That Woman's Weblog

I try I really do – City of Lorain-OPEN LETTER

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE MORE IS SAID THAN DONE!!!!

I have tried for years to help, give the benefit of the doubt but I am totally “cheesed off” – nothing changes – and why is that – no accountability. I have had retaliation, vindictiveness hurled through words and concrete for my trouble. BUT the tipping point has come…..

Check it out I have paid my taxes , volunteered up the yin yang – been involved for 30 years – took a derelict lot next door ( which we purchased for a nominal sum) but have now put into that lot over $22,000 in the last year . We didn’t have to do that we could have taken down the diseased and dangerous tree and just cut the grass.

Hello, City of Lorain having the new blue cart system, that wouldn’t fit behind our property like the old cans – just so my neighbors didn’t have to look at them cooking in the sunshine – we purchased a little home for them ( another 400 dollars) and covered them with trellis and roses .

So why is it when most of the street is adhering to rules for the past weeks( since the new garbage rules came out ) – I have watched garbage piles ( from the same address walk up and down the street for 9 weeks before it disappeared one night, grass that gets cut whenever.

and now for the 2nd week looked at mattresses infested with bed bugs ( Dale the Bed Bug Exterminator came and sprayed) WHY for the 2nd week have we looked at 2 box spring and mattresses leaning up against a dividing hedge.

Well I suppose it hides from view the red dump truck that is once again making it and its load part of the streetscape for the past 4 years – goes away and comes back like an unwanted relative. And around the corner more garbage and trash.

OK I get it some people will not follow the rules, don’t care or too lazy to follow but WHY should the rest of us have to put up with it…… why make any rules at all…… the Building Dept representative on facebook saying their side of the story

Heather Graves All of these lovely comments. I have one question and one question only to each and every one of you. When you go to work in the morning, afternoon, evening whatever the case may be…when your boss tells you to do something -you do it correct? I went through all of the comments. So…most of them are complaining because he is doing something. Others are complaining because he’s not citing in their neighborhoods. You do realize you can’t have it both ways correct? You can’t expect him to only cite what you don’t approve of. By all means make the complaints. The building department will do due process. If it’s a ghost foreclosure..meaning the bank gave orders to vacate and then never took possession…that house could sit there for YEARS, and then all of you can assume that it’s owned by the City of Lorain. Then there are the homes that are owned by someone that lives in Florida. What does anyone expect from that? Put out a warrant and send a pair of cops to go pick them up? I think you all need a reality check as far as what can and can’t be done in this city. I know…because I work in this department. As far as the gentleman that had his house taken a picture of after he took a picture of the inspector. Can you stop for a second and consider what these guys go through everyday? Constant complaints on them…threats…you have no idea. I get it…there is a genuine distaste for city workers, but please consider that we aren’t all bad. Most of us just want to go to work; work and go home without being yelled at, criticized and called names. We are all making our living one day at a time just as everyone else. I hope you all read this and at least a slight part of the other side.

You have my sympathy Ms. Graves but you and the staff are getting paid a million or so to do your jobs if it is so impossible to do them then maybe we should rethink the department and what will work…….. because I am not getting paid to look at trash and see property values tank WE ARE PAYING FOR THE PRIVILEGE ……….

July 19, 2017 at 12:57 pm 4 comments

July 3rd – The storm- Chris Ritchey

Yesterday evening, the storms started – they came in waves- clouds whipping around in the wind as if they were of rapids in the sky, lightening making the night sky bright for a few seconds at a time pulsating in intensity , thunder- a cacophony of discontent at odds with a summer evening , rain pummeling the windows , joining forces to flood the streets , swirling , beating down the plants , trees bowing their sodden branches to the earth.

A respite between storms found the earth shaking off the deluge only to be attacked again and again. There was an energy present , terrifying in its capabilities and yet hope the storm would move away.

Moonbeam – photo Chris Ritchey

Then at 2.20 am it was not the sound of another raging storm that woke me from another night of fitful sleep- it was the silence, the eerie stillness that had blanketed the night. The only sound coming through the now open window was of the little water fountain. I lay quiet myself and thought how the storm , to me, made me recall once again those horrible terrifying days of the cancer cure…. a storm that destroyed and changed forever this family leaving us with the debris from destruction. The days of respite and hope finally culminating in the crashing down to earth of hope, bowed and broken.

The quietness of the surreal world after you passed, the not knowing what to do how to get back to a place of hope-for months you had been my whole purpose – waking and sleeping, you became my vocation – every day was filled with you – driving, cooking,waiting whilst chemo was administered, watching you sleep, researching . Then the eye of the storm passed

Depths of despair – artwork Chris Ritchey

only to once again be caught up in the lightning strikes of grief coming ever closer.. the tumultuous tides that wash over my soul.

Just as the leftover rain drops cling to the plants weighing the down waiting for the sun to ease their burden before they break with the sheer weight of it all my tears are for you- The storm for you is done but I am still lost in the darkness waiting…… I love you Chris …

July 3, 2017 at 12:07 pm 1 comment

Tale of the Two- The Cost Part 2.

This should be the last post in this series of a broken ( in my opinion )system of Building Dept inspections and accountability in the City of Lorain. The series, (links to the whole series at the bottom of this post) has looked upon the history of inspections, non accountability and lack of enforcement over the past 12 years. It is my belief, based upon the research so far, as to why Lorain finds itself in a housing market that is (especially in the 44052-44055) floundering . The downtown commercial buildings I didn’t touch upon also has added another layer of burden to the taxpayer.

Before getting into the costs to us in Lorain for this system I would like to thank the City of Lorain- Ritenauer Administration for their prompt response for all the documentation requested under the Public Records requests and also to Lorain Auditors Dept and Lorain County Auditor for their very quick response for information.

I would also like to state, as promised in my “About Page” that should I have a biases I would state it. I have for many years – more than I care to remember – had issues with the Lorain Building Dept. written about the deterioration of this neighborhood, and for 30 years “tried” along with administrating a 501C3 preservation district to stop the rot that is the foundation of neighborhood- our homes and quality of life.
38 years vacant before finally being torn down .
However, I also was aggrieved and found myself part of the process when doing that “mission” being, in my opinion, faced selective enforcement and the harassment of one City of Lorain Board ( Design review Board member) using the Lorain Building Dept. Chief Inspector and the dept. to “enforce” petty non compliance issues with my home . You can access the situation here:

https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/the-dyenamics-of-inspections-time-lines-lorain/
https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/dye-abolical-goose-and-the-gander-inspection-process-lorain/
https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/city-officials-caught-between-a-ritchey-and-a-dye-place/

https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/retribution-dye-a-tribed-the-process/

This documentation on the blog brought on a concrete throwing and down spout ripping off my home by a Neanderthal … and of course the added expense of installing cameras.

The irony in this instance was the inspected downspout ( named Don) was knocked loose due to a falling branch from the very large tree on the adjoining lot which was “owned”, at the time, by the CITY OF LORAIN!!!!. INSULT TO INJURY 🙂

and the response which ended up in its own series
https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/ode-to-a-downspout-named-don-lorain/
https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/outdoor-showrooms-lorain-by-don-the-downspout/
https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/don-the-downspout-says-lorain-in-a-fix/

https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/the-weapon-city-of-lorain-you-decide-trust-negated/

As I said, I have been writing about this housing and building situations for a very long time before the 12 years covered in this series . So it seemed amazing the Building Dept , Mr. Klinar and co were able to “jump” at the chance to “inspect my personal property within 4 days of the complaint when some situations in Lorain have taken decades…. (2015)

This is the sort of situation ( 1125) I had to put up with through 5 sets of landlords on the lot next door- and even when the tenants complained … what was done – nothing – then abandoned/ foreclosed until a tree took care of it .

Due to fact I published pictures of the same city lot next door which greatly ticked off a construction neighbor – parking illegally and the use of that lot for storing construction vehicles etc.

He made his retribution trip(2016) to the 5th floor of city hall. I was then once again inspected last year , this time for “weeds” growing through my chain link fence in the alley.

https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2016/08/09/municipal-manipulation-lorain-e-again/

However the weeds, were Swiss Chard, Mint and Morning Glories and the boat was in compliance but wait they, the Building Dept. Inspectors had enough inspectors to come out drive up the alley inspect my property now for the third time in 2 years( first time was during the sumer inspection blitz where we were found OK) and send me yet another letter . The weeds????

Which would have been fine, in the way of things, if they had nothing else to do. BUT in order to inspect my vegetables and flowers, my downspout and garage paint they had for the past five years driven past a home on the alley that is literally caving in on itself –

weeds in the back of the alley were higher than an elephants eye and yet still sits as of yesterday with the same broken picture window it has had for 5 years ( boarded up – a property one of 16 owned by Mr. Brooks (spending time in jail drug dealing ) https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/grenade-and-garbage-lorain-
landlords-swatted/

So yes! the arbitrary and selective nonsense of retaliatory inspections on morning glories and downspouts, a garage that needed paint 3 inspections 2 years left me more than a little annoyed at the ” behavior” of the building Dept under the auspices of Mr. Klinar and of course the George Schneider advocate, Inspector Ralph Cantu ( now retired)

Hands Up I am biased!!!!!! against selective inspections and time wasting when a city is falling down around the 44052 and these situations can take years, in fact so long that in the case of 3620 Clifton we have to go back to the beginning because the “Statute of Limitations ran out.
Guilty!!!!!! I am biased – based on research and personal experience with the system

We have seen what it costs to have these homes sitting there for months and months years and decades. See part one of costs https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/tale-of-two-the-cost-part-one/

Now let us see what the cost locally Lorain for the cost each year to our budget so morning glories are inspected but 3620 Clifton , 1348 West Erie and the myriad of other homes in the 44052 44055 that are allowed to sit.

So what does this cost to run this “program” and department ‘ Firstly the Building Department does bring money into the City of Lorain coffers
”
The total amount of revenue generated last year was $788,898.54 and YTD is $238,208.62

Performance reports PDF file 2016 and 2017 found here
2016 Budget Performance Report for Building
2017 Budget Performance Report Building Department

Not bad just over 3/4 of a million dollars (2016)- now the costs:

OH OH we are already at a loss by $357.008.54 And we aren’t done yet because we also have the costs of the housing court and magistrate
Magistrate is paid from Court Improvement Fund. The City pays 60% of her salary and the other 40% is paid from the Lorain County.
Secretary pay is 55% General Fund, 20% Muni Court Probation Fund and 25% Court Improvement Fund.
Magistrate
Salary $74,394.00
Benefits $29,603.00
Secretary to the Magistrate
Salary $37,305
Benefits $25,305

We do have vehicles for the Inspectors to use some of them are pretty old but some were new back when these homes depicted were just beginning the inspection process
2003 Ford Taurus Building
2008 Ford Escape Building
2002 Ford Explorer Housing & Planning
2016 Chevy Equinox Housing & Planning
2016 Chevy Equinox Housing & Planning
2006 Chevy Silverado Building
and then there is their costs “The amount spent only for petroleum and auto parts and supplies in 2016 was $6,444.99 and budgeted for 2017 is $7,500.00.
We spent 3 times more in getting “gas” in one year than the fines for the hairnetted Broadway Building paid in fines over 10 years .

In my opinion, this isn’t a bad budget IF WE WERE GETTING DECENT PORTFOLIO OF HOUSING IN THIS COMMUNITY- HOMES UP TO A CERTAIN STANDARD – ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE COURT IN A TIMELY MANNER – A DOWNTOWN THAT IS NOT CLASSIFIED BY THE NEWS MEDIA AS A GHOST TOWN….

but we aren’t in the 44052/ 44055 we have a glut of disgraceful homes and buildings and who is to blame ??? and why are we paying for this???? Because WE ARE PAYING- paying with loss of property values in the millions, delinquent taxes in Lorain, ( note in the PDF file 500 is the classification for homes) found here Lorraine Ritchy Lorain City Delinquent Report by Parcels

Then another couple of million( counting in the fire/ police/ tax collectors salaries, stationary, cell phones , processing etc. having to deal with the abandoned homes and don’t forget we have to pay to have the high grass cut ( high grass cost put toward a property lean ( note) errrr people who are thousands delinquent in taxes are worrying about paying the city for grass cutting) to enable the process….. Over to you Lorain…..

THE SERIES

June 29, 2017 at 11:47 am 1 comment

Tale of two – The cost – Part one

If nothing else the previous 7 posts in the series has confirmed there has been an ongoing problem for 12 years ( or more) the houses and their ONGOING problems may have gone through 3 administrations heaven knows how many different councils and council members but with ONE Building Dept and the way of non accountability. The only people cited who follow through seem to be the already law abiding property owners, the rest seem to “play the property / enforcement game – IN MY OPINION- based on the research over the years.

There is a cost to all this diseased, decrepit, dilapidated housing and in 2005 – 3 years before the sub-prime mortgage debacle The National Vacant Properties Campaign with the support of the Environmental Protection Agency came up with a 24 page report – 12 years ago just about the time our city was starting to go belly up…
https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/app/legacy/documents/true-costs.pdf
the above report is really worth the read and government with Community Development and Building and Planning surely should have accessed the report

If you ask any Lorainite in the year 2017 they will say this photo from the 2005 report is a familiar site , especially in the 44052 44055 where our poster child houses are located

2005

Cities must address the increasing number of vacant properties, not only because of the negative impact they have on the surrounding community, but because of the numerous costs they impose. They strain the resources of local police, fire, building, and health departments, depreciate property values, reduce property tax revenue, attract crime, and degrade the quality of life of remaining residents. In summary, vacant and abandoned properties “act as a significant fiscal drain on already strapped municipalities, requiring disproportionate municipal resources, while providing little or no tax revenue to municipal coffers.”

As the years passed and we continued our downward slide and lack of enforcement there were other reports written.
http://www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heights/index.ssf/2015/08/abandoned_homes_affect_communi.html
http://www.cleveland.com/rocky-river/index.ssf/2015/08/rocky_river_westlake_hide_vaca.html
Then we get to the 2017 White paper on Blight another must read

For a single home, one can attempt to calculate these costs.
Using the following conservative assumptions the foreclosure of a home will cause a loss of value of at least $130,000 as a result of the following:
1. The home if owner-occupied would be worth $200,000, which is just under the national mediansales price of $235,000. The loss of value to the
home itself is 38 percent, the amount expected by buyers and in the midpoint of the range ofestimates. This is a loss of value of $76,000.

2. Assuming 21 houses within 500 feet. This is
a conservative assumption based on houses that are roughly one-fourth of an acre that have100x100 foot square plots. Thus, there are five
houses on both sides of the affected property as well as another 11 across the street. This number could be substantially higher in urban settings
(condominiums or row houses) and also lower for rural settings or areas where there are not uniform plots or housing on both sides of the street. Each
of these houses experiences a 1 percent decline in home value. For the $200,000 home, that is $2,000. That is a loss of value of $42,000.

3. There are another 12 houses beyond 500 feetbut that are still affected. Recall some studies used the one-eighth of a mile (660 feet) while others showed effects all the way out to 1,000 feet and even further in some to half a mile. For this estimate we are assuming an impact of another 300 feet in all directions, which is conservative given other findings. These impacted houses have a 0.5 percent decline in value, or $1,000. That is a
loss of value of an additional $12,000.

For those who find the methodology of studies that find losses of
2 percent in value of neighboring properties closer and 1 percent
of those farther away more compelling, then the total losses
jump to $184,000. In this scenario the property loss suffered by
neighbors is actually greater than that suffered by the foreclosed
home itself!

http://www.communityblightsolutions.com/files/CBS_White_Paper_2017.pdf
And the latest complaint in Lorain is 330 W 9th Street.
This too was a Fannie Mae dump selling in 2010 for $44,000.00 and dumped by Fannie Mae to a Bayvillage resident just 7 months later for $13,500. and there you have it proof once again the system sucks!!!!

The typical foreclosed home imposes costs of more than $170,000. Approximately $85,000 of this total is directly attributable to a property being vacant and the condition in which that vacant house is kept.
 Over half the total cost of a foreclosure’s impact on neighboring properties comes from the fact that the property is abandoned.
 Foreclosures that involve vacant properties lead to increases in violent crime.  The impact of vacancy on crime increases as the property stays vacant for longer periods, likely plateauing at between 12 and 18 months.
 Vacant buildings are major fire hazards; vacant residential buildings account for one of every 14 residential building fires in America.

Yes there is a municipal cost, a cost to property worth for the surrounding houses BUT there is also a cost I will explore in the next post to the taxpayer of Lorain for the system that enables this system- salaries, vehicles, law courts………. coming up in part two of the broken system. We can’t say we weren’t warned of course we also paid in our taxes for the costs of the reports, whitepapers and studies………..

To be continued …………….

June 26, 2017 at 9:17 pm Leave a comment

A tale of two- do nowt – get nowt- Lorain

And here we go back onto the non express journey of one of the two properties used in this series. This house has a lot of history!
https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/when-vision-is-cloudy-property-holding-llcs-ny-times/

May 2012-
1348 West Erie ,located on the entrance way to Lorain’s entertainment and business district ( also a bit of an oxymoron), has had a plethora of news articles, blog posts, discussions and yet today sits pretty much in the same condition as it was ( except this week the grass was cut and the window in the attic closed the door in the garage is still wide open !)but apparently some repairs were made in a couple of years of back and forthing – roof not being one of them

Oh! complaints were made for years- the Morning Journal used it as an example in their Point of Sale post – in 2014
http://www.morningjournal.com/general-news/20140620/lorain-house-sets-record-with-45750-escrow-requirement

realtors squabbled – this is why you will never sell another house in Lorain brigade -( Point of Sale) Well that didn’t stop the owners of 1348 West Erie – what is the point?????

Another bank dump from Fannie Mae and past the date of Point of Sale –
https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/the-housing-tale-a-history-not-a-mystery-just-bank-business/

the point being they didn’t go through POS and a journey to the court room for the “housing court” – but that is only a misdemeanor .. cost of doing business?????? ( $110)

Sale Date: 2/3/2015
Sale Amount: $0.00
Conveyance: 2015090327
Grantor: FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION
Grantee: KAJA HOLDINGS 2 LLC

The Kaja journey continued in 2015 they spent a great deal of time wasting paper and man hours ( for which we the tax payer are footing the bill) in housing court

We had two different attorneys for Vision/ Kaja and the last attorney James White stated to me in August 8th of 2016

Several of the violations to the exterior have been repaired. The City’s required escrow to perform the repairs has been deposited with an escrow agent with repairs to follow.

Oh good something has happened at last thought I…… what happened was the property changed hands again to

Prosperity Investment Fund LLC – and on the 3/3/2017 it was back on the court docket now this becomes a little confusing because the auditors site has Kaja Holdings selling to Prosperity Investment Fund LLC – on 1/10/17 for the sum of $30,000 dollars– This LLC came into being 8/29/2016

The City of Lorain filed in Housing Court 03/03/2017 a charge that a certificate of Inspection was required and the defendant was Prosperity Investment Fund LLC and taxes are and were still owed
Delinquent Special Assessment: $952.02
Unpaid Taxes: $2,074.78
Full Tax Year: $5,327.83
Total Taxes Paid to Date: $0.00

But wait for it on the 15th of June 2017 we have another LLC coming into play 2/13/2017 FICC Realty Holdings LLC – and the property ( which still owes taxes ) being sold ? ( transferred) according to Auditors site just 4 days ago from this writing .

It seems we have another attorney in the line of attorneys…
CARMINE CAMINO
55 PUBLIC SQUARE, SUITE 2100
CLEVELAND,OH 44113

Effective Date: 02/13/2017 Attorney Camino was the registering agent for both PROSPERITY and FICC REALTY LLCs

So here I sit with a plethora of court dockets, inspection certificates, paperwork, news articles , trips to City Council – emails to Administration and attorney’s galore since the story broke in 2012 ( five years on) but the steps in this ongoing property saga are as broken as the one leading to 1348 West Erie Ave.

June 19, 2017 at 2:02 pm Leave a comment

June 3rd – Coma – Chris Ritchey

Think I Am – Chris Ritchey

I used to love June -NOW another month that causes anguish to the soul- although life is bursting , skies blue, roses red I can’t abide the ‘happiness’- the June Brides make me cringe. I remember, the day you married and by doing so brought with it the eventual pain that was “gifted” to your family by those “people”

Lombardi (Vyka etc. )and Company

The “wedding anniversary” is also the day this year when the “Clinic” will “dispose of what was left of your life essence.
https://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/april-3rd-sample-of-life-chris-ritchey/

And here it was -the Clinic apparently had not “disposed of ” (their term) the sample upon your death as contracted . Now, I have to make the decision to call them re maintaining the samples – should I do nothing they will commence the disposal on what would ironically be your wedding anniversary !!!!

I have looked at the letter from those “other “doctors” telling me to make a legal decision otherwise they will dispose of….

I could not bring myself to ring them, or contact them – like an indecisive coward – I couldn’t bring anymore “finality ” into my being, I couldn’t make the decision, I couldn’t revisit the finality. I am not strong enough to face the reality of that. I know that by doing nothing the procedure of disposal will take place on what would have been your “wedding anniversary”. I wish I could dispose of those memories as easily but they come into being every June and with them the disgust I feel for the hypocrites of their religion. I am sickened by the controllers and “do overs”.

I wish things could have been different, that it was me that went on your last journey – not you. The memories of those last days and hours constantly being pushed away from conscious thought so I can “maintain some sort of balance”

Chris’ face book icon

Again the wondering and worrying of what was happening to you as you lay in that damned clinic like a lab rat on show. Could you hear as I sang to you, talked to you – tubes running everywhere. I asked for the Drs. to stop talking over you like a piece of meat that was cut off from “life”. I knew, as watched the stats, saw the rise in heart beats when they did that or when Sue Lombardi entered the room. (one of the reasons the head nurse expelled her as her presence aggravated you). Wanting “the invited others” by the Lombardis and co to leave the room as they did their collective death watch. I was frightened that if I did cause an issue it might effect or upset you and you unable to respond. Did you hear conversations? Did you know?

It was after you died and I was contacted by a young woman from the east coast in another June , she too was dying, going through the journey of hope with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma recurring , the trials, the chemo, the numerous hospital stays the days of dying.

Hi Lorraine, This is XXXXXXXX. I hope you still use this email. I found it in a post from Sept. Your blog is fantastic. Thank you so much for writing. It’s great to get a sense of the parents perspective. It’s a vision my parents like to keep from me. Take care.

We talked, via email, of how I felt and your dad as she was trying to help her parents and what they were feeling as they were being “brave”

She asked me if there was anything she could do to help me understand what you went through . I told her about your dad and how when he was intubated, after open heart surgery, in a induced coma and flooded with drugs as to how , although we could not see any movement , no squeezing of hands- he KNEW everything that we were saying and how awful it was to be trapped in his own mind.

http://www.jems.com/articles/print/volume-33/issue-1/patient-care/intubation-101-what-do-what-ca.html
In her case she too, numerous times had been intubated, drugged, paralized and comatose although she had managed to go through that so many times. Her Hodgkin’s came back 14 times before she eventually passed, she was still hopeful at the very end.
What she told me that email that June did help me some.

“your thoughts rush.. come in fragments .. you hear voices… see colors… , the movement is jarring yet you know you are not moving … you are between…. floating and yet tied… you struggle at times to surface as if drowning…

Assignment – Chris Ritchey-CIA

When you are brought back from the “sleep” you can’t really remember if you are waking from a bad dream , if the voices you heard are real and then you forget and move on to the next days. The doctors said I was dreaming that I couldn’t hear but I did tell one about his problem he was telling Nurse ( name given) , he was annoyed because someone had taken his parking place and he “was going to find out who”. He was very surprised.

She told me , for her, although what was happening was frightening she knew she was surrounded by her husband, mother , father and sister and they were keeping her safe. and that you drift in and out not knowing really what was or is real. ” it is all real your reality – to live with”

I have clung to her words , as a mother, hoping against hope that as you lay there those last days, never to come off that tube, you didn’t know the circus your dying was turning into – hoping that you thought you were dreaming and would awaken to sunlight not hearing the “dying words” – and you knew we loved you and still do

artwork Chris Ritchey

June 3, 2017 at 1:03 pm Leave a comment

A tale of two- the Why- Land Of IZ not WOZ!!!

1. We now know that a property 3620 Clifton purchased in 2011 after five years of being open to the elements was deemed bad enough to be issued a search warrant in Sept 2012-

2. Declared a public nuisance and uninhabitable – the property listed for demolition ( along with two neighboring properties ) Jan 4th 2013

3.Given a reprieve because the “Duo of Will Do” ( Barbee and Johnson) owners pleaded before the Demolitions appeals Board for more time a week later Jan 11th 2013 by that same board . A board that had doubts caved to the “give em a break mentality”

-” and apart from the President who had to recuse himself ( Fire Chief Brown) had previously stated:

” for the record I have personally toured the last two properties (3620 Clifton) and they are a public nuisance. …. these properties are deplorable “

and Chief of Staff Derek Feuerstein ( No vote) we kept 3620 as part of our housing s stock in the City of Lorain.

But to be fair the City of Lorain Building Inspectors were to follow through and make sure the Duo of Will Do” would.

Did they continue to inspect in those ensuing months and years? I asked for all notes, inspections and reports and I received nothing in that regard from April 23rd 2013 through 2016 ??? Did not Mr. Cantu ( now retired- 2017) ever do a cursory contact??? If he did I didn’t receive any documentation .

Lorain 365 blog has its reservations at the time and JUNE 16th 2013

https://lorain365.com/2017/05/14/3620-clifton-avenue-part-three/

Demolition Board of Appeals meetings are held during the week and are impossible for me to attend. At the meeting held February 28, 2013, the owners were given another month to continue their work on the property. They were granted this extra time because they had roofed and secured the house, plus cleaned up the yard.

Since then, 3620 Clifton Avenue has never been mentioned in the newspaper again. I’ve gone by there a few times over the past couple months, but never stopped to take pictures because nothing had changed. When I went by there two weeks ago, I surprised to see that the houses on either side had been demolished recently!

The pictorial tour continued on that Lorain 365 post and the unanswered question from Lorain 365

How long does the City have to let this go on? Are the owners now caught up in the cycle of permit perpetuity? As long as there’s a permit in the window, the City will continue to watch from the sidewalk

AND THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION LORAIN 365 IS YES!!!!!!!!

4.April 25th 2013 Mr. Ralph Cantu, the gentleman Building Inspector who first asked for the search warrant had a change of heart and on that date declared to the Demolition Board of Appeals that the roof was nearly completed and he had agreed they Duo of Will do ” were doing what they said they would”.

Mr. Nathanial Johnson – one of the duo declared 4 1/2 months after the initial Demo ruling

“We have only a four by four section left . We tore down the fence and put in three more windows .

Mr. Daniel Rodriguez ( Engineering) Can we make a motion to possibly remove this case from the Board demolition board?

and FAMOUS last words from Mr. Cantu Yes because we could cite him on property maintenance if he doesn’t continue to go on.

http://raunerlibrary.blogspot.com/2010/07/mark-of-hydra.html

” At least for another 4 years – you see 3620 was pushed to the back burner on the blogs – too many other issues with building and inspections reared their collective hydra heads

However in January 2015 this blogger asked Lorain 365 Blog to check out the property and GUESS WHAT , it was still as bad as ever and contacted Mr. Feuerstein as to what was happening with this property where it was in the system and the reply from Mr. Mason ( the then Director of Building Housing and Planning on February 9th 2015

LEON MASON ( no longer with the City of Lorain)
”

As it relates to the Clifton Avenue property (which I’m assuming is 3620 Clifton), it was forwarded to the County Land Bank to begin the foreclosure process. As you may or may not know, the process for demo has changed since the original program, and the county must take possession of the properties….

Due to statute of limitations being reached on some cases pertaining to nuisance inspections from previous years, the cases had to be dismissed. On that same note, the City can again issue notices as well as citations/summons for people to appear in court (e.g. tickets) for housing code violations.

I’m using the data as I type this email, to send letters to property owners whom are in violation of the Untenanted Property Registration ordinance, using the Vacant Property Report………There no longer exists a Nuisance Inspection Task Force; it is code enforcement with hopes on placing a strong emphasis on ENFORCEMENT.”

Sept 2016 and I started asking questions again and it looks like according to the public records request once again April 2016 -3 years after Mr. Cantu we can always inspect .. the property was before the Housing Court AGAIN!!!!!!
….
March 24th-2017 I contacted the Lorain County Auditor because 3620 Clifton had disappeared from their site…. demolished ??? but NO it was still alive and well and was then reinstated…… Can this tale get any better ?

How many heads on the Hydra….

1. a property that was deemed such a nuisance, a health hazard, on par with living in a 3rd world county for “insanitary conditions ” and ” according to Chief Building Official Klinar

This building has been deemed a dangerous building and poses an immediate danger to the public health and safety and welfare mandating summary abatement..

All fixed and abated because of a partial roofing and three windows – all the danger made to go away…. but it didn’t did it and the process starts all over again because according to one piece of paperwork hand written notes Chris Yates building inspector “nothing abated 7.18/16 and again 9/13.16 and still no change 11/22/16 …

May 16th 2017 the bloggers again went to inspect

Apart from this property still standing , the time the effort the frustration of 6 years of ownership with the Duo of Will Do and the 5 years before that … what of the waste of time, man power and sheer in my opinion lack of A decent “enforceable ” inspection process that is not equal across the system. This could be the reason this property on Lexington went from this in those same 11 years

to this

and why for the past 11 years we have had this at the “beginnings of Broadway???
This “expensive ” system to quality of life, to the taxpayers IS BROKEN

We are paying salaries for all these people,, INSPECTORS, JUDGES, FIRE DEPT, BUILDING AND PLANNING,SUPPORT STAFF,POLITICIANS ,AND HEALTHCARE AND MAINTENANCE , VEHICLES YOU NAME IT – THIS IS COMING FROM OUR POCKETS and there is a financial cost to us the tax payer…… and that will be the next item on the “AGENDA”

And we haven’t even touched upon 1348 W. Erie the poster child of Point of Sale

to be continued

May 29, 2017 at 1:38 pm Leave a comment

That Woman’s Weblog

I try I really do – City of Lorain-OPEN LETTER

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Tale of the Two- The Cost Part 2.

Tale of two – The cost – Part one

A tale of two- do nowt – get nowt- Lorain

June 3rd – Coma – Chris Ritchey

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