This is horrible beyond words. I will miss Ed dearly, and I am very glad I got to know him.

He just quit smoking and seemed he would be our eyes and video camera on the establishment for all time. What will become of his archives and work? Who may even come close to replacing him in this community? How Ed is missed!

Disrupt IT

This is too tragic for all of us. Unfortunately, mortality is a given in life. Ed realized this, and never avoided speaking out against injustice, inequity and corruption. We should all follow his example in life.

What a sad, sad loss. His tireless commitment and genuine enthusiasm is a rare commodity around here. And to have it directed toward preservation rather than development, was a priceless gift to us all.

When I was corresponding with Ed recently regarding the mismanagement of ODOT's PDP(project development process...or some name close to this), he included the article below that appeared in the Garfield Maple Sun News.
I told Ed, "if only you would be Cuyahoga's czar but unfortunately you are too smart and uncorruptible, so it won't happen."

And now NEO has lost the opportunity to open up its civic space in time to really listen and learn from Ed.

Citizen' Hauser is champion of Whiskey Island
Article Link:
http://www.cleveland.com/garfieldmaplesun/communitylife/index.ssf?/base/...

Photos Link:
http://www.cleveland.com/garfieldmaplesun/index.ssf/photo_galleries/

Thursday, October 30, 2008
By Ken Baka kbaka [at] sunnews [dot] com
Garfield-Maple Sun

The man some call "Citizen Hauser" has come home.
Ed Hauser moved from an apartment near Edgewater Park -- close by his cause celebre Whiskey Island -- to the house in which he was reared.

From that house on Beechwood Avenue, Hauser recalls the joys of growing up in Maple Heights, such as going to the pool in Stafford Park and eating hot pretzels at the May Co. at Southgate U.S.A.

"When you come back you realize what a really nice community Maple Heights and southeast Cleveland was," he said.

Returning to Maple Heights has nothing to do with nostalgia but with need: The family was unable to sell the house at a fair price after his mother died.

In that house, he grew to love and admire an older brother so much that the brother's problems later in life led Hauser to be an activist and government watchdog worthy of the "Citizen Hauser" tag.

The tag stems from Hauser's 20-year fondness for Whiskey Island, the peninsula west of Cuyahoga River, and his 10-year crusade to save it as a park and not become a stockpile of sand and iron ore used by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.

Committing himself to that crusade occurred like an epiphany.

Here's why. When he first defended Whiskey Island, it was out of self-interest as a sailboater and kayaker, a hobby picked up while attending Cleveland State University. He knew the island for its rubble. Then he heard a woman extol its nature.

He climbed a hill, looked at the shoreline, the sun, the river, birds and the downtown skyline.

"This lady was absolutely right. This isn't about boating. This is about this awesome green space," he recalled.

That was his epiphany. Next was a quest.
"I thought to myself, Are you going to take this on?' I said, Yes.' "

He became a citizen activist.

That meant attending public meetings of the port, the city and the county, where he is known to speak in soft, measured tones. It meant exercising the public's right to documents so that he speaks informatively.

As a trained engineer he was accustomed to research and eliminating error.
"I follow the process very carefully," he said. "Are you treating me fairly?' Like a professional engineer: input, feedback and desired output."

The effort meant sacrificing part of his life for what he thought was a greater good with no pay -- "not a penny" -- even though he often put in 40 hours a week, he said.
The effort put him face to face in some unfriendly conflicts.

Once was when the former executive director of the port told Hauser, "I'm not going to do it, I don't want to do it," to which Hauser recalled replying, "I told him I wasn't going to put up with it."

His almost single-handed effort helped save -- perhaps only for now -- the island as a park and, with others, the huge Hulett ore-unloaders from being scrapped.
The effort gained him notoriety. A 2006 documentary called "Citizen Hauser" won an award at the Cleveland International Film Festival.

That film's producers have a second film, "Walking the River," which Hauser helped by escorting producers for seven miles in kayaks he lent. That film will air at 10 p.m. Nov. 6 on WVIZ-TV.

The nature of Cleveland politics soured him. The job he did should have been done by councilmen, the mayor, county commissioners, he said.

Still, in "Citizen Hauser," some of those same politicians praise Hauser for the way in which he served as a citizen activist.

"I'm very well respected," he said. "But I don't put up with any monkey business."
The Whiskey Island/port issue was not Hauser's first. He honed his activism by serving on a citizens board of the former Hawthorne State Hospital in Sagamore Hills. His brother, Tom, was a patient there in the late 1980s.

"I was sick and tired of the operation there," Hauser said. "I just stuck up for him -- whatever I could do."

He became his brother's keeper by immersing himself in mental health issues. He researched. He wrote the governor.

"That was my first taste of, you know, don't trust these guys, stand up for what you believe, don't blindly follow the government."

He's not done. He is watching the port's plans for a 200-acre container loading site near East 55th Street.

"It's bad for the lakefront and bad for Cleveland," said Hauser, who wants port activities to be built upriver.

Plus, he's watching the state's plan to rebuild the Innerbelt and the bridge and the county's plan for a Medical Mart convention center.
************************************************

Folks, he has crossed over to the other side to do his work on a different level. It is up to us to fill his might big shoes and keep his working going and alive.

Long live Ed Hauser.

Ed's energy and commitment, for Wendy Park and other issues, were an amazing force for change and open government.

Meet The Bloggers: Ed Hauser

"we talked of the structure of the Port Authority, 6 coming from the Cleveland mayor and 3 coming from the County Commissioners, John Carney, Robert Stark, conflicts of interest, cronyism, acting with relative impunity, lack of transparency and accountability, and subversion of the public trust. Next came a startling revelation of how Chapter 4582 of the Ohio Revised Code has been amended to repeal public hearings, why this is bad for America and bad for Cleveland, and why we need to find the voting record on that change to see who went along with this massive sellout of the people of our region. Also discussed were making appointed and elected officials personally liable, stripping away the protections that allow them to operate as near-racketeers, the section 106 public process and the Huletts, the possibility of damages, Maple Heights, Lorain County, CSU, The Friends of Whiskey Island, the insincerity and near-fraudulence of the public hearings, “tell us your dreams, and they give us a gravel pile, people who “realize that their voice doesn’t mean very much, 3700 signatures, Cool Cleveland, ODOT, The Trench and The Bridge, “Scream all you want, ODOT and public officials do nothing, dog & pony shows (at this point, the equine metaphors took over), pretty pictures, NOACA, CDCs who claim they represent the public, putting the cart before the horse, the tale of Joe Marinucci as a horse’s patoot, the Alternatives Report that’s 8 months after the fact yet has a major impact on the 106 review, ponying up, horse-trading with projects, Ken Blackwell’s transparent Transportation Summit, The Opportunity Corridor as a pawn, The Greater Cleveland Partnership, Cleveland Tomorrow, the old boys’ network, 9 plan changes for Whiskey Island since 1995, the Maritime Study for $200K, the Relocation Study for $800K, and Dennis Madden speaking for the County Commissioners.

If you listen to the broadcast, you’ll see why Ed continues to do what he does. If it weren’t for Ed, I wonder whether we would have any representation at all. Listen to the podcasts, judge for yourself the magnitude of the sellout going on here. Are we being conned out of our heritage, or are our elected, appointed, and hired representation just not equal to the task at hand?"

And this was taped in August 2006! Ed was treading water in the middle of a sea of corruption. He was still living in the city near his beloved Whiskey Island. He had not yet lost his brother and his mother in close proximity; he had not yet begun to spend his retirement fighting the good fight on behalf of the citizenry of Cuyahoga County. 

From a recent Cleveland Magazine article (Brining the Pain-Cleveland needs more activists like Ed Hauser to strip the facade from our government and reveal the awful truth of how insiders manipulate the public.) speaking of county government reform: “The existing political leadership will never do it,” he said. “They are too comfortable, and smug with self-interest. Such a change will have to come from the people, and that will not happen until the pain becomes unbearable.”

If that is the case, we need two things: more pain, and more people like Ed Hauser to deliver it."

With the passing of Ed Hauser, we're gonna need an army to replace his activism. Some of us will mourn the deep loss of his friendship, others will simply relegate him to the history books. Unless we pick up the torch he carried so proudly, his selfless work for the citizens of Northeast Ohio will be forgotten like so many rusting Hulett ore unloaders.

"When Ed Hauser once challenged Hagan on an issue, he says the commissioner responded by saying, “If you don’t like what I do, don’t vote for me.” In the recent election, Hagan ran unopposed. 

Ed was David to NEO's government Goliath. Unfortunately our David has faded away. After we wipe the tears, let us not fade away.

 

  A memorial article appears in the Plain Dealer today and services will be held tomorrow.

Edward J. "Citizen" Hauser
EDWARD J. "CITIZEN" HAUSER, beloved son of Walter and Theresia (nee Greif) (deceased); dearest brother of Harold, Sylvia, Thomas (deceased), and Caroline Widemann (husband Reiner); dear uncle of Nicole and Erik; dear friend of Cathy Stahurski; dear nephew, cousin and friend to many. Services Monday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at VITO-NERO FUNERAL HOME, 6130 TURNEY RD., GARFIELD HTS. (TWO BLOCKS S. OF ROCKSIDE) where family will receive friends MONDAY 4-8 P.M.

 

This is written for a column to appear next week but I thought I would share it here:

A NOTE ON THE LOSS OF ED HAUSER

As I prepare to send this article off to its respective web spots, I read in the Sunday Plain Dealer of the death of Ed Hauser at the early age of 47 years.

If that isn’t tragic enough, the loss of his voice and his activism makes my thoughts below even more sad for me and Cleveland.

I saw and talked with Ed at meetings in the past, particularly at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.

He was always humble but noble in his pursuits.

His attention to detail, filming of public meetings and unwillingness to be cowed or embarrassed by the disdain and officiousness of elected and appointed officials made him not just a thorn in the side of officials who don’t easily countenance the public. He gave them worry and some caution.

To them he was often a nuisance. That’s the role of a real citizen.

Ed was quiet but persistent.

I was one of I assume many that he took personally to view Whiskey Island to reveal its potential and why he so desperately wanted it saved, as I hope now it will be forever.

He was a civic activist of the Nader tradition – a selfless “citizen” of which we have so few and need so many. That makes him a treasure lost before his tasks were completed. Who will pick up his mantle?

It's going to take a number of us to keep up Ed's efforts. We need to start this week to figure out who will attempt to take on which projects. Ed covered all the Port meetings and kept track of the Army Corps' doings in NEO, and ODOT's, and on and on, as all the previous posts have acknowledged. We need to look up upcoming public meetings and not so public meetings and figure out who will take on what. This is serious stuff and our follow up will be a very real way to show Citizen Hauser that his work was not in vain.

I don't think anyone is thinking easy...but just taking the Port as an example, if some one or ones don't agree to be at every meeting to try and look and listen as Ed did, how will any of us know what they are up to....we have had it too easy...we were doing our own business while Ed was minding the store for us.....I am well aware we can't be Ed, but he would be discouraged with us if we did not at least try to keep an eye on the projects he was following. We can talk about it and say it is impossible, or we could be hopeful and together attempt the impossible.
You are right that we know who we are..but perhaps there are some new folks willing to join in.

  Bill Barrow has established a vital resource at Cleveland State University and in many ways his mission of recording our local history echoes Ed's own commitment to document the truth. 

 We will have to see what it will take to endow Ed Hauser's collection, but I find some solace in knowing that at Cleveland Public Library and Cleveland State University--there are dedicated archivists who will honor Ed's legacy.

I'm inclined to think that Ed Hauser's files and contact lists should end up in the environmental building on Lorain Avenue. Surely an environmental organization there would take them in as an ongoing resource for activists.

As to the Western Reserve Historical Society, it is a good archive for them, after they are not needed for day to day, year to year, work. I know from experience how to make more likely the files you donate are quickly catalogued and thus made accessible. Cataloguing a large collection is an extremely labor intensive activity. One or more scholars or journalists (but particularly academically based researchers) have to ask to use them. They likely then will go to the head of the list for being organized and catalogued.  You should not fake this, of course; instead you or your organization should work to make what you have donated known to the academic community.

  Thank you for emphasizing how much work goes into cataloguing materials to make them ACCESSIBLE.  Fortunately, Ed was a methodical guy, so half the battle has been won.  Priority for digitization, dedicated space and preservation treatment also figures into any archiving. 

As you have pointed out--because of its significance, Ed's research should go to the head of the list for this attention.  I would hope, as you also point out, that environmental organizations such as the Biodiversity Alliance/former Ecocity/Green City folks (no longer on Lorain, at Natural History Museum) and potential funders such as Dan Moore, will come together to insure that Ed's work is not lost to chaos and mismanagement.

Ed Hauser was a man who I felt truly honored to call my friend. He is so missed.

Perhaps the REALNEO community can collaboratively post a Wikipedia page about Citizen Hauser. This would be a fitting memorial, and could help keep Ed's work easily accessible to a wider audience.

Thank you Norm, Susan, and everyone else at RealNEO - both for these moving tributes, but also for your long-term committment in providing support for Ed and a forum to disseminate his ideas and advocacy.

We will all miss Ed. This city sorely needs more souls like him.

Thanks so much for collecting the memories of Ed. He was such an inspiration. I admired the way he never shied from speaking truth to power, and armed himself with all the information he could get his hands on. Ed was steady, unflinching and dogged – all traits that made him the best citizen activist this town has seen in a generation.

I was thinking the same thing about preserving Ed’s work documenting the proceedings for Whiskey Island, the giant Hulett ore unloaders, the Innerbelt Bridge and on. The Natural History Museum has a new/old librarian, Wendy Wasman, who we can ask about the accession procedure.

Ed, your presence will be sorely missed.

For any newcomers to realneo, might I suggest you search Ed Hauser here. In later years, we posted about his efforts, but early on Ed worked with Norm and others and had his own blog here. Ed Hauser's blog. Ed was at home here at realneo - Norm listened to him and encouraged him to share his ideas here where others could find them even when elected officials waved him off. As Norm said in an earlier post, Ed taught him a lot about activism. Ed taught many of us.

I encourage newcomers to sign up and post your memories of working with Ed.  We'll need many memories to reconstruct and carry forward his work.

So we can carry on and have actual advocacy to honor Ed we need to list the meetings he covered and their regular schedules so others can step up and follow through. Even if one person can't always be there still someone can show up and report back to others.

Bet they'll all honor him now - a great time to pin them down on real commitments.

I have been in shock and at a loss for words, fighting own battle in the hospital for the past few days but this of course is something I had to respond to as soon as I as able. I am very sorry I missed the funeral - don't know if I could have handled it given the past few days.

I have so many stories, shared experiences, confided exchanges, that will help somewhat but never nearly enough when it comes to Ed Hauser. I had the deep privilege of knowing him for the past six years, as part of our realneo core and I hope we can have a memorial service redux as I was convalescing til now. Sharing many a beer and his favorite Cognac at AJ Roccos, putting me up during a difficult time, Saving Whiskey Island, demonstrating the infinite strength when passion meet knowledge and planning - he was my hero and fellow environmentalist but most importantly a great friend.

Even before any formal forum I would like to have a celebration for Ed, one which is uplifting, celebrates his many roles as unparalleled activist, tenacious fighter, keen intellectual and analytical talent, and most importantly kind-hearted soul. Sometime after some time to collectively mourn.

I would like all who cared or respected him to attend, we can plan the details together as part of the healing process. It might serve me well for my own healing, as I've just been diagnosed with an still undetermined but likely systemic autoimmune condition with serious nerve pain and limb numbness issues. Not knowing or how much time or what outcome is ahead, I will focus intensely as possible to ensure delivery of my most valuable ideas for and contributions to humanity knowing these things, punctuated by the fragile mortality we all share and at one time or another face squarely in the face.

Ultimately when our hand is called, and our time is up, the best we can do is look back and say we lived with dignity, and passion, heart and soul. Ed epitomized all these like none other. The original Good Guy.

I miss and love you so much man.

Sudhir, you beautifully articulate the pain and sorrow we all feel over the loss of our friend Ed Hauser.  I wish I could have a copy of the eulogies given last night, because it would give you some comfort.   The pastor, especially gave a moving tribute to Ed's significance as a friend and champion of community. 

Though it was nice to see the PD use my letter this morning, they left out some key points just to make it fit with the other letters into one column. I figure this is the best forum to share this in, because I suspect we're all ready to be more like Ed, which is what he'd want:

--------------------

Our lakefront activist Ed Hauser has unexpectedly passed away at a mere 47 years of age. We should all be inspired by his tenacity that constantly challenged the city, the Port Authority and development plans. Not to be overly humble, but I feel inadequate among the true activists. I've often found myself living vicariously through the efforts of Ed and another outspoken advocate who died a few years ago, John Perera, just glad that somebody is a lot more assertive than I am. When I've guided tours of the Steamship William G. Mather over the years and people ask if I worked on ships, I say no, the reason I volunteer is to encourage public access to Cleveland's greatest asset, the lakefront. I gesture at the vast lakefront of Cleveland and say it's mostly private property. Clearly some people were put on this earth to challenge that. Some people at public meetings found Ed an aggravation, but change doesn't happen if you let up on pressure from the citizens. Our right to enjoy the water is usually outweighed by stubborn business decisions. All we ask for is a little more balance. Rest in peace, Ed Hauser.
Frank Barnett
Cleveland

---------------------------------------------

.......frank

I was at the dedication of the new bridge to Whiskey Island this summer. This bridge was a symbolic validation of the perminance of whiskey Island... and every dignatary there knew it. Big Jimmy our commissioner made a point of paying tribute to Ed. He reflected that Ed's persistance was not always an endering quality but that we would not be dedicating this bridge without his dogged determination. He called him the "Mayor of Whiskey Island."

I have been at countless planning meetings where I could count on Ed being there with his vidio camera. Ed had a dogged determination and a tolerance for govermental policies and proceedures. I remember being amazed at his determination. Over a beer I was amazed on how much he had spent on freedom of information requests and just copies. The stuff Ed would research was often so dry my head would flake if I had to read it. I was quite sure that the regulators were periodically surprised by Ed's analysis. I could just picture one whispering to an aide, "did we say this...?" Ed ripped reports down to the bone.
I was amused on how appropriate the term, "Citizen Hauser," was. I thought it important to brainstorm with various friends how we could make Ed and Ed's work sustainable... because the role Ed played was important and strangely unique. Perhaps you could say that was the role of the press ... but I think not. Ed acted in a role akin to a "client advocate," for the average citizen. While I did not always agree with him. I knew his role was important to the city he loved. I might be crazy but I think that the Port Authority should honor him. His dogged determination was cause for them to rethink, double check, and make sure. His looking over their shoulders kept them from being complacent in their power, and most likely kept them out of trouble considering the headlines as of late.

Ed earned his title, "Citizen Hauser." Perhaps to honor him, We need to figure out a way to make citizen activism / advocacy as a integrated part of the checks and balances of the system. Unless it is a lot easier nobody but Ed would do it.

Hey, Big Jimmy there is a bridge that needs a name.

Thank you Ed.

Jon Eckerle

I have great memories of Ed Hauser. I am very sad as i write. Ed always called A.J. Rocco's, Trisha's Place, after my wife. We are all fortunate to know him and are better people for it. We had great times here at the Caxton and A.J. Rocco's. Cheers to you Ed. God Bless

Our founding fathers would have been so proud to know Ed. In a time of such political apathy and selfishness Ed Hauser is a shining example of how democracy should work. His tireless efforts to make our leaders accountable has made Cleveland a better place. I feel very privileged to have known Ed. I know I could never fill his shoes, but he will be an inspiration to me for the rest of my life.

I thought I might pass on the thoughts I posted on my list, What's Up in Northeast Ohio concerning Ed:

The death of activist Ed Hauser in the prime of his life is a
substantial,

and in a way irreplaceable, loss to the cause of Cleveland's environmental viability. I made his acquaintance a few years back and I was impressed with how he put his engineering training into the methodical pursuit of the common good. He dealt with public officials and corporate suits who flit from deal to deal with a relentless, and egoless, pursuit of the facts, the specifics of plans and regulations, the agreements once reached but now ignored. He realized that if we, the public, want to win we have to know where the bodies are buried - we have to know as much, if not more, than the self-interested who run our society do. And we have to mobilize, and never, ever give up. While we grieve his loss, we have to imagine that the county port authority, usually in practice accountable to no one, is now exhaling a collective sigh of relief. We cannot easily reproduce Ed's individual combination of talents, but some of us must make sure that his filing cabinets full of public documents are preserved, maintained, and put to good use in the years and decades ahead. His painstakingly put together lists of media contacts must be maintained and added to. Some people take some of their millions and put their names on big buildings so they will be remembered after their deaths for more than being grabbers and takers. Ed didn't have any of their millions, but his name is mixed in the very soil of Whiskey Island and there it will stay.

The ever-growing stream of workers commuting to laptops instead of offices suggests that cafes are going to have a major growth spurt in the near future. The question, however, is whether fruit turnovers, lattes and free wi-fi will be enough to 

 

 

  I don't know how long this site will be archived.  I became involved with REALNEO out of concern for local memory and because of Ed Hauser, who I met through West Creek and through his involvement in preserving significant green space.  I tend to hitch my passion to crazy folks who lead,  like Ed  (and you guys- Norm Roulet and Lennie Stover).

Dave Vasarhelyi was a leader.

Dave and Ed were so alike - so self-effacing - and SMOKERS.  Why did they have to die so young? Dave, I don't know if your smoking killed you - but I FEEL your impatience with the world and your constant stress and worry.  I am so sad, but you made such a difference in this world.  Your family has to know and be so proud of your accomplishments.  With love, Laura - your pesky, Magyar friend.

https://westcreek.org/west-creek-conservancy-news/in-memory-of-david-j-vasarhelyi-1967-2020-founder-of-west-creek-conservancy

My memorial posted at Facebook:

Reminded about how Dave Vasarhelyi had to work with USGS to have the creek officially renamed in the nineties. I was arguing with him then that it should be Quarry Creek - and no surprise to me that Irene Toth managed to get the dispute archived https://www.mindat.org/loc-7218.html and she and I would probably have butted heads on this entry - since Dave got the USGS designation before the West Creek Reservation designation. West Creek Conservancy When I was working at the Metroparks - I first became aware of the creek as we were doing the masterplan and Carol Poh Miller found reference to Glen Valley and I went out to hike it, because it was not made part of the Metroparks during Stinchcomb's time. Early Metroparks annual reports noted that the property was too valuable for acquisition at that point - early 1920s. It was farm and cattle ranches. The prettiest part was between Grantwood and Snow Rd. and I cried terribly when awful housing went in behind the library and obliterated cascades and rock outcrops in that section of the creek. I was working at the Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization by then - housed at NOACA. Jim King and Ernest Kubasek were involved in Parma Historical Society and we were concerned about the Henninger House. I am going to post this at REALNEO. Jim was a local architect (retired?) living on Old Rockside Rd. He put me in touch with Dave Vasarhelyi - Henninger House was the impetus for organizing then. And, then Parma Mayor Day proposed a golf course for the West Creek (city land fill site and Crile Medical dump) - which mobilized Dave to create the organization and we all met up at Camp Corde (my first real recollection of a meeting) Jan Rybka drove me to the meeting, because we were friends from the CCPC where Chris Ronayne also worked - but by then she was at the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District and organizing tours of the different watersheds. Gabe Leidy remember hiking in the area before it was a park - remember the burned out cars and paint ball wars? You played a part in the recognition of the area as your birding skills got written up in the Sun Papers. : -)

Dave's story archived at CSU : https://clevelandvoices.org/items/show/2023

“Dave Vasarhelyi Interview, 17 June 2008,” Cleveland Voices, accessed March 11, 2020, https://clevelandvoices.org/items/show/2023.

 

Great American Outdoors Act

This bill establishes the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to support deferred maintenance projects on federal lands.

For FY2021-FY2025, there shall be deposited into the fund an amount equal to 50% of energy development revenues credited, covered, or deposited as miscellaneous receipts from oil, gas, coal, or alternative or renewable energy development on federal lands and waters. Deposited amounts must not exceed $1.9 billion for any fiscal year.

The fund must be used for priority deferred maintenance projects in specified systems that are administered by

• the National Park Service,
• the Forest Service,
• the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
• the Bureau of Land Management, and
• the Bureau of Indian Education.

The Government Accountability Office must report on the effect of the fund in reducing the backlog of priority deferred maintenance projects for the specified agencies.

Additionally, the bill makes funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) permanent. The President shall annually report to Congress specified details regarding the allocation of funds to the LWCF. Congress may provide for alternate allocations using specified procedures.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last project Dave Vasarhelyi struggled to make happen - the conservation of Brandywine golf course in the Cuyahoga Valley (at same time - another golf course was also already being sold off to developer Petros Homes).  The stress of this deal killed him.

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/local/2020/11/23/former-brandywine-country-club-golf-course-become-part-cuyahoga-valley-national-park/6393356002/

The former Brandywine Country Club in Peninsula is officially becoming part of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

As part of the Great American Outdoors Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump this summer, $3.8 million will be used to acquire the property.

The 215-acre former golf course at 5555 Akron-Peninsula Road has been closed since 2018 and was on the market for several months afterward, leading to speculation that the land might be sold for development.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/legal/great-american-outdoors-act.htm

https://plainpress.blog/2023/08/06/trailblazing-from-clevelands-past-to-a-green-future/

 

 
https://web.archive.org/web/20210625101052/https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/05/12/redline-greenway-is-now-open-and-its-an-instant-cleveland-gem