Tue, May 13 2008
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Published January 30, 2008 06:47 pm - Robert Lebzelter column for Feb. 3, 2008 Nasty atmosphere in county does no good A ROBERT LEBZELTER column Star Beacon For years, everyone agreed people were just too negative in Ashtabula County. Just when you thought it wouldn’t get any worse, the county has taken a giant step BACKWARD. We are more negative than ever and it is thanks in part to government officials and those who want to be government officials. We all know the story about Conneaut, how the administration there apparently didn’t follow the proper steps to secure a Community Reinvestment Act tax reduction for massive renovations to the Cleveland Hotel. The result was questionable closed-door sessions with the school board and giveaways to the school system, because the city apparently didn’t properly get the board’s approval. It wasn’t a good thing. Lots of people weren’t happy. I wrote a whole column about it. Read it again if you’d like at http://bobleb.blogspot.com/2008/01/lessons-not-learned-about-tax-abatement.html. But guess what? I got over it. I’m OK. My blood pressure is fine. I made my point on how the city screwed up and went on with my life. But others aren’t. There’s new people on council. There’s people outside of council who want to play out the great tax break debacle forever. No matter what the cost. The result is an investigation of City Manager Douglas Lewis. Oh yes, and Lewis apparently got angry with Duane Burdick, who operates Burdick Plumbing, because Burdick came out against Lewis’ rental inspection program. Lewis ordered the city not to hire Burdick Plumbing for any city projects. Shortly afterward, Lewis realized the order was stupid and rescinded it. Haven’t we all said and done things in anger we later regret? If Lewis admitted guilt and is sorry, what’s the point of an investigation? These indiscretions are topics for meeting after meeting. The Cleveland Hotel investors have been thrown under the bus merely for accepting the tax break they were promised. And let me tell you, those investors did what they said they would do. They are transforming that place from a decaying shell to a sparkling structure. They talked at first about doing more business in town. Is there a chance now? There are reasons to criticize Lewis, but he worked hard to get the Love’s Travel Center by I-90, helping to sail the project over many rough waters. He’s reported to be working on more projects in that area, plus he’s been working to get a new grocery store in the Gateway Plaza. But if you were a business person who could settle in any number of communities, would you consider a place in such disarray, where you don’t know if the city manager you are working with will even be around? 
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