Cleveland City Council approves settlement enabling Browns relocation and lakefront work over two recorded no votes

Cleveland City Council voted to adopt Ordinance 13 25 20 25, a departmental request that authorizes the mayor to enter agreements and settlement terms with the Cleveland Browns related to the team’s relocation and associated lakefront improvements. The ordinance passed with a recorded vote of 13 yeas and 2 nays.

Councilmember Michael D. Polensek rose during debate to register a formal no on the measure, saying the $100,000,000 package on the table “is not a good deal for the city of Cleveland.” Polensek questioned whether demolition of Huntington Bank Field is required, citing an Osborne assessment that described the stadium as “in good condition” for its age, and he objected to provisions that would give the Browns rights to salvage and recycling from the stadium’s demolition. “They get control of it, but it’s our…