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CHRIS RONAYNE UNCORKS COUNTY EXEC PLATFORM AT CITY CLUB

IF YOU THOUGHT THE IDEA OF

a 21st Century Great Lakes Expo died with the political career of former Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, think again. Chris Ronayne, the Democratic frontrunner for County Exec, unveiled his platform last week in a City Club address, and it included a “Freshwater Festival” he said could highlight innovations in water technology and showcase Cleveland’s enviable position on the Great Lakes.

“We have a claim as the Freshwater Capital,” he said. “Let’s leverage our lake for everything from cleaner energy advances to water-dependent industry to shipping and recreation. Let’s bring a freshwater institute to our shores... We can have fun with this.”

The water economy was only one pillar of Ronayne’s platform, which he has dubbed “Healthy Cuyahoga.” It is aimed at improving the health of the population and the local economy and, in doing so, restoring confidence in local government.

The vision he articulated was supposed to be all about “thinking big.” In fact, he said not thinking big was “the only thing that has ever held [the region] back.” But beyond the imaginative freshwater stuff, his ideas were largely common-sense enhancements to create a county government that would be “smart, communicative and data informed.”

He said he wanted to improve diversity in the supply chain, for example, including by encouraging the local health care industry to buy more goods and services from local businesses. He said he wanted to restore the office of the county ombudsman and create “justice navigators” who would help residents track down information. He said he wanted to launch special initiatives on housing and mobility. He said he wanted to support civic initiatives devoted to improving the social and physical health of the population. And he said he wanted to convene organizations and communities to explore shared services countywide.

In the arena of economic development, he said success would be less about “landing the lion” (like an Amazon HQ2), and more about “meeting existing employers and employees where they’re at,” making connections, opening doors, being flexible.

Ronayne discussed at length his record of collaboration and innovation in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. And he spoke directly to county employees, promising that he would be a leader who lifted them up, not tore them down.

“It’s never ‘I’. It’s always ‘we’,” he said. “I say to the workforce of Cuyahoga County, we can do this. We can leverage Cuyahoga County’s true potential and better future... In the next county government, the sum of the parts will no longer be greater than the whole.”

Though he never mentioned his name, Ronayne’s rhetoric and mien presented as the antidote to Armond Budish. Here was a candidate every bit as charming and gracious as Budish is weird and vindictive. Ronayne was speaking to a packed house of people, every one of whom he seemed to know on a first-name basis, and he peppered his remarks with off-the-cuff anecdotes and gratitude to individuals with whom he’s worked in the past. Restoring faith in county government, his whole vibe asserted (and the crowd’s warm reception corroborated), was first about restoring faith in the person in charge.

During the Q&A, Ronayne emphasized his commitment to criminal justice reform and said that, if given the chance, he would present all the information about a new county jail to the public. (Ronayne said he was just like the public in the respect that he didn’t have enough information.) He said he was in support of repurposing the Global Center for Health Innovation as an extension of the Huntington Convention Center and that the facility was a public asset, especially as the hospitality industry was among the top five industries in the county. “I will do everything but sell that building in a fire sale,” he said.

The Republican in the county executive race, Lee Weingart, announced his political platform months ago, and has noted repeatedly that the other candidates in the race hadn’t bothered to formally identify the issues or themes on which they were running. Ronayne now has plenty of ammunition to defend himself against that charge.

After the spectacular failure of the Bill Mason wing of the Cuyahoga County Democratic party to manufacture a challenger, Ronayne was always the runaway favorite to succeed Budish. And even though Weingart has been raising money for more than a year, after Tuesday it’s difficult to envision an outcome where the former University Circle Inc. CEO and youth hockey coach isn’t the victor in November.

-Sam Allard

Photo courtesy City Club of Cleveland

Playhouse Square Reaches Agreement with Union Projectionists Ahead of CIFF46

A resolution over staffing at the Cleveland International Film Festival was tentatively reached at a meeting Saturday morning between Playhouse Square leadership and video projectionists with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 160. North Shore AFL-CIO Executive Secretary Dan O’Malley told Scene in a weekend text message that “everyone walked away satisfied.”

Though CIFF is contracting with a local company to provide digital video equipment and non-union technicians to operate it, the IATSE contract with Playhouse Square specifies that union projectionists

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must be hired when movies are played at its theaters. Playhouse Square CEO Gina Vernaci argued that because the Film Fest was not technically a Playhouse Square presentation—this was a third party leasing Playhouse Square’s auditoriums—it represented a loophole in the contract.

But after a letter from area legislators and pressure from the North Shore AFL-CIO, who threatened to picket CIFF and call for a boycott, Vernaci agreed to meet with IATSE and find a solution.

John Galinac, Local 160’s President, told Scene Saturday that the agreement would accommodate three IATSE operators for all hours of the festival through its 12-day run. They would be on hand to rotate among the six theaters where movies will be shown and provide technical assistance as needed.

“This doesn’t modify the existing contract at all,” Galinac said, “this is a special situation, because they’re renting almost all digital equipment where you press a button, and a movie runs for an hour and a half. But we managed to compromise.”

Galinac said that he almost felt bad for Vernaci during the meeting, but that she simply didn’t have a right to decide the existing contract didn’t apply to the Film Fest.

“[Former Playhouse Square Executive Director] Art Falco signed that contract,” Galinac said, “and Gina’s attitude is that Art’s gone, so it’s her call. But that’s not how labor law works. When an entity signs a contract, they have to stand by it.”

Galinac said he was relieved to have ironed out the dispute and was looking forward to getting something in writing, but said that in general, he wished there was more respect from executive leadership for the labor (and financial struggles) of working people, especially the unions that have historically been champions of Playhouse Square and the arts in Cleveland.

“I got nothing against these nonunion technicians,” Galinac said, “but we were one of the original unions out there doing everything we could to save Playhouse Square when it could’ve become parking lots.”

Scene learned Saturday that both Mayor Justin Bibb and Sen. Sherrod Brown were advocating for negotiations behind the scenes Friday as well. Both elected leaders called Vernaci and communicated the importance of the Film Fest to Cleveland and the dignity of workers. (Galinac told Scene he thought the call from Sen. Brown may have been “the straw that broke the camel’s back” in terms of motivating Vernaci to come to the table.)

Bibb is scheduled to deliver opening night remarks at CIFF March 30, but he was prepared to back out of that engagement if the dispute was not satisfactorily resolved.

City Hall sources told Scene that Bibb did not convey directly his plan to back out of his opening night remarks, hoping to pursue negotiations first. He encouraged Playhouse Square to meet with Local 160 and even offered City Hall as a venue for a meeting Tuesday. Vernaci said that she would meet with the union Saturday morning. -Sam Allard

DIGIT WIDGET

$230 million

Value of new Browns Quarterback Deshaun Watson’s five-year fully guaranteed contract, the most money ever guaranteed to a player in NFL history.

$1.035 million

Base salary for Watson in year one (2022) of his contract, insulating him from serious financial harm if he is suspended by the NFL and forced to surrender salary.

22

Massage therapists who have accused Watson of sexual misconduct and assault. (A grand jury declined to indict Watson earlier this month, but civil trials are forthcoming.)

1,000+

Donations received by the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center in the wake of the Watson signing.

An Exit Interview with Adam the Bull, Who Departs 92.3 The Fan April 1

After more than a decade on Cleveland airwaves, Adam the Bull announced last week that April 1st will be his last show on 92.3 The Fan. We chatted with him about the decision, his time here and what it’s all meant to him.

What’s up next for you?

I just want to take some time off, catch my breath and then move on to the next thing.

Why now?

I just felt like I needed a change and I want to do something different. I may even delve into other things, maybe politics, maybe talking about being a man with weight issues, branching out to other things. Now was the time but nothing specific beyond I thought it would be a better time for the station than in the summer and right before football season. I’m leaving the station on great terms, and I wanted them to be able to have time to find someone. I want them to be in good shape going into football season.

Personally, and I’m sure others feel the same though I’m not sure how many of us there are out there, I want to say thanks for talking baseball on the radio in Cleveland.

I appreciate that. I love doing it, and I’ll probably continue doing something talking about baseball down the line. There’s just not a lot of people interested in talking about baseball.

The game hasn’t helped itself, but in Cleveland it’s also specifically hard.

I think it’s tough to talk about baseball. Obviously, compared to New York where there’s just more passion for the game, here there’s more passion for football. It’s tricky. You have to find the balance. In football, every game means everything. Baseball doesn’t work that way, so it’s hard to overreact to a baseball game. It’s also about finding the balance talking about stats that really matter without boring the audience. A lot of people don’t understand analytics, so it’s hard to find the right mix. And a lot of it is the team itself, especially the last year or two. It doesn’t even seem like they’re trying.

When do you think you and Dustin hit your rhythm?

I would say fairly quickly. I would say about a year in. We liked each other right away. Our relationship personally has always been really good, even when we bust each other’s balls on the air. It’s never personal and it’s never serious, and I think that showed. Dustin was learning to do radio in the beginning, and I was learning to work with a partner, because I had mainly worked solo before I came here. We found that sweet spot about a year in, and it showed in the ratings.

You and Dustin have anything special planned in the last little stretch before you leave?

We just started talking about it a little bit, but I feel weird planning it. I’ve never had this experience, really. When I was in New York I wasn’t full time and I’d go back and fill in after I left. This is going to be very emotional. We’ll probably reminisce. It’ll be very emotional for both of us. He was emotional when I made the announcement on the air, and he already knew, and then I started getting emotional. We’re like brothers; we’re very close. Same thing with Keith our producer. We’ve been like a family. It’s tough to give up. I’m going to miss a lot of things.

You remember the date of your first show?

August 29, 2011. I remember it. I was so fired up for that show, it was crazy. I remember getting home that night and I could barely stand up I was so exhausted from doing five hours.

Five hours is just a long time. It is. I’m kind of done with that.

You already have a massive platform to tell everyone how you feel as you leave but for people who won’t have a chance to listen to these shows, what do you want to say?

Whatever I end up doing next, whether I stay in Cleveland or go somewhere else, the city and the people will always hold a special place in my heart. My son was born here. It’s the longest job I’ve had in my life. When I came here I had experience but not this kind of experience. It’s been great. When I made the announcement, the response I got on Twitter and emails and texts, it blew me away. I was really touched. You don’t realize the effect you have. I’m just doing a sports show, but we share our lives and the stupid things we do and personal stuff and you connect with people and they feel like they know you. To get these responses, so many people saying you got me through the pandemic, or you got me through this hard time — obviously there were some really dark times for everyone — the response is really meaningful. -Vince Grzegorek