Credit: Sam Allard / Scene
City Council President Kevin Kelley, joined by Mayor Frank Jackson (or officials from his office), County Executive Armond Budish, and a slew of civic leaders and Cavs reps — including, perhaps, Dan Gilbert himself —- will hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. on the steps of City Hall to stump for the Quicken Loans Arena renovation deal hours before the council vote.

(Update: A Cavs’ spokesperson said Gilbert will not be part of the announcement.)

A press released touted a “major development” in the deal. If there is one, it will once again have been negotiated behind closed doors and without the input of the public. And a major development is frankly absurd this late in the game — if it is indeed significant, it ought to be debated in committee.

City Council has held firm at 11-6, with Councilmen Reed, Dow, Cummins, Polensek, Johnson and Conwell voting NO on the deal, which would commit an estimated $88 million from 2023-2034 from a portion of the Q admissions tax. Reed said that tonight, he’ll ask his colleagues to put the issue on the ballot themselves, because a referendum is a foregone conclusion.

Congresswoman Marcia Fudge was rumored to be attending, or at least to have been invited. Fudge’s press secretary confirmed to Scene that the congresswoman was in D.C. on legislative business but that she would  be releasing a media advisory at around 3 p.m.

“The proposed Q renovation is an all-around good deal,” said Council President Kelley in the release. “But the deal just got better.”

This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2017.

Sam Allard is a former senior writer at Scene.

4 replies on “Jackson, Budish, Kelley, “Cavs Reps” to Make “Major Announcement” on Q Deal Hours Before Council Vote”

  1. Isnt it a little late in the game to announce a change? Seems to me they need to scrap the deal and propose new legislation. But who knows.

  2. I thought this was absolutely positively the best deal possible.

    If it wasn’t, why did these people insist for so long on ramrodding it through without delay?

  3. The sweeteners are amusing. A plan to refurbish basketball floors in city rec centers should have been unveiled years ago. Donating admissions from The Q playoff watch parties to a charity is nothing new. Pledging that the portion of admission tax that’s earmarked for the city’s general fund will never fall below the portion directed toward debt service on the upgrades – the team will cover the difference, if necessary – sounds absolutely spiffy……but is a moot point, unless The Q cannot schedule events outside the Cavs. If that happens, the building has suddenly become a massive failure of historical proportions.

  4. I was hoping the announcement was going to be that Gilbert was going take his pathological lying 3-feet-tall frame and scurry like a Napoleonic carpetbagging rodent out of Cleveland forever.

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