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I don’t really care to be an actor in an ongoing narrative that I’m doing my best to provide you the reader with a fresh perspective about, but today host Dan Moulthrop’s weekly regional reporters’ roundtable on The Sound of Ideas caused me to place a call to the station in hope of having my voice heard.

The reason for my call was based on the following comment from Moulthrop about the value of the properties that the hold-out landowners refuse to give up:

He said, “the properties aren’t really worth that much.”

and the constantly repeated statement of judgment that guests Jay Miller from Crain’s Cleveland Business and Henry Gomez from the local fishwrap had during the show:

“It’s all about money.”

I like Dan and Jay (who I’ve met) and I’m sure that Henry is a good guy, but I called because I’m sick of listening to the local media outlets parrot the talking points that Scott Wolstein and the folks at the Cleveland Cuyahoga Port Authority seem to have used to envelope public opinion.

The properties are valuable (even more so now). And since when did it become a crime to sell your property at a profit?

The folks at WCPN were kind enough to let me on the air, but it seemed like Dan couldn’t get rid of me quick enough when I started asking questions. My call and their response to my comments come in the last quarter of the program (you can get the podcast here). Take a listen and let me know what you think.

• Is the media doing a good job of covering this case?
• Are the property owners getting the short end of the stick?
• Are there some shenanigans taking place between Wolstein, the city and the Port Authority?
• As I say at the beginning of the call, “what’s going on here?”

If you listen to the entire discussion, my question about the architect’s plans and DDR’s name on them also concerns me. Jay Miller said that it was a mistake on the part of the architect which has since been corrected.

OK, so who paid for the plans?

If I were a DDR shareholder, I’d be a little miffed that the company’s CEO and service providers could so easily transgress the boundary between DDR and the Wolstein Group. If they could make a mistake on a project of this significance, who’s watching when the supply cabinet is open? Who’s paying for the Wolstein Group’s paper clips and the CEO’s travel to faraway places. Who pays for it when Scott and his entourage go to Las Vegas to tout his Flats’ plan - DDR or the Wolstein Group?

Just something else to think about in this story that as Henry Gomez put it is “extremely boring.”