Tt post apr 18, 2017

Apr 17, 2017 Toledo Blade editorial about Toledo government's leadership:

This is shameless corruption.

And the shamelessness is either because the shameless don’t know any better and self-dealing is the only politics they understand or because they just don’t care about what is right or what the people think.

Former plan commission member Singh Grewal, who supported Kroger’s request to rezone land at Monroe Street and Secor Road for a new, larger store, has been hired as an “economic development consultant” for the city. He’ll be paid $45 an hour.

His 221.6-hour [???] contract with the city will pay him $9,972, which coincidentally is just shy of the $10,000 threshold at which Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson would have to get city council approval to hire him rather than just do it herself.

And that's who the Lucas County democrat party endorsed for mayor of Toledo: a person who governs with shameless corruption.

More from the editorial:

You’d think that after brazenly caving to a combination of pressure groups — unions, Catholics loyal to the leadership of the Notre Dame sisters, and big business, plus the promise of campaign help from all of the above — to approve a development deal that violates the city’s master plan, Toledo City Council and the Hicks-Hudson administration would lay low for a while. But you’d be wrong.

The above op-ed said:

... contract with the city will pay him ...

"Contract" and "will pay" sound like something that will occur in the future.

The confusing part about the Apr 14, 2017 Blade story is what's the definition of "invoice"?

An invoice to the city from Mr. Grewal’s firm, Innovative Community Services — listed at 3250 W. Bancroft St., a residential property near Secor — was dated March 9.

That was 22 days before Mr. Grewal officially resigned his plan commission seat March 31.

The city charter states anyone who receives funds from the city, either directly or indirectly, cannot serve on boards or commissions.

The invoice charged city taxpayers $45 an hour for 221.6 hours, for a total $9,972.

"Invoice" and "charged" sound like something that occurred in the past.

More from the Apr 14 Blade story:

The description of work listed on the invoice was: “providing business solutions for financially suffering businesses. Implementing sign code.”

The document says “invoice” below the date and also “due on receipt” under a column titled “payment terms.”

And here's the explanation from the shamelessly corrupt city government:

City spokesman Janet Schroeder said Mr. Grewal was not working for the city until April 1.

She said the document from his firm was not an invoice and was instead projecting an “up-to amount” the city would pay him.

The city of Toledo hired a $45-per-hour consultant who may not know the definition of "invoice".

Apparently, the only piece of paper that the consultant or the city could find was a document labeled "invoice."

Where's the attention to detail? Does the city value accuracy?

The consultant's alleged contract projects a max of 221.6 hours of work, which will earn him $9,972, which is below the $10,000 threshold that requires city council approval.

A contract labeled invoice seems to indicate that the $9,972 has already been spent for work that has not occurred. Maybe this is done for budgetary reasons.

Corruption.

But Toledo's mayor humorously claimed:

Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson said Mr. Grewal’s hiring had nothing to do with the Kroger vote.

More about Mr. Grewal's hiring:

Calvin Lawshe, the city’s economic development director, said Mr. Grewal is highly qualified.

Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson said Mr. Grewa was recommended for the job because of his experience. She called the position a critical one within the city to help businesses navigate their development.

Tom Waniewski said he always found Mr. Grewal to be a “level-headed guy” on the plan commission. “He’s a hard-working entrepreneur, and I think that’s what you need in economic development,” he said.

An experienced, highly qualified, hard-working, level-headed entrepreneur will provide critical services to Toledo government that will help businesses. That sounds spectacular.

But if the role is that important, and if the consultant is that qualified, then it seems odd to limit the consultant's invoice/contract to a max of 221.6 hours of work.

From the Blade editorial:

The words that come to mind are: blatant, sleazy, and shameless.

I'm surprised that the invoice/contract document was not titled "quid pro quo".