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Taking a Walk with Jerome
Saturday, December 02, 2006 It's started again. In the White Administration, if you crossed the Mayor, you "took a walk with Jerome", the City cop. Jerome was assigned to escort directors and commissioners out of City Hall with the contents of their professional life in a banker's box. Anthony Houston, Director of Cleveland's Enterprise Zone and a member of the Ohio Board of Regents, was escorted out of his office recently. The message to the Jackson cabinet: the old days are back. Don't do anything to cross the Mayor. "You can and will be out on the street in a heartbeat." That's the lesson of The Walk with Jerome. My guess: Anthony refused to bow to pressure involving federal funds tied to the Empowerment Zone. He probably said "No" to some cockamamie scam. When you take a person with Anthony's credentials and treat him in this way you can be sure of one thing: The White Administration is back. Learn more about Anthony with his CoolCleveland interview here. (When Campbell took over from White, the office files were gone, the computer memories were erased, and the drawers were cleaned out to the last paper clip. What were they hiding?) In corrupt governments, public humiliation is a comon tactic to consolidate power and discipline employees. It's too early in the Jackson administration to conclude that the city administration is hobbled by corruption. But the sacking of Anthony Houston is a real danger signal. The Plain Dealer, not surprisingly, has not covered Anthony's dismissal. Fear is back. Integrity is seeping out of this City. It's all about the money...again. The biggest risk: Keep an eye on the airport. These are where the big contracts are: parking, advertising, concessions. If the contracts start moving with fast track competitive reviews and if the City Council lets these contracts slide without adequate oversight, we are on the downward path. One of Northeast Ohio's most important regional assets will become uncompetitive. Sadly emough, the Cleveland cancer is back. posted by Ed |
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