EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — A debate is playing out in the city of East Cleveland. On Friday, councilmembers and the firefighters’ union accused the mayor of misappropriating funds that were supposed to go toward a new fire engine.
3News went to East Cleveland City Hall to search for answers.
A resolution signed in January 2022 authorized Mayor Brandon King to enter into a contract with Atlantic Emergency Solutions, “to purchase a new Pierce Dash custom pumper for $679,554 from the general fund.”
The company built the fire engine and East Cleveland City Council President Twon Billings told 3News the engine along with an ambulance were supposed to be delivered around this week. But at a city council meeting Tuesday, Billings said they learned from the mayor that the money is not there.
“It’s gone. We don’t know what he did with it. We don’t know what he did with it,” Billings told 3News’ Matt Rascon. “We can’t do anything in this city unless we know how much we got. We don’t know.”
In a debate over the fire engine at Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor King said, “since I’ve been the mayor, I’ve been trying my best to equip all departments with the necessary equipment to do their jobs most efficiently and effectively.”
“We want and I intend to do my best to deliver these vehicles,” he said.
At the same meeting you can hear this exchange between Billings and King:
“Let’s get straight and narrow on that. Where did that money go?” Billings asks.
“That money went to a number of different places,” King answers.
“It wasn’t supposed to be. That money was supposed to be line itemed with these vehicles. Why did you spend that money and where did the money go, mayor? And where did the money go? That’s what I’m asking, where did the money go?” Billings responds.
King says, “It was a loan.”
3News’ Matt Rascon called, emailed and then went to city hall to try to talk to Mayor King on Friday. He was told King was in a meeting. But East Cleveland Law Director Willa Hemmons agreed to speak. Hemmons reiterated what the mayor said in the council meeting, that the money was never appropriated, and they need to secure a loan to buy the equipment.
“It was never a specific restricted fund just for the fire engine pumper,” she argued. “We didn’t set aside $675,000 in a pot of money just for a fire pumper. What we did was we planned to borrow the money just like any other consumer purchase and most other municipalities do. We didn’t squander the money.”
Hemmons explained that the city of East Cleveland has been in fiscal emergency since October 2012, “that means all of our purchases, all of our debt obligations are subject to the [fiscal commission’s] approval.”
To secure the loan, city council has to approve the appropriate documents, Hemmons said, adding that if city council will get on board, they could secure a loan for the truck in the next four to six weeks.
“No. The money was appropriated strictly to purchase these vehicles,” Billings maintained. “If that was the case we wouldn’t be in this situation we in now.”
East Cleveland Firefighters Local 500 president Tom Buth said the same thing. That the funds were appropriated to finance an ambulance and a fire engine. The 2022 resolution 3News obtained states that the $679,554 is “from the general fund.”
“The city had the option to pay for the vehicles upfront with the appropriated money and could have saved tens of thousands of dollars from the manufacturers,” Buth said in a statement sent to 3News. “The city was aware of the progress being made throughout the building processes of these vehicles and the projected completion dates. East Cleveland's Mayor has had two years to work out an alternative financing plan. Where did the appropriated funds go?”
Buth said the fire department’s situation is severe as they work to respond to 7,300+ calls per year. Their primary engine from 2005 is in “dire need of maintenance, a 2-year-old ladder truck with an out of service ariel, and a front line ambulance that is 32 years old that also has multiple maintenance issues. The severity of this situation speaks for itself.”
“We may not even have 30 days with these vehicles. We gambling. We rolling dice with peoples’ lives,” Billings argued.
He also said every day they don’t pay for the fire engine and it sits unused, the price for it goes up.
Buth reassured residents, “East Cleveland firefighters will continue to provide the absolute best level of care and service to the residents, regardless of circumstances we are dealt. We hope the residents are not forgotten when it comes to the decision making of the city.”
Related Stories:
- East Cleveland Police Chief Brian Gerhard under fire for allegedly sending antisemitic text messages
- East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King survives recall attempt as voters overwhelmingly reject effort to remove him from office
- Tempers flare amid circus atmosphere at East Cleveland City Council meeting
- East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King lashes out after video appears to show him drinking and smoking on city property