CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland City Council on Monday approved legislation to spend the bulk of the first half of the city’s American Rescue Plan stimulus money - $26.4 million for public safety, $80.3 million for community and economic development and $15 million for demolition.
But outgoing Mayor Frank Jackson’s administrators said they were “disappointed,” since council only approved specific spending items under the public safety category, leaving their proposed housing, community and economic development programs in flux – still possible, but not guaranteed.
“We believe that we selected the best projects,” Jackson’s Chief of Staff and Finance Director Sharon Dumas said during a joint meeting of the Finance and Development, Planning and Sustainability committees. “We believe that we selected the appropriate enhancements to our neighborhoods, and programs that would allow us to combat the impacts of the pandemic and spend money accordingly.”
The vote came with just a single week left in the legislative calendar, leaving little time to continue discussions and debates of the various spending proposals put forth by council, Jackson and community organizations over the last few months.
Council voted to support the legislation – a four-page document outlining the large dollar amounts for each category and naming a dozen spending areas, including housing and economic development projects, emergency rental and food assistance programs, small business development programs and investments in the Lead Safe Housing Fund, among others.
Council did not, however, vote to adopt the dozens of pages of line items detailing specific programs, projects and expenses under each broad category. At the urging of council members, who view purchasing ambulances as a time-sensitive priority, the $26 million spending plan for public safety was the only detailed document attached to the legislation.
The public safety plan alone did not pass without some controversy. At a committee hearing Monday, Councilwoman Jenny Spencer reminded council that one of the plan’s largest expenses is $386,000 for a new SWAT rescue vehicle. Some councilmembers, including Councilman Kerry McCormack, have referred to the vehicle as a “tank” and view it as especially concerning since the police department also requested about $1 million for various items of “equipment for social unrest” – or, as McCormack put it, “riot gear.”
ity Council’s Finance and Development, Planning and Sustainability committees voted Monday to not require the public safety piece or any part of its detailed spending plan to come back to council for further deliberation or passage before the city can begin purchasing new vehicles and equipment.
However, Council approved the $80 million for community and economic development and $15 million for demolition without strings attached to specific spending plans, and each expense greater than $50,000 must come back for council approval. McCormack said he expects council to adopt some of Jackson’s proposals, while some will be up for further scrutiny and perhaps replaced with other projects. McCormack pointed out that Jackson’s plan only included $5 million for lead-safe housing, and he would like to instead see $17.5 million go toward the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition.
Jackson released details of the community, economic development and demolition plans on Oct. 20. Some of those items have changed in recent weeks, including the most expensive economic development project – fronting a multi-million-dollar loan to assist the financially troubled Shaker Square from going to a sheriff’s sale. The city eventually determined the Shaker Square project is ineligible for stimulus funding. Dumas recently said the city would pay for the proposal using $12 million of the $108 million in stimulus dollars transferred to the city’s general fund intended to make up for lost revenue.
Other aspects of Jackson’s spending plan have been spun out as separate pieces of legislation, including $191,000 to retain outside attorneys to determine project eligibility and alignment with federal reporting guidelines.
The changes meant the detailed plans didn’t add up to the dollar amounts for each category, Council President Kevin Kelley said, making it difficult for council – on a tight deadline – to approve the administration’s line items.
With council merely approving the broad spending priorities, it remains up to the next council – headed by Councilman Blaine Griffin as president, working alongside incoming Mayor Justin Bibb – to spend the $80 million earmarked for community and economic development, along with the second-half of the city’s stimulus funds of $255 million, set to arrive in city coffers in May.
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