CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -The Cuyahoga County Executive is responding to some strong statements from the county council earlier in the week as everyone waits on the final decision on the state’s budget, and by default, the Cleveland Browns stadium.
“It just seems we’re late to the party here, I know it’s not your fault and we all know the back-and-forth that went public was unnecessary and, quite honestly, juvenile,” said councilman Michael Gallagher during a meeting earlier in the week.
The councilman did not hold back, voicing his concern and confusion over the handling of the situation over the past several months between the Browns and the county as the NFL franchise works to move out of downtown Cleveland and into Brook Park and a new stadium.
“The second largest track of economic development land per project in the history of the state of Ohio, and the state sees in that, but we’re not because we have chosen Cleveland over Brook Park,” said Gallagher.
Earlier in the month, Ohio’s Senate passed the state budget, which includes $600 million for the Brook Park project.
Days later, the county councilman aired their concerns about where the county stands with the stadium project.
Councilwoman Sunny Simon called for a look at what the economic future seems to hold for the county, as a move to Brook Park looks imminent.
“Whether we like it or not, that’s happening, the state is going to give its blessing in whatever form that takes, so we gotta be ready to look at what impact that’s going to have on us,” said Simon.
On Thursday, County Executive Chris Ronayne responded to the comments from the council.
“I say to councilman Gallagher and Councilwoman Simon, please don’t throw good money after bad, please don’t throw away taxpayer dollars please don’t take the bait and say, ‘we need to be involved,’ when they said to me in a letter May 15th, ‘We don’t need county money,’” said Ronayne.
He stands firm in his belief that the health of downtown Cleveland is good for the health of the county, and holds major concerns about the prospect of splitting that downtown into two locations.
“Poaching a resource, a stadium downtown, to build it anew in another suburb and really just transferring jobs and claiming that’s economic development, that’s not economic development; that’s extraction,” said Ronayne. “So don’t take the bait, I’d say to the county council, if you’re going to get in this discussion, don’t take the bait that they’re giving you that it’s additive, it’s extractive.”
And as the budget now sits with Governor Mike DeWine, he believes the fight isn’t over.
“I would urge him to veto the 600 million dollar investment under the single premise that this really isn’t economic development, and you talk to any economist in the region, you talk to anybody who teaches college economics, you talk to anybody, this isn’t economic development, this is just a shuffling of jobs from one place to another and adding a ton of cost in terms of infrastructure.”
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