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Ed Morrison · The Med Con food fight begins
February 28th, 2009
Source: Keystone Kops: Keystone Hotel
The Med Con food fight begins in earnest.
Forest City Enterprises pitches cheaper plan for medical mart, convention center
Forest City trows a pie: “I don’t know how you can make those kinds of assumptions if you haven’t met with the property owners”
MMPI throws one back: “If the configuration they’ve come up with is pursued, it’s not going to give Cuyahoga County a competitive facility,”
The Pepper Pike mayor cheers on Forest City: “I think it’s very exciting,”
Two commissioners duck:
Commissioners Peter Lawson Jones and Tim Hagan said Thursday that they won’t budge from the mall site unless MMPI executives tell them to reconsider.
(The third one was probably in the back negotiating with the pie company.)
Meanwhile the economy tanks:
Economy Shrinks At Staggering Rate Berkshire Hathaway has worst year on record Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders: “We’re certain, for example, that the economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 — and, for that matter, probably well beyond…”
Latham & Watkins Cuts 190 Lawyers But in talking to clients, “we concluded this is not a normal recession. It will be longer lasting and a slower recovery.”
And the medical convention market starts a structural shift:
Exhibitors Back Away From Exhibits
Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers’ relationships with the health care industry have changed recently, but the impact on the showfloor could extend far beyond no longer giving away pens and coffee mugs.
Catherine Scheck, vice president of meetings for the Heart Rhythm Society, said she was worried about the future…
Stan Hull, vice president of pharmaceuticals at GlaxoSmithKline: “I don’t see these medical exhibit halls working in the future,”
Last 5 posts by Ed Morrison
- Signing off - February 3rd, 2012
- "The current global development model is unsustainable" - February 1st, 2012
- Market opportunities for developing Chicago's green economy - January 29th, 2012
- Plain Dealer flubs its explanation for firing Tony Grossi - January 27th, 2012
- Linking and leveraging university assets to strengthen regional economies - January 27th, 2012
February 28th, 2009 at 11:32 am
So, with all of this information, why are we still pursuing this?
Shouldn’t we be doing things like, oh, I don’t know, replacing one of the most travelled bridges in Ohio? What’s to stop us from replacing the bridge if we can get the money ourselves instead of waiting until the middle of next decade for ODOT to get off of their duffs?
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:29 am
“We” aren’t purusing this project. There is virtually no public political support for this thing, which is why Hagan had to get the sales tax increase–for the financial benefit of his close personal friend Chris Kennedy, did I mention that before?–via Commissioner resolution rather than referendum.
Everyone knows the Med-Con deal is a fraud. You know it’s a fraud the same way you know that Three Card Monte guy at the rapid stop is out to take your money… it’s promoted and funded in a way that is simply inconsistent with fair dealing and good government. Nigerian “419″ emails have as much credibility as the Med Con.
So no, “we” are not pursuing the Med Con. “They,” being a small but influential political and media elite, are pursuing it.
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:42 am
And when “they” talk about the economic development potential of this project, they’re REALLY talking about developing the economies of developers, bond counsel, investment bankers, construction companies and others who’ve been waiting for years to get paid via a big public project. Any job creation which might result will be a pleasant coincidence.
Having power doesn’t mean being right, or even smart. It just gives you a few layers of insulation against the consequences of bad (or self-serving, or both) decisions. The taxpayers may get bilked, the project may turn into an expansive and expensive white elephant…but at least the transaction processors will get paid.
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
John:
Right, again.
This week’s funny aspect involves Forest City “appealing to the public” to support it’s case.
Sam and Albert are (not so slowly) losing their influence networks.
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
In reviewing today’s excellent article by Jay Miller in CRAIN’S today, it would appear that it may take a little legendary Chicago toughness finally to undermine the last vestiges of the little conspiracy which has paralyzed Cleveland since the mid-90’s.
It also caused me to think of this current brouhaha (ha-ha-ha)as one in a series of strategic missteps and misfires which have characterized the current regime of corporate/political/civic/institutional leadership, especially at the staff level, over the past five years.
The current regime took power after nearly a decade of leadership ranging from the incompetent and corrupt (Carole Hoover) to the merely ineffectual (Dennis Eckart…smart guy, but no kind of CEO). So the bar for their success was not set terribly high.
Their first step was to develop a labyrinthine network of organizations which were charged with “covering” various aspects of development. When the shake-up was done, GCP was left with little to do, except provide funding for the organizations they helped create (hence making them dependent on GCP largesse) and lobbying for public dollars to support private development projects.
The last public disclosure of GCP’s resources suggested an annual budget of about $20 million. Even allowing for the disgraceful decision to sell the COSE health plan back to MMO in exchange for a 1.8% share of ever-inflating premium (which served to reduce its financial dependence on declining membership revenues), let’s assume that the annual budget has remained about the same.
GCP/COSE has spent over $100 million of its members’ money to achieve…what?…Saving DFAS and…?
It’s possible this week’s GCP Annual Meeting may reveal a whole host of objective metrics of the organization’s effectiveness. But given that the program would seem to feature a little play featuring the ghosts of legendary Clevelanders past, I kind of doubt it.
It’s well past time for some smart people to begin asking questions about what ought to be an intolerable parade of waste, arrogance, and lack of accountability. I kind of doubt that will happen, either.
In the meantime, the word is going forth that Cleveland’s political and civic leadership simply can’t get its act together. To which our local oligarchy says, “Let them eat cake (or pie, in this case)”…if they say anything at all…
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Chris Kennedy: “The political process is part of the challenge that keeps people like us away.”
Damn. He says that like it’s a bad thing. Does this guy know we’re building him a convention center for absolutely free? If that’s his attitude, hey, he knows which way Hell is.
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:27 am
John:
Metrics are hard to find for the Greater Cleveland Partnership. The most complete set comes from their strategic plan available here:
http://snurl.com/d08nf
Clearly, the GCP has also successfully aligned the foundations to become a funding arm for its strategy.