Empty chairs

The Med Mart forum at the library has started, with empty chairs on stage for the county commissioners.

County Administrator Jim McCafferty got the meeting started instead. He and Chris Kennedy of MMPI made a point of saying that today's presentation is the same one MMPI gave to the county commissioners, the studies that convinced them to build the project on the Mall.

"We have not told multiple stories to multiple parties," Kennedy said. "This is not a game of chess here, where we’re two steps ahead of anybody else. It's a process which anyone can comment on. This process is designed to allow many more people to have input into the design and construction."

Kennedy also explained why MMPI rejected the Greater Cleveland Partnership's recommendation to build the project at Tower City for $536 million. "The price tag was extraordinarily high," he said. "Two or 3 or 4 or 5 different taxes would’ve have had to be raised to support it."

MMPI says it can build on the Mall for $425 million.

*Update: Peter Lawson Jones arrived at the meeting later. See this post.