CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland is, yet again, on the receiving end of backlash from a West Side Market tenant.
On Saturday, Kate's Fish, a flagship storefront of the Historic shopping center, took to Twitter expressing its dissatisfaction in how a recent incident was handled, saying the establishment is on "downward spiral that can't be stopped."
In the tweet, the business also threatened to leave at the end of the year if the City of Cleveland did not switch to a "non-profit management structure."
In the last week of 2020, the City of Cleveland announced that it was finalizing a contract with a strategic consultant for the market. As 3News reported in February of 2020, the consultant would be asked to execute a handful of tasks, including analyzing and recommending changes for four key areas: administration, entrepreneurial growth & recruitment, facilities management & capital planning and encourage community engagement, outreach and bridge building.
Despite the city's work to finalize a new deal, local legislators sided with the tenants. In an interview with 3News contributor, Doug Trattner in December, Kerry McCormack, Cleveland Ward 3 councilman, agreed that a transition to a non-profit model would be beneficial move for the venue.
“It is still my contention that, like many public markets across America, we should evolve the market to remain City owned, but to have a nonprofit model of management,” explained McCormack. “This would mean that a nonprofit, with its only mission being the wellbeing of the West Side Market and its vendors, would run the day to day operations. This model has been proven to be successful in public markets here in Ohio and around the country.”