WEWS-TV5

My office received a telephone call on February 12 from a producer for reporter Duane Pohlman. She conveyed the message that Mr. Pohlman wanted an interview with me sometime in the afternoon on February 13 and that he was broadcasting a story whether I responded or not.

I was informed that she said Mr. Pohlman wanted to talk about "illegal" traffic citations being issued to motorists along Noble Road.

If Mr. Pohlman is not looking to develop a balanced news story but is instead trying to prove a point, I will not participate in any of his lopsided editorial creations just so he can try to create the illusion that he’s fighting for the little guy when he’s championing the cause of speeders.

The little guys in this case are financially struggling cities like East Cleveland that don’t have enough police officers to enforce all its ordinances. Our budgets are being crushed by public employee unions, rising pension and benefits costs, rising fuel and utility costs, unfunded state and federal mandates, a dwindling tax base, predatory lenders, discriminatory banking and insurance practices, failed state oversight and a past history of waste and mismanagement.

The hypocrisy in Mr. Pohlman's reporting is that in one month he calls himself "exposing" East Cleveland for being unable to repair a traffic signal at Euclid & Lakeview, and the next month he wants to criticize a process we're using to improve safety and to keep speeders from damaging traffic signals by forcing them to slow down.

Like other cities, East Cleveland is identifying ways to raise money to cover the cost of damaged city property caused by motorists speeding through the city and crashing into street lights, electric poles, traffic signals, homes, barriers and more. We’re using modern tools to encourage a change in driver behavior. We want speeders to slow down when they drive through East Cleveland.

Does the process have bugs that need to be worked out? Of course it does. But Mr. Pohlman wants to use his power as a reporter to champion the cause of motorists who violate speeding laws and who threaten lives and property.

When Mr. Pohlman is allowed to use the power of WEWS-TV to serve as an advocate for speeders who drive along Noble Road, he and the television station threaten the lives of nearly 300 children who attend a charter school on that very busy street.

If Mr. Pohlman has a question about legality, the City of East Cleveland is governed by its Charter and Ordinances. The authority to pass laws that govern the conduct of motorists on the City’s streets, and how residents and voters of the City of East Cleveland choose to enforce its ordinances, is clearly within the authority of the Mayor and Council. The Council last year approved an ordinance granting the Mayor the authority to implement and manage video mobile traffic enforcement. It is now in effect.

I would encourage WEWS-TV5's news management team to review the outtakes of a previous interview I participated in with Mr. Pohlman.

Mr. Pohlman disrupted my schedule by showing up at City Hall and insisting that I interrupt my scheduled meeting with another group of individuals to talk to him for 15 minutes. He was accommodated with a 15-minute appointment later in the afternoon and arrived 20 minutes late.

Mr. Pohlman censored statements from me which balanced the story that eventually was broadcast on the air, and inserted snippets of statements from me that enhanced his own point of view. There was an interview with me broadcast a month later as if it had occurred the very same day it appeared on the air. The story was all about "him" and had nothing to do with the truth. In the end, Mr. Pohlman wanted me to be a prop in a story whose "look viewers I saved the day" ending he had already scripted. He wanted to show viewers that he had found poor ol' East Cleveland some help in getting a traffic signal fixed at Euclid & Lakeview. Outtakes will show that all facts were bent so he could achieve his goal.

As a former journalist, I’m not afraid of other journalists. I’ll talk to any reporter who respects my point of view as a public official and treats it fairly. I’m not, however, going to participate in lopsided portrayals of my city and its policies.

As such, I have no interest in participating in the forum currently being offered by WEWS-TV5 and Mr. Pohlman

I’ll be more than happy to participate in an informed discussion with informed people about this particular topic in an open and unedited forum hosted by WEWS. That setting would allow for a free flowing discussion between many different parties of interest.

The Honorable Eric J. Brewer, Mayor
City of East Cleveland