EAST CLEVELAND TATTLER Mayor Finance director silent on Norton and the Plain screws Dealers $3.

2 million lie himself

Issue Number 8, April 2012 eastcle lev get you Send an email to eastclevelandleaks@gmail.com to get the Tattler emailed to you

Law director Riley says funds cant be spent after line items vetoed in 2012 budget
By RALPH SQUATS In a legal opinion requested by councilwoman Chantelle Lewis, law director Ronald K. Riley confirmed the Tattlers revelation that mayor Gary Norton and finance director Jack Johnson cannot spend public funds after a line item is vetoed out of the budget. The opinion now puts Riley between a rock and a hard place because, according to Ohio laws quoted in the Tattler and that he used to support his opinion, hes now supposed to file a civil claim against Johnson to recover the illegally spent public funds if employees in departments whose budgets were vetoed get paychecks for working after Nortons historically-dumb veto. If council demands it, Riley should also file criminal charges against Norton for exceeding the mayors authority if he ordered Johnson to pay employees whose wages he, personally, chose not to fund. I cant ever remember any mayor ever vetoing the citys annual budget and placing the city at risk of a government shutdown, said a source close to ex-councilman O. Mays. This is no different than if President Obama vetoed the congressional budget. The federal government would have to shut down. In his April 12 two-page opinion, Riley confirmed that, it would indeed result in a suspension of the citys ability to spend funds beyond the temporary appropriation allocations if Norton vetoed the budget or a line item within a department. Riley tried to claim that money was left in the line items that Norton vetoed, and that he
Flip it over

Johnson ducks Martins questions about whether or not Norton helped him find overlooked funds

By CLYDE CLODHOPPER At a council meeting where members had gathered to overturn mayor Gary Nortons veto of the citys 2012 budget, councilman Nathaniel Martin asked finance director Jackson Johnson a simple question. Did mayor Gary Norton help him find $3.2 million in an overlooked bank account? Im only hear to talk about the budget tonight, finance director Jack Johnson told Martin and the council. Johnson appeared to be waiting for the question since the Plain Dealer and local television news stations quoted Norton as making the starting revelation on April 6, the same day he vetoed the citysentire budget and began illegally spending money without an appropriations ordinance. Noticeably absent from the meeting was Plain Dealer reporter Tom Feran or reporters from any of the areas television stations who originally reported Nortons single-sourced claim. It was funny, said a resident who attended the meeting. The mayor didnt show up to defend the lie hed told the people and the finance director didnt support him. All he wanted to talk about was the budget. What I want to know is will the Plain Dealer apologize for not doing its homework? Media expert Jon Davis said East Cleveland residents and those curious about the citys political affairs shouldnt hold their breaths if theyre waiting on the Plain Dealers Tom Feran and the editorial pages supervised by Elizabeth Sullivan to print a retraction of the lie they shared with the newspapers readers ... twice. No matter how wrong the newspapers reporters are, have been and will continue to be, the Plain Dealer always stands by the single-sourced stories theyre told by lying elected officials like Norton. Norton made big news last week in the Plain Dealer and on the areas television news stations when he announced that he and his finance director, Jack Johnson, found $3.2 million in an

MY NAME IS WES AND I AINT IN HIS MESS: Sources close to finance director Jack Johnson say hes pissed that mayor Gary Norton ran to the news media with his half-cocked claim that the two of them found $3.2 million in an overlooked KeyBank account. According to the source, Johnson said he didnt join Nortons administration to be dragged into his controversies, political battles and lies.

overlooked KeyBank account. Norton told reporters the money was placed in a special account to payoff a $4 million loan the city borrowed in 2005 to retire about $3.2 million in debt. He said it was overlooked in the account for the last six years until he discovered it, and then blamed ex-mayor Eric Brewer and ex-finance director Ron Brooks for not sending an authorization letter to KeyBank PDs Feran that would let the city use the a lazy writer money. Norton didnt produce letters from any official at KeyBank who addressed it to Brewer or Brooks asking them to send an authorization letter, and he didnt produce Johnson. Norton was the only person talking and the only one interviewed by the media. No reporter from any media outlet bothered to authenticate if what theyd been told was true which is a no-no in professional journalism. The Tattler revealed that the funds in the overlooked bank account that Norton spoke of have always been in the citys budget. Aside from discussing the budget, Johnson let it slip that he had only recently joined the mayors cabinet and didnt know everything that was in the budget. Said a source close to Martin, he danced all around the question about the $3.2 mllion.

TATTLER, NO. EAST CLEVELAND TATTLER, NO. 8, APRIL 2012

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Law directors legal opinion tells Norton and Johnson they shouldnt have spent the money
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Safe Haven aint safe!

State inspectors issue 15-page report exposing unsafe conditions at daycare center owned by mayors aide after worker gives one childs medicine to another child
By JONAS BALSITCH Parents of children enrolled at the Safe Haven Achievement Center owned by an aide to mayor Gary Norton will be alarmed at findings in a shocking 15-page report generated by state daycare center inspectors that shows toddler-aged children being exposed to life and health threatening safety hazards. State investigators say Norton executive assistant Michael Smedley didnt improve but worsened as child safety problems identified in three previous reports were not corrected. Smedley received five red flag alerts for serious safety violations from inspectors employed by Ohio Job and Family Services which licenses daycare operators. The most serious occurred when Smedleys employees mistakenly gave one childs medication to another child. Investigators ripped Smedley and his employees for leaving a child sleeping unattended in a school age room without adult supervision. Gary criticizes council saying they wont fund school crossing guards because he says he cares so much for the children, said one political source. The more serious threat to children is a an irresponsible daycare operator who works in the mayors office. Smedley is endangering the lives of the children Norton says he cares about. Is he waiting on a tragedy to shut him down? Smedley was licensed for 46 children but hes stacked 62 in the daycare center and is understaffed for even the number of children hes authorized to have enrolled. Cutting corners puts more cash in his pockets. The report says vehicles used to transport children werent being inspected by certified mechanics as required and inspectors said parent consent forms used to document field trips lacked such basic information as the specific address of the destination and method of transportation. Another violation was documented by state inspectors who observed a child sleeping on a mat instead of cot. Smedleys records show he had 26 cots when he needed 29. He also didnt have enough adult workers on staff to supervise the amount of children under his care. One red flag violation was noted by inspectors who counted the number of people listed on a form who were supposed to have been trained in first aid and CPR. Three of the four employee names Smedleys staff had listed were no longer employees, leaving the daycare with only one person trained in first aid and CPR for up to 62 children. He was also cited for failing to have at least one first aid and CPR trained employee on duty between 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. For a third time Smedleys daycare was cited for failing to put childproof covers over electrical outlets, and for leaving a television in a place where it could fall on a child. State inspectors even took a whack at Smedleys business for failing to sanitize areas where childrens diapers were being changed and for using a torn pad for changing.. Hosted an x-rated Smedley has until picture party at April 22 to correct the an EC bar violations. This is crazy. The Plain Dealer and the television news stations are losing credibility fast now that the Tattler is exposing the truth instead of helping Norton spread his lies, said media consultant Jon Davis.

could use it to keep spending past the 90 day appropriation at the end of the appropriation period. He ignored laws stating that a veto makes the line item void and failed to identify any law to support his claim. Nortons veto claims to have reset the line item to the amount he wanted, but there is no reset process identified in the charter, Ohio law or the states constitution, and the mayor cant create laws, he can only enforce them. The discussion of the mayors line item authority surfaced under the last administration when Norton served as council president and the ex-mayor wanted to veto one line item. At that time, Norton, ex-finance director Ron Brooks and law director Almeta Johnson cautioned him about vetoing a line item because it would set it at zero. The ex-mayor decided against moving forward with the veto. In this case, Norton wanted to have his cake and eat it too when he vetoed the amounts council approved for the year and wrote that he was resetting the budget to the amount he wanted. The Tattlers source said the insertion of the word resets was Nortons slick attempt to circumvent his duties under the law not to spend money after he claims he vetoed four line items. This boy makes up rules as he goes along and Riley is always there to avoid the parts of the law that tell him no. Even while admitting that Norton should have stopped spendng money Riley added opinions that werent supported by law said one former government official who asked to remain anonymous. Gary vetoed budgets for the fire department, central services, parks and recration and the general fund. The law required him to shut them down. The Tattler reviewed an audiotape of the council meeting and overheard Riley literally blow a gasket when Lewis read her view of what he had stated into the record. Ive been a lawyer for over 40 years and no has ever questioned my opinion like this, Riley screamed at Lewis. Where are you getting your legal opinions from? Instead of being bullied into withdrawing her views, the tape-recorded meeting shows Lewis stood her ground. Riley just bought a brand new red Lexus and sees himself losing the best job hes ever held in his life, said a source close to the law director. I know him and even I get disturbed when I watch Riley and Jack Johnson verbally abuse and try to bully and intimidate the women on council for their boss. What theyre doing isnt right.

Council puts Legacys $75,000 videotaping contract in committee

By JULINDA MIADOLLA The same day the Tattler hit the streets, council met and decided not to move forward with a $75,000 a year contract that Gary Norton ally William Fambrough wanted for another two years. Councilwoman Barbara Thomas challenged the language in the agreement, stating that it contained provisions council hadnt asked for or wanted. One of the provisions sought to give him two, one year extensions. Where did this come from? Thomas asked. She said the extensions were not in the original legislation submitted to council. Fambrough Fambrough received an illegal, no-bid contract from mayor Gary Norton in 2009 while he served as president of council. With East Cleveland facing a $5.8 million deficit and a possible return to fiscal emergency, council wants to explore other options to have its meetings video recorded and delivered to the citys residents through the cable access channel.