Days after Cleveland City Council doubled its campaign finance limits, Council President Blaine Griffin hosted a fundraiser that brought out Cleveland political characters new and old.
Griffin held court on the patio of the Tavern of Little Italy. First among the guests of honor was George Forbes, the longtime council president who arguably overshadowed three mayors in the 1970s and ’80s. With him sat Little Italy royalty Basil Russo, a former judge and council member.
Griffin riffed on a theme that was popular with his colleagues during the week’s debate over donation limits: that political adversaries and naysayers are trying to tear down City Council.
“I need these checks that you guys are writing,” Griffin said. “Because in order for us to beat back all of the people that are trying to give us a hard time in Cleveland City Council, we need you to invest in good government, and that’s what this is for. Make no mistake about it, no matter how other people twist it. This is about good government.”
Council Member Richard Starr shared a video of Griffin’s speech to Facebook. He ended the post with a dig at reporters who scrutinized the new limits — set at $3,000 for an individual and $6,000 for a PAC.
“To the hating media outlets: Nobody wrote the council president a $6,000 check,” Starr wrote.
The new limits hadn’t taken effect at the time of Griffin’s fundraiser.
But on Friday afternoon, Mayor Justin Bibb returned the legislation to City Council without his signature. That cleared the way for the new limits to become law, though with Bibb symbolically registering that he doesn’t support them.
More labor muscle coming to Port of Cleveland board
A union leader with Pipefitters Local 120 is on his way to joining the board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority. Bibb nominated Ryan McCafferty to the post this week.
It’s significant that another labor official may get a seat at the port, which finances development projects around town. Organized labor has been up in arms over a policy change by port leadership allowing developers to pay less than prevailing wage at port-financed projects. (Prevailing wage is the average pay of a worker in a particular field.)
Labor’s two other voices on the port board – Dan O’Malley and the building trades’ Dave Wondolowski – cast the only two votes against the policy change in November. Wondolowski has also been critical of port CEO William Friedman’s recent bonus.
McCafferty told Signal Cleveland that it was “an honor to be considered” – but said it was too early for him to be weighing in on the port’s prevailing wage policy.
Educated by the Jesuits at St. Ignatius High School and Xavier University, McCafferty is a business agent with the pipefitters and executive board member at the North Shore AFL-CIO.
He offered this comparison between his day job and the port: Just as pipes play an unseen but important role in buildings, the port is a key behind-the-scenes part of the city.
“The transportation of goods coming in and leaving is absolutely critical,” he said.
If approved by Cleveland City Council, he’ll replace Margot Copeland, whose term expired last October.
