Cleveland will investigate a council employee for allegedly "improperly" downloading thousands of public records, sparking a heated conflict between Mayor Justin Bibb and City Council leadership who say the administration "threatened" council staff.
The administration said Steven Rys, a special assistant to council who has had access to the city's public records database since 2017, downloaded 2,200 documents over several years, calling the move "unacceptable." A spokesperson said those documents contained sensitive information like social security numbers, along with medical and victim information that the public records department typically redacts when documents are requested.
"We don't know what he did with those, who he shared those with, if he shared them with anybody," said Tyler Sinclair, a spokesperson for Bibb, at a press briefing at City Hall on Tuesday. "And that's the scary part."
Sinclair said outside counsel will be conducting an investigation to make determinations about how that information was used.
City Council President Blaine Griffin vehemently denied any wrongdoing by Rys. In a letter sent Tuesday morning to council members, he outlined a "troubling situation." He said members of the administration threatened to federally prosecute Rys or go to the media if council did not immediately fire him.
"There is no evidence whatsoever that any downloaded files were leaked or used for anything other than his work for council," Griffin told reporters in a briefing down the hall from the Mayor's office immediately following the administration's meeting. "Blaming Steve for accessing files that were made available to him is like giving someone a library card and then accusing them of wrongdoing for looking at the books on the shelves provided by the librarian. It's unfair, and it's a desperate attempt to distract from the administration's own failure to properly manage its public records database."
The administration denied Griffin's allegations of threats, but members cited concerns which included potential violation of state and federal laws. Sinclair said he's "not sure" if there's any evidence of Rys using the information improperly.
"I'm really disappointed because we have gone above and beyond to try to be a partner and work with the administration, but I'm the council president," Griffin said. "No message boy is going to give me any kind of ultimatums."
Griffin said Rys frequently acts on his behalf to get information to inform legislative decisions. He said Rys violated no policy. The city has not yet responded to Ideastream's request for any policy violation regarding public records.
The city said they first noted Rys was accessing "confidential" emails in May 2024 during a routine check, at which point they began putting "guardrails" in place that Rys allegedly avoided. The administration said an audit conducted this month found Rys had downloaded more than 2,000 records since Bibb took office in 2021, but only 13 records in the years prior.
A member of the administration, speaking on background, said that no one at City Hall had ever done anything like that. They said council members and employees should follow the same public records procedures as the public by filing requests and waiting for legal review and any redactions to be made. Griffin said the process often takes too long, citing a councilmember's records request that's been outstanding for three months.
The dueling press briefings were contentious at times. Spokespeople from council and Bibb's office sniped at one another. Griffin said he was "pissed off," alleging political motivations to divide council and lobbing accusations of a lack of transparency from the administration.
Sinclair maintained Bibb's administration is transparent, citing the city's implementation of an open data portal and the creation of specific positions to manage public records, of which they say they receive more than 30,000 each year.
"In terms of [the Bibb administration's] transparency and responsiveness, you haven't seen that level here at City Hall, at least in the 21st century, as far as I know," Sinclair said. "You had a previous administration whose families were tied up in criminal affairs and whose policy was to not even engage the media, so when there are allegations of 'Bibb doesn't respond publicly, the Bibb Administration doesn't fulfill records requests,' or what have you... that is patently false. It's an affront to this administration."
Sinclair was seemingly referring to former Mayor Frank Jackson, whose great-grandson was sentenced to prison in 2023 for murdering a man whose family was linked to the fatal shooting of his uncle.
"I heard that the press secretary, the message boy, had the audacity to try to blame past administrations for not being transparent and other things," Griffin said in response to Sinclair's comments. "Shame on him to try to take advantage of somebody's tragedy and try to blame somebody."
Griffin said he will never take action to negatively impact Cleveland's residents, but he said there will be "legislative constipation" for some of Bibb's policies making their way through council.
"If they want smoke, they can get it," Griffin said.
The administration has already begun reviewing who has access to the database and revoking access for some.
