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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Detroit just opened a gorgeous, grand waterfront park. What can Cleveland learn from its project? We’re dreaming big ideas on Today in Ohio. Listen online here. Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston. You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn. Here’s what we’re asking about today: Before we get to the outrageous news, let’s talk about something with vision. Cleveland has been dreaming about a first-class waterfront for decades. Detroit — our rival for Rust Belt revitalization — just did it, with a new $80 million, 22-acre park with giant playground features, nature trails and more along the Detroit River. What can Cleveland leaders learn from this project? In yet another sign that Democrats are willingly caving to the forces pushing this country toward autocracy, Ohio’s Democratic leaders voluntarily gave up more Congressional seats in the new maps just released, making the ratio of Republicans to Democrats even more out of whack with the state’s population. Why? You could feel the panic in the air as last week neared its end without a solution for SNAP benefits, and we saw a flurry of governments pledging help. Who gave what, and will it make a difference? No agency will feel the pain of the SNAP benefit loss more than the the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. What is it doing to address the unprecedented need? Where else can people find help? The scandal of Cleveland State University’s inexplicable gift of its beloved student-run radio station to Ideastream grew darker last week with news of possible illegal behavior by the school officials and its board of trustees. What did they do that seems to clearly violate the law? In what might be the worst environment ever to be suggesting a property tax hike, the Cuyahoga County’s Board of Developmental Disabilities says it’s running out of money and likely will have to ask voters for more. What’s driving the shortfall, and what would happen if voters say no? What happens when you tell people not to shop on Black Friday, and the week after? A grassroots movement calling for Americans to stop spending money from Nov. 25 through Dec. 2, with organizers hoping to pressure businesses and policymakers. They’re citing historical precedents like the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Could it work? The building everyone knows as the Huntington, even though it is now called the Centennial, is facing foreclosure. If it happens, the public will be out of a boatload of money, including Cuyahoga County, which handed over millions to the developer without requiring any proof that the money was being spent on renovations. How much will the public lose to this nightmare? And who are the public officials who made the lame-brained decision to fork over all of that money without demanding accountability? Today, in Cuyahoga County juvenile court, there’s an important hearing in the case of the 5-year-old girl who beaten senseless, raped and left for dead. What does the defense want to do to keep information from the public? What kind of precedent could this set? More Today in Ohio ‘They’re not VIPs’: Former FirstEnergy execs get special treatment in Ohio corruption case ‘It sounds like sci-fi’ -- but Ohio’s AI marriage ban might not be so crazy ‘Walking a fine line’: Ohio bill would let chaplains counsel public school students We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here. Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here. RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here. On PodParadise, find us here. And on PlayerFM, we are here. Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings. Chris Quinn (00:01.068) Big thanks to Lisa, Laura, Leila and Courtney for carrying on with this podcast in my absence. Great stuff, great discussions. I loved reading all those podcast posts. It’s Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. I am Chris Quinn here with Leila Tassi, Lisa Garvin and Laura Johnston and Leila. Before we get to the outrageous news from the end of last week, Let’s talk about something with some vision. Cleveland has been dreaming about a first class waterfront for decades. Detroit, our rival for Rust Belt revitalization, just did it with a new $80 million 22 acre park with giant playground features, nature trails and more. What can Cleveland leaders learn from this? Leila (00:51.867) Well, yeah, this is the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park. It’s the capstone of this 20 year transformation that’s turned five and a half miles of once industrial riverfront into uninterrupted public access. There are trails, parks, playgrounds, and boardwalks that connect downtown all the way from the Ambassador Bridge to Belle Isle. So the park itself is a real showstopper. It was designed by the same firm behind Brooklyn Bridge Park. in Chicago’s Maggie Daly Park. It’s got a five acre play garden with 26 foot tall animal sculptures, a water garden where kids can learn about ecosystems. There’s an open lawn for concerts and sledding and a recreation pavilion sponsored by the Pistons with full-size basketball courts. It’s very whimsical, it’s beautiful, and it’s very, very Detroit. But what’s really most striking is how this came together, how this happened. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, which is a public-private partnership created in 2003 by the city and General Motors and the Kresge Foundation, they kept the vision alive across multiple mayors and economic cycles. GM donated the first stretch of the Riverwalk and foundations and businesses kept investing. So the result is more than 900 new trees. wildlife friendly shorelines and an estimated 55,000 people showing up on the opening weekend for this thing. Chris Quinn (02:25.198) You know, I’ve been looking at cities that are successful elsewhere lately and trying to understand what it is that makes them such a draw. If you look at Nashville, if you look at Charlotte, even if Lisa’s former stomping ground, Houston, what is it that draws huge numbers of people there? They have high housing prices, that they have terrible traffic congestion, but people keep going there. And I think What Detroit is doing is a big part of it. Spectacular public spaces make a difference. It gives a place a vibe. It tells people, young families, we’re here for you. I look at Cleveland and I keep thinking we’re really designed for aging populations. We’ve got great healthcare, who needs that? We have the Rock and Roll Museum, which is what? The tribute to boomers. And we need something like Detroit is doing in these other cities to make this place a magnet again for people to want to be here. And the coolest part about Cleveland is we have all the space, a blank canvas that all we have to do is dream big. And this Detroit story that Rich Exster did told you something about dreaming big. Leila (03:41.497) Yes, and you’re 100 % correct about that. And I think it’s especially true when you have a waterfront at your disposal like Detroit does and like we do. And Detroit is not the only city that’s proving what’s possible when you stop treating the waterfront like leftover industrial land. I mean, there’s Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Chicago, Toronto, they’ve all reimagined theirs in different ways. Cincinnati built a 195 acre riverfront district where parking lots once stood. And now they’ve got parks and housing and entertainment. It’s all tied into the city’s core, which is what Cleveland Visions will do in the coming years. Milwaukee turned miles of its working riverfront into a year round public river walk that’s lined with art and cafes and trails. Chicago, which you’ve mentioned many times, they literally bulldozed an airport in the dead of night. to create 120 acre lakefront park. And Toronto has gone really big too. They transformed 2000 acres with parks and public art and $9 billion in private development. So the common thread I think is really boldness and following through. And that’s why I think Justin Bibb is poised to get this done. He’s got all that energy behind him. I really don’t think he’s gonna drop the ball. Chris Quinn (05:02.486) Yeah, I hope not. And Burke is the jewel that can be developed. I think it’s more than this. I mean, this is one part of it. I also feel like when you look at the cities that are thriving, they’re not Balkanized like Northeast Ohio. I come back from a week off and I am surrounded by nonsense for the local Cleveland Heights election. And I keep thinking, why do we even have a Cleveland Heights government? We should have a countywide government. We don’t need this kind of money and shenanigans. They got a charter amendment on the books that will further weaken the position of the mayor that they keep saying is great. And if we got away from that, if we got away from, big cities don’t have this problem. If we got away from it here and thought as one, we might get more momentum. The Detroit story is a great story for us to look at. We need to develop the lakefront, but there are a bunch of other things we should start taking lessons from elsewhere that we’re just not learning. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. This is the most depressing story for me in months. It’s another sign that Democrats are willingly caving to the forces pushing this country towards autocracy. The Democratic leaders voluntarily gave up more congressional seats and the new maps just released. Lisa, what happened and why? Lisa Garvin (06:24.442) Well, to be fair, they are between a rock and a hard place here, the Democrats on the Ohio Redistricting Commission. So the commission unanimously approved a congressional map after an 11th hour deal between the Democrats and the Republicans on the commission. This happened in Thursday. So the map that they approved will be in place from next year through 2031. There is a Republican advantage in 12 of the 15 congressional districts. But see, if they waited and ran out the clock and it went to the legislature, it probably would have been even more lopsided, like 13 seats. So a Democratic US representative, Greg Landsman of Cincinnati says, you know, his district goes from leaning Democratic. to favor Republican and it stretches from the Indiana border through Cincinnati, North to Warren and Clinton counties, which are both very conservative counties. So this would be trending Republican and it would be considered a toss-up. Democrat Marcy Capter of Toledo, the ninth congressional district is slightly more Republican now. It now includes Henry County, which is the Ohio. home of Senate President Rob McCauley, who may run against Capter in the next election, although she’s going to try for her 23rd term next year. Republican, I’m rather representative Amelia Sykes of Akron in the 13th district. goes from a 50-50 toss up to Democratic leaning. And then representative Chantel Brown of Warrensville Heights in the 11th district. That actually stays solid blue. The map, and she said that the map avoids a complete disaster. House Minority Leader and Redistricting Member Danny Isakson of Cincinnati says, it’s not a fair map that voters deserve, but it kept the GOP from passing even a more gerrymandered map like Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri are doing. Chris Quinn (08:16.546) I hear you about the pragmatism, Lisa, about they felt like they were between a rock and a hard place, but I still feel like this is appeasement. The map already was out of whack with the ratio of Republicans and Democrats in Ohio. Already, it was way weighted. This makes it far worse. And if you would have allowed the blackmail to not work, if you would have said, no, we will not be blackmailed into a further reduction and let them do the worst map, you would at least be able to go to the voters and say, look what they’ve done. This is absurd. Or maybe even the Ohio Supreme Court would compare that map to what the Constitution says has to happen and say it violates the Constitution. Probably not because they’re on the bag for the Republicans, but you never know. By agreeing, you can’t fight. You’ve just appeased the Republicans. They’re going to do this every time. They did it last time. Either take what we’re doing to you, this unacceptable level of Republican ratio versus Democrat, or we’ll make it worse. And my feeling is this is the line in the sand. They should have said, go ahead, do your worst, and we will fight other battles. You’re being unfair. We could show the electorate. Now they can’t because they voted yes. So if you went to the voters now, The Republicans would say, well, what do you want? The Democrats voted for it. And I just don’t believe that they did it. I mean, it was for me the most depressing story because we’re locked now into something that is absolutely not right. Lisa Garvin (09:56.838) Yes, but we also have an Ohio Supreme Court that, you know, the only one who held the line against all these illegal maps is now off the court and we’re fixing probably to lose our only Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court. So they’re not going to get any redress there. I think they know that. think pragmatism kind of rules the day here. I understand what you’re saying that they have to hold the line, but can they? Chris Quinn (10:23.425) Laura, Lava, what do you guys think? Laura (10:27.379) I get the pragmatism. It is disappointing. I know why they did it. And we talked about this several times last week and I was so thinking this is never going to happen. They hadn’t even had meetings. Every time they went together, it was like a half hour, throw up their hands, they’re done. And it seemed like they were just waiting to get to November. Now they got to November, they only needed the Republicans. They didn’t need any Democrats. I think it could have been worse, but it does feel sad to know that Democrats are capitulating. Chris Quinn (10:54.998) I think Democrats are capitulating everywhere. We have a completely out of control government in every level. Who is fighting back? Depressing story. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. You could feel the panic in the air last week as it neared the end of the week with the solution for SNAP benefits not apparent. We saw a flurry of governments pledging help. Who gave what and will it make a difference, Laura? Laura (11:22.123) Well, unfortunately, whatever they give is really not going to come close to what we need. And everybody is stepping up when we talk about local governments. Selma County gave $250,000 to the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank. Lake County Board of Commissioners, $18,000 to the United Way of Lake County. And in Cuyahoga, actually, we’ve got some collaboration, which is nice to see. Local governments, nonprofits, major sports teams, and the government’s $600,000 for emergency food aid. But that is a drop in the bucket really because what we need is so much more. have 190,000 people just in Cuyahoga County alone that depend on SNAP, 1.4 million in the state. The governor did step up to $25 million plan to blunt that impact of the federal shutdown. But put this in perspective, and Leila did a nice job in her column showing how all the failures here add up. But $263 million is what normally gets spent every month in Ohio. So 25 million from the state, that’s a 10th of that. So we’re talking three days worth of what they need out of a month. Chris Quinn (12:28.844) Well, I love the people that were on social media last week saying they found $600 million for the Browns and $25 million for the Hungry. The thing that is striking about this, and it was in Laila’s column, which if you haven’t read, it’s on cleveland.com, you should read it. I sent it out to the tech subscribers this morning, is that no administration in history has allowed this to happen. That every previous administration has said, okay, okay, Laura (12:50.901) Mm-hmm. Chris Quinn (12:55.33) We get it, there’s a shutdown, but we are not gonna let people go hungry. Donald Trump is saying, let them be hungry. First president in history to not care that people will be hungry. And it gets back to what we were just talking about. We need people to stand up and fight. That’s not what America is about. We don’t let people go hungry. We don’t let people freeze to death. We take care of basics for those without. And yet, that’s what’s happening. Laura (13:01.963) Mm-hmm. Chris Quinn (13:24.864) And as Lela points out, Republicans in Congress have gotten behind some ideas for doing it, but they’re not effective. They have Donald Trump’s ear. They should be going to Donald Trump saying, damn it, man, we don’t want our citizens to starve. Do what’s right. Release the money that’s in the coffers. The judges ordered him to do it, and even then he’s going to delay it. Laura (13:30.805) Mm-hmm. Laura (13:47.018) Right. Right. Because they argued we can’t legally do this. And it’s like, yes, you can. And you also found hundreds of millions of dollars to do everything, other things. If ICE is still continuing, they’re still trying to arrest people that they want to kick out of the country. It feels very clear that they want people to not depend on the government for what they consider handouts. Right. That this is not the kind of people that they want to protect. They are about billionaires and millionaires and not about helping people who need help. And you I got pushback, I think it was my wake up newsletter on Thursday or Friday, and I use the word starve. And somebody berated me saying, we don’t let people starve. No one starves in this country. You know, there’s food pantries, there’s churches, there’s neighbors helping. And all of that is true, and I’m glad to see it. But that’s not how it’s supposed to work. We pay taxes for a reason. We expect the federal government to use our tax money to provide a safety net for people. And they’re completely like just stepping away from the neediest. Chris Quinn (14:53.908) It’s terrible. saw a great question posed last week. It was from somebody that said, if you’ve ever read history and wondered what you would do if your country moved into fascism, the answer is what you’re doing now. And I thought, you’re right on the money. We’re not stopping this. We are not rising up to say, no, we’re allowing this president in his guilt-edged White House to let people go hungry. Laura (15:10.123) Mm-hmm. Chris Quinn (15:22.232) first president ever to do it. And everybody in elected office should be outraged by this thought. It’s absurd that all of these agencies in Cuyahoga County are coming together to drop what they can when the federal government has all the money. All they have to do is release it and they won’t because they’re cruel. Laura (15:35.263) Mm-hmm. Right. Laura (15:42.294) And this is not just an urban problem. We’ve talked a lot about Trump’s war on cities, but the highest percentage of usage in Ohio is Adams County, where 21 % of people are on SNAP. Megs County is 19%, then Cuyahoga and Franklin at 15 and 12. So that is a huge number. These are people throughout our state. It’s the people who voted for Donald Trump. I really want to know what they’re thinking right now. Leila (15:42.427) Thanks Chris Quinn (16:04.76) Right. Right, these are the people that voted for him believing his lies that he would look out for them. And he’s the first president ever to say, to hell with you, go hungry, I’m gonna win my battle with the Democrats. Leila (16:21.445) You know, I just got a, in the past few minutes, a response to my column from someone who said, you’re trying to gaslight us. All the Democrats have to do is vote on the clean continuing resolution and open up the government and payments will continue normally. If that is the predominant thinking among Republicans, which I can imagine it is, and even probably amongst some of those who are going hungry right now in the middle of this crisis, then we are in a really, really bad place. Laura (16:29.557) Woo. Laura (16:50.379) But what about- Chris Quinn (16:50.786) That’s the blackmail though. That’s exactly what the Ohio Republicans did to get their map. They’re using hunger to blackmail the Democrats and the Democrats are saying, we’re not gonna do that. We’re not gonna say either food or healthcare. We think that as a country, we should provide both. Leila (16:53.369) Right. Right. Leila (17:05.776) Right. Laura (17:09.323) Well, and what about the fact that they haven’t even called Congress in order? They’re not even talking about this. Like, they refuse to bring them together. That’s a Republican decision. Chris Quinn (17:19.35) You’re listening to Today in Ohio. No agency will feel the pain of the SNAP benefit loss more than the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Lela, what is it doing to address this unprecedented need? Leila (17:31.718) Yeah, the food bank is really at the center of this crisis. They’ve expanded volunteer shifts at their South Waterloo Healthy Choice Market, sometimes adding 40 extra people per shift because they’re expecting a surge in turnout because of the shutdown and the approaching holidays too. They’re also ramping up food distribution to an incredible scale. Six million pounds of food this month alone, a 22 % jump from last year with half of that bought outright using donated funds. But CEO Kristin Wrazoka points out that food banks can’t possibly replace the federal safety net that we’ve been talking about. For every one meal the food bank provides, SNAP usually covers nine. So that’s why she called the situation a manmade disaster. And out in the neighborhoods, you can already see the effects. We had a reporter out there talking to people who were seeking food this past weekend. At Central Bible Baptist Church in Cleveland Heights, volunteers are facing lines that wrap around the block. People have never needed help before showing up. And that includes seniors walking in with carts and families just trying to keep food on the table. So the message from the food bank right now is twofold. They need volunteers and they want people who are struggling to know that help is available, whether that’s through their South Waterloo Market or partner pantries or the Help Center hotline, which is 216-738-2067. If you know anyone who needs that number, they’re doing everything they can to hold the line. until Washington gets its act together here. Chris Quinn (19:00.568) Well, the way this works is that the money is allotted when it’s working in SNAP benefits across the first 20 days of the month and the way people use it. They live for 20 days on the money they have and then the last 10 days, they kind of empty their larders. So when it’s time to recharge their card, there’s nothing left in their cabinets. Even if the government freed up this money today, would take multiple days to get it there. The upshot is every day that goes by through November 20th, more people go hungry. More people have trouble feeding their children. And this is a Donald Trump problem because he can open up that bank account right now as a judge has ordered him. Leila (19:42.682) Well, and he’s been ordered to do it, right? But he’s kind of, you know he’s dragging his feet because he says, all right, well, we’ll wait for the court to tell us what the legal avenue is to do that. And then it’s gonna take some time to get that money to the states and then to distribute, you know, it’s just deplorable. Laura (19:45.226) Mm-hmm. Laura (19:58.284) I just want to add that I feel like for years we were told, know, donate money to the food bank. That’s the best way to help. We have the power of the purse, right? And I think it was four meals for a dollar, right? Am I remembering this correctly? Because the last time I checked and I checked on Friday, was every dollar fuels two meals. So we have to think about the cost of inflation here, too. So all of this, all of this money we’re talking about doesn’t even go that far at the grocery store anymore. Chris Quinn (19:58.614) Yeah. Laura (20:27.561) which is just making it that much harder. Leila (20:30.063) You know, the other beautiful thing about this moment though is that Cleveland’s local food scene is rallying as well. I mean, to see these restaurants and churches and community groups all filling in the cracks wherever they can. You’ve got places like Ohio Pie Company handing out those free pizzas every week. Beardons in Rocky River is doing work. know, other places, Chef Brandon Christowski from Edwin’s is serving free soup every Wednesday at the Old Stone Church. It’s really... Laura (20:36.18) Mm-hmm. Leila (20:56.271) this kind of patchwork of kindness, these restaurants, schools, churches, they’re keeping people afloat. Chris Quinn (20:59.672) Yeah. Yeah, but they’re having to do it because the president is unkind. This is ridiculous. It is a manmade problem. One man, the president United States, is letting people, wants them to go hungry as a political tool. This is one of the worst situations that America has seen, one of the worst actions of any U.S. president in history. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Leila (21:05.243) Of course. Right. Chris Quinn (21:27.618) The scandal of Cleveland State University’s inexplicable gift of its beloved student-run radio station to Ideastream grew darker last week with news of possible illegal behavior by school officials and the school’s board of trustees. Lisa, what did they do that seems to pretty clearly violate the law? Lisa Garvin (21:49.6) So our reporters talked to Cleveland attorney David Marburger, who used to work for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland.com. He’s also a public meetings law expert. And he says that the Cleveland State University and idea stream deal that gives WCSB to ID stream did not follow the Ohio Open Meetings Law. And a violation of that law would invalidate any action taken by the CSU Board of Trustees. So they say that the violation occurred during an August 7th executive session during a public meeting. The executive session lasted four hours. It included Ideastream president and CEO, Kevin Martin, top CSU officials, and a consultant for the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Marburger says WCSB was probably discussed. He says all government business must be done in public with few exceptions. But the trustees say there was an exception. They say the exception was to discuss personnel matters, trade secret information, and real estate sale or disposition information. And Mark Berger calls that subterfuge. He says, you know, the reason for that executive session was to talk about the radio station and its grounds for a lawsuit. But CSU Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications said that the WCSB discussions are a trade secret under Ohio Public Meetings Law and that CSU and ID Stream are under a non-disclosure agreement to maintain that trade secret. And they said they also didn’t vote on the contract at that meeting and they formally approved it on October 3rd, but there are no details, no minutes, no information about this online. Chris Quinn (23:15.373) Hahaha Chris Quinn (23:32.526) They’re just flat out lying here. Look, if they want to make it about personnel, because there was some school person that was tied to the radio station, they can carve that out. But there’s no real estate transfer here because the station is the station and they didn’t transfer the license, just the operation of it. They did this whole negotiation in secret. And Ideastream should be ashamed of itself for participating in what is a clear violation of the Sunshine Law. They should have had this discussion in open. That’s what government is about. There’s no trade secret here. They got together with Ideastream to say, hey, how would you like to take over this station? And Ideastream said, sure, we’ll take it over. There is no exemption on this. Marburger is absolutely right. I think the people that are suing to overturn this, if they get it in gear, just might win. I don’t get this. I’m never going to understand what they were thinking at... at CSU, they’ve created an enormous scandal. IdeaStream is being tainted by the whole thing. They should just reverse it now. Just say, boy, this is blowing up in our face. We didn’t intend it. We’re both community-minded agencies. We cannot afford to lose the goodwill of this community. Give the radio station back to the kids. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. In what might be the worst environment ever to be suggesting a property tax hike. The Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities says it’s running out of money and likely will have to ask voters for more. Lela, what’s driving the shortfall and what would happen if voters say no as they likely would? Leila (25:15.375) Well, this is a real financial cliff, Chris. The board hasn’t gone to voters in nearly 20 years. The last levy was passed in 2005. And thanks to careful budgeting and a boost of federal pandemic relief money, they’ve managed to stretch those dollars way past the promised expiration date. But now that COVID funds are gone, property tax collections are slipping, and the cost of care itself is rising fast. The board says it’s running a $30 million deficit this year alone and could run out of reserves by 2028 if nothing changes. The biggest pressure point is Medicaid waivers. That’s the funding that allows people with developmental disabilities to live and receive care in the community rather than in institutions. The county has to cover about 40 % of those costs no matter what. And even though only a small percentage of the 15,000 people the agency serves actually receive waivers, those cases eat up nearly half the budget. The number of people getting waivers also has jumped from about 3,600 in 2014 to more than 5,000 today. And that growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down. So if voters reject a future levy, the board says it’s going to have to make some really painful cuts, possibly scaling back early intervention programs, family supports, respite care, just to keep meeting those federally required waiver obligations. Families are already feeling the squeeze. on this. Some say they’ve been denied waivers even when their children clearly need them and they’re fighting those decisions through appeals. And the board leader, Amber Gibbs, told County Council recently, she doesn’t have details yet on how big a possible levy request might be or when it’ll appear on the ballot, only that without more funding, they’re not going to be able to pay their bills in a few years. She says these programs are what allow people with disabilities to live, work, and thrive in their communities. And if that money runs out, that progress could just start to unravel. Such a disconnect though to be talking about going to voters for a property tax increase when this is the year of the property tax revolt and next November people could abolish them all together. I was stunned by the waiver part of this story. I didn’t realize the unfunded mandate that is involved here that they don’t have a choice. There’s no funding for them that comes from the people that govern those waivers. They just have to pay Leila (27:18.703) Yes. Chris Quinn (27:37.91) And it can be an unlimited amount. It’s a terrible system. Again, it shouldn’t be borne by the property tax. It should be borne by the government because it cares about agencies like this, which provide vital services. It’s a scary story because there’s a whole lot of people that will be left behind who are in need. But that does seem to be the signature of Republican government today, which is we don’t really care about the needy. We just want to cut taxes. Leila (28:06.295) And you’re so right that the timing is just terrible. Property owners are so burned out by the rising tax bills and the drumbeat of new levies for schools and libraries and parks and you name it. So even though the Board of Developmental Disabilities has a compelling case, man, is it going to be a tough sell. Chris Quinn (28:25.398) Are you listening to Today in Ohio? We got time for one more. And Lisa, I’m coming to you. The building everyone knows as the Huntington, even though it’s now called the Centennial, is facing foreclosure. If it happens, the public will be out a boatload of money, including Cuyahoga County, which handed over millions to the developer without requiring any proof that the money was being spent for what it was supposed to be spent on. How much will the public lose to this nightmare? Lisa Garvin (28:53.492) whole lot of millions of dollars, unfortunately. So as we discussed last week, the millennia companies was sued for defaulting on a $35.4 million loan to renovate the 1924 Centennial Building at East 9th in Euclid. But they got a ton of public financing to turn this into 800 apartments. It was to be a $450 million project. So Cuyahoga County provided a $5 million loan. say that millennia is up to date on the loan payments, but principal only. So the entire loan is still outstanding. They also owe $4 million in back taxes dating back to 2019. Cleveland approved a $15 million HUD loan with TIF financing. The state of Ohio gave a $40 million tax credit for this mixed use development and also a $10 million grant for remediation of the old building. So if the building is foreclosed on because Deutsche Bank is trying to do that, taxpayer money will just go poof into thin air. It’ll just disappear. Deutsche Bank is asking a federal judge to appoint a receiver and the building is vacant and deteriorating. Deutsche Bank in a report says that it’s in really bad shape with mold and air blowing through the building and roof leaks and so on. Chris Quinn (30:10.4) What’s scary about that is that was three years ago when they did that audit of the condition. It’s probably far worse now. What’s odd about this to me is when I covered government and they were providing economic development aid, they didn’t just write checks. They said, OK, we’ll help you to this amount of money. You got to show us when you need it. And they would get it kind of as they spent it. But in many of these cases, they just gave the money. At least the tax credits are not cash. Right. That goes. Lisa Garvin (30:38.867) Right. Chris Quinn (30:39.48) to the future. But all the rest of this is just money we’re out and we know especially with county government, they could really use that money just now. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for the Monday episode. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Laura. Thank you for listening. We’ll return Tuesday to catch up on more news.
