That sounds like a conspiracy theory

When you are talking about the political machinery behind Cleveland politics it is hard not to sound like a paranoid person with a tin hat in the corner—especially when you are trying to explain the complex machinery behind the “political kingmaker” Sam Miller while at a high school party but that is exactly what I did in 2006.

Sam Miller was one of Cleveland’s wealthiest real estate developers and biggest political power brokers. During his height, he wielded his economic power to craft sweetheart deals that miraculously helped Forest City’s bottom line while supporting a candidate’s election coffer.  I heard far too much about Sam Miller growing up and his ruthless tactics to influence development deals and create the city in his image. He really was the living embodiment of the implicit lesson my grandmother gave me to never fully trust a white man with too much money.

There was one project in particular that created endless fodder for the dining room table—the Cleveland Convention Center—a project that predated my mom’s mayoral campaign and was a major influence in her failed re-election bid.  From my childhood and teenage memory, Sam Miller’s bids for the Convention Center centered on ensuring it was constructed on Forest City property. I remember my father bitching about how his bids for the Convention Center were illogical, expensive and a poor use of municipal funds. The images I crafted in my mind from one particular series of bids was a Convention Center that popped out of Terminal Tower George Jetson style—floating as a pop-out attached to a skyscraper. Now keep in mind I have a very active imagination there is a potential that my imagination did not align with reality. However, my point stands that whatever the proposal was it was illogical enough for me to invent a pop-out Convention Center floating in the sky.

For nearly my entire early life the Convention Center never turned from an idea into a plan in part because one wealthy real estate businessman was lording his power over elected officials. A seemingly endless cycle of another round of conversations, another round of bids, another round of Sam Miller expecting he would win because he was a white wealthy male who used his money to buy political influence.

During my mom’s mayoral term, the Convention Center quagmire continued to drag on. The plan I heard in the early 2000s—or again the image I invented based on what I heard at the dining room table—was a proposal to build the Convention Center on the marshy lakefront property and build land in the water to accommodate the center. I have no proof that the image in my mind’s eye is based on what was actually in the bid but what I came up with was a Convention Center on a slippery slope destined to fall into Lake Erie because the man who proposed it refused to succeed that it should be built on more stable ground further inland.

This was a man who was accustomed to getting his way and not hearing no from Ohio politicians so when my mother turned down his proposal because it was an illogical, impractical, ineffective use of municipal funds he did not take rejection kindly—like many of his ruthlessly capitalistic white male peers, rejection meant war. True he was a savvy businessman but one of the tools of his savviness was the political takedown. It was known around town that you did not say no to the Cleveland business community, and by the Cleveland business community, I mean Sam Miller.

Needless to say, Sam Miller was pissed and he began to play dirty with my mom’s re-election. Seemingly outlandish stories of nail salons refusing to accept Jane Campbell for Mayor nail files because they may risk their leases and almost conspiratorial stories about philanthropic donations having strings attached if leaders came out in public support of my mother swirled around the campaign. When I tried to explain what I saw happening to my friends I just sounded confused. To be fair trying to explain that the grandfather of one of our most volatile and privileged classmates, Max Miller, used his money to help stifle out her political career with the help of nail files sounds really off the walls. I heard “girl I’m lost” more than one time and eventually began to feel like I was living in some distorted reality where conspiratorial truths were just conspiracies and outlandish. Maybe my mom just lost a tough race and Sam Miller had nothing to do with it.

 However, when he passed the Cleveland.com obituary highlighted the truths we already knew:

 In 2005, after Mayor Jane L. Campbell declined to back a Forest City site for a new Cleveland convention center, Miller and the Ratners shifted their considerable political muscle to her most formidable challenger, City Council President Frank Jackson.

Some political observers believed Campbell’s snub sunk her bid for a second term and sealed the election for Jackson. Miller, after all, had cemented his reputation as a political kingmaker 16 years earlier with his support for White’s longshot candidacy.[1]

I suddenly felt vindicated, he did have a role, a significant role and yes nail files had something to do with it. My mom turned down an illogical bid because she didn’t believe it was a good use of space, time, or money. She decided to stand up for what she believed in rather than remain in the pocket of someone that could grease the winning wheels. There are politicians who remain true to their values; however, the role of dark money and ruthless capitalistic businessmen far too often distorts the playing field.

It also begs the question of what is the legacy you leave for the next generation? When I think of how history has looked on my mom, I would say it has been generally kind. She had innovative policies such as defunding the police to invest in children’s welfare and creating infrastructure for the Cleveland Bus Rapid Transit Line and East 9th Street. Yes, she was a flawed mayor just like anyone is, but she did do some projects that have aged well. Plus, I’m biased.

I am not 100% sure of Sam Miller’s legacy—I know his company sold for $6.8 billion dollars recently and he does have an extensive philanthropic record. His money has done good things for a host of communities. However, he also left a legacy of political self-aggrandizement and showmanship embodied by his grandson Max Miller. I can’t speak to the relationship Max and Sam had while he was alive but from my high school days, I know his money helped to create a child of unwonted privilege. I know that his family connections set him on the path to political life and that Politico recently published a 7,000-word scathing rebuke of how he is ill-equipped for political office. I do know Sam Miller’s money helped to create Cleveland’s own Millennial mini-Trump with a history of assault and all.

People constantly say that politicians have no morals or values and are entirely self-serving. I think one peep over at the GOP helps prove that statement. However, I think we should also ask ourselves what kind of politicians are we creating? In this world of transactional politicians where business leaders seem to be at the helm more than legislators half the time, what kind of politicians enter the arena? I wholeheartedly believe that there still are politicians and political aspirants with morals and values who make decisions based on the good of the many rather than the pocketbook of the few. I can’t speak to what kind of political leader my mother’s legacy created but I can tell you this if I ever do go into politics it won’t be with the resounding endorsement of Trump or a feature-length essay that highlights my rap sheet.

[1] https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2019/03/sam-miller-co-chair-of-clevelands-forest-city-enterprises-and-philanthropist-is-dead.html