One more look at Issue 38 before Election Day

CLEVELAND — Supporters and opponents of Issue 38 filed their campaign finance reports to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections at the end of October, ahead of next week’s election. 

Issue 38, which would change the city charter to allow residents to directly vote on how 2% of the city’s budget is spent, was introduced by a citizen-led coalition called People’s Budget CLE.

They argue it will increase civic engagement and give power back to residents. 

Mayor Justin Bibb, every member of Cleveland City Council and local unions oppose the charter amendment, argue the loss of $14 million from the city’s general fund — which is where salaries for municipal employees come from — would be detrimental to city services.

Council President Blaine Griffin has turned to the Council Leadership Fund, a political action committee (PAC) controlled by the sitting council president, to campaign against the issue. 

“I really take pride in trying to educate my community and the people who I serve on why I make the decisions that I make,” Griffin said. “So even if it’s not a popular decision, I feel it’s important for me to tell the public why to vote no on Issue 38.”

According to unaudited reports from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, the Council Leadership Fund raised about $95,000 in the past two months and campaigned with billboards, mailers and more. 

They received max contributions of nearly $15,500 from three donors, one being the PAC associated with Rock Holdings, which is Quicken Loans’ parent company. 

The Haslam family, who own the Browns, collectively donated the max contribution as well. 

“I didn’t create the system,” Griffin said. “It’s a system that I’ve had to learn that you have to raise money in order to get the message out that you need to get to people. So, we’ve used the Council Leadership Fund as a mechanism to get this message out.”

Meanwhile, the People’s Budget Cleveland Committee, a PAC associated the vote yes campaign, raised about $20,000 ahead of the election.

About $10,000 came from nonprofit Cleveland Owns. 

The other more than 100 contributions range from a few dollars to a few thousand and come from individual donors. 

They spent $9,000 on yard signs, mailers, radio ads and more.

Lead organizer with PB CLE, Molly Martin, said local organizations also helped with the campaign.

“There has been a lot of community support and support to help us run a campaign that we’re proud of, that we feel like we’re we’re really trying to educate people on what people power is about and how something like participatory budgeting can create more of a democratic culture,” Martin said. 

Griffin said their method of fundraising is more traditional than that of the PB campaign. 

While she’s confident, Martin said no matter what happens on Election Day, she’s proud of their coalition for starting a conversation about power in city politics. 

“I’m focusing on election day, but in a lot of ways, I feel like issue 38 has already won because we’ve elevated this narrative around talking about streets over stadiums and asking deeper questions around who has the power to make decisions in our community,” she said.

Ohio State Sen. Jerry Cirino introduced legislation in the statehouse that would make participatory budgeting illegal in Ohio. 

The bill will not be voted on until after the election, but if it passes, the People’s Budget would no longer be able to be implemented in Cleveland, no matter how residents vote on Tuesday.