Zagapi

Have we heard anything as to when it will open again? We're coming up on a year of being closed.

In my opinion, this was a great call by Bibb and Ronayne. The majority of county residents do not support the move to Brookpark and Bibb and Ronayne agree, and are showing residents they are taking a stand against the GCP. GCP is just the local Chamber of Commerce. They exist to try and further the interests of the businesses in the region. The diversity of their interests at this scale is generally in line with what is good for the region. However, the move to Brookpark would obviously cannibalize the region and shows that they feel public-private partnerships are just handouts they are entitled to. Dee Haslam is on the board and they refused to have a transparent vote on the matter. I don't think its fair to call it corruption because of the nature of the entity, but this was certainly done to help out their buddies Dee and Jimmy. The GCP went at this in complete bad faith and colluded against the local government and residents of the region. Cutting ties shows them that we aren't going to allow them act as our local oligarchy. If they want to faithfully pursue their mission, then they need to get their heads out of their collective asses and clean up their act. Otherwise, they can kick rocks.

What is the source for this data?

This would mark the first year the City of Cleveland has gained population in 75 years! (1950) I know that we technically have for a little bit, but the housing units skew the numbers of the census data, blah blah blah. Happy to see a positive number!

I don't understand the unwillingness we have as a society to pursue large scale and/or transformational projects. Where is the ambition? Leadership really needs to be willing to stand up to these self-interest group types. Driving down Bunts Rd in Lakewood seeing every single yard with a sign protesting the bike path makes me sick. Stop letting these self-righteous "a"-holes bully you into their short-sighted desires! We quite literally empower local leaders to make these types of development decisions. Yet, they are scared to do their job as outlined in their job descriptions.

The "tragedy of the anticommons" describes a situation where over-fragmentation of ownership rights, rather than lack of rights, leads to underutilization of a resource. It's the opposite of the tragedy of the commons, where overuse of a shared resource depletes it. In an anticommons, too many owners, each with the right to exclude others, can prevent the resource from being effectively used, even though it's potentially valuable.

They finished the exterior way before the interior, so It wasn't very obvious once they actually opened. Not to mention its near the least used line at the Center Field gate (pro tip: always go left when approaching the lines to enter the stadium!) Because it was kind of secluded, and very obviously only caters to sports betters, it felt like it a had a "gambler's den" vibe. If I bet on sports, I would have just used one of the billion betting apps on my phone rather than everyone in line thinking I'm a degenerate gambler lmao.

Andrew Defratis is running for what will be Ward 12 which extends from W. 117th to West Blvd and basically follows that width down to Linndale. He's running against Danny Kelly, which we know already, and Tanmay Shah who has been very active with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for a long time. So take a guess where he stands. Andrew and I have been working together on getting a resolution passed for something unrelated to housing/development. Stay tuned for my first ever public comment at City Hall on Monday! I have taken every opportunity to talk about how Jenny Spencer has been rather....awful on housing policy and development as a whole. I made a whole slideshow for him talking about expanding the form-based code across the city, as well as the benefits of a Land Value Tax (which is obviously more county rather than city.) Also, I pitched him a new idea that I came up with related to modular housing. He's been very interested in learning more about these types of ideas. I've been absolutely hammering the idea that a supply side solution is the only sustainable way to balance the housing market and how the current zoning and property tax structure limits our ability to reach that balance. I think he's really starting to understand it. I know that Nikki Hudson is only person I have heard running for Ward 11, which is East of West Blvd. I'm not super keen on her positions, but I will keep an ear out, and I very well could have an opportunity to meet her. I'm sure there's more but she's the only one I've heard about in conversation.

God I hope so. I think he would be the only Democrat that has a shot at winning. I certainly have a favorable view of Dr. Amy Acton. However, I am always suspect of people who want to run for office for the first time and go straight for the executive seat. I recognize she held a cabinet position in Ohio's executive branch, but I don't think that automatically qualifies someone for the governorship.

I think earlier in the thread the general consensus was that the pilot was rolled out at an unfortunate time relating to Covid and other factors. In my opinion, I have no idea why we need a "pilot" in the first place. We have decades and decades of evidence across the country that our current zoning system is not sustainable. Just copy and paste across the city. Just make all of the current residential zoning multifamily and zone for mixed use along all major arterials. Tax only the value of the land instead of the improvements upon it. Then, tax the hell out land that is an empty or abandoned, any parcels used for parking , junkyards, used car sales and smoke shops. This will allow you to *lower* the amount collected from residents and removes the need for them trying to artificially lower the property values and have less nuisance properties altogether. Owners and buyers of these highly-taxed lots are then incentivized to develop/redevelop.

My partner and I went to the New York Sirens vs the Boston Fleet game in Buffalo as part of the PWHL Takeover tour. It was a blast! The atmosphere was like no other. I'd kill to have a team in Cleveland! The Takeover Tour will have a game in Detroit, but nothing for Cleveland unfortunately. Gilberts ownership has the Cleveland Monsters with highest attendance of the AHL at around 10k, a huge "sure thing" push for the WNBA team, and of course the darling Cavs team that is taken the hearts of NBA fans across the country. I'd be blowing up his phone if I were the PWHL. I'd hope the women's soccer leagues are doing the same.

Woohoo! You'll definitely see me walking over there once they open up!

I made some connections last week that were very interested in my idea for a new Council Resolution. Although this is particularly dumb question, I can assure you, I have much more experienced folks helping me with this effort. I'm just a dumb engineer! How is legislation actually proposed and introduced to City Council? I believe there are two ways, but its a little difficult to confirm: Does the Mayor and his Government Affairs team draft a policy proposal and get it to the Clerk with his endorsement on it? Do the Council members draft a policy proposal with the council staff lawyers, get it to clerk with their endorsements on it? I did a dive on the Charter's amendments on Initiative Petitions and the entire process required to get something in front of council and/or the voters. I believe that this resolution would be fairly uncontroversial within the Council and would be likely to pass, so I don't believe that I would need to get 5,000 signatures to get a vote on this proposal. So, I would need to work with either a member of Council or the Mayor's administration to get this proposal in front of Council, correct?

I got the inside scoop from a trusted source on the departure of Jenny Spencer and Kerry McCormack: Jenny Spencer is leaving because she is frustrated with the performative nature of a lot of Council rather than working on actual policy. She's dejected and defeated and doesn't have the will to keep fighting Council. Kerry McCormack was described as someone who is always thinking about the next opportunity. The theory is that he has some cushy government affairs waiting for him after the election.

In the Crain's article, it said he did not recommend anyone to run for his seat. The obvious guess would be Griffin pushing them out, but I'm not so sure. Jenny Spencer was a notorious NIMBY, and Kerry McCormack certainly fell into the same line of low-effort thinking on occasion. I wonder if the pressure came from a more YIMBY Mayor Bibb? Maybe that's just wishful thinking... Any other ideas? https://www.crainscleveland.com/politics-policy/kerry-mccormack-wont-seek-re-election-city-council?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter-BreakingNews-20250214