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

Environmental Report for Old Sunoco Station @ Chardon Road and Richmond Road

The following is summary of the environmental testing completed on the old Sunoco station at the corner of Chardon Road and Richmond Road.  The summary also provides an overview of the known levels of contamination and the potential sources of continued contamination.

Date:            December 6, 2011

RE:             Analysis of Status of 26102 Chardon Road (formerly Ron's Auto Service)

I.       General Background

The property at issue is 26102 Chardon Road (PPN 661-06-034), containing approximately one-half acre of land. It is currently owned by the Estate of Mr. Ronald Gerhardstein (deceased) who operated Ron's Auto Service and Ron's Amoco on the property. Mr. Gerhardstein, prior to his death, filed for personal bankruptcy, and during the course of the bankruptcy proceedings, the Trustee attempted, unsuccessfully, to sell the property (both to the City and private entities). Because the property brought no value to the bankruptcy estate, the Trustee abandoned the property and ownership still remains with Mr. Gerhardstein's Estate. The property has not been used since 2006.

II.      Current Environmental Conditions

In April 2007, HzW Environmental Consultants, LLC ("HzW") conducted a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment on the property at the request of the Bankruptcy Trustee.     HzW found the following "recognized environmental conditions" on the

property:¹

1.  The historic contamination identified at the property associated with the leaking former underground storage tanks (USTs) removed from the property in April 1993.

2.             The leach field of the septic tank system located on the southwest portion of the property which likely received hazardous materials and/or petroleum products entering through the floor drain in the garage.

3.             The historic presence of two hydraulic lifts which were previously located below grade at the property, which likely leaked hazardous material or petroleum products into the property through the concrete floor that is in poor condition.

4.             The three newer fiberglass gasoline USTs installed in 1993 located southwest of the building on the property, for which there is no evidence of leaking at this time.

5.             The undocumented removal of a 1,000-gallon kerosene UST from the northeast portion of the property.

6.             The potential presence of a 1,000-gallon waste oil UST on the northeast portion of the property.

In 1993, there was a leak incident reported to the Ohio State Fire Marshal's Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR) related to former gasoline USTs on the property. The tanks were then removed and a series of environmental assessments were conducted to determine the extent of the contamination, resulting in 25 monitoring wells and 21 soil borings (a "Tier 2" and "Tier 3" Evaluation).

At the time of HzW's Phase I Assessment, the Tier 2 Evaluation had not yet been completed. As far as HzW could ascertain, the last communications between BUSTR and Mr. Gerhardstein's remediation contractor, BJAAM, occurred in 2004 when BJAAM proposed to remove 297 tons of soil from the property to remediate the contamination from the known leak. Although BUSTR appears to have provided preliminary approval for the removal of the soil, it is unclear if BUSTR deemed that to be complete and sufficient remediation of the contamination. Nonetheless, it appears that the soil removal was never accomplished and no further monitoring occurred on the site. Thus, the Phase I report lists the historical contamination as a recognized environmental condition on the property, but could not further define the extent of the contamination.

The old USTs were replaced in 1993 with new fiberglass USTs that still remain on the property.

III.   Necessary Activities and Costs

In January 2009, the City consulted with HzW with respect to environmental assessments and remediation of the property that would be necessary if the City were to obtain ownership of the property.²   HzW advised the City of the following:

1.      Prior to demolishing the existing building, an asbestos survey would be required.

2.              The City would have to complete a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment. (It is also known that the Phase I Assessment is stale at this point and would have to be updated.)

3.             The property would have to come into compliance with BUSTR regulations by doing the following:

a.    Completing the Tier 2 and/or Tier 3 Environmental Assessmentassociated with the USTs already removed from the property.

b.    Completing after-the-fact UST closures of the two USTs previouslyremoved from the property without the fully completed proper closuredocumentation.

c.    Proper removal of the three USTs that currently remain on theproperty.

4.   Environmental impact studies should be conducted on the subsurface areasassociated with the two hydraulic lifts and the on-site septic system toascertain whether any associated remediation is needed.

HzW estimated that the total cost for the above-listed activities (not including the cost of demolition of the building) would range from $50,600 to $78,800, with the removal of the existing tanks as the largest expenditure ($25,000 to $35,000).³ However, these figures do not include the cost for actual ground water or soil remediation that becomes necessary based upon the results of the assessments and studies conducted. (Note that the records confirm that there is identified soil contamination from a previous tank leak.) Additionally, HzW included an estimate of several thousands of dollars for preparation of applications for state and county grants to offset the above-mentioned costs.