Downtown Arena!

[tboned]

As I've said several times, nobody has asked me.

Has anyone else been asked?

If they won't ask, I won't volunteer...

I don't consider myself at all wealthy. I have two kids in college and one in private high school. My wife and I both felt the donation we made to the IS (over and above our season tickets and Z-Fund contributions) was an investment in our school and our community. We most certainly would make a donation for a new arena.

[Balsy]

I don't consider myself at all wealthy. I have two kids in college and one in private high school. My wife and I both felt the donation we made to the IS (over and above our season tickets and Z-Fund contributions) was an investment in our school and our community. We most certainly would make a donation for a new arena.

Let's get all ZipsNation members to pledge here, put that pot together and approach the athletic department/university with the idea.

[zippy5]

If say, 100 of us pledged a thousand apiece, pretty lofty goal to start with.. That's 0.1% of an 80 million dollar project. Not to rain on the parade, but our donations are relatively meaningless, it's the big donors that gets things going. I really don't know how many UA has.. Maybe Akron's T. Boone Pickens will step up soon

[zipsfan38]

As I've said several times, nobody has asked me.

Has anyone else been asked?

If they won't ask, I won't volunteer...

Spin,

Send me your contact information and I will make sure you will be asked for a gift.

Go Zips!

George Van Horne

Senior Associate Athletics Director

[Spin]

For a new arena???

[Spin]

Now all the idiots who didn't want to increase the capacity of the jail get to watch a bunch of the inmates walk.

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/summit-county-jail-inmates-will-be-released-in-january-1.552120

Arena or no arena the county residents got what they deserve.

[skip-zip]

Now all the idiots who didn't want to increase the capacity of the jail get to watch a bunch of the inmates walk.

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/summit-county-jail-inmates-will-be-released-in-january-1.552120

Arena or no arena the county residents got what they deserve.

Before you sell yourself on what you hear in the press coverage that accompanies campaigns for more funding, or add to the creation of any unnecessary hysteria in our community, please at least recognize the words "low-level" and "non-violent".

Regardless, the arena was not going to happen in this fashion. And in my opinion, it might be a long time before a sales tax can be sold to the public for this particular purpose either.

[Hilltopper]

I spent several hours in Tom Parkers Common Pleas courtroom today with my sons Boy Scout troop observing cases be adjudicated. Out of the approximately 40 cases that he heard today, 35 of them were drug related. Mainly heroin offenses. Heroin is an very addictive drug and the users commit many crimes in order to fund their habit. I would wager that this is the biggest issue causing the over crowded conditions at the county jail. A good number of them had already been through treatment programs which did not result in them kicking their drug habit. Are we going to be over run with these low level offenders who are committing burglaries and other petty crimes? Unless law enforcement does a better job of arresting the suppliers the jail is going to bursting at the seams.

[Spin]

It's not just the fact the "minor" offenders are going free ("minor crime" is better defined as what happens to someone else) it's the message you're sending.

Sure, go smash-and-grab shit out of skip's car, or sell drugs on a playground. We'll sentence you to jail, but you won't have to go.

The arena should have been better hidden in a better issue. Fire and EMS levies are usually successful. School levies are the worst to get through. I strongly believe taxpayers should build an arena for Zips basketball. And for any other team that wants to make a go of it. We did it for a privately owned minor league baseball team. So did Niles, Avon, Eastlake... Hell I think tax payers should build a local NASCAR/IndyCar track. That's my sport and most of my friends. Why should football fans get all the taxpayer money?

The arena levy should have been attempted long ago when times were good. And IMO the U should not have to cover any losses of the facility. But that's just my opinion.

YMMV.

[skip-zip]

Hey, I hear you. I come from a law enforcement family, so you know how I feel. I just want to make sure people realize that a political campaign is taking place here, and you are not being misled into thinking that we are just opening the doors of our jails and letting everyone out.

As far as the Arena is concerned, I wasn't implying that it should have been packaged with another issue. The fact that it was a sales tax and not a property tax is what creates the obstacle.

[clarkwgriswold]

Trust me, the jail has been overcrowded since it opened and non-dangerous offenders have been released for. There are not many people left in that jail that aren't dangerous. The jail has been refusing most misdemeanants for a very long time. Trust me, those who will now be released are not the kind you would like in your neighborhood.

[Dave in Green]

Is anyone suggesting that any of the following specific comments from the story are inaccurate?

... “It’s not an overcrowding issue. We are actually under capacity — but severely understaffed,” Barry said. Because there is no money to add staff, he has “no choice but to take that other side down, and that’s our jail population.” ...

... Starting Jan. 4, Barry will shut down the jail’s west wing and reduce the capacity from 671 to 522, for a loss of 149 beds.

“Some likely nonviolent candidates for release would be people charged with passing bad checks or credit-card fraud for small amounts, and possibly low-level felonies such as drug users, as opposed to those charged with trafficking in drugs, who would not be released,” the sheriff said.

If additional releases are needed but all that remain are high-level felons, the county will move inmates to other jails — but will have to pay for their housing.

There are old rules in place.

Before an expansion in the mid-’90s, the jail was overcrowded and under a common pleas court order that established which inmates should be released first. That order remains active, but Barry has had meetings with judges for additional input. ...

[Hilltopper]

I guess enough people like me are questioning why the Sheriffs expenses have gone up so much in the last few years that they have to cut staffing at the jail. The Sheriff just announced they are going start charging the communities that use their services quite a bit more in the near future.

Summit County sheriff raising price of police protection

The three-year proposed deal for Coventry is $2.2 million, up from $1.8 million.

The cost per entity depends on the level of service requested.

In Green’s case, the three-year proposal is for $7 million, up from $5.2 million.

For Twinsburg Township, it’s $2.7 million, up from $2.2 million.

And for the airport, the proposal is for $3.7 million, up from $2.7 million.

If my math is right those increases add up to $3.7 million in increased funding. Show us the money Mr Sheriff and maybe we will be more interested in paying for your tax increase.

[Dave in Green]

I guess enough people like me are questioning why the Sheriffs expenses have gone up so much in the last few years that they have to cut staffing at the jail. ..

This question was answered in an April 23 ABJ story. It's not that expenses have gone up so much, it's that tax revenue was going down resulting in budget cuts that led to reduced staffing:

... Spending cuts during the deep recession also pushed some other expenditures back, among them building repairs and voting machines.

Pry said the county tightened its budget after the state legislature and governor cut state support to local governments and property tax revenues suffered during the recession. The county payroll tumbled 20 percent from 3,696 employees in 2008 to 2,939 employees today, achieved through layoffs, early retirements and not filling positions.

The budget has been cut from $576 million in 2008 to $478 million in 2014. ...

[Hilltopper]

This question was answered in an April 23 ABJ story. It's not that expenses have gone up so much, it's that tax revenue was going down resulting in budget cuts that led to reduced staffing:

How much of that was taken from the Sheriffs budget.

[Dave in Green]

How much of that was taken from the Sheriffs budget.

That's quite a homework assignment, professor. The online Summit County budget, which includes a detailed section for the Sheriff and a sub-section on the Jail, is here. But it only goes back to 2011. It suggests at the bottom of the page that if you are looking for additional budget information to contact the Finance Department.

[Dave in Green]

Hilltopper, I'm sure you'll appreciate this sign of fiscal responsibility:

Towel donations made to the Summit County Jail help stretch the sheriff’s budget

[Dave in Green]

And another piece of my homework assignment:

Summit County Jail inmates, deputies pushed to the limit by tight budget

... “In 2009 we lost 30 deputies to layoffs, now the number is so low that we have to utilize overtime just to keep the jail at a bare bone in staffing,” Barry said. “Safety has always been my No. 1 concern.”

He has been reluctant to share specific numbers for fear of making guards vulnerable. That is, until deputies said: “Do you think inmates don’t know there’s a shortage when they see one or two deputies covering an area where there used to be four or five?” said Barry. ...

[Dave in Green]

There's all kinds of data out there to be found with a simple search, like this story that documents how many employees the Sheriff's Dept. has lost since 2008 and how much under-budgeted it is this year to meet minimum standards:

... "I am not talking optimum and I am not talking middle of the road," Barry said. "I am talking reaching bare minimum by state of Ohio jail standards."

Barry, who is down more than 100 employees compared to 2008, made a formal proposal to Council earlier this month that an additional $3.6 million was needed, on top of the then proposed budget.

"I put it on record that I needed the additional $3.6 million for the safe day-to-day operations of the Summit County Jail, for my staff, including both sworn and civilian personnel, as well as inmate safety," Barry said.

The additional $3.6 million could hire about 30 deputies and six to eight civilian employees, Barry said. ...

[Hilltopper]

That's quite a homework assignment, professor. The online Summit County budget, which includes a detailed section for the Sheriff and a sub-section on the Jail, is here. But it only goes back to 2011. It suggests at the bottom of the page that if you are looking for additional budget information to contact the Finance Department.

When did we move to Colorado?

[Dave in Green]

Try here for Summit County, Ohio. Even goes back to 2008.

[Hilltopper]

This question was answered in an April 23 ABJ story. It's not that expenses have gone up so much, it's that tax revenue was going down resulting in budget cuts that led to reduced staffing:

Why should I pay taxes to the State so they can decide who gets what and send it back to my local community. Now that Summit county doesn't have big daddy down in Columbus collecting for them they need to do a better job of convincing the local taxpayers to ante up.

[Dave in Green]

Hilltopper, we're you waiting for me to crunch the Summit County Ohio numbers for you?

Sheriff (including Jail) funding comes out of the Summit County general fund.

In 2008 the general fund was $121.9 million and total Sheriff budget was $34.2 million.

In 2014 the general fund was $102.6 million and total Sheriff budget was $29.6 million.

Merry Christmas.

[Dave in Green]

Both Democrats running for mayor are in favor of a downtown Akron arena. Not sure where Republican and Independent candidates stand on this issue.

... Williams and Horrigan both agreed on several issues, including the need for body cameras for officers and collaboration with the University of Akron to address its budget problems, putting more city records online and — eventually — having a downtown arena.

“How that would work and the time frame are left to be determined,” Horrigan said of the arena. ...

[skip-zip]

1) You don't need to worry about what the Republicans have to say. Akron won't elect a Republican. Too many people still living in Akron proper who are leftovers from the old Union days, and believe in big government. I'll leave it at that, and spare you all from a political rant.

2) I would guess that anyone running for a local mayoral office would say that they are in favor of a lot of different improvements to the community.

3) Let me hear the chosen one talk about it AFTER he's in office and he needs to explain to everyone how it's going to be funded.

Dave, I sure wish it meant something. But, it probably doesn't.