Plain Press

  • TRUTH IS: WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD PRO SPORTS

    Truth is: We can no longer afford pro sports by Roldo Bartimole    If the Browns domed stadium in Brook Park tiff tells anything it says loudly that Cleveland and Cuyahoga County taxpayers can no longer afford the rapacious desires of billionaire sports owners.    We simply cannot pay their tab any longer.    It…

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  • GATEWAY PROMISED 28,000 JOBS;

    THREE YEARS LATER – 35,000 JOBS LOST GATEWAY PROMISED 28,000 JOBS; THREE YEARS LATER – 35,000 JOBS LOST by Roldo Bartimole   In 1990 when Cleveland politicians and top business & legal leaders were preparing to sell the first sales “sin” tax for our sports team owners, they promised 28,000 “good paying jobs for the…

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  • History says Browns stay put

      by Roldo Bartimole (Plain Press June 2025) Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne is trying to save Cleveland.    He has put his foot down on rejecting a get-out-of-town demand from Browns owners – the Haslam family.    They’re asking for a $600 million input from County residents. Borrowed, the cost will likely double for Cuyahoga County…

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  • Local politicians fund wants of the wealthy over needs of the poor

    by Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press June 2024) Cleveland bears the distinction of having the highest child poverty rate among big cities in the United States. Yet rather than addressing this critical issue, Cleveland politicians continue to prioritize the wants of the wealthy and powerful over the needs of its poorest citizens – Cleveland’s children…

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  • Clevelanders are right to doubt promises of grandiose development plans

    by Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press May 2024) Cleveland residents have a right to be skeptical when offering their thoughts about tax subsidies in support of big downtown lakefront and riverfront projects. Specifically coming to mind are the Shore to Core to Shore Tax Increment Financing plans put forth by the Justin Bibb Administration and…

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  • Policy Matters urge tax policies for the people

    by Bruce Checefsky      (Plain Press May 2024) Ben Stein, communications director at Policy Matters Ohio, held a webinar to celebrate Tax Day and discuss the tax code in Ohio. As recently as April 2023, over 2.9 million Ohioans struggled to pay basic household expenses while burdened with taxes.      According to Policy Matter Ohio,…

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  • Tax incentives waste resources and cripple efforts to end child poverty

    By Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press January 2024) The City of Cleveland’s policies are not only not producing growth in population, but they are also driving people out of the city. One resident opposed to an inappropriate development proposed for Lorain Avenue and some residential areas north of Lorain between W. 45th and W. 44th…

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  • New owner of the Variety Theater shares her vision for its future

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Saturday, September 10, 2022; Variety Theater, W. 118th & Lorain Avenue: Westown Executive Director Rose Zitello says the Variety Theater has new ownership. The new owner, Kelly Flamos, former co-owner of Mahall’s in Lakewood, is working on the restoration of the entire building with hopes of opening the theater as a…

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  • Cleveland City Council passes new tax abatement legislation

    Cleveland City Council passes new tax abatement legislation Plain Press, July 20220                             At a special meeting held on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Cleveland City Council passed legislation that will restructure the City of Cleveland’s tax abatement policy.       A press release immediately following the meeting from Cleveland City Council Chief of Communications Joan Mazzolini explains the new…

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  • Local and state politicians show more empathy to developers than to Cleveland’s children

    Local and state politicians show more empathy to developers than to Cleveland’s children by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, July 20220                             Cleveland’s new tax abatement policy set to start on January 1, 2024, while better than the current policy, does little to address the glaring need to substantially increase the flow of property taxes to the Cleveland…

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