Roldo: Broke My Rule and Crain’s Shows Why I Shouldn’t

I broke my standing rule about saying something nice about anything or anybody. Always disappointed soon after.  I praised Crain’s daily blog recently. I don’t take that back. And I still congratulate the weekly business magazine on its 30th birthday. BUT…

Crain’s did a series on some Cleveland’s most influential (their selection) people in the last 30 years.

It’s fluff and puff at its worst.

Mostly done, of course, for blatant advertising revenue. The ads accompany the profiles and photos of Important People – a rogue’s gallery in my opinion. They are mostly Important People who helped produce the Cleveland of today.

Is there anyone who likes what they see?

Everyone profiled is a hero. From Art Falco at Playhouse Square to Peter Lewis of Progressive. And of course, the late Richard Shatten and the late Dick Jacobs. Fred Nance of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, of course. And even LeBron James.

And the saintly George Voinovich. Who could forget that? Get ready for the platitudes by the bushel as Voinovich’s Senate term comes to an end. If there is anything that has happened that isn’t GREAT we’ll never know. Because someone will have to explain (but won’t) why the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the State of Ohio are in such bad shape after Voinovich served as Mayor, County Commissioner and Governor. It’s too difficult a task. And too embarrassing.

Voinovich, his profile says, should have copyrighted the term “public-private partnership.”

Yes, he should have. The problem is that the see-saw public/private sharing usually meant that the public paid and the private enjoyed. As in Gateway, the Browns stadium, downtown development, rock hall, Playhouse Square. None of these Voinovich fans ever even tries to tote the public cost, especially to the Cleveland schools.

The article says, “As he would throughout his career, Mr. Voinovich downplayed his own role.”

Of course, he did.

He had the Plain Dealer, Crain’s and every Cleveland television station doing it for him.

Somehow, Crain’s forgot George Forbes. I guess George’s law firm wouldn’t spring for the ad to accompany the flattery.

Nor did they profile former Mayor Michael White. No alpaca ads.

So they failed to highlight two of the most crucial figures – at least in politics – of the past three decades.

And it goes without saying that Dennis Kucinich didn’t make the cut.

Of course, it’s only Cleveland’s history by Crain’s Cleveland Business. So you know it’s limited.

But as the headline on the front of Crain’s 30 years special edition says, – “Make Your Own History.” Certainly, Crain’s did that.

Roldo Bartimole celebrates 50 years of news reporting this year. He published and wrote Point of View, a newsletter about Cleveland, for 32 years. He worked for the Plain Dealer and Wall Street Journal in the 1960s.