today, the river burning, tomorrow, the Indians rampant and the county fair

Hey, writing "county fair" in the title above made me think of the oxymoronic (pertaining to a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms), and the just plain moronic (two commissioners who could have scheduled a vote for November of 2007, and now compel a referendum to PutItOnTheBallot for March of 2008). These guys, Jimmy and Timmy, are spending our weekend time for us, again, and here's a little of how we're allocating that time, circulating petitions. The good news is that everybody wants to sign, all except those who think they benefit from preempting the public's right to choose their taxation, and thank goodness that's a very small group.

One prescient young fellow, Brian Cummins of Ward 15, this morning pointed out that this ballot initiative changes the next 80 years. It will make the difference as to whether we control and guide our community's destiny or become the indentured workers of the government deal-makers.

Today, we're going to be at The Burning River Fest, and we had planned on being there anyway. Our friend Stefanie Spear has offered her Earthwatch Ohio booth as a place for us to cool our heels, and we'll be there from about 1 PM until the end.

Tomorrow, it's off to the Indians/Yankees pre-game from 11 to 1, and then over to our PutItOnTheBallot booth in building 20 at the 111th Cuyahoga County Fair from 2 to 8.

innumeracy running rampant in PD editorial

Push ahead on county building - cleveland.com -- Once again, the PLAIN DEALER, from its bully pulpit as the self-appointed arbiter of community values around here, comes down square on the side of innumeracy, spending sprees, bond issues, and cultural vacuity.

The cultural part is that they don't appreciate what tearing down a Breuer will do to our regional reputation across the country and internationally, especially if they're intending to replace it with "a Madison." Is that better or worse than "a Dicky" or "a Fleischman"? I guess the jury's going to be out on that one for a while. However, I don't think that demolishing a Breuer will enhance our collective reputations. But, the mark of a strong, self-sufficient, healthy mentality is that it doesn't take what others think overly much into account when formulating plans and actions. Let's assume the regional mentality is healthy, and let's move on to the numbers.

Numbers are bandied about freely in this dialogue, and they're broad-stroke numbers that are seldom correlated to anything else, or each other. Everyone here has been remiss in doing the due diligence required when it comes to net cost to the public--back then, now, and later. Restoration and rehabilitation will make for more jobs, but you don't hear that from our unions--there are way more man-hours in the re-do. Where is the comparison? Why don't they talk about the benefit for local labor?

Where is the side-by-side for acquisition cost, tax credits, demolition costs, abatement costs, and so forth? I've been to the hearings. It's not there. It's all just speculation. There is still no concrete plan for the new building. This whole thing reeks.

If you buy a building for $22M and then demolish it, what is left? The value of the land? The value of the other building? What is the difference between wasting an asset through demolition (let's face it, you just don't "deconstruct" anything from the raw-concrete "brutalist" school) and giving it away to another entity, an entity that could use the tax credits in a mixed-use-development (MUD) format? When you add up the cost of acquiring the asset, abating the asbestos, tearing it down, and building new at a time when construction costs are escalating and all that's available is non-Cleveland steel, doesn't it make more economic sense to give it away for nothing or sell it for a nominal sum to a developer experienced with MUDs who can use or sell the tax credits to lower the net cost, give the county an economic benefit in lease abatement equal to or greater than what their original cost of the acquisition was, and manage the property properly when we finally get around to reducing the size of county government, or when we go regional and all the smart management decides they want to be in Akron? (am I just kidding?)

Anyway, there's been no creative work done with the numbers, because the current two go-go boys on the county commission, Jimmy and Timmy, have no concern for what this will cost us, our kids, or our grandkids. (Heck, our kids, half our immediate family, have already left for Tennessee and Georgia, with our encouragement.) The go-go boys have no trouble with the concept of enslavement of the population to bond payments. They have no trouble with the concept of subsidizing the Kennedy family on our backs. They have no idea of the magnitude of the debt they create. All they do is talk about "too big" and "ugly" and "unadaptable" and "obsolete."

My mom used to say something about those who live in glass houses.