Councilman Tim Melena uses "hands on" approach in Ward 17 At its May 13th Board Meeting, the Plain Press Board of Trustees interviewed Ward 17 Councilman Tim Melena. A West Clinton Avenue resident, Melena has served in Cleveland City Council for about 2 1/2 years. He was appointed to the seat by former Councilman Ray Pianka, when Pianka became Housing Court Judge. He was then elected to finish the unexpired term in a contest with several candidates. In the regular council election this past November, Melena ran unopposed and is now serving his first full four year term. Previous to his appointment to City Council, Melena served a six year stint as Assistant Director of Law in the City of Cleveland. Melena is a 1990 graduate of CWRU law school, and a 1984 graduate of Marquette University. He is a St. Ignatius High School Alumni, class of 1979. Plain Press Board of Trustees: To start with could you just give us a little flavor of some of the good things that are happening in your ward. Ward 17 Councilperson Tim Melena: A lot of good things. I say this to people half jokingly, but it is actually true. There is an old saying ôIf it ainÆt broke, donÆt fix it.ö Ward 17 was in very good hands for a long time. I think Ray (Former Councilman Ray Pianka) did a fine job as the councilman. My job is even easier now the housing court judge happens to be resident and the former Councilman in Ward 17. Good long term things. ThereÆs a vision for the ward and the neighborhood that has been in place as long as IÆve been a resident, longer than IÆve been a resident. It is a matter of -- I donÆt need to start from scratch. I take the baton continue to move forward. ThereÆs a lot of focuses. IÆll talk about several of them. The re-residentialization of the Bridge Avenue area has been very important as one thing going on in Detroit-Shoreway. We go back a long way with the CB patrols in the neighborhood. I mean if you road that street in 1990 it would be a long ride because if you drove down Bridge, West of 44th street, you were going to get stopped for a drug deal in the middle of the street. The neighborhood got involved, started the CB patrols. There were some drug house board ups, and that is no longer the case. Now we are in the process of $2 million dollars of infill housing along the street. It is moderate income housing. As for low income housing, we have two new projects in the pipe line right now: the Merville Building at W. 80th and Detroit next to St. Augustine Manor. We are working with the Diocese (Cleveland Catholic Diocese) to acquire that building. The Diocese doesnÆt own it but we are working on a financing package with them through Detroit Shoreway (Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization). Detroit Shoreway also has a Housing Trust Fund request in for the multi-unit apartment building, I believe it is a six story building at W. 64th and Detroit - shame on me I canÆt remember the name of the building. Those are both low and moderate income housing facilities. Detroit Shoreway currently has over 200 units of low income housing under its management. That is an important thing, because what happens a lot of times with low income folks is look ôyou take what is there.ö A lot of time ôyou pay too much for substandard housing.ö As we have seen in the Plain Dealer again and again, and as the fight IÆve been taking on with members of the Safe Zone with CMHA (Cuyahoga County Metropolitan Housing Authority) and some of the Section 8 stuff. You know they get a passing glance from an inspector once a year, and the housing is subrate. Not only are these landlords being subsidized by the government but they are also hitting up these people for some money above and beyond what they get from CMHA on Section 8. When Detroit Shoreway or equivalent groups across the city have control of the low income housing units we can make sure they meet a standard of not only livability but a standard above and beyond that. Those are a couple of the things we have going on. We also have the Tillman Town houses in a higher income bracket which were sold before they were completed. We are looking at a couple of other developments in the ward. WeÆve got some buildings sneaking around out there that we really need to be looking at long term. One of the things we face in Ward 17 is throughout the ward we have a lot of buildings that had a commercial use, had an industrial use at one point, but the reality is business does not want a multi-story, concrete column constructed building, thatÆs got a concrete pillar every 25 or 30 feet. They want a big wide open box on one level that they can shuffle around as their needs change. So a lot of manufacturing is abandoning these buildings. And we are in the process in a medium to long term view of finding a way to reuse these. There are a lot of different reuses and we are trying to seek them out. It is kind of tough, it is an open ended question and I want to make use I cover everything and sometimes I wonÆt. Board: WeÆll touch on some of that. There is a lot happening on Detroit Avenue. Progressive Urban moving in and... Melena: Chuck I think I saw you there when WSEM (West Side Ecumenical Ministry) just opened up and they are looking to spend approximately $1.6 million dollars in both the purchase and rehab of that building (5209 Detroit). I said at that opening, and I really believe "a neighborhoodÆs fabric is built on the religious communities that exist there." WSEM is an organization that is extremely important, to not only my ward, but to the Near West Side of Cleveland. WhatÆs it has done is they have been able to pull the resources of some small to medium size congregations that as a group can do more than they could do separately. And the ability to go out and purchase and rehab a building, a building that it has been tough for us to find a use for. It is really exciting. WeÆre thrilled that they are going to be there. I think the neighborhood right around them is also very happy about it. In the Stockyards neighborhood last year the city of Cleveland, myself, and WIRE-Net (Westside Industrial Retention and Expansion Network) commissioned a study of the commercial district along Walworth, W. 65th Street, and Barberton Avenue. Barberton is just outside my ward, we tend to be very parochial, councilpeople. ThatÆs in Ward 16. We footed the bill because it was consistent to take a look at what is there. It is a commercial district that doesnÆt really have an identity. Has some resources, and we need to figure out how we use those resources. We commissioned this study and it coalesced a lot of public record information that was out there about the area. We got input from residents and from some of the businesses. It is a study that says to us look here is what youÆve got, here are some things we coming in from outside think you should think about as far as putting together clusters of property for redevelopment. The public has been aware of it and there has been an ongoing dialogue, but we have not done the full blown ôHere it is gang, come take a look at it,ö yet, because quite frankly we just got the very final form of it back last month. But the thing I want to make sure we are very careful about, and I hope your readers remember this, is this is a study to make suggestions, it is not to say "this is what we are going to do over the next five years.ö One of the things we need to look at is W. 67th Place which runs behind K-Mart and the commercial district there between (Map put on table) It comes over to about here. It doesnÆt line up exactly with W. 67th. One of the things the study suggests, and frankly IÆm telling you about this specifically because it is the thing IÆm most worried the constituents will take wrong. It suggests we need to get W. 67th Place dedicated. If we do that, one of the things we really need to do is to make sure we reconstruct this 67th intersection with Denison. Right now it is a way too sharp corner. I donÆt know if you are familiar with it, but there is a great incline up to Denison and it is not real good for truck traffic. What we would see in the dedicating and rebuilding of this would be making W. 67th the truck route and trying to restructure the intersection for the big semis to try to get them off of W. 65th street. There are a number of houses along here (W. 67th) and Storer Park is right here. Now over my two and a half years in council in the Stockyard Forum which is a regular meeting that I started down there. Because the houses are small it is very difficult to do traditional block clubs because people donÆt have the home space to have a regular meeting in their house -- so we do a once a month meeting in Gilbert School on W. 58Th. Board: Is freeway access something that industry in that area has a problem with? Melena: I donÆt think so, and IÆll tell you why. One of the things that I believe that this study is going to reveal to people is that they assume that this neighborhood -- it is always kind of a forgotten area. And people think you donÆt have good access. But in fact you do. YouÆve got good access because youÆve got the W. 65Th on ramp for I-71. Board: But that it is going South. You donÆt have it going towards downtown. You could take Train downtown. Melena: What IÆm trying to get at is this. It is not perfect access, but it is far better than some other areas of the city. It is not perfect but it is an asset. It is a resource. YouÆd always like to have ... I mean you have a neighborhood situated between I-90 and I-71 and youÆd love to have access. Board: You have I-90 cut right through your neighborhood and they have got to go down to W. 84 and take a sharp turn across Clark or they got to go to W. 41/ W44th. And you have W. 73 and W. 65th running right through there and you have no access on those streets to I-90. Melena: I think if you talk to the businesses that are currently located here, they would say to you they see it as good access. They would certainly, they would love access to I-90. We would love to put a ramp on W. 65th street. But long ago when this was build it was determined and there just is not enough space to put the ramp in. They would have to eminent domain a bunch of property and re configure things. I donÆt know this for a fact, but if I was a betting man I would think that MomÆs would disappear as part of that. One of the other exciting things we have going on is the Walworth Run Industrial Park we are putting in along Walworth here. A set of loans has just gone through the CDED (Community and Economic Development Committee) for a company known as Carotech -- Martin Duct. Carotech is the holding company. Martin Duct is a company that builds really large HVAC duct work. Martin Duct is the company that did the duct work for the Jake. So they have a specific set of particular equipment to bend up this really large duct work They are looking to put $1.1 million dollars into a building on a four acre site. The four acre site is on the north side of Walworth. They are the first tenant. Last year we got a quarter million grant from the Ohio EPA to do the clean- up necessary on the site. That is not just the 4 acres, that is the entire 14 acres of the park. The Economic Development Department of the city expects this park will be built out within the next three years. That means more jobs coming in. You know Joseph & Feiss is a two edge sword. All I can really tell you at this point is that I have a really good working relationship with the ownership of the building. We are talking about what happens there. That is all I can say to you at this point. The other thing I want to make sure to say to you is ôEvery chance I get, if I even here a rumor that someone is thinking of moving a building, IÆm making every attempt I can to open a dialogue with these folks. You can never guarantee what is going to happen.ö But a lot of time property owners and business owners their first reaction is ôI donÆt want anything to do with the city. There is way too much paper work.ö And I see it as my job to make sure I get in there and say ôListen, let us at least talk to you about this. Let us at least see if any of the programs we have to offer can provide you some assistance.ö If we get them into those programs, we can be in a situation where they may be able to afford to do something they wouldnÆt have considered before. That is something we are always working towards. Just like up at the Reni-Rego store. We have an ongoing dialogue with those folks and we are optimistic. They are interested in making some determinations as to what happens with the property. I am not in any position to talk about what is going to happen, because frankly we are not 100% sure what is going to happen. Board: With the duct company, how many employees? Melena: They are renting space on the East Side of Cleveland right now. They will be bringing with them 40 union jobs. Martin Duct has said to us, ôOur work is very dependent on two things, the economy and what kind of projects of scale are taking place.ö They are union jobs. They have not committed to a specific number of increased jobs. What they have committed to is a floor of forty. You will never have less than forty jobs at this location. These are jobs that they are willing to work with WIRE- Net on bring people into. So along with bringing in a new company, we are also bringing in a company that is willing to say, ôLook we want to employ people in the neighborhood.ö Board: You have a 14 acre site, you are going to use 4 acres. Melena: Thirteen or 14 acres. It picks up some of this property north of MomÆs but the bulk of it is on the north side of Walworth, the Northeast side of W. 65Th. We have the Computer Center over at 62nd and Storer, the West Side Computer Center, and Bill Callahan is doing some extra- ordinary things. The Stockyard Area Development Association and Bill were the first people in the world, two and a half years ago, to go out and get old computers from corporations that they were not using put together a program that says ôLook for $50 you come in we will teach you how to use a computer and at the end of class we send you home with the computer you learned on.ö Which is an extra-ordinary thing. Over 200 families have been through that program. That program, it is my belief, is what drew Ameritech to the Stockyard neighborhood. They looked at this and wow this guy is way out in front of the curve, and weÆd like to latch on to him. It is really heartening to go into that center at around 3:30 in the afternoon. Because it is a place were kids hang out. They are there. They love to be there. They make great use of the center. You know I would be remiss if I did not mention to you the City Year kids. The City Year Program, Bill had enough foresight, very early in the process, to hook the Stockyard Neighborhood into City Year. Detroit Shoreway is just coming on board with City Year. But we did some great stuff with the City Year kids last year. They manned the center. They worked with the kids. The kids are excited. The kids see young people who are doing something really positive with their lives. We had a number of kids talk to us about how they get into the city year as a result of their exposure to them at the Computer Center. Board: Can you explain what City Year is? Melena: It is like a local Peace Corp. Actually VISTA was the program in the 60s. This is the Clinton program. It is like a revived VISTA where people 18 - 24 commit a year of their life. They get about a $130 or $140 a week stipend, they have a city year uniform, khakis, white shirt, red jacket so everybody knows them. And they do service work in the area. TheyÆve done lots of stuff with us. We started out with some basic things about putting fliers out in the neighborhood for some Stockyard Forum meetings, they did some painting at Gilbert School, last fall we did a clean-up of the alleys for their big service project. We had about 45 volunteers in the neighborhood. Really packed the heck out of a 40 yard dumpster. Got eight hours of work out of 40 people and really took a dent out of some of the mess in the alleys down there. I mean the kids have just been dynamite. They are a great. We want them back and every chance I get to expose my ward to City Year, IÆm going to do it. They are an extra- ordinary group of people. We had kids from the Southwest, we had kids from the Northeast, here in town working on projects in our neighborhood. So it really is a great program. WeÆve got infill housing going on through the Cleveland Housing Network lease purchase program. This last year we did seven houses. In the Urbanteers Neighborhood, which is over here West of 65th Street between 65th and 80th from Lorain to Madison, weÆve built four houses. WeÆve got two more coming on line. WeÆve done a couple of houses on Wakefield east of 65th street -- two houses went up last year. WeÆve got five more houses on line this year. That is lease purchase, moving low income folks into a place and saying ôLook, live here 15 years, pull your self up by your own bootstraps with a little bit of help from us as to how you do things.ö Get them working and in fifteen years they are in a position where they buy the homes. The infill designs have been really nice. I do have a couple of minor problems with them. We have alleys all over the ward as Rei (Plain Press Board Member and Ward 17 resident Reinaldo Quinones) can tell you. They tend to be a place where bad things can happen. Where people from outside of the ward come and dump tires. IÆve pulled 50,000 lbs of tires out of the ward this year. IÆm doing almost 4,000 lbs of tires a week. Board: What is the cityÆs policy on taking tires with the trash? Melena: The cityÆs policy is this. I will give you the exact policy. This is a result of the U.S. EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) coming in and fining the city because we have been mixing our trash. Mixing our tires, mixing our recyclables. And the city got hit real hard last year. The policy is this: -- and please make sure your readers hold the city to this policy -- two tires a week. If an address has repeatedly has two tires a week for an extended period of time. The cityÆs policy is to investigate that, because that is inappropriate. But a maximum of two tires a week is what they are supposed to take. So that is two tires of occasional set out. What is supposed to happen is that those tires should not go in the packer, they should be picked up separately. Not with bulk items, but separately. What the usual procedure is, the area supervisor -- youÆll see the white pick-up trucks with the city emblem on the side -- that supervisor usually does the pickup. It is a hit and miss process. They do not do exactly what they should do. All your readers should know that when it comes to garbage day if the garbage men miss you on your route it is best to contact your councilman, be it me or Councilman Cimperman or Councilman Cintron, as early as possible. Because the garbagemenÆs contract is when they finish the route they go home. At first blush that may seem unfair to people, but it really is a fair thing because during the summer when there is lots of set out, lots of garbage, these guys sometimes work to seven, eight, nine, ten oÆclock at night. During the winter when pickup is light, sure they may get out an hour or two early. But let me assure your readers that these guys are putting in a hard day. We have great garbage pickup. I often joke at my meetings that if you kill somebody and you cut them up into three foot pieces and you bundle them, they will take them away. They are very good about taking things. But because of that policy, it is very important your readers get a hold of their councilperson early in the day. So if you are home at around 11:30 and you see that all your neighborsÆ garbage is picked up and they missed you, call as soon as possible. Our offices can contact the supervisor and get someone out there. Board: They most often miss the recyclables. Melena: Right. It is also very important that your readers know this. That was a real problem with the EPA and the city now has a policy. If they catch drivers putting recyclables in with the regular trash, they will be penalized. Disciplinary action will be taken. If you call, either your councilmanÆs office or 664-2321, which is Director GuzmanÆs office, if you see a garbageman put those recyclables into the regular packer you should immediately call that in. You are going to need the time, what street you are on and if you can get it , a truck number. What they will do is they will pull that truck off the street. Now until Ridge Road burned, they would take it to Ridge Road, have them dump it and go through the garbage and if they found recyclables that crew was in trouble. They should not be doing that. It should be separate. Ideally youÆll see the split packers, it is like a two- thirds/one third split when you look at the back of the packer, will come and take those recyclables away. If that truck doesnÆt come around you may also see that supervisorÆs pick-up come again. Board: What kind of process do you use to receive complaints and calls from your constituents. If someone has a problem, letÆs say it is a barking dog or a... Melena: What I do is I have call cards. In the two and a half years IÆve been on council, IÆve put out about 35,000 of these things. IÆve always got them. IÆve got a bunch of them in my truck. I try to carry them with me all the time. ItÆs got my home and office number. My home number is 961-5209. My office number is 664-4235. My aide Sue is in the office five days a week. Look IÆm a hands on guy. I ride around in my ward. I ride every street in my ward at least twice a week. I do it for a lot of different reasons; but, primarily because if I see it, I can do something about it. YouÆve got to get ahead of the curve. You shouldnÆt just be waiting for your constituents to call and complain about something. When we have a heavy rain, I ride around my ward to check the storm sewers. I look to see where there is a puddle. Then I call water pollution control and have them go out and clean the catch basin. You do different things on different days. Sometimes you ride around to see where there are faded signs and you need signs or sometimes you ride around to check constituent complaints. But my aide Sue is in the office, five days a week. I check in with her on a regular basis. I also, when IÆm down there -- some days I will be in the office all day if IÆve got paper work or meetings I need to carry out, and IÆll grab the phone when IÆm there. My process is you have two ways of getting a hold of me -- youÆve got home and the office. During the day, between 9 and 5, it is best to call the office because Sue is there and we can start work on it immediately. Folks are more than welcome to call me at the house. I have and answering machine on. If they get my answering machine, I may not get home- like this evening when I leave you folks, I have a 6:30 block club, IÆll probably get home something like 8:30 tonight. So if somebody called my house at today at 10 AM, I have not been home today, so I have not checked messages. I wonÆt be able to get back to them until tonight. So during the day it is best to call that number (office), if you have something going on at night, you are more than welcome to call me at the house. I have the answering machine when IÆm not home, but I donÆt have a service. I donÆt believe in them. I answer the phone at home. As far as process goes, IÆm not going to tell you specific times when I do things. I just donÆt think it is appropriate. What I try to do, is I try to deal with stuff as soon as I can. Some things take longer than others. If there is a street light out and someone gives me the number off the pole and the address it is in front of, I could tell if it is CEI(Illuminating Co) or CPP (Cleveland Public Power) and we can make the call right away. Hopefully within a couple of days they will get out there and deal with that light. If somebody calls me and says they are dealing drugs on the corner. That may be an awful lot longer process. If I call them back and I say, öWhatÆs going on?ö And they say ôThey are dealing all the time.ö Well if I call the police and tell them theyÆre dealing all the time. IÆll get, ôWell councilman, we get a hundred of those a day and there is not much we can do about it considering we have limited man power.ö But if they call me and they say there is a six foot nine inch Chinese guy with a mohawk, who drives a pink Cadillac convertible and has a tattoo on his arm that says MOM, and the license plate number is XYZ123, and every Wednesday between 3:30 and 4:30 he shows up at that house. Well if I give that to the vice unit, they are going to act real fast because they are going to know exactly where and when to be and what to look for. So with this job a whole range of things can take place. I try to get back to people as absolutely soon as I can and deal with their issues. Sometimes that takes longer than others. Board: What do you think your role as a councilman is? How far do you take it? Melena: I donÆt have a badge and a bullet proof vest. IÆm not a police officer. I donÆt want to be one. What I want to be is somebody who helps. I look at my role, and I know you heard this from another councilperon, and that councilperson heard it from me, and IÆve heard it from other councilmen. But IÆm going to tell you this because I think it is accurate. There are three primary roles: you are a neighborhood ombudsman, you are the chief development officer in your ward, and youÆre a legislator. And I believe they take place in that order. The primary role is as ombudsman. Board: What does the word mean? Melena: Ombudsman is you are a representative of people, you help them with their problems. Hospitals have ombudsmen for patients. Someone who when they call and say ôLook we need some help.ö This is a person who understands the system and can help us through the system with complaints and issues. That may not be a good WebsterÆs definition, but that is how I see the role. Board: A social worker? Melena: I will tell you what. I would say to you, ôNo.ö And, IÆll tell you why I would say no to a social worker, because like it or not sometimes I best perform my job by giving people the bitter pill they donÆt want. Sometimes rather than me saying to you ôDonÆt worry, weÆll take care of it.ö Sometimes I canÆt. Sometimes those times when I canÆt is when a social worker may get involved. When there is a spitting match between neighbors. WeÆve got an easement driveway. This one comes up on occasion. If there are issues with an easement driveway about two neighbors who hate each other. You know, ôHe parks in the driveway and never lets me use it,ö and that type of stuff. That is a civil legal matter between those two property owners. It is unwise for the councilman to step in and decide that issue because number one, I donÆt have the legal authority to decide that issue, and number two I represent both these people. An easement driveway is an issue where both sides have rights. It is a place for a judge or a jury to determine. It is not the place for the councilman to step in and make a legal decision as to that. So on issues like that, on whether the fence is on my property or your property, I will say, ôYou should have a survey done. And that is an issue between you and your neighbor.ö What I do say to people in situations like that is ôAs a general policy, I think the good neighbor rule is the best way to deal with everything -- from a minor issue over a branch from your tree hanging over my yard to the neighbor from hell.ö And that is, the good neighbor always knocks on the door next door and says ôHi, I live next door to you. Listen IÆd like to talk about this.ö And reasonably talk about it. That person may slam a door in your face. You may think they are going to slam a door in your face. Then all of a sudden when you go and introduce your self and talk quietly and reasonably the person says ôHey, you know what, I never thought of it. I apologize. LetÆs cut that branch down now, or IÆll be more than happy to take my dog in a half hour earlier, or whatever it is.ö So IÆm just short of a social worker. Because I think there comes a time when it is inappropriate for a councilperson to insert themselves in the middle some things. It is my role to do what I can to make my neighborhood a better place for people who live in it. Board: Earlier, before we got side tracked on tires, you were mentioning alleys. I am interested in what you were about to get into. Melena: What happens is alleys are kind of very anonymous places. They are the dark little corners of a neighborhood sometimes. If an alley is overgrown and dirty and filthy, a lot of bad things happen. Francine Lance was killed in an alley in the Stockyards neighborhood several years ago. The young girl who was strangled. Frankly IÆm very proud to tell you that after we did the City Year cleanup last year I was lucky enough that my picture showed up in the paper. FrancineÆs mother called me, and said ôLook, I donÆt live in the neighborhood any more but I saw you cleaning up. I think it is great. Keep doing it.ö And when you see these alleys, when they have been neglected, you know a lot of times people donÆt use the alley. Maybe there are one or two people in the middle of the block who are using it. We canÆt vacate these things. We canÆt eliminate them. What happens is they get very overgrown. It tends to be a cut through space. It tends to be a place where stolen cars get dumped. Where people who haul tires away come and dispose of their tires. Board: In other words you donÆt have driveway spacing around all these houses. Melena: Not always. Sometimes. But the problem we have, and it is acute in the Stockyards neighborhood and it is also acute over in the Urbanteers area over here. And that is because, and this map doesnÆt show up real well. But particularly here -- this area has a lot of cross streets, and streets and alleys. We have a real drug problem here at W. 76th and Elton. WeÆve been working with the First District over the last 18 months and it is less a problem than in was, and that is because of their help in the neighborhood. What happens, is, a kid is dealing at 76th and Elton and they hear a cop is coming --they can run for 30 seconds and can be two streets away. We donÆt have those kind of problems in the Stockyards neighborhood to the same degree. Alleys when they are dirty, when they are not open, can be really scary places. One of the things IÆve tried to do over the last couple of years is make them less scary places. We have spent a lot of time during the summer cleaning these things up. Have every intention of continuing to do that, because I think it makes a great deal of difference in a neighborhood. Board: Who is the we involved, are you organizing neighborhood clean-ups? Melena: Oh Yeah. There is a city program where block clubs can get dumpsters in their neighborhood. It starts in the middle of May and goes all the way through to the end of September. In 1996, and 1997 and this year, my ward will load æem up. I will, if I can do it, get two dumpsters in each block club neighborhood if the block club will come and help me. IÆm certainly willing to help, but part of my job is also to get people out. To get people empowered. You donÆt want to do everything for everyone. I donÆt think I try to do that. What I say to people is ôIf you will come out on Saturday morning and give me a hand I will be here.ö Whenever I have a dumpster in the ward, I show up at that dumpster. It is always agreed, look we are going to get started at this time. If folks come out, IÆll be there till one, two three oÆclock in the afternoon if those people are going to be there with me. But if I go at the appointed time, and I go to the dumpster or the appointed meeting place and nobody is around, IÆll stick around for a half hour or forty five minutes, but IÆm not cleaning the neighborhood by myself. Board: It is drug selling time again. It is nice out. I havenÆt seen the bicycle patrols from the police. There is often a show at a certain time of the year and then they sort of disappear. Are you going to put the pressure on to get the bicycle patrols back on major streets to keep the pressure on, to keep the drugs away? Melena: If they re-institute the program, I will. But, you know, new police chief, different vision. When Chief Pollutro came in, his thing was fill the zone cars. We need to be at full capacity with the zone cars. As a result of that, a number of these other types of programs were either eliminated or cut way back. Rocky is working on getting us up to 100% capacity on zone cars and as a result the beat patrols and bicycle patrols have been cut back. They have not been eliminated. We do work with Commander Baeppler (Second Police District) and the new commander in the first district, Commander McNeely, on the implementation of those patrols. Board: There is a timing, I think, of the after school hours from then until the early evening is a time when I think they are probably most effective. I see it even on Bridge now. Showing the flag works, if you will, works. Melena: There are some things you talk about in an interview like this, and somethings you donÆt. When will this issue come out? Board: The end of May. Melena: What I will say to you is this: That not only have I discussed with Commander Baeppler and Commander McNeely the uses of the beat patrols and the bicycle patrols, but we have a couple of other surprises up our sleeves and they happen to be four legged. That not only gets to the people walking around the street but where they put things, or leave things, or hide things. Board: You mean dogs or ... Melena: IÆll tell you what, why donÆt we just leave it at four legged. Board: IÆd want to go back to the alleys. Besides doing regular cleanups is their any other type of proactive effort? Melena: We have asked the zone cars to make trips down the alleys. Now, they donÆt do it a lot, but they will do it on occasion. WeÆve made an attempt to keep the alleys lit. You know the alleys do have street lights in them. TheyÆll get shot out. I do my best to ride the alleys at night to see which lights are on which are off. Sometimes I catch them, sometimes I donÆt. The process is flawed about getting things turned back on. So if people are aware of street lights I missed, or that havenÆt been turned on yet, I always appreciate the call. This is another problem with the job. If you donÆt hear about it, you donÆt know it is a problem. With anything going on -- be it the light you told us would get turned on councilman isnÆt on yet to the drug dealer at the corner -- one of the things I say to people in block club meetings and elsewhere is ôLook, if you go in your house, lock the doors and put the shades down, you have given everything from the outside wall of your house out up. You have given it up. It isnÆt your neighborhood anymore. Nobody expects you to go be a Gomer Pile and do a citizenÆs arrest. But if you see something. You have got to let the appropriate people know. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.ö Rei is good at this. When Rei has had problems in the past, 3300 the four unit across the street from you. You know. They started to do some work on it. They hadnÆt completed it and Rei kept calling me. ôThey are not done yet. They are not done yet. I havenÆt seen the inspector yet. What is going on? WhatÆs going on? And we got them to finish doing the siding. Board: I remember. Melena: Sometimes it takes that doggedness. We need to make sure people understand that. If you sit in your house and say I donÆt want to get involved. Or, that twelve year old kid scares me. Listen, no twelve year old is going to burn your house down. They arenÆt going to kill you. Board: I donÆt know about that. Melena: When was the last time in Ward 17 you saw a 12 year old burn a house down because they called the police. Board: Not their house, maybe their car. Melena: When was the last time in Ward 17? Board: I donÆt know. I havenÆt seen it. Melena: You havenÆt seen it. My point is this. Urban residents need to put aside those assumptions because I donÆt believe they are valid. They are not valid when the neighborhood is organized and you are talking to people. I have seen, time and time again, one of the strategies we promote in block clubs is phone chains. When everybody in the block club has everybodyÆs phone number, and there is one hammerhead down the street giving everybody problems, and Mary Jones sees it or hears it, and she sees the hammerhead moving down the street. She calls down the street and says ôLook, IÆm calling the police. Look out your window, if you see it, you call the police too.ö That works. A street is a neighborhood. A block is a neighborhood. IÆve heard Commander McNeely say this when he comes around to the block clubs to introduce himself. ôThe amount of money people pay for their homes has nothing to do with the safety of the neighborhood.ö Some of the poorest neighborhoods in this city are some of the safest places to walk at night because everybody knows everybody. It is a matter of you have a sense of who is on the street. You know Gladys Pumpernickle lives three doors down, and she is 85, and her husband Joey is not doing so good. So the neighborhood keeps it a little quiet at night, and during the winter they shovel the driveway. We keep an eye out. If we see a couple of days worth of the newspaper on the porch, we stop by, we knock on the door ôGladys, are you and Joe, ok?ö That is what makes a safe neighborhood. Ward 17 is a very safe place. It is not a perfect place, but it is a damn good place to live. It is a good place to live because all over it, there are people of all types of ages, who stand up and say ôYou know what, I live here. It is my neighborhood. It is my neighborÆs neighborhood. It is not some punkÆs who is going to ride through the neighborhood and threaten some people.ö Most of the time, these people are nothing more than ignorant bullies. When you stand up to them, IÆm not telling people to go out and take a bat. IÆll not telling people to be stupid, but IÆm telling people to work together. A lot of times, working together is just calling me, or the police, or the department of health, or building and housing, and saying ôLook, this is what is going on. Here is accurate information over the last three days. Now letÆs do something.ö Because if I got that stuff and I call Commander Baeppler or Commander McNeely and say ôHey guys here is what is going on. Here it is on a silver platter. And they say, ôYou know what, weÆll go deal with it.ö And they will. They will. Board: You mentioned a couple of times the Urbanteers. And over the years there has been a little bit of a problem at Elton and W. 73Rd area. What kind of interaction does a group like that have? How well organized are they? Are they making progress? Melena: We have phone chains over there. They are CB patrolling. We do juvenile curfew sweeps. WeÆve been doing those for over a year. Those have been very effective. They have been doing all the types of things weÆve been talking about. Again, it isnÆt perfect. It is a difficult neighborhood -- because of the way it is laid out -- to contain things. But you know, last year -- (The liquor permitting process is slow and infuriating. I was the chief liquor prosecutor for the city for six years before I came onto city council and personally did over three hundred of these things so I know what a hair puller it can be.) -- we brought thirty residents, and IÆm not including children who did not testify and babies in strollers -- but they were there too. We brought thirty residents to that hearing (Liquor control hearing about small grocery in Urbanteers neighborhood). Thirty residents came out. The place was a problem. It is still a problem because we are waiting on the liquor control commission, because they appealed the ruling. YouÆve got a legal process, youÆve got to go through it. But IÆm telling you, as God is my witness, we are taking that license. Where Detroit and Lake meet, at about W. 75th there was a place called Moma Says. We kept track of the police reports in the neighborhood, because a lot of times police reports donÆt necessarily list the address where something starts, they list where the police caught up with them. We had lots of reports where something started in Moma Says and spilled out into the street: kidnappings, rapes, shootings. We had enough information where midway through the hearing, their attorney pulled aside my attorney and said, ôLook we want to settle this, we want to take our liquor license and get out.ö So, what did they do, within 30 days they shut the bar, they put their license in something called safe keeping (which is an inactive status), and they sold their license. They sold their license out of the ward. So you can do these things, but it happens with the cooperation of neighborhoods. Board: It is a never ending battle. Melena: There is nothing wrong with that. One brick at a time, you build the wall. Board: You have a very diverse ward. You are talking crime, and then Reni-Regos. When you think about it, it is one of the more diverse areas -- you have Edgewater Drive, and Storer Avenue. How do you balance? There has to be extremely diverse interests. The Christian Science Church is a huge issue up here and alleys are a big issue down here. Melena: It is fun. Let me say this to you about Ward 17, I believe Ward 17 is probably the most racially and economically diverse ward in the city of Cleveland. My predecessor, Judge Pianka, used to tease and say, ôWhat do you want in a house, you want one for $500 bucks or $5 million. WeÆve got them both.ö And we really do! I mean the Edgewater neighborhood, in my opinion, is the premier neighborhood of the city of Cleveland as far as real estate goes. It is a great place to live because the Edgewater Neighborhood has the Edgewater Homeowner Association, and it is the block club format. I want to tell you a little story about this group. You drive in the Edgewater neighborhood in Cleveland today and you see some of the finest architecture that exists in the city of Cleveland. If you cross W. 117th street and you go into what is known as the gold coast with all the high rises and the crummy little three story apartment buildings, the reason the Edgewater neighborhood in the city of Cleveland looks the ways it does is because 25 years ago this neighborhood group fought a zoning case that went to the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio which is still Seminal law today that protected this neighborhoodÆs zoning status. These folks got together under the guidance of a attorney who lives in the neighborhood, named Joe Feighan, who is a brilliant guy when it comes to this stuff. They fought these big time developers, and stopped the high rises from coming in and destroying their neighborhood. As a result, you see the neighborhood that is here before us today. And these folks, to this day, are absolutely organized and in tune and know what is going on. That is why I say to you safety has nothing to do with money. But the theory that makes this property value wise, the finest neighborhood in the city of Cleveland is the same theory that makes Detroit Shoreway and Stockyards safe, good places for people of lower and more moderate income to live. That is: they are organized, they know what is going on with each other. These folks have an off duty police security patrol. They understand watching each others homes. ôLook, IÆm going on vacation, keep an eye on the house for me.ö TheyÆve all got security systems, and they have an off duty police officer that they hire to patrol the neighborhood. But they also still do the basic stuff. I know for a fact that they do this, because I get calls that say ôI want you to know that we are going and IÆve told the people on both sides.ö It is the same basic, rudimentary, kind of boring theory that makes for safety in prosperous neighborhoods. Board: Are you going to be able to keep the Christian Science Church? Melena: What I will say to you is this. We have been in discussions with Reni-Rego over the course of the last 6 months to eight months that are bearing fruit. IÆm not going to talk any more specifically than that, but IÆm going to tell you that IÆm very encouraged.... Melena: Just like over on Bridge Avenue, Councilman Pianka said to the neighborhood ôLook here are some things you ought to be thinking about doing and the neighborhood stood up and did it. When I had zoning issues. It is sort of funny, I had one of my constituents who happens to live on my street was looking for a zoning variance. He wanted to put a pool in his backyard and it was within 10 feet of one of the borders of his property. He happens to be my next door neighbor. Now, the pool was within 10 feet of the house on the other side. My policy is, if you seek variances for these things, if you want these types of things --you talk to you neighbors. If it is all right with the neighbors on either side a gentleman named Bill Rabbit is the neighbor who the pool would be within 10 feet of. Bill told him it was all right. I touched bases with Bill, and this morning we went down to the board of building standards and I went and said IÆm the councilman, I also happen to be a neighbor. But it was the neighbors in this instance who decided whether or not that take place. IÆm not God, IÆm not sitting up on a hill making determinations for the neighborhood. IÆm trying to help the neighborhood make decisions, come to decisions, but it is the neighborhood that decides most things. Board: Traditionally you have some very strong development corporations in the neighborhood Detroit Shoreway, Cudell and Stockyards. What is your policy in funding them? I know traditionally, especially Detroit Shoreway has a lot of organizers and Stockyards has some very innovative programs. How do you evaluate and determine continued funding and what kind of relationship do you see yourself having the development corporations? Melena: Something I said very early, ôIf it ainÆt broke, donÆt fix it.ö You are absolutely right. I happen to have very good organizations that have done a great job in carrying things out. Budget is a constant issue. There is a limited amount of resources available, I do everything I can to maximize those resources. Budget is in constant flux. We are required at a certain time of year, and it happens to be right about now, to say to the Community Development Department that administers the block grant asks us for a general idea of where your funds are going. We have to make that commitment so the paperwork can proceed, and the bureaucracy can keep grinding away. But those budgets are fluid in that, just because I say today x amount of money is going this way -- if the money isnÆt necessary, if you are not using it -- IÆll pull it or a piece of it. But, well before I pull it, or take a piece of it away, there is going to be a lot of discussion about ôLook do you really need this. Where are you going? Are you really going to be able to accomplish this? If you are not using this money for this I really need it elsewhere." So I donÆt have a nice little policy. It would be best for me to say this to you as far as block grant and funding and how I see appropriate uses of money. In a lot of ways it is a real tragedy. The Edgewater neighborhood, because of its great success and great value, is not viewed by HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development) as poor and blighted. It is a HUD determination of poor and blighted which I think is terrible use of terms because I donÆt look at my neighborhoods as poor and blighted. But it has to do with income levels and the census. Edgewater does not qualify for block grant funds. I canÆt give them block grant money. So that means my block grant funds are spent in the Detroit Shoreway and Stockyards neighborhoods. Detroit Shoreway has a number of very successful programs going on. One of the other great things that we have done recently that I didnÆt mention earlier is the Oliver Alger house. We had a building of historic significance, it belonged to a man named Oliver Alger, who was the first mayor of West Cleveland Village, that was the town just west of Ohio City. The house had been moved twice before, but it was on W. 67Th street, tucked up behind the LouÆs Furniture Building. The owner wanted to demolish the building to make better access for trucks at his loading dock on his LouÆs Furniture Building. I was able to convince him to donate the building to Detroit Shoreway. Sr. Coletta and the folks at St. Augustine were kind enough to donate to us a lot at 74th and Franklin on the corner edge of their property. So we were able to get the structure and the lot. The house is sold. The house was sold the day we moved it. We have people that are going to be moving into that when the renovation is done. Sorry I got sidetracked on that, it is something I think is significant. This was the first time in ten years that a house had been moved in the city of Cleveland. I promise I will go back to budget, but IÆm on a bit of a role and I want to mention this to you because it is part of how I see how I do my job. It is a very complicated thing to move a house. A whole lot of different parties: Cleveland Public Power, Traffic Engineering, Traffic Enforcement, Building and Housing -- a whole bunch of different bureaucracies have to get involved. As we approached this process, what I did was I took the people from Detroit Shoreway down to city hall and spent a day. And we walked from office to office. I went in and I said, ôListen, Joe, we are going to be doing this in about six months. These are the two folks that are running it. I wanted them to meet you. I know we havenÆt done one of these things in seven or ten years and in fact the last time it was done Advanced Manufacturing on Madison moved a house across the street over in Ward 17.ö So IÆd remind this person of that. TheyÆd pull out their file. WeÆd spend fifteen or twenty minutes talking. And theyÆd say ôLook you are going to need to do this, that, and the other.ö I tried to establish relationships. Tried to make a friend before we needed one. There is never enough time, money or people in government to get everything done, so you try to give people as much advance notice as you could. And that is the way I try to do this job. Now back to funding. IÆm sorry. I thought it was worth talking to you about. There are a great number of development projects that have been taking place in Detroit Shoreway because of the financial stability and ability of Detroit Shoreway and its staff. So a sizable portion of the block grant money that I have available goes toward funding Detroit Shoreway. Detroit Shoreway has done a great job of doing projects that run the gamut. We've talked a little about that here today, from what we are doing now with the Merville and the building at W. 64th and Detroit for low- income rehab units to the upper end scale things of the Tillman Townhouses. And in-between over on Bridge Avenue, the $100,000 homes they are putting up there. Having the two hundred plus units of low income stuff under management. So, it is money well spent. As I said before, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." It is an organization that is doing a lot of good things in the neighborhood. It can't do everything. I think the things it does, it does well. There are always things we need to work on, and we are trying to do that. The Stockyards neighborhood, there is a historical problem with funding the organization down there that existed prior to my coming onto council. Bill (Bill Callahan, Executive Director) has focused the Stockyards Area Development Association on the computers, and has done a brilliant job with it. Bill and I have worked together closely since I came into office, and will continue to do so. And with Bill's blessing and help, this year we will be creating a new development corporation vehicle in the Stockyards Neighborhood which will have the ability to accept city funding. My sense of where I see this going, is, I'm not going to recreate Detroit Shoreway in the Stockyards neighborhood. If you look at this map, you can clearly see that geographically we are talking about a smaller area. The Stockyards Neighborhood is a very interesting, viable place. It has the highest home ownership ratio of the three neighborhoods in my ward. Higher than Edgewater. Higher than Edgewater. This is a neighborhood where I grew up in this house -- Mom lives there. Two doors down is where Gramma lives. Great Gramma passed away last year, and I'm buying Great Gramma's house. Board: There are rental properties in Edgewater? Yeah, there are some apartment buildings on Lake Avenue. Melena: Yeah. So, different neighborhoods need different things. I don't know what we are going to call this. The board will determine what we will call it. Board: What are your ideas for that, the Stockyards and city funding? Where are you going with that? Melena: That's what I'm in the process of explaining now. What I'm planning on doing is -- this is going to be a very small entity. Kind of a boutique. It will be one or two people. Our first goal, and we are currently working on this, is re-establishing an ongoing relationship with the businesses in the Stockyards Neighborhood. A lot of them haven't talked to anybody in a long time. We are in the process of getting in touch with them. They need to know, "Yes, I'm the councilman for the people who vote, but I'm also the councilman for the businesses in the neighborhood. And, I need to make sure those businesses have access." As a minor example, Fanta Equipment Corporation, over on Storer just West of 65th Street, has had a problem for four years with its storm sewers. "The storm sewers are clogged. We get flooding all the time." I went over there to talk to them. They said, " Look we didn't even know who the councilman was." They talked to me. I got the storm sewers cleaned. It makes their life a lot easier. They don't have to deal with the flooding. Simple things that a lot of the businesses in the neighborhood just haven't had. So that is one of the things they are doing. The other thing is for this first year we are going to survey the residential properties. We are going to create a main file of every residential address in the Stockyards Neighborhood. What we want to do, and we hope to do this ward wide on a computer basis. But right now we're going to attack this with Stockyards because it is a small manageable area that needs it. Every address is going to have a file. Everything going on with the city departments for that address is going to feed into that file. This sounds very basic, but in a lot of ways it is very difficult to assemble. You've got so much stuff going on all the time you really have to put things aside, and I'll have that ability. What we are going to do with this is, the programs that are run out of Detroit Shoreway are now and will continue to be funded ward wide. One of the things we do here is we have a contract with Jim LaRue, whom I'm sure most of you are familiar with. Jim provides technical assistance in Ward 17. Homeowner's got some type of problems with the porch, not quite sure what they are, got to get it fixed. Jim will come out for free, analyze it. Tell you what is wrong. Can you do it yourself? If you choose to do it yourself, what's it going to cost you. And give you a range of what it might cost for a contractor to come out and do this. Now he is not giving you an estimate you take to a contractor and say "You can't charge me more than this." What Jim is saying to you is "Look, this type of work usually costs about this." But, what we will be able to do with the entity we have down here is we are going to have two things going down here rather than one. We will have Bill Callahan and the computer stuff continuing to go on that track, making the neighborhood computer literate. That is Bill's goal, and he is well on the way to doing that. And if the neighborhood is computer literate, it is going to be easier for those folks to get jobs in the next century. And that is very important. The other thing is we will have this development entity down here that says, "Look, we know that at 3400 W. 54th these folks could probably need some help with the Paint Program." Ward 17 Paint Program is run out of Detroit-Shoreway so this entity will contact Detroit Shoreway and say, "Look, here is this address at 3400 W. 54th, we are going to need Paint Program work on. We also might have Jim LaRue come down when he is here next Tuesday." Board: Tim, you started out talking about a survey you were doing in that area, the commercial area. Is that tied into this new development entity? Melena: Yes it is. You need an entity that is going to be able to plan. The study is going to help us figure out what is there resource wise. But through this survey and reconnecting with the businesses we are going to get a little more of that. This development corporation will be there to do a number of things. Like I said it is not going to recreate the development entity that is up in Detroit Shoreway, because frankly it is a different market. There is not a lot of infill. We would like to do some infill housing like over on W. 50th there is a good bit of landbank. I do not just willy-nilly give out the landbank lots. If I've got buildable stuff, we are holding on to it in both Detroit-Shoreway and Stockyards. We hope to one day in the near future to be talking publicly about planning infill housing in the Stockyards neighborhood. We don't have a developer right now to do that, but we will look that way. Board: Right now we seem to have a fairly active scrap recycling business there. Is there a theme for the future? What is the potential of that area as an employment site? Melena: One of the things we tried to avoid with this study was that "This is it - you should go out and bring in widget makers" Because you've got to be very careful. Those scrap businesses have been there a very long time. They provide some income to people. You have people in those businesses, like Don McMann at McMann's, who is born and bred in the neighborhood. Here is a very successful man, who has made a lot of money and has stayed in his neighborhood and trained more mechanics out of the Stockyard Neighborhood than any development corporation could have done. So you run a delicate balance. What this study was meant to do. And I believe what it does. There is this public record information out there on the neighborhood. We have coalesced that for you to give you some idea to give you some idea of different sites the federal government says have this stuff stored on it and that. We also looked at what kind of square footage space is there. What buildings could be viable long term. What may not be. Board: Railroad access? Melena: Railroad access, but I don't think you are going to see an active railhead on the W. 67th stretch. When I say railhead I mean a stop on the way. Now we do have the Flats Line, that runs back and forth there. He is a Mom and Pop shop and does a couple of runs a day. I don't really consider that railhead. He is doing specific transfers of material from one place to another. He's got a couple of contracts, but he doesn't seem to be looking to move beyond that. But we are talking to him. He is one of the people who we've reached out to. Who we want to get involved. He seem really excited about being involved. But you know with this rail thing. You keep hearing from the Mayor about CSX and the Short Line on the East Side. Well, Norfolk and Southern has three tracks running through this Ward. We've got track right here, right here and right here. Now currently the Clark Spur, as this is known, only has a couple of runs a day, and that's the Flats Line. Now if the mayor's plan goes through and we could see 18 -20 runs a day on the Clark Line. Now, you know, I appreciate what the mayor is talking about with the problems on the Short Line, on the East Side. I have not been high profile on this, because if the mayor is taking this on he can have all the rope he wants. But if a settlement goes through here, I have sat down with Director Hunter Morrison of City Planning, spent 3 1/2 hours with him going over every inch of this track. Went and walked the Clark Line, with his Assistant Director Bob Brown, from one end -- got on at Train Avenue and we walked it to behind the K-Mart. Because when this thing comes through, it has been dead silent with Norfolk and Southern. Now, Thursday, for the first time Norfolk and Southern is going to come and talk to City Council. I gave Hunter Morrison and his guys a grocery list of every track related issue on the Clark Line. On ... this is West Shore Line, the line that runs through the middle of the ward by W. 65th and Madison and St. Colman's. This is the West Shore Line, this is the line that Congressman Kucinich and everybody out west was squawking about. This is the line that has all the grade crossings in Lakewood. The line along the Shoreway, the northern line, shoots Southwest down to Berea. This is the heaviest traffic line in the city right now. Now it is all well and good to talk about increases in traffic on the Short Line because there are bad things there. There are portions above grade where people look out their second story window and they are seeing the tracks. That is a bad thing, and I agree with the mayor. But along with that, Ward 17 has three sets of track going through it. We have more exposure than any other ward in the city of Cleveland, and this mayor has not... I've sat down with his City Planning Director and given him my track related issues. But the Mayor's never called me to say "Councilman, on the West Side you get hosed worse than anyone else, and we want to talk to you about it." Now I have cooperated. My profile will be low. The mayor asked us to provide this stuff. I have provided it. It will be very interesting to see what happens on Thursday. Board: Has there been any discussion as to what happens to Whiskey Island? Is Conrail? Melena: The port bought the rail. Board: They already bought Conrail's tracks. Melena: Right. The port owns it. The port is in the process of a master plan now. I can tell you that the Whiskey Island Facility where the Huletts are, along there is where they will be putting the 1,000 foot oar carriers. These are the largest boats that can run on the Great Lakes. Board: Is that in your ward? Melena: Yes. Board: Are you going to preserve the Huletts? Melena: That was the next thing. I have never heard from the Committee to Save the Huletts over the last 2 1/2 years. I had a great conversation with Carol Poh Miller once. When this got the profile about a month and a half ago, I contacted them and said "Look, I'm on board, I want to save these." However, my view at this point is this. The Huletts sit right about here. Right about in the middle of the top of the circle of the railhead. This is where the 1,000 foot carriers would need to be. One of the problems here is the bulkhead on the western end of this loop is shot. People may not realize this but the Huletts are on train track. They are a rolling stock. Because the Huletts, depending on where the boat would land. would move to the appropriate spot to hook the stuff. One of the things that I have talked to the port about. And I am not dead set on anything here. The port of Cleveland is vital to Northeast Ohio. If this bulk stuff can't come in ,there is a lot of manufacturing jobs and a lot of money that leaves Northeast Ohio. So we cannot cut the port's throat. But they are going to have to fix the bulkhead anyway. Why not fix the bulkhead, put some temporary track up, make whatever structural repairs to the things and move them? Move them to the western most corner of this property. Board: Near the sewer. Melena: Near the Sewer District... Create a corridor from the Huletts there down to the bike path which we all know is coming through. Then what you have done is you have saved the Huletts, but them in a place where they remain within context, where "Look folks, they are right here, but the tracks used to go down another 200 yards and worked where those boats are sitting now." You could fence this off so the public never gets into that. But listen we are a city with dirty hands. We have always been a working city. It would be fine to have the Huletts in a nice, clean pristine, pretty place. But they are machinery, they work. And if you could preserve them at a place where they worked at a moderate cost, that would be my preference as I sit here right now. Another thing that I have talked with Director Morrison about, is the Civic Vision plan of twenty years ago. There was talk of opening up the original mouth of the Cuyahoga. Now, I don't know if you know this folks, but the original mouth of the Cuyahoga is right here. Board: Edgewater. Yeah. Melena: All that they do is right here is the channel. Open that up. I would say to you that the things I'm talking to you about now are not impossible. And as an example, I'm going to throw this out. It this is cheap promotion but I'm going to do it anyway. And that is the reef. When we were cutting the Brown's deal, I inserted into the deal, language that required the city to use the debris to create the underwater reefs. I did that because I wanted to create, through the suggestion of a guy named Dave Taylor up at Katchmore Bait and Tackle. He gave me the idea. I always credit Dave, it is his idea. But when you hear a good one, you use it. We created something that had a moderate cost. The entire demolition of the stadium was $3 million bucks. That contract was probably a million of it. To create two reefs, one on the West side, one on the East side. We created something for a marginal cost, that will be there forever. There is nothing above water. This is to create a fish habitat. That will be there forever. From now on that will draw fish to the Cleveland area and if you amortize the cost out over 100 or a 150 years, it is a couple of grand a year. That was good spending. Now this, we do this thing, this is cheap. Board: Where is the bike path going? Has that been mapped out? Is it closer to the tracks? Melena: The Western spur of the bike path has not been mapped out yet. There are some outstanding issues. I will be honest with you, I am not absolutely fluent on this stuff. But I know from Judge Pianka, that he's got the..., the legislation is in a box for the western half of the bike path. It is in a box because as best as I can describe it is this, and I don't have precise particulars. The Edgewater Neighborhood and the northern part of Detroit Shoreway were not clear on how this was going to run through the park and where at the end of the park it was going to go. Until there is some clarification there the western stuff will stay in the box. But I also want you to know that I am working with the Ohio Canal Corridor people. We are the Northern but end of the Canal Corridor. From Zoor, Ohio to Cleveland a place people walk and ride there bikes all the way through, ending in my Ward at the Huletts and Edgewater Park. Board: Also along those tracks there is about a mile and a half stretch of black berries that are the biggest black berries... Melena: Oh yes. There are some in my freezer right now. Board: I go down every year too. That would be a wonderful place to take the bike path through because folks could get off and pick a few berries. There is a lot of potential down there. Melena: There is. This is all in flux. I have suggested something to you that as a layman and someone new to the process I look and I say "Hey, I think the port could do this, could do this cheaply without interrupting their service and could provide the citizens of Cleveland and tourists to Cleveland a really remarkable view of what made this city great. And what makes it great today. Board: I'm sure you've had contact with Richard Sanders and the Reef Builders. He wanted additional rocks put around that wheel chair ramp fishing peer. Melena: What Mr. Sanders never understood, was this was always meant to be an underground construct a half a mile out. All we could do with the artificial reef, all the reef was meant to do from the very beginning was to create a habitat for fish. It is not to create a place for a guy to walk up with his Colman light and go fishing at night. What it was, was to bring the fish in. The Central Basin of Lake Erie is like the Great Plains -- it's flat, there is nothing there. That's why when the fish migrate from the Western portion of the lake out by the islands, where there is lots of variation of the bottom where they love to be, when they go east, they go to the center of the lake to the north where there is variation in the bottom to the eastern basin. Fish have avoided this because there is no place to be. I appreciated Mr. Sanders help, any help you can is great. But before you can have a fishing peer, you've got to have the fish. We had a unique opportunity to create an environment for fish. Once this construct went above water, then you've got to start building stuff. These reefs, because of the size of the material that was used in them, it was a matter of placing it on the bottom. Board: How deep is the water? Melena: The reef has to be a minimum of 13-15 feet below the surface. The depth of the reef itself probably 35 feet or less. Board: The bottom is? Melena: The bottom is thirty-five feet. The reef is never more than thirteen to fifteen feet below the surface. Those are the types of parameters because of two things. First of all there are already established uses of the lake. There are recreational uses and we had to keep it out of the commercial lanes. It has got to be that deep for pleasure boats that would use that area. The other thing is, it has got to be deep enough to avoid something called ice scour. Which is close to the shore, the lake will freeze if not completely to the bottom, close to the bottom. The ice acts like a scouring pad and scrapes up whatever is on the bottom. What would happen is, if this stuff was too shallow, it would just spread the reef out over the bottom of the lake. So you've got to find a particular zone where it can be placed and not be damaged by the natural processes and the current uses. Board: So is this like an ongoing education, being a councilman? Melena: Absolutely. That is the best part about it. There are days when I'm driving around in my truck with a cup of coffee and the radio going. And I'm on my way to somebody's house for lunch or a cup of coffee and I think to myself, "They pay me for this. This is beyond cool. If I do my job right, I can have a positive impact upon the place I live. And that is really a cool job." Board: Rei wanted to ask about the curbs on Storer. This comes to be an issue of intra council cooperation and administration. Melena: Correct me if I'm wrong. Five or six years ago Storer was rebuilt. Board: 1993 or 94, I'm not sure. Melena: So four or five years ago Storer was rebuilt. In the process of the rebuild, they did a particular type of poured curb which as Rei will tell you has not survived. Rei has provided me samples on a number of occasions -- very large ones -- and the name of a couple of companies in order to test the concrete. We have contacted the companies. We have provided them the concrete, but I've got to figure out a way I that can use block grant money to pay for it or get the city to pay for the tests. That is where I'm at right now. Board: How much will the tests cost? Melena: Off the top of my head, I'm not sure. It is probably going to be several hundred to $1,000 dollars. This is one of those areas where a couple of things could happen. I could be foolish and use my paving money and pay to correct a mistake a contractor the city hired made. Or, could take a little bit longer process and make an attempt, I don't know if we are within the statute of limitations, we run into legal problems with holding them accountable. But we are going to try to hold those contractors accountable, so it isn't city of Cleveland funds that's paying to replace those curbs. It is the contractor being held accountable for their work. Because we are four or five years away from that, we have statute of limitation problems. There may be some ways we can overcome those problems because of when we gave notice and some other technical things. We are working that out. This is one of those things that is not a pretty or easy process. It is just like the retaining wall at W. 61st Street. We yelled and screamed for 18 months to try to get funds to fix that wall. Last fall we got $460,000 out of the G. O. bond. I embarrassed the administration enough through some T.V. and some squawking, that we got them to commit money. But we're into a design process, and I meet with them a month ago, and at no time in this process did anybody go out to that wall and bore holes in the wall to determine whether it was a gravity wall or a cantilever wall. Nor did anyone bore soil samples to see what was going on in the soil behind the wall. So they tried to make decisions without complete information. And when you make hasty decisions, you come up with bad answers. So we've got the money. We've got the city committed. We are trying to work the process, but it ain't done yet. Those curbs are the same sort of thing. Not the same scale. I would love to sit here today and say to you they are done. And part of me would love, and I could, I could go out tomorrow and say to the Director of Public Service, and say "Take $15,000 of my paving money and fix all the curbs on Storer." But that is $15,000 worth of paving money that could be used either for paving streets, or swapped with another councilman who needs paving money for block grant so I can fund other things in the ward. I'm not a 100% sure that my use of that cash right now, to fix those curbs is the best way to use it. Because I still think there may be a way to get somebody else to pay for it; and, I want to exhaust that before I spend our paving money on it. Board: Did you mention the fact that there were reinforcement rods in some places. It seems like they weren't put in properly. Melena: You mean there is rebar involved in part of it? I'm not a technical guy, I was a lawyer not an engineer. I don't know when reinforcement bar is appropriate and when it isn't. That will be part of what we have somebody look at. I'm still looking at getting the department of Public Service to pony up for the tests. But if I have to, I'll spend the $500 or $1,000 bucks. Board: You also have some other councilpeople on that strip. Melena: Right. Board: What about youth recreation? You have Zone, Clark, and access to Cudell. Melena: Access to Cudell. We've got Storer Park at W. 67th and Storer, we've got Lake Avenue, Lake Pool, of course, we have Edgewater. You know it is funny at my Stockyard Forum meeting on two separate occasions I have asked the group whether or not I should spend money on Storer Park. And the difficulty with Storer Park is Storer Park is right here (across W. 65th and Storer) and the rest of the neighborhood is over here on the other side of W. 65th. So if I have a child, in order for my child to go and use Storer Park, for almost all of the neighborhood except for people who back into it or live next to it, I've got to cross two main thoroughfares. I have to cross a major intersection. And let me tell you, 65th and Storer is busy. The neighborhood has said to me don't spend money on that park. What I'm planning on doing. And I am working with Mark Fallon and the recreation people in Parks, Recreation and Property. I want to try to buy the house next to Clark Rec and build a parking lot. The neighborhood has said to me in those votes --Because I asked them, "Which do you want me to do here?" And they said, "Don't spend the money on Storer Park, work on getting that house and creating that parking lot." So we are in the early stages of that project. I would say to you that within the next two years, I would hope to have that done. Board: What about the relationship to the Cleveland Schools in your ward, recreation and otherwise? Melena: I will say this to you. The parents at Watterson Lake are not happy with me. They want me to build a playground on the parking lot up there and I have told them no. I told them no, because I will not spend city of Cleveland money on Board of Education property. This is a technical thing. The Cleveland Board of Education in the City of Cleveland, is known a political subdivisions. They are separate political subdivisions, separate budgets and separate property. I am not going to spend the money of the City of Cleveland on the assets of the Board of Education. Those parents do not like me, they are not happy with me, but I am not going to do it because it is inappropriate. Board: If the mayor takes over the schools, do you see council as having any input? Melena: The mayor ain't looking for our input. I don't know this, but I would bet that whole deal is going to be structured so very little, if any of it, comes before council. This mayor is going to have an annual budget of a billion dollars to play with. That is a lot of money. I'll tell you what, being the mayor of the City of Cleveland is a huge job. To take on the problems of the board of education on top of that is really daunting. And, God bless him, I wish him well, because it is not going to be easy. But I will imagine there will be little or no input of city council when it comes to this. Board: Speaking of Waterson Lake, the old building in the front, are there plans for that? Melena: The roof is shot. In order to do anything to that building there is at least a half million to three quarters of million dollars of asbestos abatement that has to take place before you get started with anything. A year an a half, almost two years ago there were a couple of small fires in the building. I had to get a hold of Jim Penning. Threaten him. Get them to board it up and paint the boards. That was huge. I tried to have the city's building and housing unit go do a team inspection because I wanted it condemned. They said to me, "We won't do that. We have an agreement with the Board of Education." So we have an agreement to let it stand there and rot and not close the building. So what happens then, if you close the building because of the environmental threat it may be, then there are a bunch of kids that can't go to school. But right now they are going to school next to a building that has no roof, that has asbestos and is constantly being soaked with water. Detroit Shoreway looked at that building a couple of years ago to do housing, but the abatement is prohibitive on it. It is a tragedy, because the facade -- it is an incredible building. But you know what it is one of those things that you just say to yourself, even with government subsidy it would be very difficult, if not impossible to make that project fly. Frankly I think it is impossible at this point unless the feds come in with superfund money and pay and do the gutting and asbestos abatement, the gutting and the environmentals on the building. So at this point -- we keep the building closed up and secure as best we can and stay on the Board all the time. If I see a loose board, if I see a kid screwing around pulling on a board, I'm on the phone that night and the next day, squawking. Board: Speaking of the feds, this talk about the empowerment zone, have you heard anything that would make you think that something would happen in part of your ward? Melena: I have not talked to the Congressman specifically about it. I want to have that conversation with him though. As I mentioned to you earlier, I've got a couple of irons in the fire right now that frankly because of commitments I made to folks, I'm not going to talk particularly about. So it has not been absolutely on the priority list, but it is a conversation I intend on having with the Congressman. And, I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful. Board: You mentioned the other CDCs (Community Development Corporations) Stockyards and Detroit Shoreway and how Detroit Shoreway is going to work with development as a central point. How does Cudell fit in? That is actually part of your ward. Melena: Right. The Edgewater neighborhood and from W. 85th West is Cudell. This whole piece right here is Cudell. I have a great working relationship with Anita (Anita Brindza, Executive Director of Cudell Improvement). A lot of people who have raised issues with Cudell are residents of my ward, and I have working relationships with them. But my experience has been that working with Anita has been all right. I mean I have no great complaints. Jay ( Jay Westbrook, Ward 18) is the major partner of Cudell. Jay and I participate in an off duty security patrol for the area -- Baltic Avenue South, and Detroit North ( that whole pie shaped piece there) out to where Detroit and Lake meet. We fund an off duty security patrol, Jay and I. That is the extent of the funding that I provide Cudell, because the vast majority of the area of mine that is in Cudell is not eligible for Block Grant. However, there are a number of members of the board of Cudell that live in Ward 17. I have a good working relationship with them. Board: So they handle it if there are housing issues? -- Which I know there are problems between West Blvd. and W. 85th. Melena: I have two block clubs. I have the West Blvd. Tower, and I have the W. 91st street block club in this area. There neighborhood coordinator person Rob Whitten organizes these meetings for me. So I work with them on the neighborhood stuff. Board: And the paint program and all that stuff would go through... Melena: Yes. Would go through Cudell for those folks. As I mentioned to you before as a Councilperson you tend to be parochial. The things you worry about are within these boundaries. You worry about the whole city. As legislator you are required to make city wide decisions and you have a fiduciary duty to make the best decision for the expenditure of money that you can. Board: What does fiduciary duty mean? Melena: Fiduciary duty is a technical legal term. It is a financial obligation. It is the highest duty imposed under the law. Sometime those decisions citywide don't always have an immediate or primary impact upon your ward but you try to make the best decision you can. I'm sorry I lost track of what we were talking about. Board: Cudell and working with people even if they are not part of your ward. Melena: Development Corporations and their staff, just like councilpeople, tend to be territorial. As they should be, you pay them to focus on their statistical planning area. It is Detroit Shoreway's job to work on this stuff. It is Stockyard's job to work on this stuff. And it is Cudell's job to work on this stuff. I would never ask any of those development corporations to over step a boundary. I think it is absolutely inappropriate, and it defeats the purpose. Someday you are going to need people, and you don't step on toes. Like I said, Cudell does a fine job for the stuff they do. I would never assume to do something in there that they were not involved in. There have been occasions, like with the Homeward Program -- (This is one of the Housing Network Programs where they rehab homes for sale to moderate income folks.) -- there is a house over here on Silk that Detroit Shoreway is doing right now which is in the Cudell area. But before Detroit Shoreway did anything, the first thing the Director Bill Whitney did was to call me, and say "Tim there is a house over on Silk we would be interested in doing a Homeward on. It fits within the financial constraints we have." I said, "Have you talked to Anita?" He said, "I was going to call you first, and she was my second call." Bill and I got on a conference call. We talked to Anita, "How you doing -- Bla, Bla, Bla -- Detroit Shoreway sees this house for the Homeward." She says, "Hey that is great." Because I don't believe Cudell was doing that program. Board: So it is like sharing services you are developing? Melena: Sure. Another example I can give you is one of the funders besides councilpeople -- NPI (Neighborhood Progress, Inc.) and the other organizations has the development corporations for focuses. One of the focuses for Detroit Shoreway is the Bridge Avenue area. Well a portion of that Bridge Avenue area where there has been an opportunity for some development stuff has been just outside the ward in Councilman Cintron's ward over in 14. Before any of the Bridge Avenue stuff started, Detroit Shoreway's Director and I met with Helen Smith and John Wilbur from Ohio City Near West. We talked about this. We asked permission. That particular area was not one of the focus areas for Ohio City Near West in that funding cycle. The funders say, you have these three year cycles, "Where are you planning on working for the next three years? Where are you concentrating your high ticket stuff?" So what we were able to do, as part of our focus thing, you know the per numbering thing. Your toe went over the line. But it never went over the line prior to notice and consent of the councilperson and of the development corporation. So it is all interrelated. Sometimes these things happen and everybody benefits from it. Board: Has there been any movement on the EcoCity project? Melena: I know City Architecture has been working on some stuff as a result of the Saturday conference that was done. And RTA (Regional Transit Authority) is very interested in what comes out of it. You know one of the other things that we did that I'm proud of, and it has been almost two years ago now. When we hear that the W. 65th and Madison Station was in jeopardy of being closed, we contacted RTA and they said "Look, we will let you have a meeting, and if you get enough people at the meeting, we will think about saving the station." I got 120 people at that meeting. RoseMary Covington, the assistant director of RTA, said, "I've never seen one of these this big. You have saved your station." And when we had this meeting they talked in a time frame that we're just blown right past. It is going to be 1999, 2000, 2001 before the 65th and Madison Station is done. But the RFP (Request For Proposal) is out. They are picking their architects this summer. And we are going to start the process. They will be doing design charette in the neighborhood. They are also taking and will give to the architects and the design team the EcoCity stuff. So that is going to delve into that process. Board: Is there any discussion with RTA about a neighborhood circulator in Detroit Shoreway? Melena: When they were talking about shutting down the 45-Bus --(I just missed my Herman-Tillman Block Club meeting, I haven't missed a block club meeting there in 8 months or a year, if I miss one they'll be fine. Life goes on.) -- I raised a stink about that. I suggested to them, If you take this bus away we need north south service. We've got plenty of East-West service. We've got Detroit Avenue, we've got the rapid, we've got Lorain, we've got Madison. We've got plenty of East-West service in the Northern part of the ward. They were talking about screwing around with the Denison Avenue Line and the 65th Street Line. We pitched a stink. They are not going to mess with the 65th street line for now. They made some modifications to the Denison Line, but the Tremont Circulator, believe it or not, goes all the way up to the Dave's Parking lot there (Ridge and Denison). We maintained our status quo through a fight. We have suggested to them that once this station is done, the 65th and Madison Station, wouldn't that be a great starting spot for a circulator that runs both South and North. Maybe some sort of figure eight pattern. I don't know what. One of the other great things going on in my ward is the Lorain Antiques Association. You are talking about a business that has a regional draw. When I say regional, I am talking about PA (Pennsylvania) , Kentucky. You get people from New York City who come out here and buy antiques... (As tape is changed Councilman Tim Melena talks about antique shoppers taking the rapid to the new station on Lorain Avenue on weekends and walking around, shopping and eating at local restaurants. He then sings the praises of Martha Perrine and her efforts with the storefront renovation program of Detroit Shoreway which has concentrated on Detroit and Lorain Avenues. He notes a new restaurant she is working with that will be opening in Myrons at W. 58th and Detroit. He says the Detroit Shoreway Storefront program will be expanded to the Stockyards neighborhood. He praises Cleveland Public Theatre for their contribution to commerce on Detroit Avenue and notes their new renovation efforts at the Gordon Theatre. He points out that the Gordon Theatre, which is currently being restored by Cleveland Public Theatre, is Cleveland's oldest standing theatre. He talks about a long range hope to convert the Capital Theatre, at W. 65th and Detroit, into a three screen multiples. And notes that the new West Side Ecumenical Ministry building at W. 52nd and Detroit will have a theatre inside.) Board: Does Ward 17 get its share of development dollars? Melena: It is a very tough question to answer because what is our share? When the empowerment zone came in, it has freed up large amounts of cast to do big projects. Ward 17 has gotten a sizable amount of that money. As a councilman, the pat answer is "We are not getting enough. I am working every day to get you more, bla, bla, bla. Right?" Ok. So you got that answer. We are getting a sizable amount of money. But we are one of twenty one wards. We are planning every day for projects. We are doing whatever preliminary leg work we can to make projects go. We have the ability to do larger scale stuff than we did ten years ago because of the empowerment zone money coming in. Would I love to have two or three of my neighborhoods be two or three of five neighborhoods that have $70 million bucks plunked on them? You bet. But it is a big city with a half a million people. I represent 1/21st of it, I represent 25,000 people. And we are doing our best to create projects of scale, that when the opportunity arises, that we can access that money. Board: Is there any chance the empowerment zone, there is a possibility for expansion, that you can get some of the West Side as part of that. Melena: I sure hope so. Board: The capacity for jobs should be in this area right here (Walworth Run) Melena: Look. The Walworth Run stuff that we are doing right now. We would not be able to do if the Empowerment Zone had not come to Cleveland. Ok. We are doing some stuff up on Baker Avenue, where almost $450,000 dollars went to a company up on Baker Avenue to do some demolition so they could expand their facilities. There is several hundred thousand dollars going to Carotech, Martin Duct, here on the Walworth Run. Projects of this scale, that the city is assisting in now, we would not have been able to assist in if the money didn't come to the Empowerment Zone. So when that $70 million dollars plunked down on the East Side, did it have a ripple effect that helped every other neighborhood in the city? You bet. Is Economic Development doing what it can to take advantage of that? I think so. But, you know, am I getting a dollar for dollar? I don't know. And I don't know even if that is an appropriate question to be asking, because just because there is money, doesn't mean you do good things with it. Maybe I can get the bang for the buck without using the .. let us say there are 18 other wards. So that will mean $4 million dollars or a little less than that per ward if we were doing things on a mathematical way. We are probably getting our share of that. But there is probably stuff we have done that wouldn't require us to use every penny of that. So when we were talking about fiduciary duties before, maybe there is stuff that is going on in other places that might require a little bit of our exact proportional share. And you know what? There are neighborhoods that need more than we do. They are part of the city too. And as one of twenty- one councilmen who have a fiduciary duty to the entire city, maybe that money should go there. That is as close as ..., you are never going to get a yes or no from me. Board: What exactly are empowerment funds and where do they come from? Melena: The empowerment zone is approximately $70 million dollars of money from Housing and Urban Development, HUD, was put together by Clinton (President Bill Clinton) and Cuomo's kid (Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and son of former governor of New York) put a program together and did some pilot projects. Chicago got two. Cleveland had one. I'm not sure where the other ones went. The money goes into I believe it is four or five neighborhoods on the east side: Midtown, Hough, Fairfax, part of Glenville and maybe one more. In these four neighborhoods the poverty levels met some sort of formula that HUD established so $70 or $72 million dollars HUD money came to be used in those neighborhoods. They have been using it for all kinds of things. They have been acquiring old buildings, demolishing them, cleaning the site. They have made loans to companies that are there. They are theoretically doing job creation. Those are the types of things. And that money specifically is used in those neighborhoods. Now because all that money came into those four or five neighborhoods, it has allowed us, in other parts of the city, to do things that we wouldn't have been able to do before hand. That is like the money, the $400,000 up on Baker Avenue; the $300,000 or $400,000 dollars going to the company down on Walworth and more money will be going down there when other companies come through, I'm sure. So we are getting better than we would have got if the Empowerment Zone didn't come to Cleveland. I can tell you that for sure. You know I'm not going to pass judgment on a precise dollar amount. I don't think it is wise because frankly I'm thrilled with the cooperation that community and economic development give Ward 17. I mean, I fight with them. I fight with the mayor. But you know what good stuff is happening. And good stuff sometimes happens because people fight about things. Board: You are in a unique position of having WIRE-Net (West Side Industrial Retention and Expansion Network) in your ward. How does that help particularly in retaining existing businesses. Do they have a pipeline to you? Melena: God bless WIRE-Net, I'll tell you. It is an extraordinary thing that Ray Pianka, and Jay Westbrook and Dan Brady helped create. I'm not a 100% sure of the history. Board: It has national recognition. Melena: It provides businesses in my ward, in Jay's Ward, in Joe Zone's ward an organization that is there to help them. It is an organization that helps them find employees. It helps train people to be ready to come and work in their businesses. It helps deal with day to day problems the businesses have. Let me make clear that what we are doing in Stockyards, what we are going to start to do this year is not meant to replace or push aside WIRE-net. WIRE-net serves a specific function. We are not trying to supersede that or over ride that. We are going to try to work and magnify that. It is not about turf wars between the two. You are right. I am thrilled to have them. Walworth Run wouldn't be happening without them. Board: They seem to have a strong relationship with Max Hayes. Melena: Oh yeah. And so does Detroit Shoreway. That is another one of the great things I want to talk to you about that isn't a lot of money. There is a young lady who used to work with Detroit Shoreway, who is now working with Tremont West. Coleen Sommerville, who got the idea, and just like with Dave Taylor, when I get a good idea I like to run with it and I always try to give credit to the people who had it. She said. "You know what we've got all these elderly people who got no money and no ability to fix things; and, we've got these kids up at Max Hayes" (Who if you've ever seen the construction trades lab. It is like a big two story pit. And every semester they build a house it and tear the house down. So every semester, the house gets like six inches smaller because they have got to saw the ends off of the two by fours where they have been nailed.) So what Coleen did, she hooked up with Tony Pallija , the principal over there. (Who if you have never interviewed this man, you guys ought to get up there because he is an absolute dynamo. He is the best thing that has happened to Max Hayes in twenty years. And the kids love him. He is doing a good job. Tony Pallija is the new principal, he came in about a year and a half ago. Get somebody to interview him. Talk to the kids.) So Coleen hooked up with Tony and they put their heads together. What we do is, Colleen left the program, and a young lady named Pat Miketo is handling the program doing a good job of it along with Jim LaRue. They go out and people who need the help they will give them some technical advise. They will hook up with the construction trade kids, and it gives them some real world experience. You come out, you look at a porch you figure you got to do this to the porch. You start tearing it out, you find dry rot, what are you going to do? In a layout where everything is perfect, straight and square, you don't get that experience. So the kids are getting experience that is going to prepare them better to go out in the world and do their job. The other thing that it does, is for folks that can't afford it or who are elderly -- rather than having to pay $2,000 to repair their porch, maybe they've got to go buy $150 worth of wood and nails and the kids come out. The other thing that they'll do if there is a block club around. The block club on my street, West Clinton did this with a lady who needed some porch work. We didn't use the Max Hayes kids but through the same program, Jim LaRue got together with us and we did a Saturday where these folks bought the materials, we came out and Jim LaRue did a session on how to do porch repair. And we fixed this lady's porch in the process. So it isn't always big bucks stuff. A lot of times it is the folks in the neighborhood getting together and doing something. Board: A question about political power of Ward 17. A question really about your Ward Club and how it functions. I know you had a joint meeting with Ward 14. And also maybe a comment on the changes proposed by the County Party and how you see that effecting your ward. Melena: Are you talking about the Board of Elections? Board: Yes and less precincts. Melena: First of all to that question because it is going to be a quick answer. That change is not set in stone. We are not necessarily going to lose precinct slots. That gentlemen, who is head of the Board of Elections, now, has spoken out of turn. That is not a done deal. That is where I'm going to leave the question of the reduction of precincts. Board: If it were to happen at census time or after census time, it could reduce the redistricting possibilities for councilmen themselves. Council wards are put together based on voting patterns in very small areas. If you had much larger areas it would be a little more difficult to parcel up and move. Melena: I think you are misreading this. Because we don't know what the next census will be. What I'm sensing behind what you are asking me is less precincts, you are going to be fighting your colleagues for a council seat. Board: No. What I meant it is more difficult to redraw boundaries when you have changes. That's what I meant. Melena: You know what, I'm going to cross that bridge when I come to it. I haven't given it enough thought or really looked at what the ramifications could or would be to venture a comment on that. My sense is that this is not a done deal. It is banging around in the legislature, it is not State Law. There is nothing that is out there today, that mandates a reduction in precinct committee people. I think that the board of elections is probably beginning to hear loud and clear not only from the city of Cleveland but other parts of the county that are not particularly happy with this. I have heard people say things like Parma is going to get cut its precinct committee people. Parma is what the 6th or 7th largest city in the state of Ohio. It is premature to speculate too much on that. I just don't even know that I believe it is going to happen yet. As to the political functioning of the Ward Club. And this is something I don't say often enough to people. But I do tell people this. They have got to get out and vote. Ward 17 has one of the lower voting turnouts in the city. I wish it was higher. One of the things I always tell people is you don't very often hear a knock at your door and open it and see a person running for Congress, or Senate or Governor at your door. Why is that? Because you don't vote. If a ward has a low voter turnout then at election time it is going to get less attention than a place that has high voter turnout. That is a basic premise of politics. And if people, it goes back to what we were talking about before with safe streets and block clubs and participation. You know if you don't participate in this process, don't call me and complain because your taxes went up. Board: Low voter turnout means less money? Melena: Low voter turnout means less attention. Board: Does the Ward Club take an active role in getting out the vote. Melena: I believe we have a fine Ward Club. I'm fortunate enough that the Ward Club leader from before I was here has stayed on, Karen Pianka. Karen is the secretary of the party. She is extremely active an knowledgeable. And you know when we have an election come up, the Ward Club turns out its faithful. And the Ward Club folks are folks who have been here a long time and know their neighbors. Their opinion means a lot to their neighbors. So when that ward club member says this is the way I'm voting, it makes a difference. Board: How did the West Side Council Coalition come about? I got a letter in the mail about Pat O'Malley. Melena: It was just a way of saying these are the West Side Councilpeople who have endorsed the endorsed Democrat. Board: Cooperation. Melena: Right. What it was, was the endorsed Democrat for County Recorder, my friend Pat O'Malley, came to me and said Tim will you help us here. I said absolutely. One of the things that he asked was that my colleagues and I that supported him, that supported the endorsed Democrat, sign a letter. And I said absolutely, I'll be happy to do that. So that was the West Side Council Caucus. Board: If you had to pick some things that you would like to see, let us say four years down the road, do you have some particular goals you would like to let people know about. Melena: Well, I'd like to be doing more storefront renovations down in the Stockyards neighborhood. Four years from now, ward wide, I want to be able to sit down and when a phone call comes into my office. "Hi, Mrs. Jones" and I punch into my computer. "What is your address?" And I punch up the address and a file comes up that has every contact the city of Cleveland has had with that address over the last three and a half years. And as we are sitting there taking it, my aide Sue or I, we put it right into the computer and we punch up the form letter that we need to go to this department and we say, "Mrs. Smith, we are putting that in and we are sending it out. Do me a favor if it is not taken care of, if they don't do it within four or five days you give me a call back." And we keep track of that, and maybe we put a tickle on the computer so when we turn it on two weeks from now, it says, "Good morning Tim, make sure you call Mrs. Smith." That is one of the things just from a day to day functioning thing. Right now I have over twenty block clubs in Ward 17. I'd like to see a few more come on board. I'd hope that we'd get more people at the block clubs. We have good turn out at our block clubs, some of them sometime you get two, three people. That is ok though, because those two, three people want to see you. I'd like to have twenty or thirty like we see at the Bridge Brigade every month. That would be great. I wanna see more people having been able to do the renovations to their home that they want to do and maybe they need to do. And maybe worry less about the cost of that. I want to see new construction in the ward. I want to see units for low, moderate and high income people. I don't think it is a bad thing, and it is anything to be ashamed of that we are building a quarter of a million dollar units. We are building a quarter of a million dollar units in the city of Cleveland! You know. Ten years ago. Fifteen years ago people would have said you are nuts. I want to see the Huletts saved. I want to see Edgewater Park be not only the most used state park, but also the safest state park. It is a pretty safe place now, but it could be safer. I want the beaches to be clean. I want people to be walking the streets comfortably in the evening. They do that. I want them to do more of it. I want to see the W. 65th corridor south of Clark, functioning and vibrant. I want the businessmen there making a lot of money, hiring a lot of my residents who are also making a lot of money -- so they don't need to come to me and say I can't afford to fix my house. They can say I can not only afford to fix it, but I'm going to fix it right. Board: A question about the W. 65th street corridor. The city has this huge recycling program. Do they have a relationship with the scrap dealers? Melena: To my knowledge no. Because the scrap dealers on that street are pretty much dealing with metal and what the city is dealing in is paper and plastic. Board: The metal is all gone by the time the city gets the garbage. Melena: Yeah. You know what, as funny as it is, isn't it a good thing. Board: I've always thought the city should contract with these guys with the little trucks and save on all the blue bags and stuff because they will make good use of it. -- They still do that. Board: So housing renovation done to code. You like to see that? Melena: Well, I'd like to see people, not doing things to code but saying this is what I have to do this better. I can do this so it will last longer. Another thing I'd like to see in five years. We are right now in the best economic times in Cleveland since John D. Rockefeller. Times are good. Everybody is fat and happy. Things are going well. There is lots of money rolling around town. And I talked to my development corporations about this. One of the things I want to see them do and I know they do this to a certain degree. It is time when times are really good to start thinking about this. The development corporations need to be structuring themselves and the things they do so that if tomorrow the federal money dries up, they can survive and they can prosper. We need to make sure. You know when most development corporations do low income stuff, it doesn't pay for itself. What we need to be doing, is seeking out new solutions that maybe make that stuff pay for itself. And I don't know what those are. Some of the things we need to be doing. You know the development corporations, they get funding from me, they get funding from other places. Maybe one of the things they need to be doing is looking for ways to have a sustained revenue generation. I don't know what that is. I don't know how that works. I don't know if it can work. But I think it is one of the things that I think they need to be working on. Because you know what economies are cyclical, and someday the great boom is going to bust. And when it busts.. Board: So cyclical means what? Melena: Up and down. Board: You know in a neighborhood that was used to high wage manufacturing jobs, Lampson & Sessions, White Motors, the chemical companies along the Lake there. Certainly, these folks have a drop in income, and there are a lot of jobs but they are service jobs. Will the neighborhood ever see the kind of wages that it was traditionally used to? Melena: You know what. Old economies are gone. New economies are coming. Bill Callahan in the Stockyards neighborhood is doing some of the things that people need to do. Look in the twenty first century, you are going to have to be literate. You are going to have to be able to use the computer, because breaking your back isn't going to feed the family anymore. That just seems to be the way it is going. And Bill is down there in the Computer Center providing people the first leg up. It is vitally important to people to the long-term viability of people not only in the Stockyards neighborhood, and Detroit Shoreway but the Near West Side and the city of Cleveland. Because poverty is spreading in the city. There are more poor people in the city of Cleveland today than there was 15 years ago. Board: I don't mean to pacify the figure, but I'll give you something to think about in a different way. When I was in the Philippines in the Peace Corp the priest said no one was ever so poor that they can't save and contribute to their improvement. They set up fishing co-ops. The first fish out of the pot went to the co-op. So the fishermen had just enough to eat for the family but they contributed. They build a credit union for the improvement of the entire fishing village. The key was the priest was honest. It was a valuable lesson that we don't apply in this country. If you are too poor, you are on welfare. You are too whatever it is you can't contribute. There is no reason, we talking about taxing ourselves downtown as businesses. I don't think we have ever tried that notion or concept of people contributing who don't have much. But contributing towards a control over their own lives. It is not an easy concept to sell, certainly. But you might find in certain block clubs or whatever that it is not just Edgewater that contribute toward a certain. It is an idea that we haven't pushed. But you are talking about in the worst of times when things change, what do we do. And rather than throw your hat in the ring and say we can't do anything everybody is poor you can't do anything. Melena: I see myself as a pragmatist. I ain't a bleeding heart liberal. Board: What is a pragmatist? Melena: A pragmatist is a practical guy. I'm all for helping people but I think part of what you are getting at is this: at a certain point you've got to do for yourself. You can help people and do all the programs you want till you are blue in the face. But there are some people on the face of the planet who are never going to do anything but say "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme." You've got to help people, but at a certain point you've got to say to people. You've got to pony up here. You've got to help yourself. And we are in good times. Like I said there is a lots of money rolling around. Now is the time to be teaching people how to help themselves. Now is not the time to provide them yet another subsidy that pays them to do nothing. Board: What about opening up West Tech. It was a technical school that was closed. I think along with computers, people have to learn how to use their hands to maintain the things they have. Melena: That is what the vocational school at Max Hayes does right now. I don't know precisely what the curriculum at West Tech was. I do know West Tech is not in the ward, West Tech is Ward 18. Board: That's Jay's problem. Melena: That is what Max Hayes does. They are teaching people to do that stuff. I'm not saying to you that there is going to be a time in this country when there isn't a call for craftsmen, or people that do things with their hands. But I'm saying to you, I believe that most of the jobs in the future are going to be jobs. If people are making money with their hands, they are making it typing. They are making it on a computer. They are going to have to know computers, they are going to have to understand them they are going to have to be comfortable with them. Board: The computer is not going to teach you how to maintain your home if you can't afford to pay someone else to do it. Mend clothing. Auto mechanics. Melena: As I said earlier in the interview when we were talking about the Cleveland Schools, I don't think Mike White is going to let councilpeople have anything to do with it. I don't know that it is appropriate for me to be attempting to dictate curriculum in the school system. I think it is appropriate for me to support my constituents in trying to get access to certain school facilities if that is what they want to do. To tie the school in with the community like we do with Max Hayes, where there is a practical impact where it is a win win for everybody involved. But I don't know that I should stand up and say this is how you should educate. Because I'm a councilman. You are kind of the neighborhood cop and go to guy. And when you start trying to be all things to all people, you are not anything to anybody. Board: State law wouldn't allow you anyway. Melena: Right. So when it come to the school stuff. I trend very lightly and I tend not to involve myself. I want to have a dialogue with the principals. I want to be involved -- I do the career day thing. Although I won't do it at Watterson Lake Elementary because it is hard to explain to a second grader what a councilman does. They don't get it. I'll be involved. I'll participate. Board: You mentioned poverty. Someone else mentioned poverty. Then I see things over here like Lincoln West and the care that is given to the exterior of the place because it effects my people actually. When I see that I get offended because I can go to another part of community where the kids are just as stupid and act just as crazy and the buildings are well cared for. Board: Is there a relationship between Council and Tri-C in terms of long term employment training? Melena: Not between council and Tri-C that I'm aware of. I would imagine. I'm sure that Frank Jackson has a relationship with Tri-C. The institution is in his ward. The first person I would call if someone said to me, what are we doing with Tri-C, would be Frank, because it is his backyard. Board: In terms of large numbers of people coming off of welfare roles, is there a planning effort in council? Melena: You know Joe Cimperman and I talk about this a lot. Joe is, a sizable portion of Joe's reason for being here is welfare reform. I came here in early 1996. In Ward 17, the development corporations and I started talking about this in late 1996. One of the things we are trying to do is you know this whole process, new systems is dysfunctional as all get out. You know one of the things we are trying to do, and you always try to find the opportunity in any situation, and I mean that in a good way. One of the opportunities that is presenting itself both for the neighborhood entities, you know the development corporations, the councilmen, the neighborhood groups and for welfare folks is they have determined that you've got to put in a certain number of hours doing some type of intermediate work to move yourself back up. Well let me tell you, there is not a development corporation in this city that could not keep twenty people occupied for twenty hours a week. Detroit Shoreway and I, Cudell and I, and Stockyards and I have had this conversation on a number of occasions. Anita and I have talked about but we haven't really sat down and hashed stuff out. Bill Whitney and I and Bill Callahan and I have. We have attempted to structure programs where we have stuff for people to do. There are loads of things that people could go out and do in a neighborhood. It is just the stuff that we've spent a good hour and a half talking about. Board: Plenty of work to do. Just not enough money to pay everybody. Melena: You bet. Now listen. It is my understanding what this interim work is supposed to do is to help acclimate people to a working environment. Here is what we are going to do. You show up Monday at 9:30 in the morning, and you work till 1:30 in the afternoon. Here is what we are going to do. Make sure you have your work clothes on. We are going to go out and pick up litter in the alley. I know it is boring. It sounds crummy but you know what. You clean those alleys. There will be less trouble in those alleys. There will be less graffiti in those alleys. There really is a ripple effect. It is not always dramatic. But you know if all of a sudden the back alley is cleaner than my yard. Maybe I clean up my yard. Just maybe. One or two people that may happen with. Then after we get that clean-up, well maybe we say this week we are going to go out we are going to paint over some graffiti. So we have twenty people running around the ward with paint brushes on a beautiful summer day. And all of a sudden, maybe some of those people, hopefully all of those people doing this work, start saying, you know what, this is kind of fun - I can't wait till tomorrow. That is when the work ethic is hit. That is when the transition from the what they were doing to working is going to be easier for them. That is when the program has accomplished its goal. It is the kind of work that if it doesn't get done today it will be there tomorrow. So if for some reason somebody decides not to show up today, we will still have it for them tomorrow. And it wouldn't cost anybody any extra money. So these are the kinds of working opportunities. You think you have someone who is needs this sort of regiment. Great we have the opportunity. And I think there are lots of people living in the neighborhood who that would be an opportunity for. So that's where the development corporations and the neighborhood groups can offer the first stepping stone. It creates huge opportunity for everybody if everybody gets their hands a little bit dirty. Board: Is that going to happen? Melena: I hope so. We are trying to make it happen now. We've been yelling and screaming. Detroit Shoreway makes use of court community service workers and we see it as a viable transition. Now, one of the things that I did on council was change the curfew law. We amended the curfew law to allow the judges to when the tickets come in to assign the parents to court community service up the value of a $100 dollars, because it is a minor misdemeanor ticket, in the Ward where their child was picked up. That is a sentencing alternative available to the judges. When I have gone down to court in court watch of our curfew sweeps, I have only requested that when we have multiple offenders -- when this is the fifth or sixth ticket for this parent. The one missing link in our curfew program, and it is a tough nut to crack, is getting someone from social services at these curfew sweeps. Because they go from 11 at night to 4 o'clock in the morning. We are probably talking about quadruple time. What we are missing here. We did a curfew sweep at St. Stephen's a couple of months ago. We picked up a five and a seven year old at 2 o'clock in the morning. These kids were in rags. This woman comes in pregnant, I mean like busting out. And just grabs these two kids and just starts beating them "Now look at what you made me do? Now I've got to go to court. Why don't you..." All of a sudden they handcuffed her and took her in. I mean when a child is on the street at two o'clock in the morning, a lot of those kids are on the street, not to cause trouble, but because it is better than being at home. What we need to do is not only the curfew sweep for those kids. Because we are beyond rattling the parents cage to get them to do something there. Social Services needs to get involved. This is serious warning flags. Board: They going to be at the sweep tomorrow? Melena: It is a union thing. It is a money thing. It is tough. Board: Daytime sweeps during the school year. Melena: Those are a dog and pony show. I don't think those have any effect. I really don't. They call all he media. They send out press releases that they are going to do it. Here we come. Here we come. Board: They are picking up people who are not kids too. Melena: Yeah. This is another thing. There is this whole myriad of issues that mayor is going to have get into with this control of the school system. What are you going to do with these kids. No structure. For the people sitting around this table, you were probably getting it at both ends if you weren't in school. You've got kids that are out there that nobody is interested in. And that is the tragedy. There is some poor kid out there who doesn't know where the next meal is coming from, nobody cares, I'm just going to go out and reek whatever havoc I can. Board: Is there anything else you would like to add? Melena: No and I gotta tell you this is more fun than I thought it was going to be.