CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne went it alone – absent Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb – in writing state legislators this week to request $350 million toward the renovation of the lakefront football stadium.
This, despite the fact that the Huntington Bank Field is wholly owned by the city of Cleveland.
Bibb was aware of the letter in advance of Ronayne sending it to Senate leaders, the mayor’s office confirmed on Wednesday.
But a spokesman for the mayor did not answer direct questions from cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer about why Bibb did not jointly sign the letter.
“County officials gave the Mayor’s Office a heads-up about the letter from the County Executive,” the spokesman wrote in an email. “We appreciate the County Executive’s advocacy and commitment to our shared goal of transforming the stadium on the lakefront.”
Ronayne — and Bibb to a lesser extent of late — has publicly expressed opposition to the Browns’ proposed move to suburban Brook Park, where the Browns want to build a $2.4 billion roof-enclosed stadium.
Instead, the idea of renovating the 26-year-old lakefront stadium has been the preferred option of the two political leaders, saying it is key to downtown’s tourism business. Estimates have placed that renovation at close to $1 billion.
It would not have been unusual for Ronayne and Bibb to co-sign a letter.
For example, Ronayne, Bibb and Team NEO CEO Matt Dolan were the signatures on a March letter to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in which they made the case that the NASA Glenn Center should become the new headquarters of NASA.
NASA Glenn is located in Brook Park. Under the signatures of Bibb, Ronayne and Dolan were the typed names showing support from 156 other business and political leaders, including Brook Park Mayor Edward Orcutt.
As to whether Ronayne invited Bibb to sign the request for state money to help with the stadium renovation: “I didn’t even have to. We have agreed all along. He said thank you. … There is no air between Mayor Bibb and I. We are in agreement of where this should go.”
As Ronayne noted in his letter to Ohio Senate leaders regarding the Browns stadium, the request he was making matched that being made by Hamilton County commissioners for Cincinnati’s football stadium.
Paycor Field in Cincinnati, however, is owned by Hamilton County, not the city.
The requests from both Hamilton County and Cuyahoga County came after the Ohio House earlier this month passed its version of the two-year state budget, without including money for renovating the existing Cleveland and Cincinnati stadiums.
Instead, the House included the Browns’ request for $600 million in borrowing toward a new stadium in Brook Park. Under that plan, the money would be repaid by income, sales and businesses taxes generated at the site.
The budget is now in the hands of the Ohio Senate, where changes are possible. The deadline to pass the budget is the end of June.
Bibb in August announced a $461 million city financial offer to help pay for a renovation to keep the Browns on the lakefront.
Bibb’s plan, however, would have provided the money spaced out over time, rather than making $461 million available up front. Also, $93 million of that total would have been delayed for future repairs, once the renovation is complete.
