Council Meeting Oct 20, 2025: Framework for Browns Settlement Hearing
Council Meeting Oct 20, 2025: Framework for Browns Settlement Hearing
The Committee of Finance, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion convened for a special hearing to establish the procedural framework for future deliberations regarding the proposed settlement between the City of Cleveland and Haslam Sports Group (HSG) concerning the move of the Cleveland Browns to Brook Park. Mayor Justin Bibb and senior administration officials testified that the agreement secures $100 million in assets for the city, including immediate cash, stadium demolition, and community benefits, while acknowledging that the settlement is contingent upon Council approval of specific real estate and financial components.
Consent Calendar
- N/A (This was a special hearing without routine legislation.)
Public Comments & Testimony
- Building Trades (Mr. Wondolowski): Acknowledged as present to support the involvement of union labor in the stadium demolition and subsequent lakefront development.
- Council Member Councilwoman Rebecca Moore: Expressed strong opposition to the move, characterizing the deal as "socialism for NFL owners" and expressing concern that the $600 million state funding for the new stadium comes from unclaimed funds belonging to average Ohians. She requested that union leverage be used to ensure not only construction jobs but also long-term stadium employment remain unionized, noting that HSG has previously utilized non-union labor.
- Council Member Councilwoman Deborah Gray: Expressed emotional distress over the potential loss of the team, noting the confusion regarding why the Model Law did not prevent the team's departure after Haslam's purchase in 2012.
Discussion Items
- Mayor Justin Bibb: Stated that the administration acted on three mandates from Council: protect taxpayers, do not leave the city empty-handed, and fight hard in court. He argued that the baseline for negotiations was zero, as the lease expiration posed a risk of the city receiving nothing and being left with stadium maintenance liabilities. He emphasized that the state legislature gutting the Model Law and providing $600 million to HSG for Brook Park fundamentally altered the city's leverage.
- Law Director Mark Griffin: Explained the legal strategy, noting that while the city holds three active lawsuits, none could legally force HSG to remain in Cleveland or guarantee a specific dollar amount beyond a six-month negotiation window. He clarified that the administration sought a pragmatic settlement to avoid the risk of a $0 outcome in court.
- Chief of Staff Jessica Travisano: Outlined the deal structure: $25 million in upfront cash, $25 million in installments, $30 million for demolition (covered by HSG), and $20 million in community benefits to be defined by Council. She noted that the $100 million figure was never on the table until the final negotiations.
- Council Member Michael Palencik: Expressed skepticism regarding the financial math, arguing that net costs (remaining $32.9 million debt, capital repairs, and legal fees) outweigh the settlement value, potentially leaving the city with a net negative outcome. He criticized the lack of prior briefings to the full Council and questioned the justification for a deal he deemed insufficient compared to the city's historical investment.
- Council Member Brian Casey: Expressed frustration with the "dance with the devil" narrative, questioning why the administration entered terms that allow HSG to retain influence over the lakefront redevelopment despite their stated intent to leave. He questioned if passing the legislation effectively grants HSG permission to leave Cleveland.
- Council Member Richard Starr: Asked for detailed cost breakdowns for the stadium's remaining debt, debt service, and capital repairs. He sought clarification on community benefits and requested a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) be finalized before Council approval to ensure local hire and diversity requirements are met.
- Council Member Joe Jones: Inquired about the timeline of negotiations, noting he received only high-level updates during the process. He requested confirmation that the City Council must approve the entire settlement agreement, not just the term sheet, and sought details on the $30 million demolition estimate.
- Councilman Danny Kelly: Emphasized the need for construction and future stadium jobs to be available to Cleveland residents and emphasized the value of union labor.
- Councilman Anthony Harrison: Expressed optimism for future negotiations to secure additional benefits and discussed the necessity of maintaining a unified Council front despite differing opinions on the process.
- Councilman Charles Sleif: Criticized the deal as a "top hat welfare" scheme and expressed doubt that the Brook Park location would generate promised economic benefits, calling it a bad precedent for the region.
- Councilman Harsh: Expressed deep concern about taxpayers indirectly funding the move to Brook Park through infrastructure projects (airport, RTA) and questioned the validity of the $600 million state appropriation.
- Councilman Casey (Follow-up): Questioned if the administration could recover $100 million or more if the demolition costs overage the $30 million estimate and whether the agreement permits the Browns to leave.
Key Outcomes
- Process Framework Established: Council agreed to conduct multiple hearings to deliberate the deal, with referrals to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Municipal Services committees.
- Full Agreement Requested: Council explicitly noted on the record that it requires viewing the entire finalized settlement agreement, not just the term sheet, before voting, to ensure a full understanding of legal obligations and substantive terms.
- Council Authority Confirmed: It was clarified that while the Law Director has the authority to settle certain legal claims, the City Council retains mandatory authority to approve real estate transactions, lease extensions, and the acceptance of donations over $1 million.
- Deadline Identified: A target date of November 24, 2025, was established to finalize legislation to secure the initial $25 million payment scheduled for December 1, 2025.
- Community Benefits Directive: Council directed the administration to finalize a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) defining the $20 million community benefits fund, ensuring local hire, diversity, and union standards before the settlement is voted on.
- Financial Data Request: Council ordered the administration to provide a comprehensive spreadsheet detailing all outstanding stadium debt, debt service, capital repair estimates, legal fees, and revenue offsets (CPP, utilities, security) to allow for a complete cost-benefit analysis.
- Demolition Liability: The administration confirmed that Haslam Sports Group bears 100% of the cost for demolition and site preparation, including any overages beyond the $30 million estimate, protecting the city from additional liabilities.
- Lease Extension Options: It was clarified that the term sheet includes two one-year lease extension options for HSG to remain at the current stadium, though HSG does not anticipate utilizing them.
- Timeline for Future Action: Discussions will continue on the long-term economic mitigation for downtown businesses and hospitality workers affected by the team's departure.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. All right, good morning. Today is Monday, October the 20th 2025. This committee of finance, diversity, equity, and inclusion is called to uh order. Uh this is a special hearing. So we are not starting to hear the legislation today. I will give us the uh what our goals and objectives are today in one second. So we are not beginning to hear the legislation yet. But uh Inez could you just call the role of all of the council members that are here? Here. Present. Present. Present. Thank you so much and uh welcome. We're um glad to have the mayor and administration here today. Um I'll just basically um put together the goals of what we're trying to accomplish today. Today, the goal of this hearing is to set the framework for the discussion around the uh proposal uh that the mayor and the Haslam group uh gave to council last week, and uh we are going to set the framework and have a discussion about uh a few things regarding this deal. The other thing that we think is very important that this is extremely important because this is the first time that the public will have an opportunity to uh understand the merits of the deal, understand um other um other things associated with the deal. Uh we are not making a vote today. This is really for us to do our due diligence to start the public engagement process uh to really understand uh is this a good deal for the city of Cleveland and why is this a good deal for the city of Cleveland? So a couple of things that we want to accomplish, and I will tell you that I'm gonna be very strict about keeping us within these parameters uh because this will not be the last hearing. This is actually the first of many conversations that we're gonna have with the administration about this. But first and foremost, is we're going to establish council's role. Uh council believes that our role is to deal with anything regarding real estate or anything regarding accepting or expending uh cash, and we want to make sure that we outline and completely demonstrate uh council's council's role in this process. Uh council strongly believes that we uh have a responsibility to either approve the agreement in order for the settlement of the cases. And those are the things that we want to make sure that we discuss the mechanics of that. Number two, we want to understand timeline. We want to understand how did we get here. We want to understand uh how things uh how the mayor anticipates things to move. Uh, we want to understand who was part of the negotiating team and uh how the negotiations took place. And then last but not least, we'll just start the discussion, even though once again uh we're gonna probably kick this to Chairman Harrison's committee to do a deep dive in this. Uh, but we want to understand how is the city of Cleveland going to be made whole. How is uh the taxpayer dollars and really understanding the amount that were that was utilized in order to negotiate this settlement in order for the mayor and the Haslam group as well as the rest of the uh uh city of Cleveland and Council uh to have confidence that this deal will help make Clevelanders whole and uh and really that Clevelanders at the end of the day could benefit. Um I'm asking everybody and everybody knows how I operate, please use decorum. I know that there's uh a lot of uh frustration amongst the members, but I do want everybody to recognize that I want everybody to uh make sure that we ask questions, that we really get the answers that we're looking for, uh, but that everybody has the quorum and professionalism as we have this conversation. Uh I'm going to give the mayor an opportunity to start out with any comments. Once the mayor makes any comments, uh then we would have uh a couple of questions that we would be able to propose to the mayor as well as any members of his team. Uh once again, council is really excited that we have an opportunity to make this the first time that the public and the listening public has an opportunity to really understand um you know how this is shaping up and how this has shaped up. So, mayor, the floor is yours, and thank you so much. Thank you, uh Council President. Uh, first I want to just send uh my condolences to to this body uh and to the family of Alan Dreyer. I know he was a dedicated public servant to the city and served the city well for years. Um and then and then secondly, I want to just thank uh this body for their partnership. I know over the last three years we've been in this fight together, uh fighting to keep uh Cleveland Browns fight playing football on our lake front. Unfortunately, um that is not the case right now, but I know all of you on this body recognize the importance of this asset. We've all fought really hard in this battle, uh, and now we're talking about what the next chapter, Cleveland story is gonna be with them now going to the city of Brook Park. I want to just set the context on of how we got here because I think it's important to lay the foundation in terms of what led to this moment right now. Um Council President, I wish we were here to talk about our efforts to renovate the lake front. Um I wish we were here to talk about how the state and the county were gonna support our nearly half a billion dollar offer we gave to the Browns. Um I wish the state didn't undermine our proposal uh and give the Hasm $600 million to go to Brick Park.
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