Cleveland Loves to Waste Money Don't They? (Euclid, Jackson: how much, house)

[WhipperSnapper 88]

First the new stadium upgrades which will cost tax payers { cigarette smokers in Cuyahoga County in particular } about half of what the entire stadium cost to build.... What was the amount they ended up approving? 130 million? Now I hear on the news city council approved to spend over a hundred thousand on a memorial for the victims of the Sowell killings......

Who's running Cleveland anyway? Both expenditures are a complete waste of funds.

This is the reason the rest of the world hates America...... We have people starving on the streets and yet we spend this money on things that are totally meaningless in the real world.

[Cleverfield]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper 88

First the new stadium upgrades which will cost tax payers { cigarette smokers in Cuyahoga County in particular } about half of what the entire stadium cost to build.... What was the amount they ended up approving? 130 million? Now I hear on the news city council approved to spend over a hundred thousand on a memorial for the victims of the Sowell killings......

Who's running Cleveland anyway? Both expenditures are a complete waste of funds.

This is the reason the rest of the world hates America...... We have people starving on the streets and yet we spend this money on things that are totally meaningless in the real world.

$100,000 is really minimal for a city budget, and they've been talking about a memorial since it happened. I think it will be a good thing for that neighborhood. On the stadium upgrades on the other hand, I have to agree with you. The stadium is used for all of 12 days out of the year. What sense does that make? At least find some other tenants to help foot the bill. It was a mistake to build it without a dome on it in the first place, as it's almost completely useless for 95% of the year. You can't really blame the current powers for that, as it was done under a previous administration, and now this administration is stuck with the white elephant.

But I think Cleveland in general has done a decent job with budgets lately. They haven't cut city services, or laid people off, and they have made trash collection and the water dept. more efficient. Plus, streetscape projects are happening, and they're doing a better job plowing the streets than they have in the past. I would like to see more money go to the police though, they are drastically shorthanded.

[WhipperSnapper 88]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

$100,000 is really minimal for a city budget, and
they've been talking about a memorial since it happened. I think it will be a
good thing for that neighborhood

It may be minimal for a city, but just think what a portion of that money could do for needy families or any number of other uses.... I'm not against a memorial going up, I just don't think it should be done with tax payer dollars. If A private entity wants to buy the land from the city and foot the bill for a memorial, I have no problem with that.

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

$100,000 is really minimal for a city budget, and they've been talking about a memorial since it happened. I think it will be a good thing for that neighborhood. On the stadium upgrades on the other hand, I have to agree with you. The stadium is used for all of 12 days out of the year. What sense does that make? At least find some other tenants to help foot the bill. It was a mistake to build it without a dome on it in the first place, as it's almost completely useless for 95% of the year. You can't really blame the current powers for that, as it was done under a previous administration, and now this administration is stuck with the white elephant.

But I think Cleveland in general has done a decent job with budgets lately. They haven't cut city services, or laid people off, and they have made trash collection and the water dept. more efficient. Plus, streetscape projects are happening, and they're doing a better job plowing the streets than they have in the past. I would like to see more money go to the police though, they are drastically shorthanded.

A memorial should be privately funded no matter what it costs. To downplay a $100k as nothing proves poster's point. Using that $100k could go to streetscapes, street plowing and aiding the police department instead of a ''memorial''...wtf Cleveland. Do not give it to the schools though, I wouldn't let those ''administrators'' run a garage sale.

Mike White's administration set Cleveland back 10 years;he derailed the optimism going on in the city at the start of his administration. What a joke he turned out to be; blew Progressive's relocation downtown, blew FedEx at the airport and blew lots of coke to name a few points White flubbed. Remember the City Finance Director with the $50.00 on-line college degree who didn't go for her Master's for $25.00 more? Drawers full of unpaid invoices found after the White administration left.

Thanks for Browns Stadium though; 15 years later the whole place needs a redo and they rushed to build it on the most valuable land in the State of Ohio too. Should have put it out at E 55/Euclid, that would have helped the ''community'' out there.

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

$100,000 is really minimal for a city budget, and they've been talking about a memorial since it happened. I think it will be a good thing for that neighborhood. On the stadium upgrades on the other hand, I have to agree with you. The stadium is used for all of 12 days out of the year. What sense does that make? At least find some other tenants to help foot the bill. It was a mistake to build it without a dome on it in the first place, as it's almost completely useless for 95% of the year. You can't really blame the current powers for that, as it was done under a previous administration, and now this administration is stuck with the white elephant.

But I think Cleveland in general has done a decent job with budgets lately. They haven't cut city services, or laid people off, and they have made trash collection and the water dept. more efficient. Plus, streetscape projects are happening, and they're doing a better job plowing the streets than they have in the past. I would like to see more money go to the police though, they are drastically shorthanded.

Why would it be a good thing for the neighborhood? The house is gone at city expense already. Put some of those teddy-bear balloon things on the vacant lot and have a couple of those effective ''Stop the Violence'' marches led by Zach Reed or whoever the councilman is out there.

[L2DB]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper 88

This is the reason the rest of the world hates America...... We have people starving on the streets and yet we spend this money on things that are totally meaningless in the real world.

If the former is even true, the latter is not the reason why.

[Cleverfield]

Originally Posted by Kamms

Why would it be a good thing for the neighborhood? The house is gone at city expense already. Put some of those teddy-bear balloon things on the vacant lot and have a couple of those effective ''Stop the Violence'' marches led by Zach Reed or whoever the councilman is out there.

Anything to make that neighborhood a little more attractive is a good thing for the neighborhood.

[Cleveland_Collector]

You can nickel and dime on the minor allocated expenditures all you want. Truth be told, Cleveland is one of the few major cities that truly has a balanced budget. As a matter of fact, the city had a $50.5 million surplus in carryover from 2012. The memorial is inconsequential. The stadium upgrades are not unlike upgrading the kitchen in your 15 year old house. Lest you forget, the city owns the building. While it may miff you a bit that this is done at the behest of an NFL franchise, there are 31 other cities who do the exact same thing and several dozen others who would be happy to take the franchise off our hands. Which would you prefer?

Question: Was the WTC memorial 100% privately funded? How about the one at the Pentagon or the one in Shanksville?

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by Cleveland_Collector

You can nickel and dime on the minor allocated expenditures all you want. Truth be told, Cleveland is one of the few major cities that truly has a balanced budget. As a matter of fact, the city had a $50.5 million surplus in carryover from 2012. The memorial is inconsequential. The stadium upgrades are not unlike upgrading the kitchen in your 15 year old house. Lest you forget, the city owns the building. While it may miff you a bit that this is done at the behest of an NFL franchise, there are 31 other cities who do the exact same thing and several dozen others who would be happy to take the franchise off our hands. Which would you prefer?

Question: Was the WTC memorial 100% privately funded? How about the one at the Pentagon or the one in Shanksville?

I know Cleveland has a balanced budget and any surplus can be +$100k. I don't care if the Browns stay; they left once already. 15 years is a long time for a kitchen perhaps but not a stadium. Why isn't Progressive Field getting a redo? Its older than Browns Stadium.

The memorial will be vandalized or left to rot and, depending on what it is, stolen. How much will it cost to maintain this memorial. All I know is that Cleveland didn't fund the 9/11 memorials. Apples and oranges. Act of War -v- psycho killer.

[Cleverfield]

What's the difference between putting up a memorial and other beautification projects like the streetscapes you mentioned? Why aren't those "privately funded"? It a seems like your problem is that you want that money spent on the less impoverished parts of Cleveland. Well, sorry, mayor Jackson and this city doesn't work like that. The money is distributed fairly and equally across the wards.