Credit: Sam Allard / Scene
Under sunny skies at City Hall, hours before a pivotal city council vote that will commit about $88 million of city money to a renovation project at Quicken Loans Arena about which enormous questions remain, a parade of civic leaders extolled the virtues of Dan Gilbert and economic growth.

In what was billed as a “major announcement,” these leaders purported to “sweeten the deal” with three new provisions in the proposed financial arrangement.

Per Council President Kevin Kelley:

  1. The portion of the Q admission tax that goes to the city’s general fund will never fall below the portion that goes to debt service on the renovation. If it ever does (from 2023-2034), the Cavaliers will write the city a check for the difference, and Kelley said he had it in writing.
  2. The Cavs say they will refurbish every basketball court at rec centers across the city.
  3. The Cavaliers will donate 100 percent of revenue from its playoff watch parties to Habitat for Humanity with the goal of rehabbing 100 Cleveland homes. (Last season, per Len Komoroski, that amounted to about $750,000. The year before, it was considerably less).
These provisions made for tremendous last-minute PR, and were reportedly negotiated over the weekend, but they amount to very little for local residents. Here’s why:

The money for the project will come from admissions tax revenue at the Q. The current structure puts 5/8 from Cavs games toward debt service on Gateway bonds and 3/8 to the city’s general fund. For non-Cavs-events, the split is 2/8 (to debt) and 6/8 (to general fund). Over the past couple of years, the revenues from these portions have been roughly the same. So the Cavs’ guarantee is merely to ensure that that the amounts that are already nearly the same will be precisely the same.

Regarding Habitat: The Cavs have already been donating 100 percent of their watch party revenue to area charities. This afternoon’s announcement was merely picking a recipient of these funds.

So the one real, new benefit announced this afternoon was the Cavs’ promise to refurbish basketball courts at city rec centers. It’s unclear if the Cavs will build new courts entirely or just, like, buff them. Either way, it’s a pittance compared to the legitimate Community Benefits Agreement that the Greater Cleveland Congregations has been agitating for.

Recall that GCC wanted to create a Community Equity Fund that invested one dollar in the community for every public dollar invested in the Q. (That would amount to about $160 million.) They wanted those funds to be administered by an independent quasi-governmental body and spent on the immediate construction of mental health crisis centers, capital projects in Cleveland neighborhoods, and the creation of workforce programs that led to actual jobs (modeled after the Step Up to UH program).

And while a promise to “refurbish” basketball courts is a nice gesture, the scale is infinitesimal compared to what opponents desire.  

Nonetheless, government officials and representatives from the city’s black civic community  approached the mic to forcefully condemn those who oppose the project — “Anyone against economic growth is foolish and unwise,” said State Senator Sandra Williams — and to cheer on the majesty of corporate do-gooderism. What a spectacle!

Ken Silliman read a statement on behalf of Mayor Jackson. Kevin Kelley read a statement on behalf of U.S. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge.

“The facts about what The Q means for all Cleveland residents are irrefutable,” Fudge said in her statement. “The Q means jobs and growth, tax revenues and so much more. The building is a tremendous economic asset.”

This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2017.

Sam Allard is a former senior writer at Scene.

6 replies on “This is Honestly the Best the Cavs Could Come Up With?”

  1. Gotta love the smoke and mirrors. Dan could have unveiled a plan to refurbish city rec basketball floors a number of years ago and the watch parties admission donation is nothing new. And if a check has to be cut to the city in the admissions tax proposal……the staff that books non-Cavs events should pick up the tab — since it would be inexcusable; an epic failure spurred by utter incompetence and bizarre laziness (which Dan would never allow).

  3. A complete disgrace by a city council and mayor who represent, not the citizens of Cleveland, but the few most wealthy corporate owners. Brian Cummins disgraced himself by changing his vote.

    But the real dishonor and shame is shared by all the Cleveland and County Council members who voted for this civic theft, and that includes County Executive Armond Budish and Mayor Frank Jackson.

    Do you think the voters who helped pass the latest (20-year) extension of the sin tax ($260 million) are happy that not a penny of it will be spent for this latest money grab. Those who represent the public have opened a new source of revenue to the sports owners. They won’t touch yet the millions of dollars being taken for the sin tax.

    Finally, this arena deal is being sold as an improvement project. It is not an improvement project. It is an expansion, property tax free, that competes with other downtown businesses, some which actually do pay taxes.

    This a pure welfare to one of our welfare kings – Dan Gilbert, a mortgage loan billionaire.

    Roldo Bartimole

  4. What a deal. Dan will give the city a pittance for millions. Wow! The silly council members and the mush mouth mayor accepted it hook line and sinker. By the way, S. Williams and Fudges claim this to be a community asset. Really. Lets take a deeper dive within their respective districts. Fudge has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state and the country. She has one of the highest homicide rates in the country. The schools within her district inclusive of Warrensville Hts, CMSD, East Cleveland, Euclid, etc are all at the bottom of the performance list with a grade of D or F.

    Ms. Williams aka Ms. Invisible shifting addresses, has contributed nothing while seated in Ohio Senate. Take a look at the areas she represents. Its a known fact that when you call her office the only response that you receive is a big empty nothing.

    Everyone supporting this corporate rip off touts jobs. The construction jobs within this effort are temporary. The jobs within the Q are part-time often paying an average of $10/per hour. Here’s the catch, no one supporting the funding and shouting from the Q roof top ever presents the factual data.

    The bait and switch or better yet the shell game presented by Dan is sad. We will do the floors in all the city rec centers. We will assure that the revenue from ticket sales never dips below a certain level and if it does we will pay the difference. Did Dan a gang ensure that they will no increase ticket prices to protect their backsides? Nope. Did Dan a gang state that we will be replacing the floors and provide maintenance? Nope.

    For those concerned citizens that are keeping a score card, we have just been ripped off and sold down the river by a collection of elected fools.

  5. That Sandra Williams – the State Senator from First Energy – signed on is no surprise. One thing we should carefully watch is how much does it cost to buy organizations and politicians in Cleveland. We know you can buy the NAACP for $25k. A hint on how much it costs to buy a councilman like Brian is that according to one of my sources, $75k to fix up some parks in his ward, suddenly materialized out of thin air. Maybe our council reps should be tatooed with bar codes on their foreheads. Meanwhile, Dan Gilbert is going into surgery next week for a carpal tunnel operation. Too much signing of checks.

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