Best of Cleveland 2003
People & Places
Best Display of Voter Wisdom
Parma Residents Who Said "Yes" to Fire Levy, "No" to Cops
It was a bad spring for Parma cops to show up on a ballot. In March, The Plain Dealer detailed the department's pervasive abuse of sick leave and overtime. Some greedy cops, the paper showed, were able to manufacture six-figure incomes under the noses of their incompetent supervisors.
A few months after the scandal broke, the police were in the unenviable position of having to ask voters for a $1.8 million levy. Rightly, Parma voters told the cops to get bent. But the electorate didn't color outside the lines and punish the city's firefighters, who also had a $1.8 million levy on the ballot. The fire levy passed.
In review: People are basically generous. Until you steal their money. Then they hate you.
