Cummins is hosting a farewell gathering at Market Garden Brewery next week for friends and colleagues. He told Scene by phone that he’ll ship off to Washington D.C. for security training later this month and then will travel to Tbilisi, where he’ll be one of three permanent Peace Corps staffers overseeing operations in Georgia. Cummins was previously a Peace Corps volunteer and has worked in Moldova for the organization’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.
Cummins represented various iterations of Ward 14 (Clark-Fulton, Brooklyn Centre, Stockyards) from 2006 until 2017. Every election for Cummins, it seemed, including 2017’s, was close and contentious. He was fleetingly a member of the Green Party, but returned to the fold of the local Democrats for pragmatic reasons. (He couldn’t get anything done on council without party support.)
Pragmatic reasons, Cummins said, were also what led to his last-minute flip-flop on the Q Deal in 2017. Cummins became the pivotal vote which facilitated the city ordinance’s passage as an emergency measure.
Cummins said at the time that while he hated being forced to make the difficult decision, preserving his relationship with Kevin Kelley and Mayor Jackson by voting for the ordinance would pay dividends for his ward.
“I had to think hard and long about this,” Cummins said, “but if I’m trying to garner funds from the mayor’s administration, competing with 16 other wards, things like this matter. And that’s just a non-debatable fact.”
Cummins was an important voice on council. He was routinely the most prepared and diligent interrogator of city officials and outside presenters during committee meetings. He was also a voice of reason on the Public Square Issue. At an incendiary meeting after Jackson unilaterally closed Superior Avenue to buses in November, 2016, Cummins reminded the administration that Federal dollars would be in jeopardy and that “any federal transit awards are at risk in the future if we continue to be at breach with the FTA.” Cummins was a covert activist with Clevelanders for Public Transit. Of all the councilpeople, Cummins managed to champion the growth of his ward’s neighborhoods while also concerning himself with citywide policy.
But the feuds in Ward 14, both petty and substantial, wore on him. He told Scene that ultimately, losing his seat in 2017 was “the best thing that ever happened to [him].” And he didn’t mince words when we asked about his take on the Q, more than a year removed.
“God, are we even gonna get a playoff game?” He asked, in reference to the fact that playoff admissions tax revenue until 2023 were included in revenue projections. “I just loathe these sports teams. I’m looking forward to investing my brain in the World Cup. Screw this other shit.”
This article appears in Nov 7-13, 2018.
Sam – we get that Brian Cummins is your friend. That’s great. He is a wonky, decent guy, who tried to be a good councilperson, but failed miserably. Sadly, I don’t hold out much hope for Santana, either. Please spend your time and effort as a journalist trying to cover events and stories that matter, like corruption inherent in the council-run CDCs and collusion with Cleveland Housing Network and the City and Cuyahoga County Land Bank. But, if you do intend to prop up former council person’s political aspirations, then give equal time to Zach Reed, Jeff Johnson, TJ Dow and Terrell Pruitt.
Hey Laura McShane, it’s 10am, if you are working today please use my tax dollars better and shelve some books.
And here it is in writing for all to see, admitting that only Democrat party affiliation can assure pay to play, kickbacks, and cronyism for city Council and Taxin Jacksons cronies. They should all be in jail! The same goes for Armond Budish and his outrageous property tax valuations for 2019. Did yours not go up by double and triple digits like everyone elses on the west side has? This thief should be in jail too before all these local politicians deal every last dollar they can from your wallet!