16 minute read
Upfront
UPFRONT UPFRONT
MLS MADE SITE VISIT TO CLEVELAND ABOUT POTENTIAL EXPANSION TEAM IN DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
Photo: Matthew Bernhardt/FlickrCC
FOUR SENIOR OFFICIALS FROM
Major League Soccer took a site visit to Cleveland in late July for introductory talks and due diligence for a possible expansion team in the MLS development league with local officials and leaders who are seeking to land both men’s and women’s soccer franchises for the city.
The “Cleveland Professional Soccer” group will also host site visits from the United Soccer League — men’s and women’s — and the National Women’s Soccer League “in the near term,” both of which have also expressed interest in the Cleveland market.
MLS didn’t respond to a request for comment but the city confirmed the hourlong meeting at City Hall with Mayor Justin Bibb and provided an itinerary for the rest of the site visit, which involved formal and informal meetings with the founder and president of Gravitas Ventures, David Gilbert of Destination Cleveland, multiple officials from Cleveland State University, Joe Cimperman from Global Cleveland, Baiju Shah of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, members of the Haslam Sports Group (which owns the Columbus Crew and the Crew 2 in the development league), leaders from the Northeast Ohio Women’s Sports Alliance, and real estate lawyers and agents.
MLS NEXT Pro is a third-tier league that launched this year with 22 teams all with direct MLS team affiliations, except for Rochester New York FC, which is independent. Seven more NEXT Pro teams will be added next year. And the league is looking to add even more in the future.
Michael Murphy of Gravitas Ventures is lead on the group’s efforts and was bubbling with excitement when he talked to Scene.
“We’re a film distribution company, and we intentionally moved the company from Hollywood to Cleveland in 2019 because Cleveland is home for us,” he said. “The more I looked at this, it’s an incredible vehicle for lasting impact for this community from a unification of disparate groups. We have these strong immigrant groups and the common language is soccer. Wouldn’t it be amazing to bring professional men’s and women’s soccer to them and the city?”
Murphy emphasized this is a long-term vision — “These things happen on their own timeline” — but said the prospects for MLS NEXT Pro are “very sound” as the league seeks to expand with more independent teams.
He’s even more excited about the prospect of women’s professional soccer in Cleveland.
“The women’s is Division I. It’d be a coup for Cleveland to get one of these franchises,” he said. “We’re competing against cities that are more well-versed with soccer and have stadiums.”
A city official described the talks as preliminary, noting the conversation was centered on the potential to grow the game across the country and Northeast Ohio, and what sort of ecosystem might exist to support that locally.
“Cleveland has a large international population (with
UPFRONT
anticipated growth),” a city spokesperson told Scene. “[These were] very early stages of conversation about increasing sports options in the city and introductions. The mayor met briefly with the group but did not attend the meetings with the various business leaders.”
Cimperman told Scene that for his part, the conversation with the MLS officials was about that large and growing immigrant group in Cleveland.
“They are very interested in what Cleveland has to offer. For me, I have a specific interest with Global Cleveland: How do we get newcomers involved and kids engaged in football?” he said. “How do we help create pitches in Cleveland for kids all across the city? It’s a really huge factor in the States, and any tool we can use for faster integration is welcome.”
Two key points were emphasized in the Cleveland Professional Soccer group’s messaging, according to a deck provided to participants: First, that, “Cleveland will support professional soccer. Cleveland is one of the last major markets without professional soccer. We know Cleveland is a great sports town. Cleveland fans show up and this is an opportunity for those existing fans as well as new fans especially from our multi- national immigrant audience that may not feel as connected to MLB, NFL, or NBA. Professional soccer is family-friendly and many like the reasonable 2 hours for a match.”
Second is, of course, the facility, which was described as a codependent goal along with bringing soccer to the shores of Lake Erie (“Build a world class multi-use stadium facility that fills a programming gap. Cleveland needs and will use a right-sized outdoor venue and indoor venue,” the presentation reads).
The group toured sites for prospective new stadiums and existing ones where a Cleveland team could play, according to the itinerary.
What “right-sized” means in this context isn’t clear, nor whether it overlaps with the ongoing conversations about what to do with FirstEnergy stadium (or whether to build a new billion-dollar facility), nor who would pick up the tab on a newly built venue.
But David Gilbert, whose portion of the site visit included providing an overview of the Cleveland sports market to MLS officials, told Scene: “In general, professional soccer in the U.S., for the vast majority, not all, but the vast majority at all levels tend to be played in facilities that sort of match the crowd sizes that make the most sense for that level of soccer, from MLS on down. There’s been talk for years and different attempts to look at some purposebuilt facility for soccer and that could be all kinds of things. Some of these are 6,000 or 8,000, some are 20,000, some are smaller.”
Local officials and those involved who spoke to Scene weren’t aware of a timeline for any decisions on a next step. -Vince Grzegorek
Platform Brewing Company Lays Off Roughly 20 at Cleveland Production Facility
As many as 20 employees at Platform Brewing Company’s production facility in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood were laid off late last week, Scene has learned.
Those who work at the facility, brewing, testing, canning, packaging and warehousing all but Platform’s Haze Jude IPA, (the brewery’s cash cow, which is produced offsite in New Hampshire), received a message Thursday night on the company’s Slack channel advising them not to come into work Friday. Employees told Scene that this message alluded to physical work being done at the building, but was “vague” and “seemed sketchy.”
Friday morning, the Slack channel had been disabled and employees had no access. The Slack network was how they typically interacted with their direct supervisors, so they had no way of figuring out what was going on. Then they got the calls from Platform leadership and reps from HR — known by Platform as the “People Department” — telling them they’d been laid off.
“I assume the People Department is just the layoff department,” one employee told Scene, “because they’ve always been dogshit with people.”
According to employees, those laid off will be paid in full and given severance that corresponds with their age and duration of employment.
The reasons for the abrupt layoffs remain unclear. When contacted by Scene, Platform’s co-owner Paul Benner said that “out of respect for the situation,” he would comment later in the day. Shortly thereafter, he provided the following statement:
“Since we started brewing at our Cleveland production facility in 2016, the building has been an important part of our business and will continue to play an integral role in our consumer-first strategy. We will continue to brew and package beer at the facility, but moving forward, we will evolve our production plan to best fit the space, focusing on brewing high-quality beer as we work toward our collective goal of brewing the best beers in Ohio. Unfortunately, several employees at the production facility were impacted and we’re working to assist them through this transition.”
That evolution, for now, includes everyone on the canning line getting the boot. Employees could only speculate that as the brewery enters a slow season, the decision may have come from Anheuser-Busch, the parent company that acquired Platform in 2019. The upshot could either be a radical downsizing of Platform’s total production or outsourcing of production to other facilities. A significant culling of the brewery’s enormous portfolio of beers was already in the offing. (An email to Anheuser-Busch’s media department seeking comment has not yet been returned. This story will be updated if and when they respond.)
Employees told Scene that details were not provided in their layoff calls. One employee was told that Platform was “reevaluating its production process.” Another was told that the building itself, which is owned by Platform co-owner Justin Carson and rented by AnheuserBusch, could no longer support production.
Workers had just completed a huge batch of Platform’s “MUNI” beer, a “crushable” hazy IPA made in partnership with the Cleveland Browns. And employees suspected that Platform was waiting until that run was out the door before delivering the news. Today’s layoffs followed others earlier in the week in the company’s sales department.
The bar and taproom on Lorain Avenue is a separate operation and is thought to be remaining open. Most of the brewery’s top brewers were known to have retained their jobs as of mid-Friday morning.
“The whole situation sucks,” one employee said. “Platform kind of had a shitty name for a long time for a lot of people, both because they’ve been notorious for bad business practices and because you used to buy a six-pack and like half the cans would be empty. But I never wanted it to have those negative connotations. I got people drinking Platform and I did my best to be a good representative of the company, and this is what I get: fucked.”
-Sam Allard
Security Guards at Playhouse Square, other Downtown Properties, Want to Unionize
Members of Service Employees International Union Local 1 (SEIU Local 1) held a rally and press conference outside Playhouse Square earlier this month in support of downtown security guards.
The local union, which represents janitorial workers and other service employees, wanted to apply pressure on Playhouse Square and other buildings downtown that utilize Royce Security, a firm that SEIU calls “irresponsible” for a history of wage theft and its refusal to provide fair wages and benefits to security officers during the pandemic. SEIU Local 1 believes that the security officers working for Royce, just like all workers, have a right to organize a union.
For weeks, SEIU says, they’ve attempted to contact Playhouse Square in the hopes of working cooperatively to improve the quality of life for the guards at the historic theater complex on Euclid Avenue. (Playhouse Square could, among other things, threaten to switch
contractors to pressure Royce into better behavior.) But Playhouse Square has been unresponsive.
Playhouse Square’s top executive, Gina Vernaci, incidentally, made just under $500,000 in total compensation in 2020, according to a recently published Crain’s Cleveland Business list. She made $660,000 the previous year. Royce security officers at Playhouse Square make $13/hour.
Yanela Sims, SEIU Local 1 Ohio Director, said that these security officers have worked tirelessly and often amidst uncertain circumstances throughout the pandemic to provide high-quality service at the downtown buildings where Royce is contracted: Playhouse Square, the AECOM Building at St. Clair and E. 9th, and the United Way of Greater Cleveland building a few blocks east of Playhouse Square on Euclid.
“It is unconscionable that these essential workers continue to ensure tenants, residents and this community remain safe and secure, yet they lack fair wages and benefits that allow them to do the same for their own families,” Sims said in a statement. “These workers deserve a voice on the job—they deserve a fair process for union recognition.”
Reached by phone, Joe Conway, the President and CEO of Royce Security, told Scene that he had no comment on the unionization efforts, but said that as a company, Royce met and exceeded industry standards for pay and benefits.
“I’m very confident that we exceed standards in how we treat our people,” Conway said. “And that’s evident by the longevity of many of our security officers.”
Melvin Barnes, Jr., 43, has been a security officer at the AECOM Building, (formerly the Penton Media Building), for 17 years and has worked under four contractors there. He said that while he made a lower hourly wage when he first started, he has less money now than he did then, given that inflation has been “in hyperdrive” and his wages haven’t kept pace with the cost of living.
“I’m not saying I should make as much as an engineer,” Barnes told Scene Wednesday. “And I don’t want to say I’m suffering, but I feel that I’m struggling unnecessarily. I work a full-time job. I should be paid a dignified wage.”
Barnes said that virtually an entire paycheck is required to cover his rent, and that his other monthly paycheck must cover the rest of his expenses: food, insurance, phone, internet, incidentals. He lives downtown and said he’s grateful he lives close enough to walk to the AECOM Building, where he works third shift. If he had to pay for a monthly bus pass, he said, (to say nothing of a personal vehicle), he’d be forced to find additional work to cover the cost.
Increased wages are the most obvious benefit that Barnes cited when asked about the appeal of forming a union, but he said paid time off, including sick time and bereavement leave, were also important to him. Twice during the pandemic, he said, he had to travel to New Orleans, where he was born and raised, for funeral services for family members. He was so over budget that he had to borrow money for the second trip.
“There’s no PTO at Royce,” Barnes said. “You work your hours and you collect your check. And since they’ve been [the contractor at the AECOM Building] there hasn’t been a whisper, I mean not even a smoke signal, of a raise.”
Brian Norman, 50, has worked security for more than 20 years and has been at the AECOM Building for just over four. He said that during the pandemic, the workload has gone up while the benefits have gone down. And switching to Royce from the previous contractor, he said, “was a real curveball.”
“They don’t even do direct deposit,” he said.
Norman takes pride in his work and the many hats security officers must wear on the job: not only serving as a physical deterrent to intruders and potential criminal activity, but as a greeter and customer service worker, a trouble shooter, and even a technician. Norman said he has been certified in Microsoft Office and that if the building’s power goes off, he is regularly called to check on electric locks and other systems.
“You need quality, responsible people in these jobs,” he said. “But if you pay any old type of wage, you’re going to get any old type of person.”
Both Barnes and Norman stressed that security guards, much like janitors, fast food workers and other service industry employees, are often regarded as losers and deadbeats. But in spite of the disrespect they’ve received, not least the disrespect inherent in their compensation, they said they work hard and honestly and deserve basic accommodations like vacation time and raises.
“This isn’t about trying to get something for nothing,” Barnes said. “This is about being treated with dignity.” Sam Allard
DIGIT WIDGET
$1.65 billion
Acquisition price of IT products company Tripp Lite by Cleveland’s own EATON Corporation (technically headquartered in Ireland for tax avoidance purposes). Tripp Lite’s shares had been previously donated in full to a Republican controlled PAC, and so the profits of the sale became the largest single political gift in history.
$3.119 million
Gross revenue from Machine Gun Kelly’s August 13 concert at FirstEnergy Stadium, his highest grossing performance ever. More than 42,000 tickets were sold. 9/20/2022 – Date of debate between Cuyahoga County Executive candidates Chris Ronayne and Lee Weingart at the Renaissance Hotel, hosted by the City Club of Cleveland.
10
Minimum number of Ohio counties that have blocked the development of new wind and solar projects since October 2021, when the state enacted a law giving counties veto power over renewable energy sites. (Medina is the only county in Northeast Ohio to have done so.)
East Cleveland’s King to Face Mayoral Recall Election
East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King could become the second consecutive mayor of the cash-strapped east side suburb to be removed from office by his constituents when he faces a recall election on Nov. 8.
At its meeting Monday morning, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections set King’s recall date for the same day as the 2022 general election. The BOE last week certified the signatures submitted by those leading the recall effort, including East Cleveland council members Korean Stevenson and Patricia Blochowiak.
Under East Cleveland’s charter, King had until Aug. 18 to resign his seat or else face the voters.
The expectation was that the recall would be held in November, but Monday morning, King appeared before the BOE and asked them to consider a special election in October. He said residents had been duped into signing the recall petition and lamented the suburb’s political turmoil. King himself only became mayor after his predecessor, Gary Norton, was booted from office by voters in 2016 via recall. King won re-election in 2017 and then again last year.
King’s opponents believe that he has spent public funds unlawfully and used the police force as his private army, as illustrated by an ongoing high-profile lawsuit. William Fambrough, a veteran East Cleveland political operative and one of the recall leaders, alleged that he had been targeted by East Cleveland police during the 2021 mayoral race.
At that time, Fambrough was campaigning for King’s challenger, city councilwoman Juanita Gowdy and had equipped his van with speakers to broadcast messages supporting her. His vehicle was towed by East Cleveland police, and he was cited for a noise violation. Fambrough’s subsequent lawsuit, which is ongoing, received national attention. The police actions were described as retaliatory First Amendment transgressions.
At Monday’s BOE meeting, one citizen representative spoke on behalf of the recall effort, advocating for the general election date so as to attract as many voters as possible. The BOE agreed, as the schedule aligned with rules outlined in the city charter.
East Cleveland has been in a state of fiscal emergency since the fall of 2012. Despite efforts to get its accounts in order, including by instituting a hiring freeze and selling publicly-owned properties, it’s still a long ways off from clearing its debts.
At a City Hall press conference last week, council members outlined King’s fiscal misconduct, accusing the mayor of spending money without council approval and of engaging contractors for work without formal contracts in place.
“We have a situation where laws have been broken and we have a situation where we have major mismanagement,” said councilwoman Patricia Blochowiak. “If this keeps going on, the city is going to fall apart entirely.”
