Could the pathetic condition of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party give us a Republican for the first County executive? Is the Pee Dee already pushing a Republican, the out-of-county son of Cleveland Indians’ owner Larry Dolan for the top spot?

Ohio Rep. Matthew Dolan, it has been reported, who will have move into Cuyahoga County from Geauga County to run would enjoy at least a $1 million campaign fund to bring new leadership to us corrupt Cuyahoga County people. Read the News Herald story on Dolan’s power grab: http://news herald.com/articles/2009/11/07/news/nh1664674.txt

He sounds just the right ticket for Cleveland’s corporate elite who will not leave the city even more to its decay – except for downtown, of course.

The Pee Dee, playing out its role in trying to Republicanize Democratic Cuyahoga County, ran photos of 10 Democratic present and former officeholders plus a labor leader, asking in a headline: “What do these Democrats HAVE IN COMMON?” Easy question to answer: They’re not Republicans.

As if the Cleveland police don’t have enough on their hands. Now they have another missing person: Mayor Frank Jackson.

Where is Frank Jackson?

I’ve covered a lot of mayors going back to Ralph Locher. I don’t know one of them that would not have had a strong public presence in a situation as the one where 11 women have been murdered. And where so much evidence points to an embarrassing lack of policy, execution and service from the city and its bureaucracy.

I don’t know any of the Mayors for more than 40 years who would not be very visible, trying to guide the city, calm the city and give it some assurance of action. I don’t know any of them who wouldn’t be consoling the residents, trying to reassure them in every way, every day that the Mayor has concerned for them, for what has happened and for a just resolution.

This Mayor is absent without leave. He can’t hide behind, “What is, is.”

It won’t fly. Not this time.

The city’s police department has been seen as embarrassingly inept or worse, seriously unconcerned. This is his police department. They represent him.

The absence of the mayor is unforgivable.

It didn’t even take a day for the Pee Dee to setup the next pillage and plunder of Cleveland.

Listen to what the Pee Dee said editorially the day after the casino issue, strongly backed by the paper, had to say about the use of its tax revenue:

“So consider this idea, which is already germinating among downtown boosters (read: looters): Divert some of the new property taxes the casino will pay – from the city’s share, not the school district’s – to complete the Towpath Trail and Canal Basin Park, to redesign Public Square and to add pocket parks, waterfront access and other residential enhancements.”

Forget about Imperial Avenue. Forget about all the Cleveland Imperial Avenues.

Let’s spend a few more million on a bike path and redo Public Square. Again.

Just read the intention of this proposal. You will see a community looting being pushed by the Pee Dee.

This is what the Pee Dee – acting as front for the Greater Cleveland Partnership and its corporate thugs – wants to do with any revenue that might come to the city from the casino. Disgusting.

Can you believe it?

How insensitive is that on the day following the discovery of multi-murders and a city police force and government that allowed what happened on Imperial Avenue to happen. As the bodies are being ushered out.

Cleveland Browns fans may be angry with Randy Lerner and the Cleveland Browns football team but that didn’t stop them from contributing $10.9 million to help him this year.

In October, Cuyahoga County taxpayers slipped another $1.2 million to pay for the Browns Stadium.

The Browns are 1-7 this season. And a pretty putrid 1-7 from what I hear.

This year, sin tax contributors – all we purchasers of wine, alcohol and cigarettes in Cuyahoga County only – have paid $10,900,768.11 to help Lerner. It helps pay for the Browns Stadium. Lerner pays $250,000 a year to rent the place. The city pays more than $400,000 each year for taxes on the land. The stadium is tax exempt. Free for Lerner.

Thank you taxpayers. Don’t mention it Randy.

Did you catch the so-called interview Tony Grossi did with Lerner in today’s Pee Dee. Talk about consumer fraud.

The headline says: Lerner discusses GM’s firing; reaffirms support for Mangini.” Should have said, “Lerner WON’T discuss ANYTHING.”

Roger Stone, a Republican PR hit man, took quite a shot at Pee Dee editor Susan Goldberg, on the Issue 3 coverage: “PD Editor Pimps for Casino Gambling.”

She claims “to be an objective and principled journalist but her actions during Ohio’s recent campaign over casino gaming demonstrates that she is neither,” writes Stone in his blog “StoneZone.”

He was a hired gun against Issue 3.

He also calls Dan Gilbert a “nouveau rich loud mouth.” Pithy stuff.

You can read how Goldberg distorted a poll, giving Issue 3 some needed boosting. It worked.

The full posting can be found here.

As I’ve said before, the Pee Dee allowed editorializing to spread across its front news page on Issue 3 and, of course, on Issue 6.

The biggest story this day after the election isn’t approval of County government reform or approval of a monopoly casino for a billionaire.

No. The biggest story is about the numerous murdered bodies found in the middle a city neighborhood. In fact, not far from famous Shaker Square in the new 4th ward.

That it could happen with little notice says so much more about Cleveland, its priorities and what it cares about than any election issue. Residents count little in this world.

The question is how does this happen? Why did it happen? Why did it happen so easily? Why did it escape notice so easily? For so long?

Where were the police? Where were health officials? Social workers? Community development personnel? Community activists?

Let’s build a new convention center. Let’s build a new casino. Can we build any new stadiums? Theaters? Fancy restaurants?

Anyone can see reform and casinos don’t answer what really ails Cleveland. You can’t hide it behind glitz or change for the sake of change.

Poverty and its relatives are eating away at the very life of the city. Giving recognition to this is step one.

But we are being sold shoddy goods instead.

The Pee Dee won big yesterday. The newspaper – surely looking for relevance – piggybacked on a vile corruption scourge in County government to change its form. Not its nature.

I have removed a recent posting on a Dan Gilbert blog. I mistook a blog by another Dan Gilbert. I apologize for the error.

Still vote NO on Issue 3.

Stampede, stampede , stampede.

That’s the Pee Dee’s editorial push on Issues 3 & 6, as it was on Gateway, as it was on Browns Stadium, as it was on the Medical Mart and as it is on the monopoly casino.

What do they have in common?

Build – Build – Build.

That is the Pee Dee’s desire – concrete. That’s the Establishment’s desire – concrete.

Why? Profits. A semblance of Progress.

Do you notice great improvement? Do you notice Progress?

They build what we don’t need and they deprive us of what we do need.

They build, over and over, and tell us this is what we need to make Cleveland and Northeast Ohio better. This is Progress.

But what’s the major problem in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio?

Education. Of all ages. That’s what we need.

Taking care of people. That’s what we need.

But over and over again it’s build something for the multi-millionaires and even billionaires.

Forget about the poor. Forget about the needs of ordinary people.

Build, build, build. Build and it will come. It never comes.

More retail outlets even though we have much too much retail.

Subsidize office space. Even though we have too much office space.

Expand, expand, expand, they tell us.

Even though expansion simply leads to too much unneeded growth.

A former Michigan state trooper tells a different story of Dan Gilbert’s arrest on operation of gambling business than the Cavs owner has been peddling to the news media. Gilbert has made it seem a minor episode, best forgotten.

Gilbert, a billionaire of the mortgage business and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been a lead proponent of a monopoly casino issue on the November ballot. Issue 3 will give Gilbert a monopoly casino in Cleveland.

A lieutenant detective tells of the arrest of Gilbert when he was a Michigan student. He posed as the father of a gambling debtor. He said a victim told him of a strong-armed threat unless he paid. He also linked a car filled with manure to the betting business as a method of forcing collections of gambling debts.

The detective, John Fiedler recorded the meeting with Gilbert when he went to pay the debt. He said he was shown a ledger with betting data with pages of bets made, some as high as $1,000 or more.

Here is his statement in full:

My name is John Fiedler, and I was a member of the Michigan Department of State Police for 25 years.

Wonder if the Pee Dee will headline this story: Four billionaires have “loaned” $240,000 to the former disgrace Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. One of them our casino king: Dan Gilbert.

The Pee Dee has been supporting in its news columns Gilbert’s desire for a monopoly casino in Cleveland, along with other cities. The vote Tuesday will decide. Issue 3.

The loan to the former mayor, who resigned in Sept. 2008, suggests that Gilbert will spread his money around. It makes you wonder what politicians he might be helping here. Jimmy Dimora, Frank Russo?

The loans have not been repaid.

Kilpatrick was sentenced to four months in jail. The charge was obstruction of justice. However, there were many other charges against him and his administration.

The “loan” was made, according to reports, as he left jail.

A link to the Detroit Free Press article is here: http://www.freep.com/article/20091029/NEWS01/91029066/1318/Kilpatrick-got-cash--loans-from-business-leaders

A link to another article (don’t let the link title fool you) on this matter can be found here: