EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio – How can you repair East Cleveland, plagued by years of debt and dysfunction?
The city, which has lost nearly 50 percent of its population since 2000, owes tens of millions of dollars in legal judgments. It is so cash-strapped that some lawyers won’t sue it, even for blatant police misconduct. Its mayor remains immutable, as less than 10% of residents voted in the primary last month.
To change the culture, a radical push would be required from the state or federal government, experts say. Possibilities include merging with another city, filing for bankruptcy, working with the Justice Department to reform its police department and obtaining day-to-day fiscal help from the state.
Each is laden with the potential of political push back and resistance from state leaders. But in a community that sees police chases nearly every day and struggles to pay its officers a starting wage of more than $18 an hour, the issues are ripe for debate.
Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer analyzed 105 police chases in East Cleveland over the first 120 days of this year. Find all our stories -- including on the city’s financial distress, the police department’s demographics and the law that was supposed to stop the wild pursuits -- here.
“You don’t need an advisory committee that meets once a month; the state needs to put in a person who goes to work every day there and runs the operation until the city is solid again,” said Sylvester Murray, a distinguished visiting professor of public policy and administration at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
For years, Murray lectured at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Studies at Cleveland State University. He also volunteered as a consultant in East Cleveland during the 1990s.
“The state shouldn’t just go in there and help; it should go in there and be in charge,” Murray said.
But that requires political will. The Ohio Constitution bars the state from interfering with the way cities handle their business.
While the Ohio Legislature in 2015 allowed the state to take over poor performing schools, lawmakers have backed away from helping distressed cities like East Cleveland and those in Southeast Ohio, fearing such a move would violate the home-rule provision of the constitution.
“Ultimately, local governments are in charge,” said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. “Residents have the ability to address these issues through the ballot box.”
That’s a problem in East Cleveland.
Last month, only 1,219 people cast ballots in the Democratic mayoral primary, or about 500 fewer than in 2017. Mayor Brandon King won, defeating four challengers. Because there is no Republican challenger in November’s race, King gained a second term with just 728 votes in a city that has just shy of 14,000 residents.
“There is a cynicism here; people think that things will never change,” Councilman Nathaniel Martin said. “They just don’t vote. We need to change things for our children and grandchildren, and we do that by voting. I don’t know why people fail to realize that. We can’t give up.”
The state has provided some help to East Cleveland, including a fiscal planning and supervision commission that makes recommendations about the city’s finances. The commission is in place because the city is on fiscal emergency, a status for distressed cities that East Cleveland has held for nearly nine years.
But some city officials say much more is needed. A recent state audit indicates the city has $57 million in liabilities and nearly $33 million in assets. The city owes victims of the police department more than $31.1 million in legal judgments.
“We definitely need some help,” City Council President Korean Stevenson said.
One option to change that could come in a constitutional amendment that would allow cash-strapped cities across the state to modify the home-rule provision to obtain the day-to-day state help they need.
A legislative push
In Ohio, there are two ways of seeking an amendment to change the constitution. Businesses or special interests can push a petition drive that would require signatures of at least 10% of the total number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election before it can be placed on a statewide ballot.
Ohio lawmakers also can seek an amendment, which is often done through a joint resolution of both houses. Its passage requires a three-fifths approval before it winds its way to voters.
But many see a disconnect: Getting legislators to care about tiny, poor East Cleveland -- and cities like it -- would be difficult, especially because of the time and effort needed to drive the proposal. It would be even tougher for residents of the state’s richest suburbs to care enough to vote for it.
The state also cannot step in to corral East Cleveland’s police force. During the first four months of this year, officers chased suspects nearly once a day through the city, with many of the pursuits stemming from minor offenses, according to an analysis of police reports by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
Tierney, DeWine’s spokesman, said each department must set up its own chase policy. The state can only make recommendations.
One option that would need the city’s approval is a countywide chase policy. The idea has been floated in Cuyahoga County as far back as 2008, but cities have never reached an agreement.
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said during a City Council meeting in March that he had tried to gauge chiefs’ interests in 2016, but the measure never went anywhere. He said he also tried again this year.
East Cleveland Police Chief Scott Gardner said in July that he is in favor of countywide or statewide chase policy, but that it would have to be one that “we could all live with.”
He has stressed his belief that the chases seek to make the city safer and said they have dipped in recent months. Michael Smedley, King’s chief of staff, said he fears that if officers do not chase suspects, the city will become a haven for criminals.
‘The most direct route’
The Justice Department could make definitive changes in dealing with the police department. In recent years, officers have been accused of beating and stealing from suspects. In one case, they even locked a person in a closet for days.
The Justice Department could make inroads in the city that few other agencies can – with or without the city’s support. Federal prosecutors can sue the city over the department’s patterns and practices that violate residents’ constitutional rights.
In 2015, prosecutors sued Cleveland over allegations of excessive use of force and misconduct by officers. The city cooperated with prosecutors, and it is working on a consent decree to reform its discipline, training, internal affairs and office of professional standards.
An independent monitoring team oversees the process, which is before Senior U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver.
“The most direct route to help East Cleveland is for the Department of Justice to come in,” said Michael Benza, a senior lecturer at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law.
If the city refuses to work with the Justice Department, prosecutors can sue, asking a judge to force the city to rework its policies. The reform, however, could cost the cash-strapped city hundreds of thousands of dollars. The city of Cleveland, for example, has spent millions of dollars on the process.
Daniel Ball, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Cleveland, declined to comment.
In 2000, California legislators passed a law that allowed the state attorney general to conduct pattern-and-practice investigations into police department abuses, much like what the federal agency does.
Other state attorneys general, in rare circumstances, sued local police departments in federal court to launch their own investigations. The cases are similar to the decrees negotiated by the Justice Department, and a federal judge appoints a monitor and oversees reform.
That happened in 2001, when then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued Wallkill, New York, police over a host of issues, including that officers conducted traffic stops for non-law enforcement reasons.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost declined to comment, citing ongoing cases with East Cleveland’s department.
Finding a fiscal solution
In 2016, East Cleveland discussed a possible annexation with Cleveland. East Cleveland looked for a rosier economic future, while Cleveland sought possible development opportunities along Euclid Avenue.
The cities volleyed ideas, but Cleveland officials feared picking up its neighbor’s debts and the cost to upgrade East Cleveland’s infrastructure. Cleveland Councilman Michael Polensek said city officials estimated the price tag of a merger at more than $50 million.
East Cleveland’s debts have ballooned since. The city owes $31.1 million in legal judgments stemming from officer misconduct. Few cities would want to take on such a burden.
Also in 2016, East Cleveland considered filing for bankruptcy. The state must grant a city’s request to seek relief based on a detailed plan to fix its finances. Bankruptcy, however, would allow a city protection from its creditors while a judge helps oversee its finances.
The issue becomes whether the city’s top leaders would agree to that. The city will receive $26 million in federal stimulus money over the next few years.
While the funds will boost the city’s coffers in the short-term, they will not address long-term debt, and the money cannot be used to pay off the judgments involving the police.
‘There are no easy answers’
Kenny Yuko, the Ohio Senate minority leader, represents East Cleveland. He said the state has stepped in to help pay for fixing traffic lights and roads in the city and is working to do more.
When a landfill in East Cleveland caught fire in 2017, the state helped pay to clean the mess. He said the city’s plight is similar to other cities in Ohio.
“There are no easy answers here,” Yuko said. “Being a member of the minority party in Columbus doesn’t help. There are no Republicans representing cities like East Cleveland. We’re trying and making it a priority to help the city. That’s not happening fast enough for some.”
For residents who have suffered through decades of decay, they believe the state needs to accelerate its help. They have grown tired of a city that struggles to provide services that most people in Cuyahoga County take for granted.
They also are tired of hearing sirens and seeing a blur of lights police chases. To many residents, they say the issue is clear.
“Absolutely, bring the state in; they know what the problems are and what is going on,” said Councilwoman Juanita Gowdy. “We’ve been writing to them asking for help from the auditor to the attorney general.”
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