Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne and Council President Pernel Jones Jr. on Monday held a news conference that was as much about the optics and as it was about the soundbites.
The two stood on the grounds of the county-financed Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel, Browns Stadium lurking in the distance over their shoulders. The message was clear: We want to keep public investments downtown and feeding off of each other.
On Sunday, Ronayne and Jones sent a letter to Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam saying they will not support any plans to help publicly finance a new domed stadium in Brook Park. This potentially closes the door for now to such things as a new tax on alcohol and cigarettes known as a “sin tax,” a sales tax increase or increasing the tax on hotel stays.
Standing before a bank of cameras and reporters, Ronayne transformed into a Browns fan to add an emotional punch to the letter he signed the day before.
Wearing an orange tie and Browns pin on his lapel, Roynayne said he used to sell ice cream outside the old home of the Browns, Cleveland Municipal Stadium. He also said that as a college student he used to roll up tarps that covered the field at the Browns practice facility in Berea.
“In and out of games, a fan, through the wins and losses,” he said. “History lives here at Cleveland Browns Stadium.”
About the Haslams’ financial projections for the Brook Park project, Ronayne delivered an intentional line meant to connect with fans, especially those in the Dawg Pound.
“This dog doesn’t hunt,” he said.
New ‘sin tax’ would have to be for more than one facility, says county executive
In response to a reporter’s question, Ronayne said he couldn’t speak to the city’s proposal to renovate the existing stadium in part with the use of the sin tax. The current sin tax, which expires in a decade, supports three sports facilities and barely generates enough money to cover ongoing maintenance costs.
“We don’t have all the numbers we need to discuss the downtown model,” he said, referring to Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s plan for renovating the stadium.
But Ronayne suggested he’s open to a new sin tax if it were used to support all three sports facilities: the existing Browns Stadium, Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“As for sources of financing for the future, we need to have a conversation with all the teams about what that looks like,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of raising the county’s tax on hotel rooms for a stadium project, Ronayne said he would not support doing so for any one facility.
“It’s complicated to consider an exclusive use of a bed tax for one facility,” he said.
Cuyahoga County Council Member Martin J. Sweeney, who wants the county to remain open-minded about the Brook Park proposal, tried to ask a question of his colleagues, at one point briefly speaking over reporters.
He reminded reporters before the event that council – not Ronayne or even Jones – holds the power to consider finance options for the Brook Park project. He is not opposed to raising the tax on hotel stays for the Browns project.
“You only need six votes,” he said.
This was updated to clarify Martin J. Sweeney’s quote.
