FEATURE MARTIN SWEENEY & THE CORRUPT MACHINE Marty Sweeney weasels his way back into office, aided and abetted by Cuyahoga County Dems By Sam Allard
Sam Allard
Sam Allard
A BATTERED REGION WATCHED in disbelief as one of its slimiest career politicians weaseled his way back into elected office last weekend. Martin Sweeney, the former doubledipping Cleveland city councilman and Ohio state rep with a sordid history of sexual harassment accusations and corruption-adjacent behavior, beat two other candidates in a vote among Cuyahoga County Democratic Party precinct committee members in District 3. Sweeney will now serve the remainder of retiring Councilman Dan Brady’s term. Both the result of last Saturday’s vote and the mechanisms by which it was achieved should be considered nothing less than travesties. They are the latest and among the
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most explicit answers to a series of questions which have lately befuddled local leaders: Why is voter turnout so low? Why is there a dearth of up-and-coming political talent in Northeast Ohio? Why is the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party such a laughingstock statewide? That Sweeney is an embarrassing candidate needs not be belabored. His history of misconduct should be disqualifying on its own, but apart from that, he is a thumbtwiddling insider who is skilled at manipulating the levers of Party machinery but utterly unconcerned with the region’s most urgent problems. He didn’t even bother coming up with a platform before the vote. In an interview, he told local
| clevescene.com | January 27-February 2, 2021
reporter Richard Andrews that he “greatly missed public service” and that he planned to “dedicate himself to constituent service.” And in brief introductory remarks last Saturday, after he was nominated by his own sister, he told CCDP electors that he was running on one promise: to answer the phone. People should take Sweeney at his word. His return to public life is mostly because he misses getting phone calls. He misses the Godfatherish thrill of being the kind of guy who bestows and calls in favors. “Constituent service,” for the record, is the unfortunate cross to bear of city councilpeople, not county councilpeople. And that’s mostly because Cleveland has been so bad at
basic municipal functions for so long. It’s a situation which redounds to the advantage of Cleveland lawmakers, because they can keep winning elections by cutting grass instead of crafting policies that support the wellbeing of residents citywide. It also redounds to the advantage of local developers, lawyers and accountants for big business, because they can craft policies that support their clients’ wellbeing, knowing that council members are far too busy with constituent phone calls to think critically about their votes. Sweeney either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that county council’s duties are more focused on budget oversight. County councilmembers’ salary of $53,000 per year is a substantial
