Sheffield Lake Council member focuses on the wrong city

Sheffield Lake's government is a mess. City Council is bitterly divided, and Rick Rosso, the longtime Council president, resigned last month to spend more time with his family while also noting how bad the infighting had become. He was replaced as Council president by Rosa Gee, whose former at-large Council seat must now be filled by the bickering members of Council. The city's finance director, Corey Rummell, also recently departed, leaving behind a scathing resignation letter and what appears to be an unofficial "exit interview" that blasted Mayor Rocky Radeff's administration. Additionally, there's a movement afoot to recall the mayor over complaints about how he's running the city. With all of that going on, one would think Councilman Aden Fogel would be completely focused on his responsibilities representing Sheffield Lake's 3rd Ward and getting his community back on track. One would be wrong. Instead, Fogel decided that a better use of his time would be to show up at Lorain City Council on Monday and spin a conspiracy theory about why Business View Magazine named Lorain one of the best-managed cities in Ohio. "I'm curious what other cities were actually in the running," Fogel said during the meeting. "Was it the best best-managed city in Lorain County, or was it simply the best-managed city willing to pay for the recognition?" On Tuesday, he told our reporter Garrett Looker that he wasn't saying the city had paid to be so honored, but rather he suspected that an advertisement taken out in the magazine by Lorain-based P.C. Campana Inc. had helped Lorain win the award. The steel industry supplier did indeed place an advertisement in the magazine, but the magazine's managing director, Alexander Wynne-Jones, said that had nothing to do with Lorain's selection. "To answer your question, yes, a local business chose to purchase an ad in the article," Wynne-Jones wrote in an email responding to Looker's request for comment. "No, this did not sway the decision regarding the article's production or the city being awarded." Rather, the magazine explained, it recognized Lorain "because it reflects a clear vision for revitalization, economic diversification and long-term community prosperity." Lorain has its share of problems, as all communities do, but it has been working toward revitalization. Mayor Jack Bradley naturally was quite pleased by the recognition, and his office put out a news release celebrating it June 5. "This honor reflects the collective efforts of our entire community," Bradley said in the release. "Lorain has a rich history, a strong workforce, and tremendous potential. We remain committed to building on that foundation by investing in our neighborhoods, supporting local businesses, enhancing public services, and creating opportunities that benefit current and future generations." We published a short story June 8 about the magazine recognizing Lorain. And that should have been that. For whatever reason, Fogel believed there was something fishy going on and took the time to drive to Lorain and sling suspicions during the public-comment portion of Monday's meeting. But aside from a local company buying an ad in a magazine, as companies often do, he offered no persuasive evidence that anything untoward happened. We'll pause here to note that magazines recognize cities for various reasons all the time, including how business friendly or safe they are. Lorain Safety/Service Director Rey Carrion also denied that the city did anything wrong. "This group reached out to the city a year ago, reached out to us again this year," Carrion said Monday. "No costs from the city then, now or in the future — there is no financial commitment. This was not a pay-to-play." So not only the magazine's managing director, but a city official had to take time, which would have been better spent on other things, addressing Fogel's statements. Unfortunately, his claims couldn't be ignored. As another local official, with no connection to this story, recently observed to us in a different context, government officials need to respond to conspiracy theories these days. That's because without a response — and sometimes even with one — conspiracy theories have a way of lingering on, sowing distrust. Government officials do plenty of ill-advised things, but sometimes a magazine recognizing a city is just that: a magazine recognizing a city. Fogel's time would have been better spent helping Sheffield Lake get to a point where it, too, could be recognized as one of Ohio's best-managed cities. There's a lot of work to do in that regard.