CLEVELAND — More controversy is swirling between a vendor at the West Side Market and the city of Cleveland, who owns the iconic venue.
On Monday, an employee of Kate's Fish received a shock after touching a case that had what the city is calling a 'defective and improperly installed wire.' According to the incident report filed by a West Side Market building engineer, there was an extension cord hanging on the outside of the case operating the back lighting in the case. The wiring to the light had a break in it that touched the case. The engineer also noted that there was 'mild water' alongside the bottom of the case, while adding that the Kate's Fish employee refused medical attention.
In a statement, the city of Cleveland reported that "the wires that caused this incident do not meet the electrical codes enforced by the City of Cleveland, nor were they installed by the City. After learning of today’s incident, the City immediately dispatched an external case vendor to inspect and correct Kate’s Fish unapproved wire installations. The case vendor installed a temporary set-up to mitigate any immediate hazards to vendors or employees. The City also dispatched a Building & Housing chief electrical inspector to review the temporary set-up, and based on the findings are determining the best ways to repair lighting in the case."
PHOTOS | West Side Market vendor employee receives shock, disputes city's incident report
The city added that it will inspect all vendor cases at the market for compliance with exising code and plans to address all vendors accordingly. According to the release, the city also completed an extensive capital assessment and committed $2 million in the 2019 budget to address roofing, electrical and other market needs.
Kate's Fish responded to the city's statements on social media, disputing several of the points raised:
On the wiring not being installed by the city of Cleveland: "It was installed by City contractors to temporarily give us lighting until further fixed could be made. We did not install this. This has been the setup for near 3 years since lighting went out in our display case. Other vendors have similar setups due to failure to act by city."
On the reports that the shocked employee didn't want medical attention: "My employee did in fact seek medical attention for what happened yesterday @WestSideMarket. He also told market management that he was on his way to hospital after being shocked by counter, a city official also told him to ‘get your mental health checked’ as well if headed to Hos."
On the city's statement that it has committed $2 million for improvements: "This is bull. The @CityofCleveland has NOT spent 2 million dollars to upgrade electrical @WestSideMarket they have not done anything as of yet to upgrade electrical of cases that are dangerous."
This is not the first time that the city of Cleveland and Kate's Fish have butted heads over wiring and safety. In December of 2018, owners of Kate's Fish put out the following Facebook post:
The city of Cleveland had a swift response to that complaint:
“The electrical set-up pictured in the Facebook post is not approved by the market because it does not adhere to proper electrical standards. It was installed by the vendor at will, along with other large equipment not intended for the stand’s electrical system.
From time to time, vendors require additional electrical power for their stands. The only requirement in these instances is for the vendor to submit a work plan, obtain permission and secure the proper permits. While this vendor did not take these steps, they’re welcome –at any time –to begin this process.”
