Council president sees no conflict issue for adviser he hired

Council president sees no conflict issue for adviser he hired--There are a few wise thoughts here from our Akron friend John Green, and a few doofus ideas from Lesic, Sweeney, Cimperman, et. al.

I think we're missing another point with this story, besides the appearance of impropriety. The other point is that we as taxpayers should not be spending $48,000 a year to publicize Council's machinations. We should know them by their works, the City Record, the Sun Newspapers and the PLAIN DEALER should suffice for getting the word out, and we shouldn't need what Norm Roulet calls a "PR-stitute" to massage the result of their actions before it all hits the fan, or the public.

If elected representatives at the city level feel a need to "shape council's message and polish its image," they should attend to that by their own behavior, or, being incapable of that, pay for PR services and coaching out of their own pockets, not out of the public purse.

Looked at another way, having our city government pay a retainer to Nancy Lesic is the equivalent of having the federal government pay a retainer to corporate lobbyists. We here in Cleveland are subsidizing our local real-estate developers still another way: We're helping pay their relationship builder.

This doublespeak and doublethink has to stop; it's why the city is as sick as it is. Let's start by tuning up the thought processes of Sweeney and Cimperman, before they give away still more and compromise us irreparably.