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Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's administration has asked City Council to approve a no-bid contract with the police and fire training academy run by Jackson's brother.

(Plain Dealer file photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's administration wants to award a $732,000, no-bid contract for training firefighters, rescue workers and police to Cuyahoga Community College's Public Safety Institute -- an agency that one of Jackson's brothers runs.

City officials say that seeking competitive bids for the training is unnecessary because no other training organization in the area offers the full scope of certifications that Cleveland is looking for.

The fact that Jackson's brother, Anthony Jackson, has served as director of the institute since 2009 poses no conflict of interest for the mayor, Assistant Safety Director Edward Eckart said in an interview Monday.

"That's ridiculous," Eckart said. "If the mayor hasn't proven his commitment to the city and his impeccable reputation as it relates to these kinds of issues by now -- I think you should be embarrassed asking that question, quite frankly."

But good government advocate Catherine Turcer, a policy analyst with Common Cause Ohio, said in an interview Tuesday that the potential conflict is clear.

"There is a reason for good scrutiny of contracts, and that is because public dollars are often wasted," Turcer said. "And in this case, a family member's economic well-being is connected to a contract. How do they know that they're selecting the best vendor if they didn't begin a bid process? That's like saying, 'This is the best oatmeal I've ever tasted, but I only tried one.'"

If approved by council, the contract would all but bring an end to more than a century of in-house training of city firefighters. The fire department has been training its own cadets since 1863 and began its official fire academy in 1965, said Fire Union President Frank Szabo in a recent interview.

Unlike other cities that outsource training and keep new firefighters on probation for six months, Cleveland's firefighters are ready to hold their own on Day 1, Szabo said.

Per the union's contract, before the city can subcontract for services currently performed by union members, the administration must give the union a chance to submit a counter-proposal, Szabo said. The union did so and argued that Cleveland firefighters could train cadets more cheaply than Tri-C, he said. But the city rejected the proposal, prompting the union to file a grievance, which is set for a hearing before an arbitrator in early December, Szabo said.

Szabo said administrators began talking about outsourcing training after eight firefighters were disciplined for urinating on the photo of former Chief Darryl McGinnis in a bathroom urinal. He said the incident took place at a party following a fire academy.

The union's relationship with the administration further soured in March, when the union voted down a collective bargaining agreement that would have integrated the city's fire and emergency medical services, Szabo said.

Eckart cited a different fire department scandal in explaining the city's reason for wanting to outsource training.

Last year, the city launched an audit of firefighters' training records after a Plain Dealer Publishing Company records request revealed that then-Chief McGinnis had completed only 22 of the required 40 hours of continuing education between 2009 and 2012. McGinnis was relieved of duty pending an internal investigation and later retired, only six months after taking office.

Under the Tri-C contract, Eckart said, firefighters would no longer have to report their own training hours to the Ohio Department of Public Safety. The college would send quarterly training reports to both the city and state.

Eckart also said that the city had to pay as much as $500,000 a year in overtime to back-fill shifts at the fire stations while firefighters staffed the training academy.

Using Tri-C as the primary training grounds would free up Cleveland firefighters to develop more expansive training programs on daily operating procedures and protocols, he said, adding that Tri-C graduates would still have to take about two weeks of Cleveland-specific training.

Earlier this month, Tri-C opened its $11.4-million Public Safety Training Center on 10 acres in Parma and Parma Heights.

William Gary, executive vice president of the college's Workforce and Economic Development Division, said in an interview Tuesday that the institute trains about 350 police and fire cadets each year. Another 3,000 police officers and firefighters use the institute for continuing education classes.

He said he expects Anthony Jackson, who makes $88,000 a year, to expand the program.

"I've asked our program directors, including Anthony, to help me develop a strategic plan here that would increase our footprint," Gary said. "I see the directors' role as not only being subject matter experts, but also helping to identify potential clients we can serve."

Council members said the Jackson administration's recently introduced legislation will not be heard by council's Safety Committee this year. Council President Kevin Kelley said that the committee is facing higher priority issues, including gun violence and the city's increasing number of homicides.

Safety Committee Chairman Matt Zone said too many unanswered questions surround the proposal.

"The administration is asking council to do something significantly different from the way we have been training our police and fire forces," Zone said. "We need to know if there's a real need for this. Is it going to make our officers better trained and save the city money? What will happen to the old facilities? Honestly, this is a ways away. I'm not about to approve legislation just because the administration wants it."