City of Cleveland's Absent-Minded Mayor

Today's Plain Dealer points out that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, has a case of amnesia regarding the sale of 25 acres in his ward. The same 25 acres that he had plans to have developed to create NEW jobs in Cleveland.

The Mayor, who was then Council President, uses the excuse he must have been concentrating on campaigning at the time. PD columnist Sam Fulwood does not buy this and says, "Mayor Jackson is either incompetent or lying."

Mayor Jackson was listed as a co sponsor on the bill that council passed for the development of this property. He also has no memory of the $4 million in public funds the City of Cleveland helped the developer get to clean up the property at E. 80th & Kinsman.

And of course no story of Cleveland blunders is complete without Cuyahoga County trying to one up them.

Cuyahoga County Metropolitan Housing Authority purchased this developed property for more than it was worth. To remain consistent with the status quo here - they also have no memory or don't want to talk.

Here's the PD story -

Among the most persistent questions swirling around a controversial 2005 land sale in Cleveland's Forgotten Triangle is this: Where was Mayor Frank Jackson?

Jackson was president of City Council then and says he remembers nothing about the deal to sell 25 acres at East 80th Street and Kinsman Road until that summer.

That's when he said he told Beachwood developer Todd Davis that the planned sale of land in his ward to the public-housing authority -- land that had been slated for a job-generating industrial park -- was "a bad deal."

Jackson said that after that he was focused on his campaign for mayor and wasn't paying attention when City Council considered and passed legislation giving the deal a green light.

But Jackson's after-the-fact public statement that he opposed the deal is at odds with Davis' position and a videotape of a City Council hearing.

Some City Hall insiders wonder how a man known for vigilance and attention to detail would be so unaware of plans for a swath of land he considered a linchpin for redeveloping his childhood neighborhood. More....

Looks like some has some explaining to do......