Mayor Bibb's Port of Cleveland board appointments prompt shakeup on Lakewood City Council

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb has named a slate of nominees to the Port of Cleveland board of directors, including one recommendation that would cause a shakeup on suburban Lakewood City Council.

One of Bibb’s nominees is Lakewood Council President Dan O’Malley, the executive secretary of the North Shore Federation of Labor.

Members of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority can’t hold other public office. If his appointment is approved by Cleveland City Council, O’Malley would have to leave his West Side suburban council seat.

“I really loved being on council, and I felt like I was in some ways just hitting my stride,” O’Malley told Ideastream Public Media. “But it’s something I feel is a really good opportunity for me to bring a different voice to that table on behalf of my membership, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

If O’Malley leaves Lakewood’s council, Vice President John Litten would become the interim council president until a replacement is elected. The body will fill O’Malley’s seat on council in an open, public process, Litten said.

Bibb also nominated April Miller Boise, an executive vice president at Eaton, and Teleangé Thomas, the chief operations and relationship officer at Jump Start.

The mayor re-nominated two current port board members, FirstMerit Bank Senior Vice President J. Stefan Holmes and MVP Group CEO Darrell McNair.

O’Malley will become the new voice of organized labor on the board, replacing building trades leader Dave Wondolowski, whose term ended Jan. 31. The new mayor did not reappoint Wondolowski, who was a vociferous supporter of Bibb’s general election opponent, Kevin Kelley.

Wondolowski said he was proud of his work on the board, including supporting prevailing wage rules for port-financed development projects. He added that the mayor’s appointments are the mayor’s to make.

“It was something we expected,” Wondolowski said, “and I certainly wish my successors all the best.”

As the AFL-CIO umbrella group for organized labor in the area, the North Shore Federation of Labor counts the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council as one of its affiliates.

But the two labor groups backed opposing candidates in last year’s mayoral primary. The building trade unions were stalwart Kelley supporters. They gave $50,000 to an anti-Dennis-Kucinich super PAC that also attacked Bibb in a mailer. The North Shore Federation of Labor endorsed Kucinich in the primary and was neutral in the general election.

In addition to handling shipping traffic into Cleveland, the port is a major player in financing real estate development in the area. Six seats on the nine-member board are appointed by the mayor of Cleveland. The other three are appointed by the Cuyahoga County executive.

Cleveland City Council’s appointments committee has not yet scheduled hearings or a vote on Bibb’s nominees.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the North Shore AFL-CIO endorsed Bibb in last year's mayoral general election. In fact, the labor federation was neutral.

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