Mike Florio ,
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Fun times in Cleveland today .
The much-hyped “historic agreement” between the city and the Browns (basically, a settlement of multiple lawsuits aimed at blocking the team’s move to a new stadium in Brook Park) isn’t official. Cleveland City Council is required to approve multiple terms of the deal. And it has yet to do so.
Via Sean McDonnell of the Cleveland Plain Dealer , city council president Blaine Griffin wants more information from the mayor’s office before approval is given on the deal that will result in the Browns paying roughly $100 million in exchange for the dropping of the litigation.
Griffin reportedly has given the city’s law director a “strict mandate” to not dismiss any of the pending pieces of litigation without council approval. Although city council may lack the authority to stop the law director from dropping the lawsuits, no lawyer worth their law degree would consummate a settlement agreement unless and until all terms are satisfied. If the city council has the power to reject certain terms, that necessarily blocks the agreement from being consummated as negotiated. Which would keep the law director from going forward with the dismissals.
Mayor Justin Bibb acknowledged on Monday that council approval is required for “certain aspects” of the agreement. He plans to introduce legislation including those terms on Monday, October 20.
Specifically, the team’s $25 million “gift” to Cleveland, the plan to demolish the current stadium at the team’s expense, and a series of yearly payments to the city require council approval.
Absent council approval, the deal as negotiated can’t be done. It would require a renegotiation aimed at including terms council would approve — or a new deal including terms that fall beyond city council’s authority.
So, basically, it’s not over. Even if both the mayor and the team created the clear impression that it is.
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