Richmond Heights Candidates Forum - Wednesday, October 16 at 7:00 PM

Hillcrest  Chapter  –  Cuyahoga  Area
LEAGUE  OF WOMEN VOTERS
PRESENTS
2013 RICHMOND HEIGHTS CANDIDATES FORUM 
Wednesday, October 16th
Richmond Hts. Middle School Gym
@ 7:00 P.M.
                           
Candidates for:
Mayor
Council at Large
Board of Education

*All candidates from each contest will be in attendance!


Co-Sponsored  by:
Heights–Hillcrest-Lyndhurst Branch of the American Association of University Women
Friends of the Beachwood Library
PROMOTING INFORMED VOTER PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT

Thank you for coming!

Public Corruption in Richmond Heights: State Auditor Investigation Called For

For Immediate Release

Public Corruption in Richmond Heights: State Auditor Investigation Called For

Richmond Heights Mayor Daniel Ursu and Richmond Heights candidate for mayor Dawud (Dave) Ali collude for an unbid contract to develop a gas station at Chardon and Richmond Roads through enactment of an ordinance authorizing a $200,000 grant application for clean-up of the Brownfield site planning that goes into the pockets of mayoral candidate Dawud Ali, who will acquire the property for free.

Richmond Heights Councilwoman at Large and mayoral candidate Miesha Headen further calls the planned no-bid development contract a robbery of tax payer dollars. “Dan Ursu should have set this out to bid. Instead, he is steering a contract,”said Headen.

The Brownfield site, located at 26102 Chardon Road is delinquent in taxes, owing the Richmond Heights Local School District and the City of Richmond Heights an amount exceeding $100,000. Through his deal with Dan Ursu, Dawud Ali stands to bypass the public auction process, acquire the real property and the environmental remediation for free.

Headen says, “not only does Ali plan to line his pockets with more than $300,000 of our taxpayer dollars, he and Ursu are doing this no-bid contract when other developers might pay the site's back taxes owed to our children. It must stop.”

“Why,” asks Headen, “is Dawud Ali, a person who has no history of civic or government involvement in Richmond Heights, suddenly interested in running for Mayor and spending thousands of his own dollars? It is because he and the Mayor have been working on this back room deal for more than a year.”

“There is an unlawful interest in a public contract at issue. Daniel Ursu has designed a political kickback scheme whereby Ursu gives the Chardon Road property and the cost of its remediation to Dawud Ali in exchange for Ali entering the Richmond Heights mayoral race and diluting the black vote.”

“Why else would Ali run against Ursu while simultaneously working for a $200,000 no bid contract with him? Even worse, by not having bids, our kids lose again through the loss of a true gas station developer who would pay the delinquent property taxes.”

Headen is calling for a Special Investigation from the Ohio State Auditor, the Ohio Elections Commission and the Ohio Ethics Commission today, as well as the further investigation of Ursu and Ali's plan to hide their collusion from voters in yesterday’s passage of the $200,000 ordinance pay-off.

Promises Made, Promises Kept

PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT

Transparency
Successfully advocated for the City’s Administration to publicly disclose the locations and purchase prices of the 34 parcels of property owned by the City of Richmond Heights;

Successfully advocated for the release of the organizational documents of the Greenwood Farm Historical, Cultural & Arts Association, Inc.; and,

Created a blog and email blast to keep residents apprised of the operations of the City.

Good Government/Financial Accountability/Reduction of Waste

• Wrote the City’s policy for vehicle and cellular phone usage in compliance with best practices as outlined by the Auditor of State, thereby saving the tax-payers of Richmond Heights tens of thousands of dollars in misuse;
• Spearheaded outsourcing of the City’s bank reconciliation to the Auditor of State and unearthing more than $300,000 in accounting errors;
• Urged the City’s Administration to fulfill the State and County requirements of filing timely and accurate annual financial statements.  In 2012, for the first time in 10 years, the City filed its financial statements on time.

Collaboration and Cooperation with the Richmond Heights Local School District

• Participate annually in the Booster’s Scholarship interviews for outstanding graduating seniors involved in public service and sports;
• Wrote and sponsored a $35,000 grant from the Cuyahoga County Department of Development in order to put rubber pavement on the playground of the School;
• Organized Right to Read Week with the Principal of the Elementary School in order to introduce the children to successful members of their community.

“No” Means “Yes” for the Richmond Heights Tax Payers

• Consistently voted “no” to additional acquisitions of residential property for the City;
• Consistently voted “no” to over-budget expenditures without supporting and explanatory documentation

Commitment to Broad Based Public Service

• Commissioner, Cuyahoga County Charter Review Commission
• Commissioner, Richmond Heights Charter Review Commission
• Board Member, Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation
• Board Member, Hillcrest YMCA Board of Advisors
• Member, Women’s Committee of the Cleveland Museum of Art
• Member, International Cleveland Communities Advisory Committee of CMA

How much does Greenwood Farm annually cost the City?

Update as of 6/25/13:  At the request of Mayor Ursu, Council members Eloise Henry, David Roche, Mark Alexander, Marcia Morgan, and Don O’Toole voted to give Greenwood Farms an additional $21,000 in tax payer dollars on June 25, 2013.  See Legislation 38-2013 and the vote in City Council.

The total purchase price of Greenwood Farm and all associated properties was approximately $664,000.  The City of Richmond Heights purchased the parcels from over two years (2004 – 2006). 

The property is more or less located at the intersection of Richmond Road and Chardon Road. It consists of approximately 17 acres.  The current market value assessed by the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office is $408,300 -- a decrease in value of 38.5%.

Even though the City of Richmond Heights is financially responsible for the routine maintenance of Greenwood Farm, the City does not control the property.  Greenwood Farm is controlled by a separate corporate entity, called Greenwood Farm Historical, Cultural & Arts Association, Inc. (GFHCAA).  It has a separate board of directors and this board is responsible for the property’s control of business affairs and funds.  There is no public access to the property.

For at least the past three years, the GFHCAA has never appeared before City Council to report on how it uses tax-payer funds, plans to be utilized for the public interest, and intends to achieve financial self sufficiency.

Annually, the City appropriates (or gives) thousands of dollars to Greenwood Farm.  GFHCAA also raises its own funding through multiple events, such as the upcoming Junk in the Trunk rummage sale.  Again, GFHCAA has not reported to the City in the past three years about how much money the organization raises or its intent to supplement tax-payer dollars.

Similar to the other properties owned by the City of Richmond Heights, the cost of maintenance of Greenwood Farm (labor and materials from the Service Department, interest in the Bond Retirement Fund, and assorted expenditures in other funds) is accounted for in the general bucket and cannot be easily or transparently itemized.

Sticking Together or Why We Cannot Pick Up the Trash

A longtime resident contacted me today because she was horrified by the enormous, uncollected piles of trash behind the U.S. Postal Service and behind the local McDonald's in Richmond Heights.

I was equally alarmed so I contacted the City's Service Director.  Here is how he explained to me why our tax-payer funded Service Department would not be picking up that trash:

Republic Waste Services is on strike. If the Richmond Heights Service Department picked up the trash (at the above pictured locations), then they would have to put the trash inside of its trash receptacles which are collected by Waste Management. The City of Richmond Heights contracts with Waste Management for garbage pick up. Waste Management is observing or honoring Republic Waste's strike; therefore, Waste Management would be offended if it indirectly served as a strikebreaker against Republic. 

 It is a "brother code" -- picking up the trash violates no law.  So, in the meantime, the City of Richmond Heights will have to endure the health hazard and unsightliness of uncollected trash.

How Much Did Rhythm & Ribs Cost Richmond Heights?

How much did “Rhythm & Ribs” (the summertime rib cook-off and festival) cost the City?

For those of you who may not remember, the Recreation Department organized an event called Rhythm & Ribs over the summer. It was located in the back lot of the mall. It included rib vendors, carnival rides, and musical bands.

Income (vendors, exhibitors, rides, tickets, etc.)                                $46,385
Expenses                                                                                          - $80,908

LOSS                                                                                                  $34,523

In 2010, the City of Richmond Heights Exceeded its Original Budgeted Expenditures by $1.8 million.

As required by law, the City of Richmond Heights submits a “balanced budget” to the Cuyahoga County Budget Commission each year.  “Balanced budget” means that the City’s projected expenses for the year do not exceed the City’s projected revenue (mostly taxes) for the year.  Appropriation means expenditures authorized by City Council; no expenditures may be made without Council’s authorization.

Pretty straight forward.

City Council and the Mayor spend no less than three months each year in special meetings on Saturdays preparing the City’ budget.

The finished budget is a guiding document:  a month-to-month guidepost on how are we doing with managing the tax payers’ money.

Fiscal Year 2010	Budget	Actual	Variance
General Fund Revenue	$6,878,670	$7,947,988	16%
General Fund Appropriations	$6,739,302	$8,541,394	27%
Surplus/(Deficit)	$139,368	($593,406)

Between December 14, 2010 and December 28, 2010, Richmond Heights City Council appropriated an additional $1,857,787 over its original budgeted expenditures.

If you would like to follow along with the appropriation process, view the following documents:

The initial budget (3/9/10):  http://www.richmondheightsohio.org/legislation-2010/19-2010.pdf

Ordinance 39 (6/22/10): http://www.richmondheightsohio.org/legislation-2010/39-2010.pdf

Ordinance 86 (12/14/10): http://www.richmondheightsohio.org/legislation-2010/86-2010.pdf