the big picture into perspective so that the Law Enforcement, Attorney Generals, and other agencies can begin the process of dismantling this highly corrupt, collusive, and well organized business structure that has a history of violating the civil rights of families who speak up across NEO.
Riverview--thanks Catch5 researcher :)
RAZING AND RAISING HOMES
Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)-September 8, 1996
"Riverview, built on landfill, is sinking."
"Gone are policies like one-to-one replacement, which ensured that any unit CMHA torn down would be replaced. Rental subsidies for the poor have shrunk to 89 percent, down from 100 percent."
Times they are a-changing at the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, and the clearest evidence is the entrepreneurial spirit the agency is showing. CMHA would like to tear down 117 units of Riverview Family Estates and sell the parcels to a developer. It has also applied for a $40 million federal grant to demolish the apartments and use the money to build homes for the poor throughout Cuyahoga County.
Ronnie Davis, chief operations officer, said the sale would help the agency build scattered-site housing designed to help the poor break out of their bleak enclaves. Perhaps it could also lead to a partnership with a developer that would allow CMHA to earn a profit that it could use on public-housing renovations.
Riverview, built on landfill, is sinking. Foundations and sidewalks are cracked. Banking on its view of the city's skyline, however, CMHA is probably correct in believing that the land could fetch a good price.
The plan is to use the grant and the proceeds from the real estate sale to add more homes to CMHA's countywide stock of 265 single-family homes. CMHA also is looking for ways to continue renovating traditional public housing like Carver Park Estates and Outhwaite Homes as federal dollars become tighter.
Some tenant organizations have raised questions about CMHA going into the home-building business, arguing that such houses won't be affordable. But Davis says that most people in CMHA homes pay minimal rent, and that very few are sold outright. That trend should continue. CMHA also has not ruled out using the money to build townhouse-style public housing.
CMHA's interest in raising money so it can fend for itself stems directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's lower-calorie budget, mandated by Congress. Earlier this year 33 CMHA police officers and 67 maintenance supervisors were laid off when Congress took a nip at HUD's budget for housing authorities. Gone are policies like one-to-one replacement, which ensured that any unit CMHA torn down would be replaced. Rental subsidies for the poor have shrunk to 89 percent, down from 100 percent.
It is a brand-new world, much less secure for tenants and for CMHA. But the housing authority has the right idea: Crises can be opportunities, too.
Edition: FINAL / ALL Section: FORUM / OPINION & IDEAS Page: 2C Column: EDITORIAL
Record Number: 08752167
Copyright 1996, 2002 The Plain Dealer. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank with Permission.
Funny...
Laura, I read this story and got to the end thinking about how I heard about this entire story at a Clark Metro CDC meeting back in 1997...with Nelson Cintron, Rick Nagin, and all the CDC Players outlining their VISIONS of the West 25th Street Area and the ongoing plans that were being projected way back then...Seems that meeting was at the church in the V by Metro across from the Jones home... Wow...very humored to have those memories dug up by your blog...NICE JOB digging this one up!!!!
Other things back then that were on the chopping block included plans to develop the area by SASS AUTOMOTIVE in the curve of West 25th street...his land is prime too!
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
CMHA building on West 25th for sale
The CMHA building on the corner of West 25th and Detroit overlooking the Cuyahoga River is for sale...ad says lease, but sign on the buildings indicates it is for sale.
http://www.cmha.net/information/contact.aspx
http://www.cmha.net/news/docs/cmha_board_response.pdf
Long Term Plans & Pawns
They got a rhythm going in the mid 1990's...they built careers on this, empires, and vast wealth based on their INSIDER information about long term projected VISIONS of our community...Hope the feds go way back...Too bad most of their investigators were in diapers when most of these games were implemented in the world of MONOPOLY that our corrupt leaders had become so embedded during the last few generations...Wow, the devastation on one side vs the success on the other!
You know what comes to mind...listening to the rants of the laymen who worked so many countless jobs of construction with the actual contractors who got those jobs to demo blighted, rehab others, and renovate historical properties...They are the ones who are still asking where their paychecks are and who -in countless examples- have been used to get the job done while the big guys stepped all over them too and received prevailing wage levels under govt contracts initiated under HUD funding opportunities!
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
Plain Dealer story
I do not get the PD anymore, haven't for years, so I appreciate your finding this article and bringing it here, lmcshane. I hope that people read it before it disappears. I am so tired of council reps and the CDC's and that lump sum of our tax dollars that gets handed out to those groups currently in favor.
IF IT CAN HAPPEN IN CHICAGO - IT CAN HAPPEN IN OHIO
CDCs going DOWN....
Thanks Jerleen for posting this Joe Narkin article from the Plain Press-I wish that the Plain Press could post their content more often--but I am reassured that the material is microfilmed and stored at Cleveland Public Library. Click on the following text for the full article:
City Council meets to discuss future of Community Development Corporations
by Joe Narkin
(Plain Press, May 2010) Anticipating an ongoing decline in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for Community Development Corporations (CDC’s) at a time when the City of Cleveland is in a state of profound crisis, Cleveland City Council held two half-day retreats to discuss the future prospects of CDC’s during March and April at the Maxine Goodman Levine College of Urban Affairs of Cleveland State University.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TO: All Council Members
FROM: Tony
RE: CDC Funding
DATE: July 26, 2013
Dear Colleagues:
As you are all aware, there has been much discussion regarding the change in council’s ward boundaries in regards to how CDC funding is distributed in 2014. As a result of the 1) ward boundary change, 2) the essentially fixed CDC service areas (around SPA’s and neighborhoods, not ward boundaries) and the process for committing CDBG/NDA funding, almost all council members will have different CDC’s in their respective wards beginning in 2014. This situation, predicated on the need to confirm CDC funding from July to July has caused many council members to request CDC funding allocations for only 2013 with a revised CDC funding allocations in 2014. This situation is also causing many problems for not only council members, but also for the CDC’s in their ability to prepare annual budgets and the Department of Community Development in its ability to prepare and change the terms of CDC funding contracts.
The purpose of this letter is to share my concerns about changing the length of time for the CDC/NDA funding contracts. Many of you would prefer to limit your respective CDC/NDA funding for the balance of the year and then have a new a funding contract with the imposition of the new ward boundaries in 2014. This is a substantial change in the funding process and creates many complicated problems for all involved. I would like to suggest at this time that we delay any changes in the CDC funding process as implemented by the Department of Community Development until such time we have worked out a cohesive plan which does not financially destabilize the CDC’s nor over loads the CD Dept. in its ability to prepare contracts and process funding requests. Like it or not, because of the CDBG reductions the Community Development Department has had to reduce administrative staff which performs these functions.
The request to fund CDC’s for a year at, or near what you previously awarded will help move contracts forward and will carry CDC’s into next year when very shortly we will start our Community Development Block Grant Hearings in February, thus a very short time period to address these issues. This year was especially difficult in meeting timelines due to the Federal Sequester causing a long delay in getting budgets.
The issue of CDC contract reimbursement is further complicated by the annual quasi shut down of the Finance Department at the end of the year (in this transition year) so that CDC checks are also delayed until the Finance Dept. can authorize and issue reimbursements. This process as you are aware always poses increase financial strain on the CDC’s budget management.
I have had some discussion with the CD Dept. about this transition year. As I have noted above, we have looked at the possibility of the department of preparing two (2) six month contracts for the CDBG program year. But is also the desire of the department to change the HUD/CDBG program year (July to July) to be the same as the city’s fiscal year (January to January). This makes a lot of sense in light of how the Finance Dept. operates and also would also allow the CDC’s to program their respective budgets in a more compatible way with other funders. In order or do to this we would need to have on hand funding for a year and a half. This is difficult as HUD does not allow any contractual obligation for funding beyond its annual program year. Outside or HUD funding the city would have to provide about $4 million in order to synchronize the CDC funding needs with the city’s fiscal year. We have not yet been able to identify a source of funding for this process at this time.
It is my firm desire to address all these issues, so that we can 1) coordinate the city’s fiscal year with the administration of the CDC contracts, 2) maintain the financial stability of the CDC’s, 3) make more efficient the reimbursement process for CDC’s, all in a way that would be a smooth transition. I clearly recognize your own ward boundary transition issues in regard to how you support your CDC’s. I also want to mention that I also desire to review the entire process of how CDC’s are financially support and funded by the Community Development Block Grant. We need to carefully explore the entire CDC funding structure, i.e. the NDA and CDC Support Grants process which is less speculative, is more cost effective and provides stable funding in a time of reduced federal support.
Until such time we can adequately address all these issues I am asking you for your support not to change the CDC funding contract time period for performing CDC’s. I know this s difficult but your perseverance to develop a better system of CDC funding will be mutually beneficial to both your needs as an elected official and the needs of the CDC’s in providing critical neighborhood services.
Please advise me as to your thinking on how we may proceed to address the larger issue at this time. John James is currently circulating PIF’s which we hope to be completed very soon so contracts may proceed. Personally, I have signed my PIFs at the same level I committed to last year.
Sincerely
Anthony Brancatelli
Chairman, Community and Economic Development Committee
document.write("-->UNSUSTAINABLE CDCs Breed UNSUSTAINABLE HOODS...
Like a bad drug addiction; these CDC's drain the Federal Grant Opportunities with their UNSUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS. Apparently they are all codependent on this politically steered funding resource which our tax payers support yet are not allowed to decide. UNREAL....
These entities are NOT PERFORMING...They are drains on society. The few CDC's who have stockpiled assets that produce income which can be reinvested in their annual budgets as NOT FOR PROFITS are to be commended for using those resources.....but for those that predominantly are codependent on these HUGE WELFARE CHECKS to administer ineffective programs....STOP FUNDING THEM....
SURREAL.... Paying for a bunch of dog and pony administrators..................................................surreal.......................................
Gentrify these CDC's....teach them business 101 operations...................SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS.........................
WE already have CIty Inspectors; change the complaint driven format and put those Inspectors back on the streets.........stop paying for CDC code enforcers to do the City Inspectors' jobs!
Stop this ugly wasteful spending.........................
USE THAT CDBG FUNDING to invest in Small Businesses and revitalize the City of CLeveland with vested players.......................................this CDC thing has helped to destroy our town over the last 38 years.....show me which CDC's are NOT CODEPENDENT ON CDBG FUNDING to sustain their operations......and we'll give them the highest consideration...............How many CDC's have never gotten a dollar from the public dole????
So help me GOD..................................................................wake up administrators of these CDC's in Cleveland....you are fiscally irresponsible; negligent; and failing to plan effectively to sustain your own entities. You DO NOT DESERVE to be sustained by these politically predetermined and politically steered resources that were meant to better our communities. Your gentrified paychecks need withheld until you provide results driven planning and actions.............that drive sustainable operations..................you know; like for profit entities who are not eligible for grant funding./????? Weak. Pathetic....
(It's political time.............dont forget to politic for your favorite councilman so he can assuredly insure you get your future funding allocations before the applications and projected allocations are allotted...intriguing..............................................FRAUD UPON THE PUBLIC AT LARGE.......................
My Goodness..................................................................sick.
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
Roz McAllister The CDC's get
Roz McAllister
The CDC's get lots of money from the council people as well as federal grants.
One way to stop a lot of the money going to these CDC's is to change the council person. Of the 17 ward seats, 15 have challengers. Some wards have more than one, and have primaries in September. The rest will be voted on in November.
I ask that you contact the challengers and check their stand on the CDC's in their wards and include that information in your decision making process.
(DISCLAIMER: I am a candidate in Ward 12, home of Slavic Village Development and Old Brooklyn CDC. www.rozmcallister.com)
Don't feed the Monster Machine
Finally - PD gets real about this story:
http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2013/08/hey_taxpayer_with_mark_naymik_1.html
CDC PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY OF CLEVELAND
2010 Info----
http://www.clevelandfed.org/Community_Development/events/20110411/cdc_partnerships.pdf
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"