FLASH: Planning Commission votes to approve rezoning!

On April 14, our city’s planning commission did a great thing. They voted in recommendation for the old Oakwood Club to be rezoned commercial. This will not only bring jobs to our area, it will increase tax revenue to South Euclid and hopefully stave off an income or property tax increase which will hopefully bring more residents. Even better, First Interstate will take over development of Cedar Center North. Considering the poor job Coral Company did with University Square and their constant asking for handouts like tax deferments, this is a good thing for South Euclid. It’s also a good thing for the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district, since speedy development of that property will increase funds there. Of course, Heightsters will never admit to that, they will just whine about the temporary reduction in funds to their lousy schools which the unfortunate kids in that section of South Euclid are forced to go to.

The easy thing for the Planning Commission would have been to vote against rezoning. It would have taken zero political courage, because those opposed to Oakwood have dominated the debate with hysterical claims & a mailer loaded with speculation and innuendo. Jennifer West at the planning commission said that “probably about 98%” of opposition comes from outside of South Euclid. That’s probably an exaggeration, since there are a number of South Euclid households surrounding the old Club which are mostly opposed. But the primary driver of opposition has been a coalition of Heights businesses, greenies, advocates of “regionalism”, would-be politicians who will oppose anything our elected leadership favors, and Heightsters who think allowing South Euclid to make its own decisions will hurt the Heights.  They all have different background agendas. The greenies are secretly pleased that the population of Cleveland and the first ring suburbs keeps dwindling – they’d love nothing more than for our area to become an urban farm. The Heights businsses fear development will draw people away from their overpriced boutique shops, especially since Cleveland Heights meters much of their parking. (This fear is patently absurd. Who would stop going to Passport to Peru because a Lowe’s opened at Oakwood?) They also want South Euclid’s income and property taxes to increase, which will make South Euclid less desirable and by extension the Heights moreso. Most of these people probably wouldn’t even give each other the time of day in other circumstances. But nothing can unite divergent people like a common enemy. One wacko even suggested that South Euclid should be annexed by the surrounding suburbs, as if we were Lindale! These people are bullies, picking on a small suburb in order for them to enhance their own position. The Planning Commission stared them down. Let’s hope the council at large shows the same fortitude.  

A recent post on the Citizens for Oakwood facebook page even lamented the construction of Gordon’s Food Service at Cedar Center North. Why would anyone oppose a specialty store which is not direct competition for any store in the area? The nearest Gordon’s in in Mentor, for chrissakes. It’s laughable, because these are the same people who say “develop Cedar Center North first”, but only if they approve of the stores that are built.   

There has been another factor to opposition at Oakwood, and it has never been mentioned.  But anyone who reads the comments section at Cleveland.com can see it: anti-Semitism is once again rearing its ugly head.  I would not be surprised to see this in a place like North Olmsted which is crawling with Muslims. But it’s sad that this would happen in an eastern area like ours, since South Euclid, Beachwood, and the various Heights have substantial Jewish populations.  The chief offender is a poster named “cautiousman”, who never comes forth and actually says it, but the tone of many of his posts dealing with the sale of Oakwood and Mitchell Schneider’s involvement have that slant. I have a pretty good idea who this “cautiousman” creep actually is. Can you guess who I’m thinking of?  

SNO: In violation of tax laws?

Click the image to enlarge

I received this in the mail the other day. Now we have an idea where Fran Mentch and her cronies have been spending the money they’ve been soliciting.

Here’s what got my attention in this mailer. Note the menacing smiley-face graphic. This is obviously meant to give people the Wal-Mart scare. Nowhere is it mentioned that Mitchell Schneider bought this land fair & square. Nowhere is it mentioned that members have been trying to sell the Oakwood
Club on & off since 1994. I almost overlooked the small print at the bottom: A project of Severance Neighorhood Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
What’s a 501(c)(3)?  It’s a tax exempt organization, usually a charity. 501 (c)(3) exemptions apply to corporations, and any community chest, fund, cooperating association or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, to foster national or international amateur sports competition, to promote the arts, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. (Description from Wikipedia)  Not only are they tax-exempt, if you donate to them you can deduct your contribution from your taxes.

But SNO is not a charity, and Citizens for Oakwood is certainly not one. They are activist, political groups. The tone of this mailer is political, an attempt by an outside group to exert pressure on South Euclid’s elected
leadership with the threat a referendum. And if there is a referendum, you can bet that money from the SNO will go into financing banners for their side.  That’s political advertising, and that’s in violation of federal
law. See, while some in and out of South Euclid are calling for scrutiny of our elected leadership, no one is looking deeper into these fringe political groups.

Fran Mentch and her cronies have tried to paint this as some kind of spontaneous “people-power” movement. But CfO is no more spontaneous than the phony TEA party that was started by ex-Congressman Dick Armey and the Koch brothers. This is a group that includes professional activists, disgruntled South Euclid taxpayers, bordering property owners who are only thinking about the value of their homes, entrenched Heights business interests, and naive greenies.

Someone needs to investigate these people. Fran Mentch is on the same moral plane with televangelists who bilk elderly shut-ins for cash with promises of prayer. Where is this money going?

By the way, with all the talk about the trees, the environment, the animals at Oakwood, I have a question. Is this mailer even printed on recycled paper?

South Euclid excluded from Oakwood forum

You would expect that the person proposing development at Oakwood would be invited to a forum about Oakwood.  You would also expect that South Euclid citizens would also be invited.  Not the case when pushy Heightsters are involved.  Read on:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/52289886/Future-Heights-Forum-Excludes-Developer-and-South-Euclid-Residents-Letter-to-Future-Heights

Fran puts her hand out AGAIN

Fran Mentch, Severance Neighborhood Associations ringleader opposing development at Oakwood Commons, must know the end is coming for her cause. South Euclid's planning commission is likely to vote in favor of rezoning Oakwood as commercial. The letters to the Sun Messenger from Fran's group keep repeating the same irrelevant points, such as wanting to keep the Oakwood Club as a park. Of course, they neglect to specify who would pay to buy the land from First Interstate, to build this park or to maintain it.  But in the same breath, the claim to worry how South Euclid can afford to build a park on the 21 acres they will be given by First Interestate. The Sun Messenger's comments section is the most active battlefield left.  Here the tone of those against Oakwood is increasingly strident and desperate, especially one "cautiousman" who has taken to posting in all capital letters (this is called "SHOUTING" in netspeak) and making vague threats against Mitchell Schneider. I have my suspicions about "cautiousman's" true identity, but I'll keep that to myself for now.

Meanwhile, on the Citizens for Oakwood's facebook page, Fran Mentch is letting others like her own daughter and Susan Miller do the heavy lifting. But that doesn't prevent Fran from sticking her hand out and begging for cash. She did it just today:

What a cruel April Fools joke to play on the unsuspecting and naive. Mentch has failed to provide an accounting of what has happened to the money that has already been donated. Which makes me wonder, does Fran really care about Oakwood or is she just using this cause for personal gain? After all, the Oakwood Club's stakeholders have been trying to dump that land since 1994. Where were these neighborhood activists during all those years?