Cleveland Corruption Knows No Bounds
The Democratic machine pulled some Tammany Hall shit in broad daylight, once again.
Whenever I attend Cleveland Browns games, I always wonder why in the hell don’t I live in Cleveland. Like Cincinnati, it’s an actual Ohio city. Unlike Columbus, its downtown doesn’t look like it was designed by a teenager on SimCity 2000.
But then I remember that odious phrase “lake effect snow” and how I learned in Montana that I detest gusts of winds in the dead of winter.
Then I remember the corrupt political machine that controls the city’s politics. In Columbus, our machine is run by crooks who have thus far evaded the FBI’s scrutiny. But Cleveland’s politics make Columbus’ real estate pimp racket look like children’s games.
Two men define modern Cleveland politics: Jimmy Dimora, Cuyahoga County Commissioner from 1998-2010 and County Democratic Party Chairman from 1994-2009, and former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo, who served from 1997 to 2010.
The thing these two men have in common is they both went to prison for their prolific corruption in an FBI sting that netted 60 politicians, public officials and business owners.
One obvious crook that escaped the hammer was the former president of the Cleveland City Council, Martin J. Sweeney, who served from from 2005 to 2014.
Sweeney, like his boys Dimora and Russo, is from the same line of self-dealing crooks that have plagued Cleveland Democrats for decades.
Let’s play some of Sweeney’s greatest city council hits.
From Mark Naykmik of cleveland.com in January 2019:
Being among Cleveland's favorite Irishmen has served him well for years. Party insiders remain loyal and he easily gets elected despite a legacy that is short on accomplishments. Among his most memorable actions as a council member was his 2014 resignation from council just days before being sworn in to a new term, a maneuver that allowed him to grab his pension and return quickly to council payroll as a double-dipper. A few months later, after pledging he was on council to stay, he announced his bid for the Ohio House.
It's also hard to forget his farewell speech as council president. He turned his remarks into a tirade against some of his colleagues who had fought him on the controversial redistricting process that he led. He concluded by telling Councilman Michael Polensek that he will be remembered by historians as "irrelevant and pathetic." Sweeney then disappeared through a door behind the council president's podium.
A shameless, self-dealing politician who accomplished nothing and couldn’t put petty grievances aside in a farewell speech before ducking out the back door. Sounds like a swell guy! But what if I told you he was also a sexual harasser who cost his city tens of thousands of dollars?
Also from Navkmik in 2019:
In 2007, Sweeney wanted his colleagues to sign off on a $56,000 severance for then-Clerk of Council Emily Lipovan, before her sexual harassment allegations against him became public. Lipovan also had accused Sweeney of ordering an aide to snoop on her office computer.
Council members rejected the plan. Lacking the votes for the settlement, Sweeney pulled the deal. Lipovan filed her complaint with the Civil Rights Commission the following week. Her complaint stated only that she and other staff members were targets of sexual harassment and that she repeatedly asked Sweeney to stop the behavior.She ultimately agreed to accept a $60,000 settlement to drop the Civil Rights Commission complaint and resigned. For his part, Sweeney admitted no wrong doing and the city paid outside attorneys $27,000 for the investigation into her claims. Details of the harassment were never made public.
Ah, so now he’s gone from your garden variety corrupt politician to a scumbag in one fell swoop. In a functioning society, this man would have been drummed out of public life after this nonsense. But not in Cleveland! These Democratic machine freaks elected him as their state representative.
Sweeney accomplished nothing of note in his two terms in Columbus while he laughably sat on the Committee of Government Accountability and Oversight.
However, he did find time to blast his own caucus in a ridiculous op-ed in The Columbus Dispatch. He then “shockingly” resigned with two months left on his term so his daughter, Bride Rose Sweeney, could run for his seat in a role she still serves today.
You might think electing his unqualified daughter to a position of power would be a career capstone. Not for this freak! He decided to run for State Senate and used Ohio’s ridiculously lax campaign financing laws to buy enough central committee votes to earn him the endorsement of the local party to run for State Senate.
He raised a startling $216,605 and for once in his life suffered electoral consequences when he lost by 10% to current State Senator Nicki Antonio.
Again, this would have been the end of an ignominious career in public service in a functioning society. But no, not in Cleveland! Not with the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Machine and their little gremlins!
While Cleveland politicos speculated Sweeney might run for mayor this year, he would actually have to win an election. It’s much easier to be appointed to positions of power by party insiders, which is the route he chose.
From last week:
Embarrassing stuff — even before you see gremlins like Franklin County Recorder Danny O’Connor congratulating his friend “Marty” on social media:
“A tremendous public servant” is one helluva turn of phrase for a proven sexual harasser who has never shown any desire to serve anybody but himself, his family or his friends. But hey, I’m not in the Big Boys Club of corrupt Democratic cabals that have run our metro areas into the ground.
Keep in mind, Sweeney couldn’t even come about this appointment honestly.
From Courtney Astolfi of cleveland.com:
After three decades at his former home in Council District 2, Sweeney recently changed his address to a home in Council District 3, according to voter registration records.
Asked when he moved to the District 3 home, Sweeney said it happened in the “last two months, at least.” He said he didn’t know an exact date.
County property records show Sweeney still owns the District 2 home. He is not listed as an owner at the District 3 property, records show.
Asked why he moved, Sweeney responded: “I’m in compliance with the residency requirements of the charter.”
Keep in mind his daughter, Bride Rose, pulled similar hijinks when she ran for her father’s seat despite living in Columbus for three years and never paying a mortgage, rent or utility bill in the district prior to her run.
This is why a lot of Democrats are worse than Republicans in my eyes. At least Republicans don’t try to peddle this idea they will make their constituents lives better; they will just infuriate the people their constituents hate.
A lot of elected Democrats, especially in Ohio cities, can’t even manage that. They have no original policy ideas and are milquetoast to the point they don’t even enrage their political opponents.
It’s no wonder why local election turnout in Cleveland hovers around 10%. What is the point in showing up to the ballot box if sewer creatures like Martin Sweeney don’t even need to face voters to return to power? We as a party have to do better at rooting corruption out of our own ranks if anything is ever going to change.
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