HUD Grant - The Blame Game Has Started

[Youngstownshrimp]

Get this Rick, To mitigate wetlands in a new development anywhere in Ohio, the developer must buy these new wetlands from this bank in the eastside for ?
                                        $37,000 Per Acre!   

[Rick Rowlands]

A wetland bank?  What a waste of money.

[Youngstownshrimp]

This got lost in the RSS feed shuffle.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Currently, there are two major applications for BIG grant Money by both the City landbank and the County Landbank:
1. County Landbank for Big demolition money
2.  City Landbank (D'Avignon) Wetlands mitigation money


http://cfweb.cc.ysu.edu/psi/es_wetlands_about.htm

[Elmo-Ytown]

I never really liked shrimp........... boiled shimp, broiled shrimp, shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried shrimp, deep fried shrimp, stir fried shrimp, pineapple shrimp and lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich................. thats, that's about it..... but it's all blah to me.

[woozle]

As long as judgments are outstanding against you, I personally want absolutely nothing to do with you or your business dealings. The City of Youngstown should not engage in any type of business involving city contracts and city money with individuals and entities who owe monies to the city taxpayers.

[Youngstownshrimp]

John,  I'll be the first to say I am sorry about the spelling of your name.  Even though both PK and Novotney did the same offense, I will take the high road.

Anyway back to trying to make progress, I would still request an answer to my questions.  FYI, I tried to call Novotney, and he has no set hours.  Yesterday, I spoke with several other council members and Rev. Nevels, I advised them that Mr. Novotney is notifying the EPA on Temple Nevels demo job despite already securing a demo permit from the City. 

Mr. Novotney also has made threats about calling the EPA on my shrimp projects, someone needs to let him know what his duties are.

Lastly, since I previously publicized my support for Mr. Novotney and Deconstruction, I now formally retract my support for him and his purpose.  I have studied Deconstruction and have concluded, it is a waste of taxpayer money.  Current demolition salvage exist and allows the same recycling of material.  Basically the only material that cannot be recycled in Demo/salvage is the studs in the ceiling and walls.  To recycle them are not cost effective anyway.  I am willing to debate this with anyone, anytime.  This is why Novotny is hostile towards me, because Deconstruction is why he exist with our tax dollars..

[john r. swierz]

   Ron E. you  should know how to spell a persons name if you want to discuss things on this site.  Ron you should know how to spell my name as we have dealt with many issues in the past. Ones name is very important and should not be taken lightly. Mine is SWIERZ !

[Shar]

Councilman Sweirze, two questions:

You criticize Mr. Novotny for spelling your name wrong and then you spell the Councilman's name wrong.  ROTFLMAO   

[Youngstownshrimp]

Councilman Sweirze, two questions:

1.  If the City rec'd demo funds from the State and expended them, if the private owner paid the city back, did the City return the funds to the State?
2.  Are you still serious about looking at our bulk food store as a pattern for Youngstown?

[woozle]

ROTFLMFAO!!!!

[Youngstownshrimp]

I am glad Weasel is on Novotny's side and not mine, shows the intellect of the birds that fly together.

[woozle]

No Mr. Shrimpturd.... He's Clearley pointing out, Why he and so many others, think your a shyster..


You decry my property tax situation, are you also going to denounce Mt. Calavary property, the Mayor's church? The truth hurts Eh??

[Youngstownshrimp]

Alrighty then...........very good Novotny, we are finally opening some dialogue here, I guess I am not being ignored anymore.  Here is what I need from you, Mr. Public Servant:

1.  My name is spelled Eiselstein, if you did your homework, you should know the spelling.
2.  Give us all your phone number, I gave you mine in past blogs.
3.  You claim I beg for money, prove it with documents.
4.  You say the city has only 173 parcels, in this post councilman Sweirze's says D'Avignon told him 500?  And the city held vacant parcels before you were born, look at the deeds.
5.  You decry my property tax situation, are you also going to denounce Mt. Calavary property, the Mayor's church?  Oh, let's denounce 90% of the vacant property in the city.
6.  So, I should make the congregation of Nevels Temple aware, that you are going to call the EPA on their demo job.  I am a volunteer, you better stop saying I am putting people in harms way if you do not want a judgement.
7.  Oh, if you want the number for the OEPA, I can give it to you and also, I have a letter from the EPA, that I was the only shrimp grower who complied with the EPA, so bring it on baby.
8.  You are correct about the demolition judgements and I want the city to try to collect from me.  I have a form letter from the city to all property owners that if they deed their property to the city, demolition cost will be waived.  Now find this out for me, after so many letters offering the city my demo properties, why have they not afforded me and my investors the same option? 

Okay, now for the serious matter, your letter flys -in-the face of a personal attack.  I was never personal in writing to you.  I will be making a formal complaint against you with the City and I am glad you put it in writing.  My post to you was to get support from you in regards to Temple Nevel's demo project, you are attacking them because of me and you don't even know them.

[DefendYoungstown]

Penguin37,

Per usual, Mr. Eiselstien's (YoungstownShrimp) information is largely incomplete/inaccurate and inflammatory (which is why he is largely ignored on this forum and outside of it). Allow me to answer your question:

First, a bit about MVOC & YNDC:

MVOC is a non-profit organization which was largely funded/created by the Wean Foundation in 2008 to assist residents help create neighborhood groups, work on local issues and help identify and develop community leaders while pulling those leaders together to work on city, state and national issues such as health equity, vacant property, good government and criminal justice reform (per Ohio Atty. General's platform).

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) is a community development organization and is a sister organization to MVOC. While MVOC assists residents in getting their neighborhoods organized, YNDC works to raise dollars to focus on housing acquisition & rehab, homebuyer assistance, home maintenance assistance, vacant lot management and greening, and neighborhood marketing. YNDC is a relatively brand new organization but will begin full scale operations this spring, starting first in the Idora neighborhood (with smaller scale work in 2 other neighborhoods on the East and North Sides).

For more information on both of these organization, you can visit their websites at the links below:

MVOC: www.mvorganizing.org
YNDC: www.yndc.org (under construction/still being developed)

Regarding the NSPII application: Yes, most federal money - particularly HUD funding - is outsourced to organizations who have the qualifications to do such work (per federal guidelines). Cities serve in an administrative capcity, apply for/receive funding from local, state and federal agencies and then administer funding to the contractors (ex. demolition via bid process) or non-profit organizations (ex. YNDC) that then do the work. This must be demonstrated and outlined in the grant upon submission. Each dollar must be accounted for and proper paperwork submitted. Unfortunately, Youngstown only has 3 (YMHA, YNDC, Common Wealth Inc.) major organizations dedicated to housing who can receive and administer this funding (Cleveland has over 50 for comparison). Coupled with low staff levels in the City's Community Development Agency, this means that we have low capacity which was reflected in our lower score regarding our application given the amount of funding requested/needed to make a meaningful impact in the 9 communities.

For a local comparison, Pittsburgh, too, received no funding for NSPII (although I have yet to hear feedback regarding their application debrief). However, Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) received $40 million for their new nationally-reknown land bank - something that MVOC, local officials and community groups are working hard to have passed at the state level so that Mahoning and Trumbull County's can establish a similar model (Cuyahoga County is the only county permitted to have a county land bank at present). A land bank is a government corporation that will acquire, manage and dispose of thousands of vacant properties across the county. The land bank idea began in Flint, MI (Gennessee Co) and has been very successful, putting $112 million back on the local tax-roll. Below is a very good article regarding Cleveland's land bank:

http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2009/05/cuyahoga_county_land_bank_coul.html

Hope this helps. Please feel free to call or email me if you have more questions:
(330) 519-8712
phil@mvorganizing.org