Cleveland’s billionaire sports team owners are under fire for their unwillingness to contribute to the upkeep of the facilities where they play, even as the city and county face significant financial challenges, and Today in Ohio podcasters saluted Mayor Justin Bibb for fighting their greed.
The controversy centers around Bibb’s stand against the owners of the Guardians and Cavaliers, who are resistant to his proposed funding plan for stadium maintenance. Instead of continually dipping into city general funds, Bibb wants to establish a new community authority—essentially a special taxing district—around the Gateway area that would generate dedicated revenue for facility upkeep. The teams would have to pay into the district.
“How selfish and sleazy is it that in a city with the poverty that Cleveland has, in a county that has the money troubles that we have in Cuyahoga, they’re refusing to pay their little part because they want to keep reaching into our pockets?” Chris Quinn asked during the podcast…