SCAN COURTESY OF ROLDO BARTIMOLE

A May 3, 1990 ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that appeared under the headline ‘Who wins with Issue 2?” Under the headline Cleveland School children are shown holding a sign that says, “WE ALL DO”: The implication was the Cleveland school system would benefit from the passage of Issue 2 that would fund the building of the Gateway basketball arena and baseball park. A promise of $15 million a year for the schools was broken when Cleveland politicians successfully petitioned the State of Ohio to exempt the sports facilities from paying any property tax on the new buildings.

by Roldo Bartimole

   (Plain Press August 2026) It was in May 1990 that many promises were made to voters to entice them to vote for the sin tax. It was displayed in a full-page ad in the May 3, 1990 Plain Dealer from a committee of Gateway supporters calling themselves Gateway to the Future Committee. Various local politicians were listed in the ad as backers of the Committee’s plans.

   Indeed, the headline read “Who Wins With Issue 2?”.

   The answer it said, of course, was “We All Do” inside of a sign was held by school children, a message that we would be helping our school kids.

NEWS ANALYSIS

   What a bad joke.

   We all know what a burden the three major league sports teams have been on Cleveland, and especially on Cleveland school children.

   Indeed, the people of Cleveland recognized the game that was being played.

   Clevelanders voted to turn down the original sin tax in 1990. But Cuyahoga County voters passed the county wide measure.

   Indeed, Clevelanders didn’t know how right they were.

   Because the ad promised:

   The Plain Dealer ad promised $15 million a year for “schools for our children.” Sorry kids – we got zero.

   Instead, Mayor Mike White and County Commissioner Tim Hagan, major pushers of the tax, double-crossed Clevelanders by successfully securing legislation from the State Legislature that resulted in the elimination of the property tax on all the sports facilities – baseball, football and basketball. 

   It is now 33 years of tax-free property, all in the city of Cleveland, thus robbing the Cleveland schools of taxes they were promised. Some 60 percent of the property taxes here go to the city schools.

   Hundreds of millions of dollars.

   The ad promised “No tax abatement.” But the State of Ohio granted 100% property tax exemption FOREVER.

   The ad promised: 28,000 good paying jobs for the jobless. What a total lie!

   (By 1996, Cleveland area had lost 18,000 jobs and payroll of $785,000. Cuyahoga County lost the highest percentage of jobs among the 88 Ohio counties.)

   The ad promised: Neighborhood housing development for the homeless.

   They told Big Lies.

   It promised: Revenues for City and County clinics and hospitals for the sick.

   It promised “Energy assistance programs for the elderly.

   And you may have noticed that the team owners, all wealthy people, even billionaires, haven’t been shy about asking for more every year since the early 1990s.

   Now for 33 years they have paid no property taxes on the sports structures!

   And now they are looking for more… especially Cuyahoga County tax money.

   And the City and County have paid millions of dollars for “improvements” asked for and gotten by the owners — even though they had promised they would do the opposite:

   “Gateway will create a development that will generate $33.7 million in public revenue every year…” the ad said.

   Instead, every year they knock on the door asking for MORE & MORE dollars from the public.

   Despite the promise of producing public revenue every year… Gateway keeps seeking tens of millions of dollars each year for maintenance and other needs of the sports facilities built for them with scarce public dollars.

   Brook Park seems ready to follow the Gateway policy of owning the facilities that are used by private sports interests which demand constant upgrades and improvements for which someone else pays the cost – YOU– IF YOU LIVE IN THE CITY THAT HOSTS THE TEAM.

   There is only one solution.

   Give the teams their facilities for $1. Cut the public cost by getting the Gimmie (Give to Me) Sports teams off the public dole.

   It is time that they paid for their place of work and stop hiding behind the Gateway Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors who have proven they don’t work for the citizens but for the wealthy team owners. (Gateway Board is appointed by Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland elected officials to oversee Gateway. Gateway owns Rocket Mortgage Field House and Progressive Field and leases them to the sports teams.)

            Cleveland politicians did the bidding of the team owners and secured a tax exemption from the State of Ohio for the stadiums. We are still living with the consequences. We need politicians who know how to say NO instead of YES.