Former President of a shady Cleveland nonprofit that was in cahoots with FirstEnergy announces bid for Cuyahoga Board of Elections

Kenn Dowell, one of Cleveland's most self-dealing insiders, is angling for a spot on the County Board of Elections. Voters deserve better.

Earlier this week, Kenn Dowell of Cleveland Heights announced his campaign for a vacant Democratic seat on the Cuyahoga Board of Elections. He will face former Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart for the critical role.

Dowell’s message to the Cuyahoga County Democratic Executive Committee.

Long-time Clevelanders know Dowell from his days serving as the political director for former Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who stepped down last year from serving as Secretary of Housing & Urban Development.

Dowell currently serves as the CEO of Strategic Resources Consulting, which has a PAC “dedicated to promoting, fostering, and sponsoring education, and civic, and political activities that enrich and improve African American communities across the state of Ohio.”

Dowell also serves as the Executive Director of Voices for a Better Future (VFBF), a “powerful advocate for reform within the criminal justice system, a guardian of voting rights, a catalyst for equal job opportunities, a champion in addressing health disparities, a force against poverty, and a pillar of strength in the education sector.”

However, Dowell's role in advancing FirstEnergy’s corruption agenda in Cuyahoga County gets lost in that official autobiography.

Dowell opened the bank account of one of FirstEnergy’s political and charitable nonprofits, Consumers Against Deceptive Fees (CADF), to which FirstEnergy secretly paid over $550,000 during its campaign against Cleveland Public Power.

According to an investigation that originated with the Cleveland City Council and was then analyzed and publicized by the Energy and Policy Institute (EPI), CADF played a key role in attempting to advance FirstEnergy’s agenda in Cleveland.

This included several payments to local groups and consultants operating within Cuyahoga’s political environment.

What did those payments buy?

This question is essential when considering how Cuyahoga’s role in the most significant public corruption scandal in state history remains relatively unexamined.

Cleveland restaurateur Tony George

Frequently discussed is prolific political funder and restaurateur Tony George, who has also been identified as a key go-between for FirstEnergy’s greed and Cuyahoga elected officials' collective desire to remain relevant. Every few months, there appears to be more and more uncovered about the extent of Tony George’s tentacles in the FirstEnergy scandal, though he has not been charged with any crimes.

Former House Speaker Larry Householder (left) and David Wondolowski (right) in happier times.

Also discussed is long-time labor leader and local political machine sweetheart David Wondolowski.

Wondolowski supported the scandal-ridden HB-6 and was somehow appointed to serve as the grand jury foreperson for the now-imprisoned Larry Householder's ongoing case in Cuyahoga County.

Though he has a deep bench of enemies, Wondolowski has also never been charged with any crime related to FirstEnergy.

Terrence Upchurch at the Statehouse in December.

Perhaps less frequently discussed, but still relevant, is the role State Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland) played.

Upchurch was one of ten Democrats who voted for Larry Householder to be the Speaker. He was the only House Democrat from Cuyahoga County who voted for the now (mostly) repealed HB-6 legislation.

Upchurch has not been charged with any crimes related to the FirstEnergy scandal and has expressed his extreme “disappointment” in FirstEnergy since the scandal became public.

Former State Senator Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland)

Also less discussed is the support of former State Sen. Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland).

Williams co-sponsored HB-6 and introduced the highly controversial decoupling amendment. Again, former Sen. Williams has not been charged with any crimes related to the FirstEnergy scandal.

However, until now, the ways in which FirstEnergy leveraged Dowell’s role as CADF’s leader to build relationships within Cleveland have been almost entirely ignored.

Emails dating back to June 2017 show David Turner, manager of external affairs for FirstEnergy, discussing an initial meeting with Dowell in which he relays both Dowell’s role as a minority outreach consultant for the American Petroleum Institute (API) and his proximity to power within the local Cleveland government.

Turner, who still appears to work in external affairs for FirstEnergy, relayed that the behavior of Cleveland leadership “could have a negative impact on how [FirstEnergy] supports council leadership” and that Dowell, “acknowledged the risk in that area and would follow up [...] since he has been tied to the local campaigns.”

Was Dowell a FirstEnergy corruption genius? Or perhaps just a Cuyahoga patsy looking to get a slice of that sweet, sweet FirstEnergy paycheck? We’ll dive into this over the coming weeks…

Serving on any Board of Election demands an unwavering commitment to electoral integrity.

Serving on Cuyahoga County’s Board of Elections requires navigating possibly the most corrupt local government apparatus in Ohio.

And serving as the Democratic Party’s representative to the Board of Elections should mean not having a history of advancing outsider interests under the guise of benefitting the Black community.

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