As East Cleveland’s new interim mayor starts her third week on the job, she says the first priority is getting a budget passed so the city can begin laying the groundwork to become a city people will one day want to move to.
County Probate Court Judge Anthony Russo appointed Sandra Morgan in late February after the suspension of Mayor Brandon King, who faces trial in April for corruption-related charges.
“Every day is a revelation here at the city of East Cleveland,” said Morgan. “There is certainly a lot to discover. And I'm learning something new every day. Some problems and issues are much more complicated and nuanced than I expected. Some things make me catch my breath.”
One of the more complicated issues is the relationship between the mayor and city council, said Morgan. For years, it’s been a contentious one.
A council member recently sued suspended Mayor Brandon King in county probate over withholding financial records from council. King, in 2023, filed misdemeanor charges against that same council member, Lateek Shabazz, for removing meeting notices at city council, to name just a couple recent examples.
“There's always been fighting and arguing and lots of back and forth,” said Morgan. “I won't even say passive-aggressive, a lot of aggressive behavior between the mayor's office and city council.”
Even before Morgan was appointed, Shabazz, now council president (that designation is contested by another council member,) filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court. Shabazz claimed the city charter, which elevates the council president to interim mayor during an extended absence by the mayor, should overrule the state law used to suspend King and appoint Morgan.
The court ruled against Shabazz on March 13, allowing Morgan to remain in office. King’s suspension will last until he’s cleared of the charges, convicted and removed from office or voted out in November.
Before that decision came down, protesters gathered outside East Cleveland City Hall to call on Morgan to step down so Shabazz could be appointed.
“If she wants to be mayor, then she has a right to run for mayor in the upcoming election,” said activist Mariah Crenshaw. “But, at this juncture, she is not on council, she is not appointed to council, she is not elected to council, she cannot serve in the capacity of acting mayor.”
Morgan introduced a budget the day after the Supreme Court ruling at a special meeting of council and hopes to have it passed before the end of the month to meet a deadline set by the state commission that oversees the city’s finances.
“At least we're in the realm of reality now,” said Morgan, after describing the budget she inherited when she started the job as “more of a wish list” and a “Gordian knot.”
“I think that we're probably within 10% of coming in on budget, and, as importantly, on time,” she said.
With the budget in place, Morgan said, the city can take a close look at how to dig itself out of a deep hole.
Morgan seems to have won some support from some members of council. Following the council meeting where the budget was introduced, Councilwoman Patricia Blochowiak complimented her interpersonal skills.
“She’s much, much better than Brandon King,” said Blochowiak. “She listens better. Her priority is the budget. My priority is getting rid of corruption. There’s some friction there.”
Morgan has fired Michael Smedley, the former chief of staff who is under indictment for corruption-related charges. But she has kept many of the other officials from the previous administration who activists were hoping would be let go, including Law Director Willa Hemmons and acting Chief of Police Kenneth Lundy.
“My mother had a saying that you don't cut off your nose to spite your face,” Morgan said. “What would I look like walking people out of the door before I knew what their function was, what they were doing, what projects they were working on, and what was in the queue? I will make the decisions about staffing in my own due time.”
Morgan plans to hire outside counsel and consultants to conduct “forensic audits” of the finance, law and human resources departments once a budget for this year is in place.
“I just really think it's critical that we figure out where money went,” said Morgan.
East Cleveland’s finances have been under state supervision since 2012. Its most recent budget plan was rejected by the state in part because it had no plan to pay off the lawsuit judgements it owes.
In February, Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber told a House committee that “maybe the solution is that the legislature authorizes East Cleveland to go into bankruptcy.”
“East Cleveland has been in fiscal emergency for the better part of our lifetimes,” Faber said. “There is no foreseeable way that East Cleveland can get out of fiscal emergency.”
There are no immediate plans to pursue a declaration of bankruptcy, said Morgan.
“I don't think that East Cleveland would recover from it, quite frankly,” said Morgan. “I want to give our city a chance. I mean, if it boils down to no other option and no other opportunity, then maybe it has to be.”
The city’s yearly budget is around $10 or $12 million, said Morgan, and the city has “in excess of $30 or $40 million” in unpaid debt just from lawsuits brought against it, largely because of misconduct by its police department.
She hopes the lawsuits can be addressed through a negotiated settlement that doesn’t require bankruptcy.
“Most cities, when they are hit with big lawsuits like this, they have insurance that covers it. East Cleveland is self-insured,” said Morgan. “We've got to figure that out. I don't have a solution. I'm not afraid to say I don't know.”
Between August of 2022 and March of 2023, 16 East Cleveland officers were indicted for crimes committed on the job. Two more were indicted in February. Two police chiefs have left office in the past three years — one following an indictment on tax charges and the other following the release of racist text messages on his phone.
The current acting chief, Kenneth Lundy, is facing accusations of an inappropriate relationship with a witness in a murder trial while he was a detective and lead investigator in the case.
Four new officers were sworn in on the same day as Morgan, bringing the total number on the department to 22. It's unclear who hired the new officers who appear to have been added during the period between King's suspension and Morgan's appointment when the city had no mayor.
Morgan confirmed they had passed the civil service exam required to be a police officer, but said she does not know where those new officers came from, whether it was straight of out the academy or as transfers from other departments.
The goal is to bring the department up to 30 by next year, said Morgan, and then ideally add another 15 in the year after that, but there’s no money in the budget to raise salaries.
There are no plans yet to request assistance from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department, said Morgan. Cuyahoga County Sheriff Harold Pretel has proposed expanding the department’s law enforcement activities countywide but has yet to receive funding for more deputies.
“I would like to talk to our police chief and others about the sheriff's office and the role that they can play here in East Cleveland so that we're vertically integrated, and we can leverage them to our highest and best use,” said Morgan. “I do want to be able to ask for what we really need and want and make it the best, most universal request that I can.”
Looking beyond these immediate needs, Morgan said she sees great potential in East Cleveland and that’s why she sought the job in the first place and plans to run in the election later this year.
“This city has wonderful bones,” said Morgan. “I think that East Cleveland has a bright future ahead of it. We have a dark patch to get through, but I think still the best is yet to come for our city.”
