Last week, we urged a “no” vote on Issue 7, the renewal of the sin tax to benefit Cleveland’s sports facilities. We suggested that defeating the tax might open the door for a public discussion about what needs to be funded by taxpayers and the best way to do that.
Above and beyond the arguments for and against the renewal is a story about how civic initiatives are handled in the Cleveland area. The way renewal was hurried on the ballot without public input and the way counterproposals are being hysterically attacked and ridiculed by the pro-sin tax campaign, whose slogan is “Keep Cleveland Strong,” points to a larger story than this particular tax.
The Issue 7 campaign is not unique. It’s the way business is done here, and the results haven’t been stellar. It’s helped make Cleveland weak, with high poverty, high unemployment, low educational levels, and population loss. It’s a way that makes ordinary citizens feel more cynical about and more disconnected from the area’s future — that they have no input, their ideas are not valued, and they are not treated as stakeholders. And the evidence points to this being true.
The sin tax renewal is just the latest in a string of projects driven by the corporate community that were finalized behind closed doors before being presented to the public. Just since 2007, those projects have included the convention center/medical mart, the change in the structure of county government, the Cleveland school plan of 2012 tied to a huge levy increase, and the so-called “Opportunity” Corridor.
The depressing commonality to these initiatives is that they arrived in their nearly final form with no input from stakeholders or the general public. And when they were unveiled, those outside of the process i.e. the public felt — or were flat out told — that only minor tweaks could be made.
No public process picked Chicago’s MMPI to control the convention center/medical mart. Diverse civic groups and citizens were not engaged in Cuyahoga County government reform as they were when Summit County went to a charter form of government. Teachers, students, parents, administrators, and citizens were excluded from the creation of the school transformation plan even though it contained extensive prescriptions for education. The “Opportunity” Corridor seems to be set in stone, despite almost 100% opposition from affected citizens and transportation and sustainability advocacy groups, who have suggested more efficient and environmentally friendly alternatives that don’t take a last-century approach to transportation.
“Public” hearings on the convention center and “Opportunity” Corridor seemed like theater, leaving those who questioned the plans feeling shut out. No public hearings were involved in the creation of the county charter or the Cleveland school plan.
Opponents to these initiatives were routinely shouted down and/or demonized as not caring about the schools/ the county/the economy because they did not eagerly embrace a plan in which they had no say. Better ideas never seemed to be seriously on the table, discarded long before the plans became public. And of course, The Plain Dealer routinely trades reporting for cheerleading such initiatives, leading the demonizing of opponents of what the business community wants.
The same dynamic is functioning in the sin tax renewal campaign. We’re told “renew the sin tax or you want to make Cleveland weak.” (Echoes of Jimmy Dimora shouting at a convention center/medical mart hearing that if you weren’t 100% behind the project you didn’t care about Cleveland’s future!)
The “Keep Cleveland Strong” campaign dismissed out of hand a proposal by the grassroots coalition opposed to the sin tax for a facility fee paid by sports fans in place of a sin tax paid by all county residents. Their attacks on the alternative plan had no rational basis except to ward off an idea that was not part of the plan that emerged from behind those closed doors.
A statement by county councilman Dan Brady dismissed the anti-sin tax group’s “FairShare” proposal with a sneer, saying, “This is simply the latest in a steady stream of wobbly ideas this group has trotted out in a misguided attempt to replace the existing tax on cigarettes and alcohol.”
In fact, “FairShare” was their only proposal, and it’s a solid one. The condescending, mocking tone of the attacks appears intended to warn the public away from challenging the agenda of the area’s rich and powerful — the same people, it should be noted, who presided over the area’s decline.
A public discussion on what this renewal will fund and if there are better ways to pay than extending a tax we were promised would expire hasn’t happened. Events pitting representatives of the sin tax renewal, predicting doom if the tax fails, against opponents who are being brushed off, don’t substitute for forums that engage citizens in the early stages of an initiative and incorporate the best of their ideas into a finished plan.
Ron Copfer, a sin tax renewal opponent, posted on the anti-sin Tax Facebook page, It’s a Sin,
“The GCP [Greater Cleveland Partnership, which represents the corporate community] and their minions fully expect that opposition to the sin tax extension is minimal and if they spend enough money on TV, radio, billboards and signs, they can convince a majority of voters to vote the way that they wish. They totally discount the notion of an alternative discussion and the need for transparency and accountability.”
He’s dead on. And unfortunately, not just about sin tax renewal, but about the way things operate in northeast Ohio in general. You have to ask, wistfully, how strong Cleveland could BECOME if it drew on the energy, resourcefulness, and creativity of ALL its citizens instead of being bullied into rubberstamping ideas crafted by an elite few without regard for their impact on the majority.
11 Responses to “Issue 7 & the Cleveland Way of Doing Business: Secrecy and a Silenced Public”
John J. Polk
THIS is, to me, the crux of the argument against the sin tax extension. The corporate, political, and institutional yahoos behind this current campaign are, almost to a person (current team owners excepted) the same group who have flacked for every “you pay so we benefit” proposal of the last 20 years. After Gateway, it was the Mike White/Fred Nance/Joe Roman troika who added the “false sense of urgency” ploy to these campaigns (“If we don’t do THIS, RIGHT NOW, TERRIBLE things will happen”) to the Browns Stadium campaign which has become the hallmark of subsequent efforts. Far from “facilitating economic development,” GCP and its minions have become a facilitator of “rent-seeking:” the process whereby corporations and wealthy individuals manipulate the political system to enrich themselves. And even as its corporate members happily do so, the organization’s small business members (absolute second-class corporate citizens) and the rest of us must pay, because the organization has never met a tax (on others) it doesn’t like. And since they’ve proven so capable at demonizing and destroying opposition, they’ve grown used to having their own way. The result has been a tired, cynical, manipulative, parochial approach to politics which has undermined the electorate, and attempted to equate sports facilities (understood by EVERY RESPONSIBLE INDEPENDENT ECONOMIST to be inconsequential at best, and negative at worst, contributors to local economies), convention centers (ditto), casinos (ditto) and other publicly-financed private construction projects with actual economic development. These yahoos need to be stopped, or at least slowed down, and because NONE of The Men Behind The Curtain have ever been elected by anybody (except their own nominating committees), voters should take this rare opportunity to signal their repudiation of these lazy, cynical campaigns promoted by self-serving “corporate citizens” and the amoral facilitators who enable them. ENOUGH!…
Chris Bailo
Seems odd that only two comments have been made on this issue. What it looks like to me, (since I submitted a comment that wasn’t posted, and was not in support of your opinion) is that your actions are not very different from those you are complaining about. “Shout down” the opposition, or better yet, just refuse to print their comments.
Bob Fritz
Don’t badmouth corporations.
Most of us are kept as clueless as any other taxpayer.
Case in point: Since I commonly drive up I-77 to get to University Circle, the “Opportunity Corridor” supposedly will benefit me. But I cannot see the slightest reason to spend $335,000,000 on that boondoggle. Same for the sin tax extension and the scoreboard that Cleveland City council just bought for the Browns.
But what can se do about it besides move out and stop paying them taxes?
John Davis
This article is spot on. Just so you know, on its face, to me, the Sin Tax isn’t offensive in the slightest and the alternative put forth by Pattakos is, IMO, really weak. Regardless, I won’t be voting yes on this issue because I agree with every one of your points regarding the secretive method in which local “leaders” develop and implement policy with what appears to be complete and total disregard for the thoughts and opinions of the public. I’ve only lived here for going on 2 years now, but it is plain as day that local officials could care less what the electorate think and pretty much do as they please, and what they please only benefits our corporate sponsors, most of whom live outside the county. This Kevin Kelley guy is so arrogant and condescending with his rebuttals to the No On 7 crowd that I can’t bring myself to vote yes for much of anything he is supporting. Not a perfect conversion as I won’t be voting no (instead, I’ll abstain), but you’ve opened my eyes to the fact that this region needs a complete overhaul of its political structure and a replacement of nearly all the players in the system.
Garry Kanter
It’s how Representative Government is bastardized and turned on its head.
These are tried and true methods for The Powers That Be to silence the first dissenting voices.
Same stuff at this link..
Big Boys Gone Bananas!*
Dole Food Company wages a campaign to prevent a pair of Swedish filmmakers from showing their documentary about a lawsuit against the company.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2090463/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Krissie
Excellent article. Everyone needs to read this.
bob
ISSUE passed…not suprised…and get to watch,listen to all the doggie drivel of team patrons doing whutever it is they do… Me? OCCASIONALLY listen or watch game…SORTA felt SOME excitement during 1997 Injuns run during World Series…ONLY to watch the infamous ‘ball drop’…Ohhh well HEY…
WElllll WHEN FINALLY THIS 20 yrs IS UP THEN get to decide….I CANT tell YOU or ME WHAT is gonna happen to the teams or WHAT they will do or NOT do…crystal ball time…thou quite frankly I HAVE VERY SERIOUS doubts on THEM getting beyond Divisional Champ “IF” even get THAT far which quite frankly DOUBT toooo…. ALL the points above valid…is it divide and rule and go after smallest segment..Ohhh yeahh… GONNA make one sound like foos n hyprocrites &/or cheap cuz NOT buying YOU KNOW WHOSE inflated pricy beer while at games among other things….. WElll ACTUALLY NOT allowed to bring in own but THAT is whole other story….quite frankly other then ironworker jobs,etc.I SUSPECT the real future biz model IS WEb,etc.
I NEVER attended ANYones games….just the BS of IT ALL…ALWAYS someone who has ax to grind or backed up streets or ANY number of things…quite frankly ANY large events…BAD enough BS run into at off times… so long as I have AND THEY think I have ‘fun toys’ I can use life is good… FOLKS in short temper mood or SOMETHING… GUESS PAYBACK of sorts… NOW priz biz system has OWN moment in time trying to snag ‘patrons’ tooo…FEWER patrons for SinSchluckSlopSexMadSportsSickoPolitico uber wunderwasteland we got….
bob
Joe B above basically has it on point… Im sure lot of this is to appeal to Yuppies,ENOUGH blue collar,wannabe visitors,and shhhhhhhh… ’16 politico convention…THAT regardless of WHO shows up will be SUCH A CLAMPED DOWN security laden Stasi type deal NO one is gonna want be ANYWHERE NEAR there….THEN again GOT SOME brave souls who wont hesitate to wave banners,fling stuff,chant,etc. SURE a REAL oxymoronic moment for ALL whether conservatives,liberals,etc. who sorta in a weird roundabout twisted way can probably agree on THEORITICAL sense of popular participation… GONNA be ‘fun’ during CONVENTION IF Iffffffffff gets here far as justice Center…CAN kiss trials,etc.goodbye for THAT week….ANYONE going THERE is gonna have to run a but checking gauntlet and THEN some…. EVERYONE takes vacation…
bob
FLOGGING MY brains OUT here on site number 900K is semi pointless and PROBABLY provides SOME marketing feedback but Oh wellll HEY… sure semi twisted way to control debate and us so can turn on whutever or WHOEVER and so THAT goes tooo …
MY first comment above in FIRST statement bout WEB as biz model…. GONNA blow WHAT money for WHO where to freeze,get jostled,get car damaged,potential cop tickets,fistfights and gosh knows what all else to watch WHO LOSE AGAIN?!…. NEVER mind Haslam and rest of THAT mantra which is sorta in equation tooo… Aint saying anything that hasnt occured to anyone else…HATE being a downer BUT…it all just has a weird feel,etc.to it and quite frankly semi tired of all THAT hogging the worldview… REAL fun seems to be FANTASY Strategizing and Stats….
TIME will tell on CHEERLEADER thing…WATCH “THEM” become the FAVES…. be thankful BROWNIES….patrons NOT as blank when have sweet stuff to see…OTHER females in attendance can tease guys bout eyecandy aspect and behavior….
SUPRISED just dont have parking lots spruced up,made easier for patrons to party and call it a day…BUT so much hidden pork barrel laden bs DOUBT if happen… IDEA of dressing up in colors,wearing dog customes and drivin WeinieMobiles somehow doesnt thrill me but HEY…MAYBE a old fart but…
bob
MERRY HalllowweeennnnIeee….
bob
IDEA of dressing up in Brownie whutever sitting in bar half stewed watching some circus proceed on TV as BrownsTown signs up 23 or 24th QB in FIFTEEN YRS is surreal to say the least…got this farm team thing going on…