BULLETIN: Gunfire in East Cleveland at rapper’s funeral

Gunfire in East Cleveland at rapper’s funeral

Police and television news crews on scene following
gunfire at funeral service for slain rapper

No reported injury but safety concerns intensify as mayor-council fiscal standoff has slashed police presence

A gunman fired a shot into a Hayden Avenue church in East Cleveland this morning during the funeral for rapper Cedric Morgan. No one was injured but the police put nearby Chambers Elementary School on lockdown to prevent anyone from entering the school.

The 24-year old Morgan, who performed under the name Lil Ced, was shot and killed in front of his home on East 142 St in East Cleveland on Feb. 20.

The shootings will undoubtedly lead to heightened tensions among city residents. The city’s struggles to deal with its state of fiscal emergency as declared in October by the State Auditor, has led to disputed cutbacks in the safety budget. The city council slashed the safety budget by more than one million dollars, leading the city administration to reduce police presence on city streets by more than 70 percent.

The mayor contends the council cut the safety budget needlessly. The city’s leading social action organization, Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope [NOAH], decided at a meeting earlier this week to step up pressure on council to restore the budget cuts.

NOAH members have been circulating petitions and encouraging citizens to assemble this coming Tuesday at City Hall, 14308 Euclid Avenue, where a rally in support of returning police to the streets will take place. Organizers then hope to pack council’s cramped chambers and press the legislators to “do the right thing”.

Mayor Norton was inside the church at the funeral when the shots rang out. Omega Baptist Church, at 1355 Hayden Ave., is only a few blocks from where Morgan’s murder took place.

The lockdown at Chambers School has been lifted.

BREAKING NEWS ELSEWHERE:

Michigan Governor Declares Fiscal Emergency in Detroit

Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan announced today that the city of Detroit is so snarled in financial woes that the state must appoint an emergency manager to lead it out of disaster.

The announcement was made in a town-hall-style meeting that was broadcast live on local television stations across the city.

READ MORE

East Cleveland citizens turn out in force to question mayor; council AWOL

East Cleveland residents arrive at citizen forum looking for responsive, civil, and intelligent government

About 80 East Cleveland residents showed up in assertive mode at New Covenant Lutheran Church near the corner of Hayden Rd. and Shaw Ave. last night. They were angry at proposed cuts to the city’s police force, the proposed shuttering of its treasured Helen S. Brown Senior Center, and the city’s return to fiscal emergency.

When the citizenry gets aroused, politicians either typically either pay close attention or head for the hills. Both reactions were in evidence last night.

East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton showed to take the questions. Not a single one of the five East Cleveland city councilors showed up, even though they had two weeks notice.

Their absence was lamented and denounced by several members of the audience during the public comment period that followed the scripted questions put to the mayor by Grannetta Taylor, president of the Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope [NOAH], the forum convener and host.

One council confidant told me after the forum that none of the wanted to come because they considered the crowd to be “pro-mayor, and they didn’t want to come and get an a**-whipping.” When I pointed out that this was a public forum, to which council members could have brought their supporters, the response was the same.

Given that many in the crowd seemed to hold the mayor equally accountable with council for a relational hostility between executive and legislative branches that makes the last Congress look like a tea party [the old-fashioned kind], Norton would probably dispute that it was a mayor-friendly crowd. He did, however, take full advantage of council to show up and defend his administration.

Mayor Gary Norton defends his administration
as angry residents decry planned 70%
reduction in safety forces budget.

Norton suggested to the forum that council’s absence was characteristic, pointing out that they had repeatedly spurned his offer to meet with them on a weekly basis, and that when he was negotiating with the Cleveland Clinic in 2011 over compensation to the city for the closing of Huron Road Hospital, none of the council was willing to join in the talks.

Norton said that he has urged council to reconsider its 25% cut of the safety forces budget, saying it would lead to a 70% reduction in police street presence and that the cost savings would be minimal.

NOAH executive director Trevelle Harp
urges residents to attend
next council meeting 

The meeting ended with about 35 or 40 members raising their hands and promising to attend the next council meeting on February 5, where they will demand restoration of the safety budget, and that the mayor and council collaborate to find a way to keep open both the Helen S. Brown Senior Center and the Martin Luther King Civic Center that offers youth programming.

East Cleveland Citizens Want Answers from City Officials

The turmoil in East Cleveland knows almost no bounds these days. The city has returned to fiscal emergency, the mayor shows no respect to the city council he once presided over and the council shows him the same disdain. The city’s elected leaders seem unable to agree on virtually anything except an abiding love for their broken city.

NOAH members stand at East Cleveland City Council
meeting as letter is read addressing city's budget crisis.
Mayor Gary Norton is seated in foreground.

This past Tuesday, however, a group of East Cleveland residents, organized by the nonprofit community action group known as NOAH [the Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope]* packed East Cleveland’s tiny council chambers and read aloud a courteous but emphatic summons to the mayor and council president.

The letter invites both the mayor and the council president to attend a moderated forum on January 28 to discuss the budget and the budget process.

The mayor immediately announced that he would attend the forum. We are awaiting a response from the council president and will update this post when we hear from her.

The full text of the NOAH letter is as follows:

The Honorable Mayor Gary Norton          Council President Joy Jordan 

East Cleveland, OH                                     East Cleveland, OH

The recent actions of elected leaders in East Cleveland threaten to decimate the safety of the residents of East Cleveland. Over the past few years, East Cleveland has made significant gains in reducing crime and improving police response time. In light of the recent budget crisis that has resulted in drastic cuts in safety forces in our city, residents are disappointed to view community leaders resorting to bickering and ad hominem attacks. Residents want a government that works together to address the challenges that face our community. The residents of East Cleveland deserve a government that reflects their dedication and devotion to this community.

The NOAH Core Team invites you both to attend a moderated forum to discuss the budget. The forum will take place on:

Monday, January 28th

Time: 6:30pm

New Covenant Lutheran Church

1424 Hayden Ave.

East Cleveland Ohio 44112

This is an opportunity for the Mayor and the Council President to discuss the City’s current budget condition and the budget process in an objective non-biased forum.    The moderator and the audience will ask questions.

Please contact the NOAH office at 216-834-2324 or email us at noah@noahorganizing.org to respond to this invitation. We look forward to a civil and informative discussion. Thank you.

---

* My company, AGS MEDIA LLC, has done consulting work for NOAH. However, we had no involvement in NOAH’s decision to take the actions referred to in this post.

Nina Turner keynotes NOAH banquet [video]

State Senator Nina Turner has had a meteoric rise to prominence as a fierce and outspoken public official. Elected to Cleveland City Council in 2005, she vaulted to the Ohio Senate less than three years later in 2008 when Democratic state senators selected her to succeed Lance Mason, who had resigned the 25^th District seat for a judicial appointment.

Fewer than seven months later, Turner was the most prominent black public official to champion Issue 6, the controversial ballot issue that led to the reform of Cuyahoga County government.  Widely attacked by the black political establishment for this alleged heresy, she is guaranteed to make the entrenched old guard apoplectic if she follows through  with her expected challenge to incumbent Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge for the right to represent the newly configured 11^th Congressional District.

We have yet to sit down and discuss this potential race with Turner, but we did hear her deliver the keynote at the Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope's 10th Annual Banquet last night. 

It's a fair assumption that most Real Deal readers, though surely ranking among the county's most informed residents, have not heard a Turner speech. So, as a public service, here and here is Turner's talk from last night. Each segment is  about ten minutes long.

As always, your thoughtful responses are invited.

Huntington bonanza for nonprofits • NOAH Note

Huntington National Bank’s local HQ move to the former BP Building at 200 Public Square has created a great opportunity for area nonprofits in need of office furnishings.

The Bank is preparing to give away thousands of pieces of office furnishings including desks, credenzas, chairs, tables, file cabinets, fireproof files, book cases and hundreds of other miscellaneous items.

The giveaway will be held on the first two Thursdays in November — Nov. 3 and Nov. 10 — at Commercial Works furniture showroom/warehouse located at 4901 Johnson Parkway in Garfield Heights.

This opportunity is for registered nonprofits only. Interested parties should email Diane Downing at the Bank and copy Sharon Sills. Nonprofits will need to include contact info [address, phone, email] and verification of their nonprofit status.

The Bank is giving away the goods but delivery is not included, so beneficiaries will need to plan for pick up. Help with loading will be available for those that come with transportation. Quotes for delivery service can be arranged at the site.

Questions? Tony Gugliemotto of Commercial Works is the answer man [tonygATcommercial-works.com • 614.851.4301].

Let your favorite executive director, pastor, and board members know about this opportunity. Let us know how it works out for them. And be sure to tell them where you learned about this real deal!

•  •  •

While we are on the subject of nonprofits, one of our favorites is the Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope, and not just because they retained us to develop a community/agency newsletter for them. 

NOAH and its executive director Trevelle Harp are doing outstanding work in the city of East Cleveland and beyond. They played an instrumental role in the two best success stories East Cleveland has had this century: a negotiated agreement with the Cleveland Clinic valued at $25 million, and involving the Cuyahoga Land Bank to help address the East Cleveland's abandoned property issues. The county land bank was a linchpin to the recently announced deal to build new housing at the city's new gateway on Euclid Avenue at Lakeview Road.

NOAH's annual banquet is tomorrow at the McGregor Home, 14900 Private Dr., East Cleveland. State Senator Nina Turner is the featured speaker. The dinner is NOAH's annual fundraiser, a bargain at $35. The evening starts at 6PM. Call Deirdre at 216.834.2324 for tickets.