The City of Cleveland is going to the Ohio Supreme Court to see if it can legally accept a petition to for the question of public funding of the renovation of Quicken Loans Arena onto the ballot.
Last month, the City Council clerk refused to accept petitions for a referendum challenging the ordinance, which calls for the city to contribute nearly $88 million to the project. The city claims that accepting the petition would unconstitutionally impair existing contracts.
During a press conference Monday, Mayor Frank Jackson said that the city is caught between two conflicting legal arguments.
“We do not want to take an unconstitutional action whether it is around interfering with the contract or it is denying people the right to vote under referendum. Both of these constitutional issues are very important to us.”
Last week, a Cleveland law firm representing taxpayers sent a letter to the city demanding the petitions be accepted.
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