J.A. Williams's blog

  In 1998 Hampton Inn Developers including John Helline were granted federal loans to open a Hampton Inn in Massillon, Ohio, But since that time the developers have been unable to make the annual payments on the $2.25 million in federal loans.

    However Mayor of Massilion Frank Cicchinelli, has used taxpayer's money to make payments on the loans for the privately owned Hampton Inn. In 2010 Massillon paid $211,000 from it's federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and to date has paid over $1.4 million dollars on the loan.    

As posted on IndeOnline.com :

 

With unanimous council approval, the city took out a federal $2.25 million, 20-year Section 108 Loan administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The loan can be used for “economic development, housing rehabilitation, public facilities rehab, construction or installation for the benefit of low- to moderate-income persons, or to aid in the prevention of slums.” The public-private partnership is known as Canalview Center.

 

Technically, the city does not make a mortgage payment; it pays on the loan. The city took out the loan from HUD, securing it with payments from the developer and the CDBG.

 

In turn, the city loaned $2.25 million to Downtown Massillon Hotel Ltd. The developer’s loan from the city is secured by a mortgage on the hotel property. The city is a second mortgage holder. A bank holds the first mortgage, which Helline said is being paid with private dollars.

To date, the city has paid $1,416,985 million using the CDBG, while the developer has paid the city $777,851. Of the $2.2 million paid so far from both sources, $1.5 million is on the principal.

 

 

 

Like the Section 108 loan, the CDBG can be used for a variety of projects that benefit low- to moderate-income areas. The city has used the money to pave roads, provide housing assistance and to support social service agencies, such as the Salvation Army and Boys andGirls Club.

 

 

 

At the time the project was approved, the city received more than $1 million for the CDBG, but by 2010 the city’s share was down to $789,000. Community Development Director Aane Aaby recently cut the proposed budget by 15 percent, a reaction to deep federal cuts to the program.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  Essentially  Cicchinelli is robbing Peter to pay Peter, but in 2010 Development Director Aane Aaby stated that the city would save $500,000 through 2019 when the loan will be retired. Aaby stated that current interest rates range from 7.5 percent to 8 percent, but could drop below 1 percent if refinanced. When the loan were refinanced last year, records show the city owes $380,000 of interest and $1.725 million in principal on the loan. It refinanced last year through HUD, saving $98,000 in interest over the final eight years. Saving only a fifth of what Aaby initially said the city would save.

   Ever wondered what happened to the guy that was in charge during the Abu Ghraib detainee abuse debacle. Well obviously  he is eyeing Republican Kay Bailey Hutchinson's Senate seat in Texas, and getting help from Dems. The Former three star general Ricardo Sanchez stated in a press release on Monday, that he is considering running for the U.S. Senate in Texas as a democrat, and he even agreed that Democrats may have recruited him to force Republicans to pour money into the race.

        Sanchez a self admitted "progressive", and Fiscal Conservative has stated that he will run as a democrat, not because of the push from the left to make its presence felt in the ever red state of Texas, but because of his upbringing in the border town of the Rio Grande City  were he was born to poor Mexican parents. As reported on Chiron.com Sanchez stated that:   

“The people need to hear the truth. . . . .  They may not be receptive, they may not like it,” Sanchez said. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t tell the American people, and the people of Texas, what the truth is. . . .

“You can’t shy away from the difficult issues. You have to lay out the difficulties and the variables that must be changed to control the situation and to restore America’s and Texas’ greatness.”

“I came from a broken home. I attended public schools my entire time. My family was on welfare most of my days growing up here in Texas,” Sanchez said.“So I understand the processes, the challenges, the factors that play on our poor. I understand the despair and also the desire to succeed and to try to get out of poverty."

“And it’s about providing opportunity, and it’s not about blaming the people who are poor for being poor because of broken family structures or whatever,” he added. “It’s about being able to give them that opportunity that will break the cycle of poverty, give them the education they need to be able to open those doors that will make them successful.

“It’s about reinforcing family values that help America across the board and also allows us to reinforce the greatness of the country.”

 The facts are that Texas is getting younger, and the Hispanic population is on the rise. Which Sanchez knows will give him a slight edge over the GOP front runner Texas LT.Governor David Dewhurst.

“Both of those groups have been pretty favorable to Democrats recently,” he said. “Obviously, the caution for them is they don’t know when in the future it’s going to cross over and become a competitive state. Right now, it’s still a Republican state.”

    On paper Sanchez looks strong except his decision making ability, and willingness to bend the rule to fit his needs. In 2004 accounts of torture taking place in Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq were released. Picture depicting prisoner with leashes around there necks, and being stacked on top of one another nude were seen in the press.   In 2004 Washington Post reported that documents clearly stated what tactics were to be used, but the then General saw the need for very little oversight in implementing the interrogation tactics used on prisoners in Abu Ghraib.                 

    "One of the documents, an Oct. 9 memorandum on "Interrogation Rules of Engagement," which each military intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib was asked to sign, sets out in detail the wide range of pressure tactics approved in September and available before the rules were changed on Oct. 12. They included methods that were close to some of the behavior criticized this March by the Army's own investigator, who said he found evidence of "sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuse" at the prison.

The document states that the list of tactics in the memorandum is derived from a Sept. 10, 2003, "Interrogation and Counter-Resistance Policy" approved by Combined Joint Task Force-7, which Sanchez directs. While the document states that "at no time will detainees be treated inhumanely nor maliciously humiliated," it permits the use of yelling, loud music, a reduction of heat in winter and air conditioning in summer, and "stress positions" for as long as 45 minutes every four hours -- all without first gaining the permission of anyone more senior than the "interrogation officer in charge" at Abu Ghraib.

               Why would Americans want another politican to feel the need to make life changing decisions for them without actually hearing what the people wanted, or deceiving them all together. Although Sanchez has pulled himself from the depths of poverty to rise to the heights of becoming a Three Star General. A man still has to be judge by his actions, and Sanchez's actions cost many their careers, respect, and altered lives forever for the worst not only for the Abu Ghraib Prisoners, but the American Soldiers under his command. 

 We have all had a little giggle over the stories of the fraudulent voter registration application filed in the name of Mickey Mouse in Florida, or the the applications being filed in the names of individuals, who some have been deceased for 10 years. The reality of the situation is that with the utter imbecility of these cases there are just as many of them  that we never hear about,and that is were one of the most sacred, and honored institution in America is being tarnished.  If the American political electoral system becomes a free for all where fictitious characters, and even the deceased are able to cast votes then essential any election can be bought for the right price.      

 In Texas' Harris County the King Street Patriots Tea Party headed by Catherine Engelbrecht, has rolled out the True to Vote initiative which provides Tea Parties not only in Harris County, but nation wide the resources to ward off the widely known flaws in America's electoral process. In March of this year King Street Patriots held the True to Vote Summit, were activist from 27 states attend to hear of the trials Kings Street faced in the 2010 elections, and how instrumental it was to maintain voter integrity not only in Texas, but throughout the entire nation. With the unveiling of tactics used by the left to sully the American election system, and the proven efforts used by Tea Parties to seal the cracks, the movement is spreading throughout the country. On Saturday April, 30th The Wisconsin campaign for Liberty Annual Conference is being held in Rothschild, Wisconsin. Where activist training will be held on voter fraud, and voter registration. The training will provide information on voter laws, and GOTV efforts that can be implemented to close the ever widening voter fraud gaps in the system.

In comparison to the Lefts' GOTV efforts, the right has become the grandmother that refuses to let go of her rotary phone because using a cordless phone just seemed wrong. With the George Soros, Ford Foundations, and Herb & Marion Sandlers of the world throwing seemingly endless amounts of cash at the left, It begs the question who is burden with the brunt of the rights' GOTV activities. As of late its has been the grassroot Tea Parties who have taken it upon themselves to implement the GOTV measures. Private blue collar citizens' find ways to volunteer there time, to either register voters or even be poll watchers.

The god giving liberties that we as American have a right to, also come with the responsibility to fight, and safeguard those liberties when others will devalue and corrode them until they are rendered useless.  For some the responsibilty of this fight is an honor an privilege to have.

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I have been following the on going ACORN debacle very closely, and for anyone growing up in an underprivileged situation you value the most basic of life's virtues. The most highly regarded one being honesty. When you live hand to mouth you expect that if you work hard 40 hours a week you will be paid for that work. You do not expect for someone to to tell how sorry they are that you have worked so hard , and then not be paid. Also they're sorry for the fact that you were counting on the money to pay your rent, buy groceries, and provide child care for your children. Well in a since that's exactly what ACORN has done. The self proclaimed voice of the disenfranchised, have used a most overlooked commodity in America : "Poverty." A natural resource that is in abundance not only due to the current financial strain that our country is suffering from; but also due to the systematic exploitation of those who are less fortunate than the ones who control the means to provide assistance  to the poor , that they so desperately need.

ACORN has not only exploited those in our country's most destitute neighborhoods. i.e. (Washington D.C.,and New Orleans), but they have instituted the tactics of using what some would consider the cream of the crop of these poverty stricken areas to speak for them. What better way to show that you're for the people then to use the people.

This is nothing more than Non profit-ography:the use of the socially and economically deprived to provoke emotional connectivity to non-profit based upon "leaders" within the organization being of the same social and economic background. By using this most overlooked resource, they acquired a Fortune 500 size profit base. And where has this money gone one might ask? Well as of lately straight into the pockets of the founding members. Obviously it seems to be the purpose of the new "progressive" social non profits.

The exploitation of poverty for any means - not just fiduciary - is unacceptable,especially when using those exact same people who are suffering from this systematic disease. To rein in the forgotten in society, those who feel they are being lead by someone who has suffered the same plights in life and understands them. Most members feel like they have found a haven of some sorts – unfortunately for them, the shelter was made of straw.