(see original post at FB https://www.facebook.com/eric.j.brewer.9)

On April 26th I delivered a public records request to Cleveland city council's deputy clerk, Alan Dreyer. He responded on May 3rd. I responded to his response on May 5th and I've posted it. My requests are in black letters. His responses are in red letters.

I've also posted the attachments I received from Dreyer. The Quicken Loans Arena letter Council President Kevin Kelley signed on behalf of the city. Ord. No. 305-17 and 469-17 are also included.

In my response to Dreyer below you'll see my concerns. I ask that before you read what I wrote below, that you first review the documents as a point of reference. It will make what I've written below easier to follow.

Dreyer functions as a deputy Clerk of Council under Patricia J. Britt. She's in the picture with Kelley. I attended council's meeting on May 1. I observed the proceedings and compared what I saw with the city's charter and Ohio law. Nothing about the meeting I saw complied with any aspect of the state's open meetings laws. You'll see how in my response below after you review the documents.

EJB - MAY 5 REPLY:

Mr. Dreyer,

It is regrettable that the public officials of the City of Cleveland choose to ignore general laws that prescribe the official duties they are mandated to perform.

1. I asked you for advance meeting notices pursuant to R.C. 121.22(5)(F). You responded that meeting notices are posted on the council website. R.C. 121.22(5)(F) reads as follows: "Every public body, by rule, shall establish a reasonable method whereby any person may determine the time and place of all regularly scheduled meetings and the time, place, and purpose of all special meetings. A public body shall not hold a special meeting unless it gives at least twenty-four hours' advance notice to the news media that have requested notification, except in the event of an emergency requiring immediate official action. In the event of an emergency, the member or members calling the meeting shall notify the news media that have requested notification immediately of the time, place, and purpose of the meeting. The rule shall provide that any person, upon request and payment of a reasonable fee, may obtain reasonable advance notification of all meetings at which any specific type of public business is to be discussed. Provisions for advance notification may include, but are not limited to, mailing the agenda of meetings to all subscribers on a mailing list or mailing notices in self-addressed, stamped envelopes provided by the person."

All of the city's elected officials are required to be trained to comply with R.C. 121.22 and others by the Ohio Attorney General pursuant to R.C. 109.43(B).

"The attorney general shall develop, provide, and certify training programs and seminars for all elected officials or their appropriate designees in order to enhance the officials' knowledge of the duty to provide access to public records as required by section 149.43 of the Revised Code and to enhance their knowledge of the open meetings laws set forth in section 121.22 of the Revised Code. The training shall be three hours for every term of office for which the elected official was appointed or elected to the public office involved. The training shall provide elected officials or their appropriate designees with guidance in developing and updating their offices' policies as required under section 149.43 of the Revised Code. The successful completion by an elected official or by an elected official's appropriate designee of the training requirements established by the attorney general under this section shall satisfy the education requirements imposed on elected officials or their appropriate designees under division (E) of section 149.43 of the Revised Code."

I'll make no assumption as I see no such rule among the 57 Council has enacted that complies with R.C. 121.22. If such a rule exists I want a copy of it. If it doesn't exist, please provide me with an opinion from the director of law that exempts Cleveland city council from complying with R.C. 121.22.

2. I'll more narrowly define "advance legislation." There are two Council rules which described how legislation is requested and prepared.

Rule 38-1. Preparation of Legislation. In order that adequate time may be given to the preparation of legislation, members of Council shall present requests for legislation to the Law Department not later than 5:00 o’clock P.M. on the Friday preceding the meeting at which such legislation is to be introduced for first reading, and not later than 5:00 o’clock P.M. of the Wednesday preceding introduction of legislation for passage under suspension of the rules.

Rule 38-2. Request for Legislation. All legislation shall have indicated at the end thereof the date of preparation and the initials of the draftsman and typist; and all legislation originating in administrative departments shall contain in addition thereto the name of the head of the department or division for whom prepared and the name of the member of Council introducing such legislation shall be followed by the words “By request” in parentheses.

If the word "requested" legislation is a better word for you than "advance" legislation, the legislation I want is that which is prepared in the manner specified by the two rules. I do not have to wait until legislation is "introduced" as you claim. The requested legislation, including the form used to request it, are public records when they're created and you can claim no exemptions among those identified in R.C. 149.43(A)(1).

I'll amend this section of my request to obtain "the departmental requests" for Ord. No. 305-17 that was sponsored by Councilors Brancatelli and Kelley; and for Ord. No. 469-17 that was sponsored by Ward 1 Councilman Terrell Pruitt. I seek for each ordinance the forms submitted pursuant to the two council rules by the requesting department heads or members of council. No specific requesting "department" was identified in either ordinance.

I'll further amend this section to obtain copies of the forms each department head submitted for legislation pursuant to council's rules. The affected time period would be from September 1, 2016 through the current.

3. You did not provide any "budget amendments or realignments" that council may have enacted to accommodate the extended appropriation of admission tax funds for The Q renovation. The $88 million request was not in the 2017 Mayor's Estimate. The money does not appear to be in the 2017 appropriations.

I was informed that a budget amendment or realignment was enacted by council. You have provided me with a copy of Ord. No. 305-17 that violates one-subject-per-ordinance requirement of Chapter 5, Section 33 of the Charter. Ord. No. 305-17 amends Section 195.03 of the codified ordinances. That's one subject. It also authorizes the directors of finance and law to enter a cooperation agreement with Cuyahoga County. That's a second subject.

Neither the charter nor any general law of Ohio grants the directors of finance and law the legal authority to enter agreements that bind Cleveland as a municipal corporation. The mayor is the city's executive authority pursuant to Chapter 11, Section 67 of the Charter. Nonetheless, Ord. No. 305-17 is not an appropriations ordinance though it purports to appropriate funds to support the Quicken Loans Arena renovations in the agreement being entered with the county. Did council enact a "one subject" appropriations ordinance to appropriate admission tax funds to support the renovation? If such an ordinance exists I want a copy.

4. Thank you for sharing that Council President Kevin Kelley misled the residents of Cleveland with his unlawfully entered supplemental agreement that has been described by officials of the city as providing "community benefits."

5. As you have stated that there is no community benefits agreement, then provide me with the ordinance that prior to April 24, 2017 authorized the president of council, instead of the mayor, to enter negotiations with Len Komoroski. If there is an ordinance that authorizes the mayor, finance director or law director to negotiate with Komoroski and the county to discuss Q renovations in 2016 I seek that public record.

6. You have stated that council does not record its meetings and pointed me to the City Record. I've learned nothing from reading that document about how the council deliberated and discussed any issue before voting to enact legislation.

I attended a recent meeting seeking to observe and hear council discuss and deliberate pending legislation and noted two major violations of R.C. 121.22. No open discussion of any legislation. No roll call, show of hands or yea or nay vote.

R.C. 121.22 sets forth the following mandated duties on elected officials for conducting public meetings. "121.22 Public meetings - exception." "(A) This section shall be liberally construed to require public officials to take official action and to conduct all deliberations upon official business only in open meetings unless the subject matter is specifically excepted by law.

On page 91 of the 2016 Sunshine Law Handbook of Ohio's Attorney General further elaborates on the words "discussion" and "deliberation."

"With narrow exemptions, the Open Meetings Act requires the members of a public body to discuss and deliberate on official business only in open meetings. “Discussion” is the exchange of words, comments, or ideas by the members of a public body. “Deliberation” means the act of weighing and examining reasons for and against a choice. One court has described “deliberation” as a thorough discussion of all factors involved, a careful weighing of positive and negative factors, and a cautious consideration of the ramifications of the proposal, while gradually arriving at a decision. Another court described the term as involving “a decisional analysis, i.e., an exchange of views on the facts in an attempt to reach a decision.”

Council's Rule 20 sets forth the following as how the body is required to vote. “On the passage of every ordinance or resolution, and on the appointment of every officer, the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, entered in full upon the records and published in the official journal. On any other question, the yeas and nays shall be entered upon the record on the request of any member. Upon the call of the yeas and nays, the Clerk shall call the names of members alphabetically and record the vote.”

2011 Ohio Op. Att’y Gen. No. 038 (secret ballot voting by a public body is antagonistic to the ability of the citizenry to observe the workings of their government and to hold their government representatives accountable).

The Ohio Attorney General's 2016 sunshine handbook further explains the following about the content of meeting minutes.

"A public body must keep full and accurate minutes of its meetings. Those minutes are not required to be a verbatim transcript of the proceedings, but must include enough facts and information to permit the public to understand and appreciate the rationale behind the public body’s decisions. The Ohio Supreme Court holds that minutes must include more than a record of roll call votes ..."

Deputy Clerk Dreyer, you have shared with me in #6 that the only available record of council's deliberation of public business at its regular meetings is the "roll call vote" in the City Record and that is not consistent with any aspect of R.C. 121.22.

As a citizen of Cleveland I am astounded at the rampant non-compliance that surrounds city council meetings and other areas of legislative governance. Every act seems designed to conceal Council and its leadership's misconduct. There is nothing about the meeting I attended that bares any remote resemblance to the requirements of R.C. 121.22 and I will address them with the appropriate legal authority.

Please promptly deliver the public records I've requested.

Eric Jonathan Brewer

Brewer knows where they keep the keys at Cleveland City Hall - the last thing CLE's elite (aka Forest City and Greater Cleveland Partnership) want is a smart mayor:

I'm offering this friendly advice to the Cleveland mayoral candidates. Do your homework and learn the official duties of a mayor if you don't want me dominating forums. Experience counts in these venues.

Cleveland voters want to know if you can “manage” the municipal corporation. They're not asking you to be the “leader” of the municipal corporation. Don't let that “leadership” bullshit Jeff Johnson and Zack Reed are selling confuse you. The mayor “supervises” the administrative affairs of the city, ensures all federal, state and local laws are enforced; and supervises the conduct of every other officer of the municipal corporation. If you read the duties of the office the word “leader” is nowhere among them. Seriously. These guys are not leaders. Never been. Never will be. That's an ego trip and you look like fools to those with experience for using it.

All the talk of “bold vision” and “leadership” is just pure nebulous bullshit and it sounded like it to me. You're going to be administered an oath of office to uphold federal and state constitutions and to obey and enforce the laws of the state as well as the charter and ordinances of Cleveland if you're blessed to win. I've watched more than one elected official "lead' their dumb "bold vision" azzes to jail because state and federal prosecutors told a jury they'd violated their oaths of office. With all due respect to Jeff, who I've known for 33 years politically; I wouldn't let him guide me across the street. Don't think he has any real insight on competence in government.

If there were a winner in last night's Progressive Caucus mayoral candidates forum it was me. Cleveland Scene's Sam Allard described me as the "surprise smash hit." https://www.clevescene.com/…/unexpected-winners-and-losers-…

FOX8's Kevin Freeman made sure the stations audience got a glimpse of all the candidates. http://fox8.com/…/several-cleveland-mayoral-candidates-par…/

My comments received the loudest applause. More members of the audience approached me than the rest of the candidates after the forum ended. I was still there when the others left. One animated woman who'd been a Johnson supporter at the beginning of the forum signed my petition and told me I was her candidate afterwards. This is the second time Johnson and I have been in a public setting where he was the group's favorite at the beginning and they switched support my way after listening. Even his wife was impressed.

If Johnson won anything it was “best dressed.” He wore the nicest suit and the whitest shirt. Other than his “look” Johnson's suit was empty. If the audience was looking for insight the best he offered as an explanation was his description of the city's 311 system. Apparently it's supposed to be a complaint hotline. Like everything else under the current mayor and council, it doesn't work.

Personally, I wasn't disappointed by the performance of the other candidates. The first time candidates sounded like first time candidates. All were long on hyperbole but short on substance. It was apparent they hadn't read any of the city's governing documents, which is why I'm taking the time to share these insights. It takes a lot to run for elected office. I give them credit as young men and Americans for stepping up. Robert Kilo, Brandon Chrostowski and Tony Maddalone all appear to be well-accomplished as entrepreneurs. Like Jeffrey Johnson and Zack Reed, I have no doubt they care about Cleveland. They've invested in the city.

All of the questions seemed tailor-made for my experiences even though all the candidates were asked the same questions.

When asked what we would do about the city's lead paint problem I shared information about the lawsuit attorney Mike O'Shea filed on behalf of East Cleveland against Sherwin Williams when I was the city's mayor. As I've already twice-managed a community development department, I could talk about sending housing inspectors to inspect older homes because the newer homes are lead paint free. I could also share information about block grant funded free paint programs that once existed in Cleveland that no longer exists as a way to immediately mitigate the problem.

When asked about the consent decree I shared that Cleveland cops have informed me how Jackson has never required them to read either it or the U.S. DOJ investigation. I shared that I would order my safety director and chief of police to copy the documents for all police personnel to read and then sign that they read it. The signed acknowledgment would be placed in their personnel files and used as a disciplinary or prosecutorial tool.

When asked about my thoughts on The Quicken Loans Arena legislation I told the audience I would have vetoed it as mayor because of all the illegal acts Council President Kevin Kelley engaged in to pass it. I also explained that unlike those who'd “voted against” or claimed to have “fought” the two ordinances that enacted the deal, I filed a criminal complaint against Kelley.

Yvonka M Hall asked a question about vacant properties and tenant / landlord issues. I shared information about the two ordinances I personally wrote as East Cleveland's mayor. One was a vacant property registration ordinance and the other better defined landlord – tenant rights.

My observation of Johnson's performance as an elected official is the same as it's always been. Same with Reed. There's close to 46 years of public service between them. With all the “fighting” and “voting against” they've engaged in through the years, what has each, individually, accomplished? Zack imitated Eddie Murphy when he spoke after arriving more than an hour late. He said, "I'm the new sheriff in town." I also was mistaken. He doesn't want to hire 200 more cops at $20 million. He wants to hire 400 more cops at $40 million. Both figures are before the costs of benefits and bullshit. Fuck no. I want physicians on EMS squads and mobile clinics.

On a personal note I enjoyed the exchange and the forum's format. I think Yvonka and Diane Morgan did a great job moderating the questions. I have no idea why anyone would criticize the forum.

I've been to dozens upon dozens of these types of forums through the years. There were a lot of candidates and only two hours scheduled for the event. Not all questions could be asked. I think the one's they selected were consistent with what I've been hearing from Clevelanders on the streets. Any candidate who wasn't happy with their performance or response has only themselves to blame for their lack of knowledge, experience and preparation.

Let me offer this insight as well. I've lived east and west of Cleveland. I remember a different level of racial interactions between DOS's and Europeans in the 1960's and 70's. In 1983, as an example, I was one of two DOS's living in an apartment building on West Boulevard near Detroit. Third from the corner. There weren't many in the area. I remember driving by the White Power Party headquarters around 44th and Clark in 1981 and someone throwing an egg at my car. I attended the Slavic Village Festival in 1983 when I campaigned for a Cleveland school board seat. There may have been less than a dozen DOS's at the 99 percent white event. I approached a group of bikers with literature. A woman took it, balled it up and threw it on the ground. “We don't support no fucking niggers,” she said to me.

That's not the Cleveland I saw at 3296 West 61st Street yesterday and it hasn't been for awhile. I have no doubt that for the majority of people in the majority white audience, race was not an issue. Issues were the issue and I won their approval on the issues. It's the same as in 1983 when Mike White wanted to know how I ended up with more west side than east side votes for Cleveland school board. I rode buses, walked west side neighborhood streets like I did on the east side and talked to “people.” All I really see in Cleveland are “people.”

To the young men interested in Cleveland's public transportation issues, you freaked me out. LOL. I know a lot of people read my Facebook posts. When the one man cited an ordinance I'd written relative to Jackson closing Public Square to RTA riders, I was blown away. I knew then that all I've shared with you over the years has not been in vain. It's the same with the young women Tamir's Mother Sam Rice introduced me to at the Shaker Heights Library. They nearly had me in tears the way they shared how much they'd learned.

Mayoral candidates. If we all make the ballot we're going to be in a citywide and televised debate. I've made hundreds of television appearances. I'm made for this shit. When I say I've covered every mayor since Dennis Kucinich and shot pool with Carl Stokes that is not a joke. I can tell from your comments that you don't know the mayor's job, and that you haven't read any of its governing documents. Just like last night, the larger audience is going to compare us and conclude that I know my shit and you don't.

I enjoy competition and have no problem telling a competitor what they need in order to step up their game. You step up yours I step up mine. You're running for mayor of the nation's 51st largest city. You'd better read the charter, ordinances, the Ohio Constitution, the U.S. Constitution and the relevant federal laws that govern block grants for start. You need to read the city's audits, but you also need to obtain “management letters” from Ohio's auditor of state for the last 12 years.

Read at least the CPPA and FOP collective bargaining agreements. There are 33 labor agreements in all covering the city's 7700 employee workforce. Read some of the city's litigation. Read some of the rulings of the 8th District Court of Appeals about the legal issues the city has battled over with litigants.

To me it's better for the city if its candidates are better prepared even if they're competitors. A race like this generates name recognition and valuable experience for future campaigns. You might not make it in this race. Hell. I might not either. But you'll at least be a better candidate for the next one. Who knows? Do your homework and you might actually help our city and state.

I got a kick out of Brandon Christowski's comment about George Forbes and feeling like throwing a chair. He's seated next to me. I spoke up and said "At Jeff?" The older folk in the room understood and got the joke. Jeff remembered. I got the impression Brandon hadn't understood the other part of the joke.

Brandon. George threw a chair at Jeff during a council committee meeting and called him a "mulatto punk." You were probably still in a car seat.