Empowerment agency assails critics

Empowerment Corp. hires Seitz
BY GREGORY KORTE ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Click the link and check it out. The C.E.C. has decided since they don't like they message they will attack the messenger.

Responding to inquiries from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development this week, Empowerment Corp. lawyer Bill Seitz blamed the press, city officials and the "No to Citylink" activist group in the West End for advancing what he called "the biggest bogus story I ever heard."

One thing that is in question is whether Dale Mallory used "political influence" to get his consulting contract. As President of the WECC, Dale Mallory appointed George Beatty, Len Garrett, and City Hall hit man / functional illiterate Howard Beatty to the Board of the Cincinnati Empowerment Corporation. Orlinda Beatty, wife of "Junebug" George Beatty is also on the staff of the C.E.C. Dale got hired by the CEC, and he then reported directly to Len Garrett, a man Dale himself appointed. This pack of cronies has already done this once before, during the Genesis Redevelopment scandal that rocked the West End in the last decade.

HUD is also investigating a real estate deal between Harold Cleveland and Theo Holmes. Holmes was the landlord for Junebug Beatty's restaurant. He received a low interest loan from the Empowerment Zone that is now reported to be delinquent. Cleveland reportedly bought the building from Holmes through a pass-through anonymous trust. In the deal, Cleveland became a landlord to one of his bosses.

To blame this investigation on politics or neighborhood activists is a bit misleading to say the least. On June 13th, CEC Board Member Lamont Taylor resigned from the board in protest. He had demanded Len Garrett’s resignation and an investigation into the contract given to Dale Mallory.

Lamont Taylor Link

Taylor said these deals are symptomatic of an agency in disarray.

"It's to the point where the board has to do the work of the CEO," said Taylor. "There's no direction. There's a pot full of money sitting over there. But the administration has let the West End control that organization for all these years."

When you have a member of the board demanding investigations, it is hard to look elsewhere for blame.

And interesting point in today’s article is the CEC has changed it official position on if it supported CityLink.

“Seitz conceded for the first time that the Empowerment Corp. actively supported Citylink, a proposed faith-based social services center in the West End.
"Let's not quibble about that," Seitz said. "If you're paying Dale Mallory to work on the project, you can't argue that you weren't advocating for it," Seitz said. "What was he going to do, kill it? I mean, let's be honest."

The agency no longer supports the project, Seitz told HUD.”

When or why the CEC stopped supporting CityLink is still a mystery. The fact that they supported it in the first place is still an open question. 800 Bank Street is not in the Empowerment Zone, and the West End Community voted against the proposal. Months after that fact the CEC was still paying Dale Mallory and Kathleen Norris to work with CityLink officials on a plan to overcome community opposition.

The Race Card

Theo Holmes chimed in today’s article with a glimpse of the new political strategy of the CEC, which is playing the race card.

"Junebug's . . . is the only positive black owned business on Linn Street," Holmes said. "I truly feel there's a witch hunt here. Unfortunately, it's a witch hunt for African-Americans trying to do something positive in the community."

As for Junebugs being the only “positive” (?) black owned business on Linn, that is false. It isn’t even the only restaurant on Linn. I believe that Popeyes is owned by “the Cobra” Dave Parker, though I can’t confirm that. I believe Richies is also black owned. And maybe Theo should give a call to Nate Tubbs or Tony Moore, who also own businesses on Linn. And the positive thing about those businesses is that none of their employees have a history of embezzlement, fraud, jury rigging, or gunning down black activists in front of City Hall. That is quite a list of positives for Junebug’s crew.

The race card was also played by Harold Cleveland when he appeared on the Buzz today on the Lincoln Ware show. Lincoln is tight with JuneBug and the Lawdog. Harold Cleveland again denied that the CEC supported CityLink, even while his lawyer was admitting it to the Enquirer. He stated that Dale Mallory received preference in hiring because he lived in the Empowerment Zone, and then later conceded to a caller that Dale didn’t technically live in the Empowerment Zone, but close to it.

The current storyline is that evil white people are attacking the CEC because they are racist and want to keep poor black people down. If I wanted to keep black people down I would hire Harold Cleveland, Dale Mallory, Len Garrett and the Beatty boys to mismanage and embezzle millions of dollars of funds earmarked for redeveloping impoverished neighborhoods.

If I wanted to keep the West End down I would support the Empowerment Zone’s efforts to put the regions largest homeless mall right across the street from three schools and a playground despite the pleas of educators, parents, businesses and residents.

===================================================

Additional Link To Cincinnati Politics Blog:

Politics Extra: GOP's Seitz defends Empowerment agency