Brancatelli Disses New Constituents

Cleveland Councilman Anthony Brancatelli walked out on his likely new constituents in the South Hills neighborhood last night after reading one negative letter about merging with his Slavic Village Ward.

About 75 Old Brooklyn residents were waiting to hear from Brancatelli and current Councilman Brian Cummins about Council’s likely Monday vote on new ward boundaries mandated by a voter-approved reduction in City Council members.

A critical letter from South Hills neighborhood resident Joe Bialek was included with information handed out to participants. Bialek wrote about his negative experiences as president of the now defunct South East Clevelanders Together organization, which had often clashed with Brancatelli.

The letter spoke to the fears of many South Hills residents who believe merging with the East Side Ward 12 will reduce property values and increase crime.

After reading the letter, Brancatelli left without even greeting the citizens.

Cummins continued his criticism of Council’s plans to redraw the city’s ward map. “The proposed ward boundaries look like something from a Rorschach Test,” Cummins said, referring to the many new odd-shaped wards. “They are simply taking blocks of population to meet unclear criteria. They are appendages that split neighborhoods.”

Cummins has proposed a different redistricting plan that, while still sending the South Hills neighborhood into Ward 12, would simply double-cut Old Brooklyn rather than the proposed thee-way division.

Cummins also roundly criticized the lack of public input into the redistricting processes, saying Friday morning’s meeting on the plan is the only one prior to the Council’s vote on Monday. “The irony is this is Open Government Week,” Cummins added.

“Council leadership has avoided public meetings on this issue,” Cummins said. “They meet with only with a few people at a time, avoiding a quorum.”

Slavic Village attorney Teddy Sliwinski told the crowd, “This is a coup d’état. Your property values will go down by 35 percent. You will be identified with Slavic Village. To put this neighborhood (South Hills) with Brancatelli is suicide.”

A federal disenfranchisement suit is being considered based on geography (nearly non-contiguous wards), improper representation for a ward’s entire population, and impeded access to federal block grants.