WOIO showed its audience a photograph of one of the fire hydrants that was inoperable on Carlyon Road in East Cleveland. There's no excuse for what I see as a former mayor and director of public safety. https://www.cleveland19.com/2026/08/09/we-have-nothing-east-cleveland-family-loses-home-after-fire-crews-struggled-get-water-blaze/
Firefighters who worked under my administration will remember our wars over inspections of buildings and hydrants. I assigned them to cut grass and to count and document vacant properties. Fire hydrants were inspected and tested annually. Then the cost to replace one was about $450 for the part. It was another $800 in employee hours for the removal and install.
I know because my deputy safety director, a former firefighter, Kenneth Adams, told me a vindictive firefighter knows how to adjust the pressure to crack the line. From then on, I took a more critical look at water line breaks when purchase requisitions to replace them were brought for my review. Reviewing purchase requisitions with the requesting director gives a mayor an opportunity for questions and learning.
I've learned that there is no inspection report for this particular fire East Cleveland hydrant. That's a problem because NFPA or National Fire Protection Association rules mandate annual inspections, inspections after each use and five-year flow inspections. An East Cleveland resident, or any other resident of a city with a fire department, is supposed to be able to request the inspection reports for the hydrants on their streets.
Mayor Frank Jackson and I negotiated and signed a 25-year direct service agreement in 2007, that expires in 2032, to place all of East Cleveland's water system under Cleveland's management. They supplied the water. We didn't need to be the middleman charging our residents significantly more than Cleveland's residents for the same water.
This makes the replacement of the fire hydrant Cleveland's responsibility. While Cleveland Councilman Kevin Conwell is proud that his longtime friend, Sandra Morgan, is East Cleveland's mayor, he should be using that friendship to demand Mayor Justin Bibb assign Cleveland water workers to repair and replace the city's hydrants. I misidentified them as relatives.
I read where residents called city hall to report the fire hydrant. The call was wasted. Morgan doesn't have a secretary. Seriously. The only mayor in the U.S. without an employee to answer phones for resident complaints and appointment requests. Bypass city hall. Calls for water leaks and hydrant repairs must go to Cleveland. 216‑664‑3060.
While Morgan promoted herself as the first "elected" woman mayor, there is a difference between electing a woman versus a man to manage a city that includes public service and public safety forces. Morgan's degree is in art. I doubt she's ever held a wrench.
Convicted ex-mayor Brandon King was proud of his commercial driver's license and ability to drive all of the city's trucks. Emmanuel Onunwor chased drug dealers. I prided myself on beating six cops at the pistol range and parking my car at night in spots where drugs were sold and turning on the lights. I removed signs from street poles and called the businesses that had them placed there. I suited up with the sheriff and SWAT to serve a warrant. I doubt that Morgan drives around the city and makes a list of things that need to be done.
I'm willing to bet she hasn't answered a 911 call to watch firefighters extinguish a fire or parked behind a police car to observe how they handle a traffic stop. I was on the phone with Mayor Lateek R. Shabazz and former executive assistant Justyn Anderson when they were on the streets for the Shaw High reunion, and when Aaron Sharp killed his grandfather, Charlie Roscoe, and brother, Erik Sharp, and shot two East Cleveland cops, Joshua Durda and Brandon Hernandez.
Shabazz wanted Sharp caught, but he stayed on the streets to stop cops from going on an "out for vengeance" slaughter. They function differently when they know the mayor who can terminate or prosecute them is listening to dispatch calls.
I'm not suggesting that a woman mayor cannot function with an interest in every facet of the job. East Cleveland residents are not going to have that type of mayor in Morgan. My point is I would not compare her to U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. Lorna Mahlock. She led combat missions and trained troops on the use of tactical assault weapons. Morgan. Art degree. Gary Norton took Cleveland State University classes in badminton, volleyball and women's sports. He wasn't that type of man as a mayor.
As I've previously shared, East Cleveland is not safe. There are two cops on each 12-hour shift. 16 personnel total. Convicted ex-mayor Brandon King squandered the $1 million council budgeted for a new custom-made pumper fire truck that was sold to another city when it came time to pay. The city's firefighting equipment and firefighting infrastructure is depleted. The unrepaired fire hydrant is evidence of bureaucratic negligence and decay. Wait until winter and road salt is being spread from the back of a pickup truck.
I don't want to read the "give her a chance" comments. Three houses burned. Cars were vandalized at Lake Park Towers. The high-rise at 15600 Terrace is a nightmare, and seniors are being terrorized at CMHA's Apthorp. For extra cash, some are letting drug dealers use their units. Winter is coming.
Residents need to know cops aren't showing up for 911 calls, and your old wooden home is a possible fire trap. People have forgotten about the exploding homes along Lakeview Road. Don't wait for firefighters to inspect the hydrant on your street, if it's not working or needs to be repaired, call Cleveland. 216-664-3060.
Since Morgan doesn't have a secretary, residents have their council meetings to express their concerns and ask questions. Fire chief David Worley should appear with inspection reports for the hydrants on each street. There should be an explanation of when the hydrants on Carlyon were inspected, and why the downed hydrant was not repaired. No blame. No fault. King and Smedley were thinking about stealing; not supervising firefighters to inspect fire hydrants every year. It's even understood if firefighters are behind. Get it done.
Morgan should ask Bibb, or her longtime friend, Conwell, for the hydrant repair list for East Cleveland and a timetable. Once obtained she should share it with residents. I could always call Mayor Jackson's cell phone as partner mayors.
The first year is the most challenging for a new mayor if they immerse themselves in the job. Every department has a different set of local, state and federal laws to obey and enforce that are in no handbook. The bureaucracy in East Cleveland is so non-compliant, people interacting with all of the city's employees and officials can expect to be given information they cannot identify as existing in a local, state or federal law. A person cannot walk into East Cleveland city hall, one who has a depth of statutory knowledge of municipal government and see the law in practice. Ask for a copy of a full one-year appropriation ordinance for 2026.
For the curious, here is a link to the NFPA codes. Inspections are found in NFPA 25-7.2 https://www.nfpa.org/for-professionals/codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards