gottaplan

didn't miss your point. Just didn't agree with it. 2008 was a long time ago. Pretty much any conceivable development plan - another low rise strip type, condo town houses, mixed use multi-level, would want that church gone, to develop the entire section of 117th toward Lake Ave.

Buckeyes probably lose their two remaining games, Fickell, Gene Smith and entire staff gets cleaned out. Who comes in next year to coach? I keep hearing Urban Meyer but I have no idea if he wants to coach again. He has health issues. OSU would likely make him the highest paid coach in NCAA, but does that guarantee a winning program? What other names are out there that have Ohio connections? Tressel was such a one in a million coach, in that he came up from a small program, YSU, and stepped into OSU and immediately handled the enormous tasks of managing the recruiting, alumni, press functions and game planning. That's such a big step up from most any other program, let alone a much smaller school

You're probably right about that old church being a dead weight on the site... I see those townhomes along 117th just north of the CVS and think something similar could work across the street as well. The younger people who chose to live in the area are looking for more modern rental options than what currently exists

^couldn't disagree more, surfohio. That existing building is a piece of crap and has nothing architecturally significant about it. Look closely and the masonry & windows are falling apart. The building on the north side of 116th which houses "Big Fun" & "TickTock" is pretty cool but the 6+ lanes of Clifton and 4+ lanes of 117th beg for more height on this corner. Something 4+ floors would be fantastic there. Anything at least that tall or more would likely have views of the lake & downtown skyline. I'd love to see a more modern mixed use office/apartment building with some type of first floor retail or sports bar. Probably a pipe dream though. I'd like to see that entire corner built out, put a parking structure on the back side, then eventually do the same thing on the south side of Clifton in the same block, 117 to 116. There is that existing surface lot which is never used and most of those little shops, Clifton Diner (which I love), Twist, and the old Charter One bank are all pretty run down.

^so you're ok with the practice of letting unused sick & vacation hours accumulate for years or even decades, then be cashed in at a rate which is much much more than what the original rate was? Better yet, what other cuts should the state & local governments make? Or how should they "move money around"? I think you meant to say "keep kicking the can down the road..."

no drive thru is a good start, maybe revisit the parking space requirements in the same area along Detroit and restrict to small lots as a percentage of square footage or on street parking only... that would certainly deter any fast food chains

and Issue 2 would have capped sick & vacation hours stopping the practice which led to $3.7 million payout this year to union school employees in Cleveland alone... Add this up for all the districts across the state and you're quickly in the tens of millions, I think they could retain or rehire a few teachers for that much. Add up similar figures for police, fire & other public employee unions and you quickly see how badly these reforms were needed in the state. Instead voters were lied to that Issue 2 would hurt schools and make cities less safe... http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/05/retiring_cleveland_schools_wor.html http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110213/NEWS0108/102130403/City-pay-out-93M-retirees City workers and union leaders, however, emphasize that employees who build up huge leave balances are simply abiding by rules agreed to by the city in contract negotiations. "There are two sides in any negotiation, so the city at some point obviously saw these things as being in its interest, too," said Diana Frey, president of the Cincinnati Organized and Dedicated Employees, a union with some of the most modest leave policies in city government. Why exactly would a city with a $55 million budget defecit not take steps to shortcut these types practices? Because they can't or because they chose not to? Probably both

I'm not suggesting anything except many of the same majority who voted to repeal Issue 2 also voted down tax levies. draw your own conclusions on anything else

Issue 2 gets rejected by 60% of the voters and it appears a little over half the school levies around the state failed also. Westerville now faces cuts to eliminate all sports and extracurricular activities, bussing will be cut to state minimums, and 175 teaching jobs will be cut. Rejection of the Hilliard levy could mean cuts of 93 teaching jobs and even higher fees on top of what parents already pay for sports and activities. Dublin's failed levy could mean cuts of over 100 jobs. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/11/09/westerville-to-cut-sports-after-levy-fails.html In Cincinnati, 6 of the 11 area levies failed. "Next for Cincinnati Schools: Layoffs" http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111108/NEWS0108/111090347

you can stand on the sidewalk & see the lake in most of Battery Park, so yes, most of the units out there have lake views.

the ballot was very confusing. The spanish mixed in was a terrible layout.

I'd like to see the breakdown of this vote by area of the state...

Thanks for reiterating my point. Having a legal hearing to justify such a move is absurd. Of course school districts don't want to mess with attorney fees and legal hearings. What are the chances that a local school administration will have an attorney who is as skilled or experienced as the one the union provides???

Hts121 you really are sugarcoating the process... schools need to build an airtight case to fire a lazy or incompetent teacher, and this takes alot of time and effort. Even then, when schools have put in the time & effort, they still have to battle with the teacher's union rep which will undoubtedly appeal the matter, request more documentation, more evidence, more hearings, etc which keeps the teacher on board even longer. In the face of this lengthy, costly and draining process, schools have little choice but to keep these bad teachers on staff because they don't have the time & energy to get rid of them. Everybody in the school system knows this.

I'd love to see some statistics on how many "bad" teachers have been fired in the last decade. Even more interesting would be to compare public school unionized teachers vs private school non-union teachers.

65 for legislators? What about all the great things Metzenbaum & Glenn did for the state will into their 70's?

Since it's expected to be overturned, Batchelder was already discussing what a revised version might contain. Perhaps the 10% & 15% contributions, revised rules on seniority for teachers... what else...?

One point worth noting is some of the little private schools tucked away... Gordon Square area has "Our Lady of Mt Carmel" which has a very nice mix of families and children, seems to be safe & wholesome. I see the kids volunteering at the annual church events and it is a great little community back there.

There is alot of parking back there now as it is, never seems even close to being full. no idea what is to become of that Old Church of Christian Science I think... it's such a busy corner, alot of residential nearby, I would think any number of things could be successful there.

Overheard that Johnny Malloys on the corner of 117th & Clifton is closing soon and that entire building is getting demo'd. Anyone know what's going in it's place?

I went through the Whitney building twice in 07 & 08 with potential developers & contractors. It didn't need a ton of renovation but the conventional wisdom was always that despite the excellent location and solid floor plans, there was no parking available and that would never get resolved.

Washington Post: Internal labor memo warns SB5 vote could go either way http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/exclusive-internal-labor-memo-says-ohio-union-fight-could-go-either-way/2011/10/27/gIQANLvQMM_blog.html

would love to but I'm busy Occupying Cleveland

Last thing I'll say on the issue is that there really is there is little solidarity amongst the public & private unions. I have several firemen in my neighborhood here in Cleveland who have the signs out front. They all drive Toyota trucks and non-UAW cars. Ditto for local cops & teachers. I have a buddy who is a union steward for a local manufacturing plant and he said they asked him to come in Saturday and send mailers, make calls for Issue 2 but instead he went & watched football & got drunk. Ditto for construction guys. Makes me wonder how many of them might accidentally forget to vote on Nov 8th.

^my sentiments exactly