gottaplan

Reviewing this thread to check for update on construction but I see that it's not scheduled to start till 2012. Bummer. Clifton is going to be a real mess by this time next year

The irony of this story is so deep I had to share http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/19/amtrak-ceo-ditches-broken-train-to-travel-by-car-to-ribbon-cutting-of-wilmingtons-joe-biden-station/

Speaking of political ads, tonight I saw an ad defending some nursing group from cuts proposed in the Kasich budget.... showed a couple old guys in veterans gear saying "don't take my choice away" inferring the new law will somehow take away veterans benefits???? Anyone else see this?

I know a few others who are working at Team NEO as researchers

check with some of the staff & grad students at Levin Urban college of CSU. They hosted a number of discussion events when the county council was being formed before the vote...

Amazing that a 2% shift from employer (state) contribution to the employee saves $1.1 billion over two years. If the fund is currently solvent for the next 30 yrs, I'd think it should continue to be. The proposed changes by Kasich and SB 5 will make it less attractive to be in these types of jobs and consolidating services should require less of them down the road.

I like everything about this park except it's name. Cleveland is getting ridiculous about naming parks after politicians, known & unknown, living & dead, notable or not.... Ralph Perk, Mercedes Cotner, Kenneth Johnson....

LK - I've been following the developments in Michigan closely too. I think your concerns are valid but you're mistaken if you think the state is excited about rushing in & taking over municipalities and appointing emergency financial managers. I had experience when the situation occurred in Hazel Park, MI and Lou Schimmel was brought in. This is a last resort move and often is long overdue after the city council or manager proves themselves too corrupt or incapable of making the required changes to restore solvency. As for breaking contracts, that's a part of the city getting back in the black, and getting out of deals which they could no longer afford.

^and forcing communities to actively engage in more shared services

How much, on average, of a city or municipality budget is made up of state aid? For example, the numbers at Columbus, reductions of $5 mill this year & $15 mill next year, what % is that of their entire budget? I'd be interested to see the numbers for all the large cities in Ohio if anyone knows or has access...

Since there's been so much discussion on SB 5, I wanted to post this summary I found http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/analysis.cfm?ID=129_SB_5&ACT=As%20Passed%20by%20Senate&hf=analyses129/s0005-rs-129.htm

Corporate welfare isn't always as bad as it may seem to be. Sometimes a market has changed enough that a new location closer to customers or shipping routes is necessary to remain competitive. However, if a company is on it's last dime and no longer competitive, and the govt can't do something that will make it competitive again, which a tax break won't, then I don't think it is typically given. There are some very highly educated and skilled people advising the state on the matter. These people know that corporate tax breaks can be like Pandora's box and they'll be judged by the performance of the company after the subsidy has been given. The instance of Hugo Boss comes to mind. Dennis Kucinich raced in to save them, but any business person who studied that company and their plan would agree that they should not be in Cleveland. And corporate welfare is not really what created suburban sprawl. Bad policies at ODOT which added more interstate ramps and widened 2-lane highways into the mess which is now Brunswick/Avon/Mentor etc created suburban sprawl

You're discussing economic development plans and collective bargaining with the unions. Are the two related? Show me somewhere that public unions have a positive impact on economic development. The Bob Evans deal certainly sounds lame, but I'd be willing to bet there's alot more to the story than what you've indicated. If the $8 million is spread out of a period of years, and has strings attached in terms of reinvestment (building a new office perhaps) & increased employment, it might be a very good deal. Also, your statement that offering tax incentives for businesses results in decreased revenue is way too broad to be accurate. And why would Kasich freeze infrastructure spending? Our infrastructure is one of the greatest assets the state has and is one of the main things we need to build upon to be more competitive.

I talked to alot of people this weekend and I think there are just as many voters who are ready to see public unions dialed back, as there are disgruntled union people. Of course the pro-union folks are the ones making all the noise and getting all the headlines. Let SB 5 pass, let the referendum proceed to get a constitutional amendment protecting collective bargaining, let Kasich privatize everything, let the chips fall where they may.

^he should start posting on here, seems like he'd fit right in.

"....We have to pass it to find out what's in it!!!"

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about Tea Partiers on this just yet. Most of them are simply in favor of smaller government and cutting taxes and anything along those lines gets them excited. You have to admit the specifics of what the bill actually includes other than limiting collective bargaining are hardly common knowledge, so any indication that people who support the bill, don't support local self governance doesn't quite add up.

Not sure about steel tariffs exactly, but my brother is in the tire business and he said new tariffs effectively made China tires non competitive. So they started building & buying tires in Mexico.

I was on board with it initially, but the more I read about it, it goes too far. Repub leaders could've scored a major victory here and still accomplished the economic goals they were striving for and held their heads high for doing what they set out to do - make Ohio better. Instead they've gone for the jugular, to decimate the union base & Democratic support and it's coming across as overly harsh & greedy.

^got it, thanks for clarifying.

^I'm confused. You say the numbers indicate we're headed in the right direction and have improved significantly, but then you state the unemployment number means very little and would likely skyrocket if it included the full spectrum of people who were in the workforce before the recession. So which is it, are we still in the hole or not?

So you're of the opinion that govt always does things the most efficiently and privatization should not be an option because some jobs might be lost or because someone might make a few bucks off it?

^that would be very interesting data to see. I hope you can find it, regardless of what it proves. Personally, I can't imagine that larger southern cities are receiving a higher percentage of federal money than midwest cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee???

If you really study the trends in unemployment numbers, it's not always a very good indication that the economy is back on track. A downward dip could just as easily mean that more people have given up looking for work and are therefore no longer counted as unemployed. Most likely trend is to see a tick upward in unemployment as the economy recovers, because those who are removed from the workforce, re-enter and begin actively searching when they feel that job opportunities actually exist.

All good points, but people are voting with their feet and the Midwest, especially Ohio, is losing bigtime. We're losing our jobs, our young talent, our tax base, and our political base to the South. The statistics you posted are interesting indeed, but I have plenty of friends & family who've relocated to Florida, Georgia, Texas & Carolina's and it doesn't seem to be the pit of misery that those statistics would indicate. They all seem to be doing quite well and none that I know have any plans of moving back to Ohio. And it's not just because of the weather.