For 16 straight years near the end of the 20th century, Ohio had governors from Cleveland who would never have allowed state government to act in ways that would harm their hometown.
Democrat Dick Celeste and Republican George Voinovich were different in many ways. But both of them would find it difficult to win today in a state that once awarded them four consecutive landslide wins, Celeste in 1982 and 1986, then Voinovich in 1990 and 1994.
And not since 1997, when Patrick Sweeney left the Ohio House after serving 30 years representing much of Cleveland’s West Side, has Cleveland had a legislator with real power, someone who could singlehandedly veto any project designed to harm the central city.
Now, Greater Cleveland has become a mere afterthought in Columbus, viewed by state legislators as a shrinking and tired old place that’s best ignored and, if necessary, betrayed.
As for Cleveland proper, its influence with state government is probably only a bit more than Rendville, the smallest place in Ohio, a tiny Appalachian village of 28 tucked into the southeast corner of Perry County.
There is no better example of Cleveland’s lack of clout in Columbus than the legislature’s determination to guarantee $600 million in bonds to help finance Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam’s $2.4 billion (before the inevitable massive cost overruns) covered stadium complex designed to harm downtown Cleveland.
With little or no due diligence, the legislature seems willing to put taxpayer funds and the state’s credit rating at risk by accepting at face value the Browns' revenue projections to avoid a default on the bonds.
Imagine walking into your neighborhood bank with some full-color renderings and few numbers tossed on a page, then asking for $600 million.
Most bankers would push the “we’re being robbed” button underneath their desk. But not Republican members of the Ohio House Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee, who adoringly treated a Browns lawyer with kid gloves during a March 10 hearing. Watch the video. It’s nauseating.
Here’s just one example, a hugely important one, of why this entire debt repayment plan is a sham: The Browns include state income tax receipts as an important part of the repayment revenue stream needed to avoid default on the $600 million bond issue that would be guaranteed by Ohio’s taxpayers. But Vivek Ramaswamy, the odds-on favorite to be Ohio’s next governor, has promised to repeal the income tax when he’s elected. How can you repay bonds with a revenue stream that no longer exists?
In terms of atrocious public policy, guaranteeing $600 million to a big campaign contributor for a project that may include hotels, office buildings, restaurants, and entertainment venues that will compete with similar places just a dozen miles north in the city of Cleveland is yet another example of why the Ohio General Assembly is a place where integrity and decency come to die.
There was a time, not that long ago, when no state official would have even contemplated such a malignant maneuver that would damage Cleveland. But population loss, mind-numbing voter apathy, an absence of even a trace of corporate leadership and corrupt gerrymandering have taken a huge toll on Cleveland’s clout.
Gerrymandering keeps Republicans in control of the state legislature, allowing lawmakers to draw legislative districts that favor rural and exurban areas at the expense of Ohio’s large cities. State Issue 1, a ballot issue designed to end gerrymandering and replace it with a more democratic process, was narrowly defeated by Ohio voters last November.
Jimmy and Dee Haslam were the second largest contributors to the campaign to defeat Issue 1, giving $100,000. Now it’s time for the Republican-run legislature to pay its debt.
Mayor Justin Bibb’s handling of the Browns attempt to move had focused largely on the city’s legal attempt to use what is called the “Modell Law,” which prevents a sports franchise from moving if taxpayer help funded their stadium. Bibb had been firm but restrained.
That all changed after a March 18 legal filing from the Browns suggesting the city has done little to include the Browns in its lakefront planning process. The filing also referred to the existing stadium as “a deteriorating open-air stadium that sits idle most of the year.”
The next day, Bibb angrily struck back, referring to the Browns' attempt to saddle taxpayers with half the Brook Park covered stadium’s projected $2.4 billion cost as a “scheme” that “pays for itself on the backs of fans.”
Added Bibb, in part, “The Haslams need to raise your taxes, make it more expensive for you to attend games, and steal events away from downtown Cleveland to pay for their stadium.”
Under significant pressure from the Haslams and their supporters, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne has been under constant and significant pressure to support the use of taxpayer money to fund the Browns' plan to desert downtown. Not once has Ronayne flinched in his opposition.
And Gov. Mike DeWine, too, has suggested the legislature seems to be overly generous in its attempts to help the Browns. DeWine could use his line-item veto if the Haslam handout is included in the state budget, but the legislature could then try to override that veto.
The Haslams' history also raises questions about the wisdom of putting taxpayers at risk to help fund his Brook Park project.
In 2014, Pilot Flying J, Jimmy Haslams’ family business, paid $92 million to the U.S. Department of Justice as a penalty for massive fraud by the company that cheated customers out of more than $50 million in promised discounts and rebates.
When the federal government’s investigation ended in 2018, 17 former employees, including the company’s former president, had been convicted of fraud-related crimes. A number of them went to prison. Haslam was never charged and denied any knowledge of the schemes. However, an FBI affidavit quoted an informant saying Haslam was in the room during a meeting when the scheme to cheat customers was discussed.
Early last year, the Haslam family and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway settled a lawsuit that included allegations by Buffett’s company that Haslam fraudulently inflated the value of his company, which Berkshire Hathaway was in the process of purchasing - and now owns.
It’s apparent that none of this history is seen as relevant by the conscience-free Ohio elected officials involved in this rotten business. Whatever a generous supporter wants, that generous supporter gets. Even if what taxpayers get is the shaft.
Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer’s editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.
To reach Brent Larkin: blarkin@cleveland.com
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