Cleveland has the tools to fight Browns’ plan to leave downtown

When the Cleveland Browns left in 1995, I wanted to make sure the taxpayers and football fans of our state would never again be at the mercy of pro sports team owners. As an Ohio senator, I passed a bill, now Ohio Revised Code Section 9.67 , which empowers Ohio communities with tax-supported professional teams that threaten to leave to either buy the team or to bring forward a group of local investors to keep the team in the city. In 2018, a Franklin County judge, in a 54-page ruling, supported the constitutionality of the law I wrote.

The Browns have received close to $400 million in tax support. This is an investment which taxpayers have made. The Browns cannot just up and leave without a legal and political fight to protect our investment.

A Cleveland City Council ordinance requires the city law department to enforce the provisions of ORC 9.67, just as then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine used the law to keep the MLS' Crew in Columbus. It can be used to keep the Browns in place.

This is not the time to concede. This is the time to fight for the taxpayers, for our Browns and for Cleveland.

Dennis J. Kucinich,