Former Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich has stepped directly into the legal battle to prevent the Browns from relocating to a suburban dome.
Kucinich filed a complaint in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on Aug. 29, according to court documents obtained by Heavy Sports.
He is seeking permission to represent taxpayers. He argues that the city has not taken sufficient action to prevent the Browns from relocating.
The Browns are moving forward with plans for a dome in Brook Park, even as the city pursues a lawsuit to block the project.
GettyBOSTON, MA – APRIL 19: Former U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich introduces Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the official announcement that he is running for President on April 19, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. An outspoken anti-vaccine activist, RFK Jr. joins self-help author Marianne Williamson in the Democratic presidential field of challengers for 2024. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Kucinich Argues in Filing That City Not Doing Enough, Haslams Violating Law
Kucinich cites the Ohio state statute that restricts sports teams from relocating. He contends the city has failed to uphold a key provision requiring it to seek alternative ownership.
Kucinich, the author of the legislation, said in his 650-page filing that the statute is commonly referred to as the “Art Modell Law,” but should be called “The Kucinich Law.”
Cuyahoga County CourtsFormer Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich argues in court to stop the Browns from moving.
The Modell Law, passed in June 1996, was created after owner Art Modell relocated the original Browns franchise to Baltimore, where the team became the Ravens.
State lawmakers recently amended the Modell Law to allow relocations anywhere in Ohio.
The city argues the change shouldn’t apply to the Browns since the case began earlier, while the team counters it’s irrelevant because it won’t move until its lease ends in three years.
But Kucinich told Fox8 in Cleveland on Aug. 29 that the law is “about keeping the team in Cleveland. It’s about following the law. There’s a number of steps the city skipped.”
“The law was written so that if the team decided they were going to leave, the city or a group of local investors could come in and buy the team. The city has an obligation here,” he added.
Kucinich argues Browns owners, Jimmy and Dee Haslam, “violated the terms of their lease” and didn’t provide “good-faith opportunity” to have someone else purchase the team, according to the complaint.
Cuyahoga County CourtsFormer Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich argues Browns owners, the Haslem Group, have violated the law.
The Browns didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kucinich said the city is not all in on stopping the Browns from moving outside of Cleveland, citing Mayor Justin Bibb’s plans to rebuild the city’s lakefront presuming the stadium is gone by 2029.
“The city’s action in court is directly contradicted by the mayor’s publicly recognized lakefront development plans,” Kucinich wrote in the filing.
Cuyahoga County CourtsFormer Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich arguing in court that the Browns can’t move outside the city.
Bibb’s plans call for a $5 billion investment along Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River that will reconnect “residents, businesses, and public spaces to Cleveland’s most valuable natural assets.”
A spokesperson for the mayor told Heavy Sports on Aug. 30, “We do not have a comment at this time.”
The Browns Unveiled Plans for New $2.4 Billion Stadium
Late last year, the Browns unveiled plans for a new $2.4 billion stadium in suburban Brook Park, about 1.5 miles from the center of the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, according to the FAA.
“A solution like this will be transformative not only for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, but also the entire state of Ohio from the resulting events, tourism, and job creation,” an October statement from the Haslams said.
“Additionally, moving the current stadium will allow the city and region’s collective vision for the Cleveland lakefront to be optimally realized, and downtown will benefit from the major events the Brook Park dome brings to the region.”
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