Members of the East Cleveland City Council dissolved into an argument over the position of council president and who legally qualifies for the Ward 3 position.
Last month, Councilmembers Korean Stevenson (pictured above, middle) and Pat Blochowiak (pictured above, right) filed a lawsuit against Council President Nathaniel Martin (pictured above, right) and Clerk of Council Tracy Udrija-Peters due to allegedly illegal actions without the council’s support.
The Ward 3 position that is now vacant is due to the recall of former council member Earnest Smith. The city council recalled Smith from the position due to allegedly driving his city-issued vehicle outside of business hours and racking up gas and maintenance costs of more than $9,000.
The primary concern in the lawsuit is that Martin acted independently by establishing an application deadline and acting before the official declaration of Smith’s recall vote.
According to Blochowiak, Martin should not have acted alone in making that decision.
“This is supposed to be a council decision, and it’s not supposed to be Nate Martin’s decision,” Blochowiak said.
Allegedly, Martin and Udrija-Peters also concealed details regarding prospective council candidates for the Ward 3 position, such as home addresses saying that giving out that information would violate Ohio’s Sunshine Law.
According to Blochowiak, there are exceptions to that law, including when a person’s employment is contingent on their residence, such as when serving as a council member.
The council accused Martin of violating the Ohio Revised Code, East Cleveland’s charter, Ohio’s Sunshine Laws, and Robert’s Rules of Order. The lawsuit says Martin has also scheduled special council meetings without polling council members for availability as is customary, and that council members did not receive mail as they should by law.
The council elected Stevenson to replace Martin early in the meeting by a 3-2 vote, with Stevenson voting for herself.
As new council president Stevenson then declared that Martin’s latest selection for the Ward 3 position, former Cleveland City Prosecutor Mark McClain, is ineligible to serve on the council.
“Mr. McClain was registered to vote in the city of East Cleveland on 8-23-22. Mr. McClain voted in the city of East Cleveland on 11-8-22. That is not a year, therefore Mr. McClain is disqualified for being council in the city of East Cleveland,” Stevenson said.
The council has been divided for the last two weeks over the future of the Ward 3 seat to the extent of having two individuals appointed to one empty council seat simultaneously.
In late December, a subset of the council met behind closed doors and appointed candidate Lateek Shabazz to the empty Ward 3 seat. According to the East Cleveland law director Willa Hemmons, the city council did not legally appoint him as they broke the laws of open meetings and the city charter.
Martin then made his appointment to the Ward 3 seat. Not once, but twice. He first introduced Jackie Goodrum as the new councilperson, only to announce the next day that Goodrum was not eligible to serve because she was already a public employee. Martin then gave the oath of office to McClain.
Although disqualified by Stevenson, McClain physically refused to move from his seat even after she swore in Shabazz as Ward 3 councilman.
When a member of the city’s legal department attempted to speak up during Shabazz’s swearing-in, claiming that he, too, was unqualified for the Ward 3 position, there was more dissent.
Stevenson quickly swore in Shabazz who also took a seat.
The council has completed minimal to no business as they struggle through these disputes.
The Ohio Star contacted the members of the council for a comment without reply.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “East Cleveland City Hall” by Greg. CC BY-SA 2.0.
