Cleveland mayoral contender Eric Jonathan Brewer says he'll file criminal “dereliction” charges against Jackson if he doesn't reopen Public Square “There is no ambiguity whatsoever in Chapter 11, Section 71 of Cleveland's charter under the heading of "Executive" as it pertains to the duties of the mayor. It's the same under Ohio's general laws. The mayor shall enforce the duly-enacted resolutions and ordinances of the council. The use of the word “shall” makes the duty “mandatory.” Jackson has no other choice but to enforce council's ordinances as written unless they expire, are amended or repealed. http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Ohio/cleveland_oh/cityofclevelandohiocodeofordinances?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:cleveland_oh On May 21, 2003 Jackson along with former councilmen Martin Sweeney and Roosevelt Coats co-sponsored Ord. No. 893-03 that authorized then Mayor Jane Campbell to enter an agreement with GCRTA to obtain Federal Transportation Administration funding to complete the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project. East Cleveland's former mayors and councils had entered similar agreements before I took office. A copy of Ord. No. 893-03 can be found at the following link. It begins on the 7th page numbered 1061. https://www.dln.com/cr/index2003/may%2021,%202003.pdf [1] Once ratified by the two legislative bodies only they could amend it. The mayor's only duty was to enforce it; and Ord. No. 893-03 was enforced by Campbell and Jackson until the current mayor unlawfully decided to “amend” it by keeping Public Square closed. Jackson's decision placed him in violation of Ord. No. 615.12(e), “dereliction of duty.” It is a second degree misdemeanor which instructed Jackson that he can neither recklessly exceed the authority of the mayor's office or fail to perform its duties. Jackson further violated Ord. No. 615.06 because his failure to perform the mayor's duties, and his reckless decision to exceed the authority of the mayor's office, criminally obstructed the official business of Cleveland as a municipal corporation. More importantly, Jackson's dereliction and obstruction will recklessly create a $12 million liability for not only GCRTA and overburden its passengers; but also for the city's taxpayers. GCRTA's board will have no choice but to file a civil complaint against the city's taxpayers to recover the $12 million Jackson's reckless and lawbreaking decision cost them. I heard Jackson make a statement to residents at a Ward 1 town hall meeting that GCRTA won't “really” lose $12 million. His confused mind reasoned that the Federal Transportation Administration would “only” reduce GCRTA's budget by $12 million or withhold $12 million in future funding. What he completely ignores is that a $12 million cut to GCRTA's buddet will result cuts in services to service-starved Cleveland passengers. He will expose more Cleveland school students to public safety issues who already have to walk too far to catch buses inside the city, and this is unacceptable. There will be loses of GCRTA employee jobs and disruptions to their families; and to the city's tax base for those who live in Cleveland. There will be fare increases for GCRTA passengers who are already paying too much for public transportation that was once affordable. Fare increases to cover a $12 million reduction in GCRTA's budget will push fares past the ability to pay of the more than 23 percent of Cleveland residents who do not own cars in some neighborhoods. GCRTA will also expect Cleveland taxpayers to reimburse them for Jackson's reckless and unlawful conduct. I'm the son of a Cleveland Transit System bus driver when the city ran its own buses and before regionalism. I've watched wait times increase as routes decreased. I've watched fares go from 25 cents to over $3. I've watched bus service go from serving Cleveland neighborhoods and businesses to serving the region, which has not benefitted the residents of this city. It's easy to see why services have eroded to some extent when government officials operate outside the legal and sensible limits of statutory elected offices. Jackson's conduct would be viewed as criminal if he embezzled $12 million from Cleveland taxpayers or GCRTA passengers. His actions are criminal if a reckless decision to disobey an ordinance the mayor had no other duty but to enforce creates a $12 million liability for an agency where Cleveland's residents have an interest and a board seat. It's criminal if he creates a $12 million liability for Cleveland after suckering voters into supporting a 2.5 percent income tax to generate $80 million to help improve safety that's not made us any safer. If Jackson didn't want Public Square to be opened then he shouldn't have sponsored and voted to enact Ord. No. 893-03 in 2003. As the council president who led his colleagues to support it, Jackson knows he needed council's approval to amend it. That approval has not been requested by him or offered by a council. Cleveland's municipal government is not a dictatorship. Elected and appointed public officials and employees don't get to do what they want. Jackson's bullshit answer about his concern over Cleveland's safety because of terrorist attacks in Nice, France is as illogical as President Donald Trump appointing five Goldman Sachs bankers whose firm has a contract with Russian President Vladmir Putin. Clevelanders aren't worried about terrorists in Nice when Jackson's dysfunctional management of the city's police department has us living in terror in our neighborhoods. That example just sounds crazy. Clevelanders will not be forced to pay another dime in taxes for the Jackson administration's unlawful conduct. GCRTA's passengers will not suffer any more discomfort because of Jackson's sucking up to downtown property owner interests. If he doesn't enforce Ord. No. 893-03, and continues failing to perform the legal duties of the mayor's office, I'm filing a criminal complaint against him. The offenses I'll be alleging are 2nd degree misdemeanors and will be heard in Cleveland municipal court before a jury of Clevelanders if the court agrees to the prosecution. I will ask as many GCRTA passengers who are Cleveland residents and want to sign and join in the complaint to follow me on Facebook to learn the date of its filing. Jackson can prevent this by enforcing Ord. No. 893-03 and reopening Public Square. The mayor's reckless bullshit has got to stop.”
Links:
[1] https://www.dln.com/cr/index2003/may%2021,%202003.pdf