Cleveland Indians force employees to wear pro-sin tax stickers, lie about it

by Cleveland Frowns on April 25, 2014

Yesterday, Scene published a story about Edward Loomis, a former usher for the Cleveland Indians whose employment was terminated immediately after he wrote an email to his supervisor communicating his refusal to wear a pro-Issue 7 sticker as part of his uniform, as he was instructed to do on Opening Day. Issue 7, on the ballot in Cuyahoga County this May 6, is the proposed 20-year $260+ million sin tax on alcohol and cigarettes that the County’s business and political leaders (mostly Cleveland’s three pro sports owners) want to take from the County’s residents to use to pay for improvements to Cleveland’s three pro sports facilities.

“You will wear this or you will leave,” said Loomis’s supervisor of the Issue 7 sticker in front of approximately 40 of his co-workers, according to Loomis.

When reached for comment on the issue, the Indians, through their VP of Communications Curtis Danburg, said that they could not explain why Loomis was terminated other than to say that it had “nothing to do with” his refusal to wear the sticker. “All employees can voluntarily wear the sticker,” Danburg added, “but it is not a mandatory element of their uniform.”

Loomis then produced an employee instruction sheet from Opening Day that exposes Danburg’s statement as a lie.

Per Andrew Tobias at Cleveland.com, usher-instructions-closejpg-b496e687fd404836the instruction sheet, which is loaded with Issue 7 propaganda on “the critical importance of this campaign for the city,” states that: “An Issue 7 Keep Cleveland Strong sticker is part of your uniform. Place it chest high on your outermost layer.”

“Be sure you are wearing a name tag & an Issue 7 sticker on your outermost layer of clothing,” the document also states. “See your supervisor for both.”

Based on Tobias’s reporting and the limited view of the instruction sheet provided in a photo at Cleveland.com (also posted at right), the sheet does not state or even suggest that the sticker is a “non-mandatory” part of the uniform, and the instruction to “[b]e sure you are wearing … an issue 7 sticker” is not qualified in any way.

It’s bad enough that the Indians refuse to explain why they fired Loomis, if it wasn’t in fact for his refusal to wear the sticker. The bald-faced lie about the fact that he was required to wear the Issue 7 propaganda only makes it worse.

But no worse and certainly not inconsistent with the pro-sin tax “Keep Cleveland Strong” campaign as a whole. People with tremendously outsized power using threats, lies, and in the unfortunate case of Mr. Loomis, force, to ensure nothing as much as that they keep their tremendously outsized power while a city (and planet) rots around their shiny stadiums.

In related news, campaign finance reports were released yesterday showing that Keep Cleveland Strong, financed almost entirely by Cleveland’s three sports team owners, has already spent more than $1.9 million on its campaign, while the pair of opposition groups have raised approximately $41,500, combined. Belt Magazine’s Dan McGraw has the details here, including that “civic leaders who have made more than $1.7 million in annual salaries and who advocate that the taxpayers pay up $13 million a year for 20 years for sporting facilities whether they go to the games or not, have only donated $20 to [the pro-sin tax] cause.”

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If you missed these related links in yesterday’s post:

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Kay Johnston covers the Cuyahoga County sin tax issue at Newsweek: “Wealthy Sports Team Owners Want Taxbreaks to Go on Forever

Cleveland Magazine’s Eric Trickey writes about how “We don’t know how sin tax money will be spent,” pointing out that “our elected officials would rather present a united front to get the tax passed, then argue about the messy details later.”

And a Cool Cleveland editorial: “Lack of information alone is reason to vote against Issue 7.”

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Follow the Coalition Against the Sin Tax on Facebook and Twitter, and also join the “It’s a Sin, Cleveland” facebook group for more discussion of this and related issues.

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The fourth annual Cleveland Frowns NFL Draft party will be at Map Room on West 9th Street on Thursday May 8, starting at 6PM. More details will be posted over the weekend and Matt Borcas’s comprehensive 2014 Draft preview will run exclusively here on Wednesday, May 7.

  • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

    This issue is the absurdity of absurdities. Let me get this straight …

    • Joe Bialek

      This issue is the absurdity of absurdities. Let me get this straight: the purpose of the Sin Tax is to gouge those who purchase alcohol and cigarettes not because anyone is trying to discourage consumption but rather so the County can use that money to pay for sports stadiums that do not produce anything but a fleeting moment witnessing the passing of a football, the dribbling of a basketball and the throwing of a baseball so that such a minute tidbit of diversion can be enjoyed by all. The stupidity of this proposition is enough to make your head spin even though the spin doctors advocating passage of this nonsense are already doing a pretty good job of hypnotizing the voters to actually consider supporting it. At least the Robber Barons of the previous centuries provided something tangible such as oil, steel, railroads etcetera. These team owners do not even provide one tangible thing that could ever be considered with the term “value added.” Almost everyone discusses this “enterprise” as though it is the same thing as industry {which it is not}. The price of admission is essentially a voluntary tax paid by those who can afford it to pay those who don’t need it. If this isn’t a transfer of wealth I don’t know what is.

      The real outrage here is the fact that taxes on alcohol and cigarettes will not be used to aid in the reduction of addiction {hence the reference to “sin”} but rather to stuff the pockets of all three teams who could easily afford to pay for the repairs themselves. The vote was rammed through the last time {under somewhat suspicious circumstances} and hear we go again. But this time…not so fast!!! We the voters of Cuyahoga County are going to fight the proponents on this one and we don’t care if the teams up and go somewhere else {please see my views on entertainment below} because quite frankly there are simply more important things than sports and the unearned money that comes with it. Those in public office who are too stupid and lazy to find other ways to grow a major American city need to resign and leave their self-seeking political ambitions on the scrapheap of history. Don’t ever let it be said that this was time when the tide ran out on Cuyahoga County but rather was the time when the voters rose up to welcome the rising tide of change and rebuked this pathetic paradigm our previous elected leaders embraced. Let the battle be joined.

      And now to the real underlying issue at hand:

      One of the most disturbing facts about our capitalist nation is the misappropriation of funds directed to the salaries of entertainers. Everyone should agree that the value an athlete, movie star, talk-show host, team-owner, etcetera brings to the average citizen is very small. Granted, they do offer a minuscule of diversion from our daily trials and tribulations as did the jesters in the king’s court during the middle ages. But to allow these entertainers to horde such great amounts of wealth at the expense of more benevolent societal programs is unacceptable. They do not provide a product or a service so why are they rewarded as such?

      Our society is also subjected to the “profound wisdom” of these people because it equates wealth with influence. Perhaps a solution to this problem and a alternative to defeated school levies, crumbling infrastructures, as well as all the programs established to help feed, clothe and shelter those who cannot help themselves would be to tax this undeserved wealth. Entertainers could keep 1% of the gross earnings reaped from their endeavor and 99% could be deposited into the public coffers.

      The old ideas of the redistribution of wealth have failed, and it is time to adapt to modern-day preferences. People put their money into entertainment above everything else; isn’t it time to tap that wealth? Does anyone think this will reduce the quality of entertainment? It seems to me that when entertainers received less income, the quality was much higher

  • beeej

    In other world ending-type news. Yahoo had an article about the hundreds of earthquakes that are happening in Oklahoma which are in no way related to fracking* that scientists cannot find an explanation for.

    *Well they might be related to fracking…but we don’t want to point fingers. Another possibility mentioned in the article is God is doing it as a prelude to the End of Times.**

    **For real

    http://news.yahoo.com/oklahoma-earthquakes-135334009.html

    • bupalos

      had some more down in I think Carroll county last month right here in ohio…resulted in yet more fake regulations to be followed and administered by no one.

      the fracky guys still rely on the legalism that is isn’t fracking per se* that causes this, but only the totally unrelated development of us suddenly needing to dispose of several hundred million gallons of toxic waste every year.

      *fracking is ONLY the physical process of fracturing shale a mile or two below the surface, and has nothing to do with any of the preparations for said fracturings or outflow therefrom.

  • nj0

    Has any polling been done? Any indications on public opinion? (Not a resident of Cleveland or Ohio.)

    • bupalos

      I’ll be amazing and impressed if it doesn’t pass. It’s billionaires spending millions begging/threatening well-off suburbanites to sign off on a wealth transfer from the poor and working class to the super rich. I can’t think when that hasn’t worked…

  • CleveLandThatILove

    …”please note the following ways that you will consider supporting the cause.” (List of things done on one’s own time). Not *may* consider, will consider.

    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1kbBmlAvdI PML

      That looks just like the collateral and strong-arming I ran into by the greasy union thugs (and their zebra striped jackets and mullets) when I worked at a grocery store in high school with whatever cause they were pushing when they would show up at the store. Fuggedaboutit.

      • CleveLandThatILove

        Fear and intimidation, be they physical or intellectual, will always cause people to step off. Then apathy takes it the rest of the way. Throw in our supposed leaders who don’t have a conscience and here we are.

        It’s like I’ve always told my kids-listen to that little voice inside your head. Too much other noise drowning it out, unfortunately. Frownie just won’t shut up about certain things, so that’s good:)

  • bupalos

    Anyone hear the clearchannel thing on the sin tax? I was driving home and one of those winger hosts was introducing it as the topic they were going to host for the next 4 hours (!) with representatives from all the teams there. I only got to hear the intro, but it sounded delightful as he tried to walk the wire between hating all taxes (especially levied on avatars of freedom like smoking) and hating hippies like us who “have made erroneous statements” and have spent over 100 grand on tv commercials according to him.

    Seemed promising in all the wrong ways and sorry I missed it. But the lint in my belly button had been building up….

    • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

      It wasn’t just any winger host, it was none other than Bob Frantz, brave defender of the white man’s divine right to make sports logos out of genocide victims, and avowed enemy of yours truly.

      https://twitter.com/CanYouDigItCLE/status/453361314669133825

      A couple of weeks ago he called me a “scumbag” and an “ambulance chaser” on the air and said he wouldn’t spit on my shoes. He’s deleted a few tweets about me that he issued the same night.

      • bupalos

        Damn. I wish I could be openly hated on by people like that. I need to try harder.

        • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

          You do. I wish I’d saved some of his other tweets for posterity. Civilization has fallen to staggering depths with this man behind the megaphone of Cleveland’s highest wattage radio outlet.

          • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

          • http://www.clevelandfrowns.com/ Cleveland Frowns

            ………

      • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1kbBmlAvdI PML

        That is phenomenal.

  • Joe Bialek

    This issue is the absurdity of absurdities. Let me get this straight: the purpose of the Sin Tax is to gouge those who purchase alcohol and cigarettes not because anyone is trying to discourage consumption but rather so the County can use that money to pay for sports stadiums that do not produce anything but a fleeting moment witnessing the passing of a football, the dribbling of a basketball and the throwing of a baseball so that such a minute tidbit of diversion can be enjoyed by all. The stupidity of this proposition is enough to make your head spin even though the spin doctors advocating passage of this nonsense are already doing a pretty good job of hypnotizing the voters to actually consider supporting it. At least the Robber Barons of the previous centuries provided something tangible such as oil, steel, railroads etcetera. These team owners do not even provide one tangible thing that could ever be considered with the term “value added.” Almost everyone discusses this “enterprise” as though it is the same thing as industry {which it is not}. The price of admission is essentially a voluntary tax paid by those who can afford it to pay those who don’t need it. If this isn’t a transfer of wealth I don’t know what is.

    The real outrage here is the fact that taxes on alcohol and cigarettes will not be used to aid in the reduction of addiction {hence the reference to “sin”} but rather to stuff the pockets of all three teams who could easily afford to pay for the repairs themselves. The vote was rammed through the last time {under somewhat suspicious circumstances} and hear we go again. But this time…not so fast!!! We the voters of Cuyahoga County are going to fight the proponents on this one and we don’t care if the teams up and go somewhere else {please see my views on entertainment below} because quite frankly there are simply more important things than sports and the unearned money that comes with it. Those in public office who are too stupid and lazy to find other ways to grow a major American city need to resign and leave their self-seeking political ambitions on the scrapheap of history. Don’t ever let it be said that this was time when the tide ran out on Cuyahoga County but rather was the time when the voters rose up to welcome the rising tide of change and rebuked this pathetic paradigm our previous elected leaders embraced. Let the battle be joined.

    And now to the real underlying issue at hand:

    One of the most disturbing facts about our capitalist nation is the misappropriation of funds directed to the salaries of entertainers. Everyone should agree that the value an athlete, movie star, talk-show host, team-owner, etcetera brings to the average citizen is very small. Granted, they do offer a minuscule of diversion from our daily trials and tribulations as did the jesters in the king’s court during the middle ages. But to allow these entertainers to horde such great amounts of wealth at the expense of more benevolent societal programs is unacceptable. They do not provide a product or a service so why are they rewarded as such?

    Our society is also subjected to the “profound wisdom” of these people because it equates wealth with influence. Perhaps a solution to this problem and a alternative to defeated school levies, crumbling infrastructures, as well as all the programs established to help feed, clothe and shelter those who cannot help themselves would be to tax this undeserved wealth. Entertainers could keep 1% of the gross earnings reaped from their endeavor and 99% could be deposited into the public coffers.

    The old ideas of the redistribution of wealth have failed, and it is time to adapt to modern-day preferences. People put their money into entertainment above everything else; isn’t it time to tap that wealth? Does anyone think this will reduce the quality of entertainment? It seems to me that when entertainers received less income, the quality was much higher.

    • bupalos

      The absurdity of my absurdity is my friend.

  • kyle b

    Does cleveland not have a tea party that is supposed to be getting worked up about taxes? What about libertarians? Could you convince the official parties to come out in opposition?

    • TapirBoy1

      Some local Tea Partiers and conservatives are indeed opposing the sin tax extension.

      As mentioned above, however, some right-wing radio talker will support the issue, because MANLY SPORTS and they know the tax will sock it to the poor and black while letting the wealthy and white exurbanites off scot free.

    • Sherrie Noble

      Who funds the tea party? Consdier this before you consider positions…..

  • Sherrie Noble

    I do believe I have read that one is better judged by others looking at who their enemies are than considering who their friends may be. So, congratulations. You are judged to be rather solidly good.

  • dubbythe1

    Sin Tax Bad, Draft Party Good.

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