Cleveland City Council resolution calls on FirstEnergy name to be stripped from Cleveland Browns stadium

nfl draft stage near first energy stadium

A Cleveland City Council resolution to be introduced Monday calls on FirstEnergy to relinquish its naming rights of publicly-owned FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns.David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Cleveland City Council resolution calls on FirstEnergy to relinquish its naming rights of the Cleveland Browns’ publicly-owned football stadium.

Ward 16 Councilman Brian Kazy, chairman of the committee that oversees Cleveland Public Power, is the lone sponsor of the resolution, which is set to be introduced to council on Monday. Council resolutions are non-binding. If council does approve it, the action would be largely symbolic, amounting to a statement against the Akron-based utility, rather than legislation that would force the removal of FirstEnergy’s name from the stadium.

As justification for the move, Kazy’s legislation cites the public money that has subsidized the stadium and the company, as well as the ongoing FirstEnergy bribery scandal around House Bill 6, and accusations that FirstEnergy in 2019 bankrolled a dark money group that tried to undermine CPP, its city-owned competitor.

“[T]hat FirstEnergy continues to market itself using the public’s taxpayer-funded stadium signifies its failure to fully acknowledge its criminal behavior and unintentionally implies community support for a criminal enterprise,” the resolution reads.

Said Kazy in a statement: “Simply, I don’t believe that the municipally-owned stadium that the Cleveland Browns play in should bear the name of this tainted company. The sign, seen as people enter Cleveland, gives the impression that they represent the city. This is false.”

The legislation states that FirstEnergy paid a reported $107 million in 2013 to secure naming rights to what’s now known as FirstEnergy Stadium.

It’s unclear whether the measure will gain enough council support to pass. The Plain Dealer/cleveland.com has asked Kazy and Council President Blaine Griffin whether council has the appetite to approve the resolution.

FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young didn’t say whether the company would entertain the idea of removing its name from the stadium, but she issued the following statement to The Plain Dealer/cleveland.com:

“FirstEnergy has a longstanding commitment to supporting communities through sponsorship of civic, athletic and arts organizations. We have taken swift action to address events that have occurred in recent years and to ensure a culture of strong ethics, integrity and accountability at the company. We look forward to continuing as a valued partner with all the communities in which we live and work.”

The Browns also issued a statement: “FirstEnergy has been a dedicated partner to the Cleveland Browns, not only on naming rights of the stadium but also on our efforts to improve the lives of many members of the Northeast Ohio community through our youth football and education initiatives. They have taken meaningful action to address the issues that transpired in 2019-2020 and are committed to upholding a culture of integrity and accountability by installing the appropriate policies and procedures going forward. FirstEnergy is also a significant regional employer and strong contributor to the economy of Northeast Ohio, and we remain committed to our relationship and look forward to our continued partnership.”

The sprawling corruption scandal involving FirstEnergy came to light in 2020. Federal investigators say FirstEnergy funneled $60 million in bribes through dark money groups to help ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder pass HB 6, which, among other benefits, gave the Akron-based utility a $1 billion ratepayer bailout of two nuclear power plants owned by a then-subsidiary of FirstEnergy. State lawmakers repealed the bailout last year.

FirstEnergy also admitted to federal authorities that it gave millions in bribery payments to Sam Randazzo, ex-chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, to push for changes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the company.

Householder and Randazzo each deny any wrongdoing, though three of Householder’s co-defendants have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the scandal.

Additionally, tax filings and federal court documents link FirstEnergy’s funds in 2019 to Consumers Against Deceptive Fees, a group that billed itself as an advocate for Cleveland utility customers by questioning rates. But critics say the group was a vehicle of FirstEnergy that sought to topple CPP.

City Council in August 2020 launched an investigation into those efforts, and in early 2021 indicated that it might subpoena FirstEnergy to probe the dark money efforts against CPP. Since then, however, council’s investigative efforts seem to have dried up, and no further action has been taken.

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