False equivalence is not responsible journalism

A common pitfall in journalism and social commentary is "both-sides-ism," or false equivalence. In the work of Cleveland.com Editor Chris Quinn and Reporter Cory Shaffer, we've seen frequent references to "power struggles" and "tension" between Cleveland Heights City Council and Mayor Kahlil Seren. All too often, they have characterized the executive and legislative branches as equally responsible for dysfunction at City Hall—a building the mayor controls, to which council members do not even have keys.

The dozen or so departures by upper-level staff on Seren's watch are common knowledge. But council, too, has experienced a dizzying series of changes due to resignations, replacements and election results. Over the past three-and-a-half years, the seven seats on the dais have been occupied by 10 different individuals.

Council leadership has changed as well. In 2022 and 2023, Melody Hart was president and Craig Cobb, vice president. They consistently supported Seren, as did council members  Anthony Mattox Jr. and, later, Janine Boyd. In January 2024, Jim Petras replaced Hart on council and Tony Cuda captured the presidency, with Davida Russell as vice president. Council became less of a rubber stamp for the mayor.

Despite the churn, for three years council passed nearly all legislation introduced by the mayor, usually unanimously.

It’s true that inexperience, ignorance and sometimes questionable judgment, particularly by both council leadership teams, resulted in some stumbles. Yet most council members have shown themselves to be hard-working, conscientious public servants, who more than earn their part-time salaries of less than $9,300 a year (not quite $12,000 for the council president).

The first indication of a real power struggle between the branches occurred last summer, when a council majority voted to revoke the mayor's appointment privileges to two citizen commissions. We disagreed with that action in our September column. Seren retaliated by accusing several council members of violating state Open Meetings Law. The charge was not inconceivable, but after 10 months we've seen neither investigation results nor movement on the mayor's threatened lawsuit. Overall, it was a petty affair on both sides.

The seven current council members display an array of strengths and weaknesses that might be found in any random group of individuals.

Last November, six drew on the best of themselves to exercise their charter-given power in service to responsible governance. Cuda, Russell, Cobb, Gail Larson, Petras and Jim Posch stood up to an increasingly recalcitrant, almost deranged Seren, refusing to pass his wholly inadequate 2025 budget and patiently insisting that he meet their requests. Despite his fear-mongering attempt to weaponize city staff and their families, council passed a three-month temporary budget in December and an improved 12-month budget in March.

Throughout this crisis, we watched six elected officials work together to do right by the people they represent. Petras created the temporary budget at home by hand, after the mayor denied staff assistance. Cobb, whose support for Seren crumbled with the budget debacle, became the quiet conscience of the group. Posch, council's newest member, drew on his school board experience to persistently ask hard questions. Finance Chair Larson politely kept her committee meetings as constructive, productive and civil as possible. Despite frequent provocation and verbal abuse by the mayor in public and, we have heard, in closed-door leadership meetings, officers Cuda and Russell led four of the five other councilors in fulfilling their responsibility for budget oversight. While Mattox, the seventh member, continued to vigorously back Seren, the other six showed admirable self-discipline, and said “No” to a mayor whose demands were simply wrong. We wish the U.S. Congress would stand up to the president with half the resolve.

The budget crisis certainly meets the definition of a power struggle, but it was precipitated and prolonged by mayoral ineptitude and obstructionism.

Relying on hasty judgment and inexcusably scant background, Cleveland.com’s Quinn and Shaffer disregarded context and concluded that all parties were equally at fault. That’s false equivalence.

Yes, inexperienced people acting under pressure make mistakes. However, most CH council members have shown they can learn from experience. Sadly, the mayor has not.