NOT FOUND IN THE"PAINESVILLE PRIDE"
This story caught my eye in the Plain Dealer Business section today 09/05/08.
CARBONE GOES TO COURT IN EFFORT TO REORGANIZE
Robert Schoenberger
Contracting and project management company Carbone Cos. Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, saying it has $22 million in debt and $32 million in assets.
"The filing was made so that we can reorganize the continuing operation of our constrution management business while giving us the time and forum necessary to restruture certain real estate business segments and develop a debt restructuring plan,"Chief Executive Officer Ross P. Carbone said in a news release.
Founded as a general contracting company in Cleveland in 1926, Carbone has expanded over the years into property management and other fields. The company blamed its problems on its real estate wing, most notably the Audubon Hotel, a New Orleanslandmark damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Over the past few years, Carbone has eared headlines more for its legal problems than for its construction projects.
In July, the FBI and IRS raided Cuyahoga County offices, in part, to answer questions about how Cuyahoga County awarded Carbone a $10 million 2006 contract to renovate the Ameritrust Bank complex into a county headquarters building.
In April 2006, commissioners Jimmy Dimora, Peter Lawson Jones and Tim Hagen unanimously ranked a team led by the company's contracting arm, R.P.Carbone Co. as their top choice for that project after less than 50 seconds of public deliberation.
Also in July, Vincent Carbone, former president of R.P.Carbone Co., pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering for paying more than $200,000 in bribes in 1999 to get work on the Lorain County Justice Center.
As part of this senence, Carbone will pay restitution of $314,000 which includes $80,000 for the cost of the investigation.
A major player in public projects in Northeast Ohio, Carbone's clients have included Cleveland State University, several school districts and Cuyahoga County.
Seems like Vincent's chirping like a canary, to keep his but out of the slammer, Madpotter, tried to tell us this story months ago. The only question I have for the School Board if you had known this in the first place,would you still have awarded them the New School contract? Why wasn't the public inforned about these allegations.
posted by terminator1 @ 2:39 PM
36 Comments
36 Comments:
What is the problem?
So if the CEO of the company you work for does something wrong does that mean you, your fellow employees, and the whole company in general is a bunch of no good criminals?
Go away, if you want to attack our school system you better come up with something a lot better than this. What exactly are you saying is the problem?
Again, this is typical TERM posting, make statements that infer wrong doing without actually saying it, post no proof, and hope your load of crap sticks to a couple more idiots besides KAREN and MP. The charges are against one person, not the whole company.
Right back at ya with a capital "I"
No and that is not what was implied.
Keep watching because this ship hasn't sailed yet....
watch the change orders folks....... has anybody seen the change orders? This is a company filing for bankruptcy protection. Did anyone do research on who they hired for excavation work? The have a paper trail that leads all the way to Chardon.
If they are filing for Chapter 11 do you really think we shouldn't be asking questions?
Guess your not in the construction industry, guess you wouldn't know what to look for.
This is not typical this is fact, this is a red flag.....
This is not an attack on the schools, this is common sense. You haven't seen an attack if you think this blog is an attack.
I asked about putting independent inspectors on the job for exactly the reasons you are reading about in the Plain Dealer. Home owners sometimes have independent inspectors hired when they build a house, these are schools. Take your blinders off and ask a couple questions...... makes me wonder who the idiot really is.
MP
read something besides the News Herald and Painesville Pride, it's a big world out there. Buy a ticket or keep drinking the Kool-aid.
The city inspectors were on each school job almost everyday, and they know what they are doing if there were problems they would catch them, besides the school had there people watching everthing that was done,
one more thing Term & madpotter, they paved Grandriver Ave. today, why have you guys not griped about it yet, I bet the people on that road just hate it.
I'm not sure the City has any inspectors qualified to handle a bunch of schools being constructed. I worked in construction lending for a few years, and basically, they are all a bunch of crooks. The GCs are in cahoots with the subs, the inspectors, the developers, and on and on. It is a pretty shady business overall.
If they have $22 million in debt, and $32 million in assets, how are they bankrupt? I wish I had the problem of having a $10 million net worth. I sure wouldn't be sitting here typing on a blog on a Friday night.
Painesville has great inspectors, and they are qualified to do there job, we have
Chief Building Insp. plumbing Insp.
Elect.Insp.
2 code inforcement officers
I pull permits thru Painesville Building Dept. all of the time, they are very good at what they do.
If the last post was in construstion Lending, i'm glad he was there for only a few years, lending all that money to those crooks
Attack the school system? Did the reporter for the Plain Dealer accuse anyone? its a news story thats all. and the two questions asked I'd like to know the answers to also. Remember just facts are these not facts? One board member told the rep. from Carbone how wonderful it was doind business with them at a board meeting. Wonder if she has any second thoughts now?
KAREN
I agree the City may have good inspectors for electric, plumbing, building, but not one good inspector to oversee an entire construction project. Look at OCPF v. Baker & Hostetler.
Geneva and Auburn also used R.P. Carbone locally. Along with another dozen or more in the last few years in NE Ohio.
I have to think you people are over reacting a little if this company has continually been picked at project after project. Or, do you figure all of NE Ohio got ripped off, paid bribes?
I'm not sure what MP is talking about. Why does everything have to be like a secret conspiracy. What is this "paper trail to chardon"? If you know something just post it, if you don't know something why are you alluding to it and making it sound like there are inproprieties in this construction project?
My guess is TERM should call the Cuyahoga prosecuters office to find out why the Painesville public wasn't informed about a bribery case involving cuyahoga county.
Nobody is making accuations about anyone. Its a news story. The people that sit on the Board of Education are some of the most trustworthy people in the area. They just may have been to trusting to Mr. Carbone. He sat on a school board and they may have thought this person is like one of us, dealing with alot of the same issues we are. I have no thoughts that anyone in Painesville did anything wrong, except not informing the public when they found out about the indictment against Mr. Carbone.
I read all the summaries on the Ohio School Facilities Commision web site and couldn't find Victor Carbone's name attached to anything having to do with the Painesville project.
I am having trouble understanding if he wasn't involved in the project how could our school board have been too trusting with him?
An-on-ymous regarding your statement of bottom line.
According to Andy Thompson of the school Board the Carbone group has many real estate ventures, and those are the ones that lost way way too much money - which in turn dragged down the Carbone Constr Co. into a bankrupt status. Mr. Thompson stated that a new individual is taking the head lead on Carbone Constr. and will be investing monies to make it solvent: which he stated will not affect the completion of the High School or other issues with the Elementary schools that need to be fixed.
As I have been involved with public service entities and construction companies for over 34 years (as the person who wrote/managed grants - and was the government fiscal officer) I will sit back and reserve my opinion on these matters. I know what I have seen and experienced, and I know the kinds of antics that large Corps pull on others.
In most of all the cases, the hanging rope catches them: but, the recipients of their services end-up paying the ultimate price.
Keep some open minds and watch the future presentations. It may take some time to have all of the facts. When they are all together, please confront who needs to be confronted: and do not tolerate another venture that has a loss as big as the City Government of Painesville - in the Millions. Hopefully the large construction project of new schools will not suffer the same losses that the City of Painesville had.
Stay alert and at attention.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sorry, You can't call City Officials that name.
People Term. is mis leading you, the post he deleted was not about the City Officials, also he has been deleteing post with out you knowing, watch out for Terms. cencership.
Sorry, you cannot post with that language. If not city officals who were you calling names? Me? Please post your name and I'll let everyone know your views.
Now, I am to believe that the School Board and or,the Administration signed a $100 million dollar contract and no one met the President of R.P.Carbone. I am starting to see the light.
Actually, TERM has removed more posts than most of the readers realize, and not all for language.
If they are against him he will also remove them. That is OK, this is his blog and he has the right. I just hope people realize what they read here is controlled.
Wonder how long before this one is removed?
Parma Schools are being investigated by the F.B.I. and I.R.S.seems theres a man named Kelly that sits on the BOE.Where have I heard that name before.
Grand River Ave. paved, new sewers, how many trees are left at the end of the street? That Sir was the natural barrier that stopped all the debris, that comes down the river in the spring.If what happens in the spring I will insist rita, and joe personally clean this street. Thanks for nothing joe why is the house still at the end of the street I thought you were going to take care of it?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
anonymous, take that language and go back to the postively painesville site. Your filthy mouth is not wanted here.
For anonymous several posts above, there are many posts here negative to TERM so you saying he deletes any posts negative to him is false, as usual for all your statements.
He does in fact leave comments that are negative to him, so to say he deletes them all is false. However, I have seen increased censorship recently even to the point of altering the content of posts that are not his rather than removing them altogether. Makes you question the veracity of the entire blog.
The stuff that is "censored" is pretty rank. I guess some are just foul mouthed or fingered at 3 am.
Those posts are offensive and don't belong here.
use bad language or name calling you are probably
going to get yanked. Working the night shift I have seen them.
Play nice on the cyber playground or take your toys
and go home.
I have NEVER altered a post. I leave it or delete it.
anonymous, you are posting lies again. Go back to positivelypainesville and unleash your rancor there. It will be left as long as it is directed at TERM.
so you did not alter the first topic about the man of the year or any of the posts that were originally posted under your first publication of the topic?
Hey, I heard an airlines was going bankrupt. Why didn't the School Board inform the public of this?
I'll bet they were fooled into thinking it wasn't true, thats why they didn't tell us before it hit the news wire!
That was a 5year old post that someone picked-up and ran with, ask United Airlines if they saw the humor in it. When did the school board ever spend a $100 milliom dollars with an air carrier that went bankrupt? Sorry no excuse for their silence on this one.R.P.Carbone filed for chapter 11. There president was convicted of a felony thats a fact. About posting I leave or delete. The post was to tell everyone the man of the year would be announced on Sunday. Why would you leave the first one up? If some of you spent as much time checking out your city as you do this blog. we wouldn't need this site. But then you would have to let someone know who's complaining.
Why am I explaining this to you, are you the blog. police?
Sounds like some of the people on here are getting to you Term.
What's wrong?, no fun being the constant target of verbal abuse and attacks?
Don't like to have to explain everything you think or write?
Take your medicine like a good boy and jump right back into the fight, you still have a ways to go, don't give up now.
anonymous above, spoken like atrue Painesville City Councilperson!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Now that is definitely spoken like a true Painesville City Councilperson!
It may have been spoken like a council person but it wasn't written like one.
I wrote it and I am just a plain old vanilla citizen like anyone else who thinks the way certain people in this city verbally attack our city manager and council is wrong.
Some of you claim you do this publicly because you don't get an answer when you ask privately. A lot of us do get answers and don't need to verbally berate these people. Maybe there is a whole bunch of you that need to re-learn how to communicate with others in a productive way.
maybe you get answers because your are asking sugar-coated questions. Just a thought.
Now we all know Term asked a question and got an answer quite quickly by email. Are you going to accuse Term of asking sugar coated questions because he got an answer too?
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