April 3, 2010… Is there a Cleveland City Council member who can show any moxie when it comes to pursuing a bit of economic justice in this town? Nah. Too much to expect.

Public servants don’t seem to want to provide that service. Seeing justice is out of their line of sight.

Maybe it’s too much trouble too. Maybe they just don’t see the necessity. That happens a lot. They aren’t a very zealous crowd it seems. I don’t sense much passion there. More like bureaucratic. Short on compassion. Where’s Fanny Lewis?

Anyway there seems to be a dearth of people who even think in those 60ish terms any more. It’s a shame. We have lost so much of our passion about what’s wrong. Our city and culture reveal it.

The reason I’m bringing this up isn’t new. I’ve mentioned it before. Likely I’ll mention it again. And again. Probably AGAIN.

Here’s the deal: Billionaire Randy Lerner has a sweetheart contract. It was given to him by former Mayor Michael White and his favorite lawyer, Fred Nance of Squire Sanders & Dempsey. Quite a duo.

We continually pay dearly to see that the Lerner family does well. Since August of 2005, we county taxpayers have contributed $63,867,150.83 to help the City of Cleveland pay to build Browns stadium By the way, it is used about 10 dates a year.

That $63 million represents taxes we paid on cigarettes and various forms of alcohol as of the end of March. We also pay, but it isn’t recorded, 7.75 percent regular sales tax on the $63 million. That represents another nearly $500,000. This, folks, is real money.

Lerner, owner of the Cleveland Browns, pays almost no rent for a stadium built entirely by the taxpayers of Cleveland. A stadium, by the way, that pays no property taxes on the structure. He got the bargain $250,000 a year rent, never to rise. And the city gave the extra bargain of picking up the insurance costs of the stadium, thus the Browns.

As I’ve mentioned before, the city pays the property taxes on the land, which was provided by the city free of charge.

The city pays much more for the land property taxes than Lerner pays – or will ever pay – to rent the whole thing. The city pays more than $400,000 annually. Where can you get a deal like that? No where. Unless you’re very, very rich.

Do you think Mayor Frank Jackson would have the sense to tell Lerner – time to renegotiate the terms of the lease? You got a sweetheart deal, Mr. Lerner. Now, it’s time to pay a just price for use of the facility. Our city needs it. Our school children need it.

Jackson, of course, should have done this a long time ago. But he won’t. Makes too much sense.

Especially since the Browns have a training center in Berea. That means that though the Browns play all their games at the city’s stadium at really bargain prices, the wealthy Browns players only pay partial income (payroll) taxes in Cleveland. Berea gets to share the tax revenue.

You would think that Jeff Johnson or Brian Cummins – two of the more progressive Council members – would say, “Hey, the city’s getting taken. Time to renegotiation with the Browns. Let’s bring Lerner in here.”

Or maybe, Dona Brady or Matt Zone or Kevin Conwell or one of the new Council members.

Is there anyone awake at 60l Lakeside? Guess not.

Easier, I guess, to add bucks onto residents water bill for garbage pickup.

For more vile details:  How Good It Gets for the Lerner Family