It’s not your usual tenant-landlord dispute.
By now it’s old news that the Browns want a federal judge to rule Ohio’s “Art Modell law” unconstitutional. To recap: The City of Cleveland dangled the possibility of suing the team last week over its potential move to Brook Park. Not content to wait around for that lawsuit, the Browns enlisted lawyers from Thompson Hine and filed a complaint of their own.
As written, the Modell Law is meant to give Ohio cities leverage over teams that are flying the coop – even to the point of requiring owners to give locals a chance to buy the team in question. The Browns called it a “symbolic yet incomprehensible statute that is impermissibly vague and unconstitutional.”
Here are two nuggets from the lawsuit that caught our interest.
The Browns’ complaint says that Cleveland “made a financial offer” for a new stadium at Burke Lakefront Airport. Mayor Justin Bibb mentioned the Burke possibility in his news conference this month.
So far we haven’t heard how much money the city was willing to put on the line at Burke. Bibb has previously said the Burke option “required too much up-front public money that I wasn’t willing to bear for that to happen.”
The lawsuit also says this: When the Browns’ lease expires, there will no longer be “any obligation for there to be taxpayer funds” spent on the lakefront stadium.
Yes and no. The lease provisions about Cleveland paying for capital repairs would be defunct. But the stadium is city property. Someone would have to pay to maintain it – or to demolish it. If the Browns actually do move, who’s going to pony up?
Cleveland complaint line gets a marketing makeover
City Hall is yelling it from the rooftops, billboards, stickers and ballcaps: There’s a new way to complain about Cleveland city services.
The advertising campaign for Cleveland’s new 311 system is leasing billboard space and buying swag to hand out at events with the tagline, “311 for this.”
Cleveland has spent $684,578 on marketing so far, according to the mayor’s office. That includes $26,478 for promotional items from Bedford-based Koppel Advertising. Another $15,517 order is in progress.
The scene-stealer in this marketing blitz is a cheeky insignia of a roadkill raccoon, seen above.
Pumping iron in the shadow of the steel mills
Slavic Village has a new gym that both police cadets and residents can use. The city cut the ribbon last week on a renovated weight room at Stella Walsh recreation center on Broadway Avenue.
Technically the gym is part of a planned new public safety training center at what used to be South High School. During recreation center hours, it will be open to the public. Police, fire and EMS cadets will use it outside those hours.
“People wanted safe places to go after work to just spend time together, and there was nowhere to work out in Slavic Village,” Ward 12 Council Member Rebecca Maurer said.
The ribbon cutting brought out council members, the mayor and other city officials. Ward 5’s Richard Starr quickly hit the bench press. He lifted 225 lbs, but your correspondent neglected to count the reps. The other elected officials did not join him on the exercise equipment.
