Earl Leiken’s Political Corruption Led to Horrors at the Cuyahoga County Jail

Key points

• Former Shaker Heights Mayor Earl Leiken significantly increased his salary in early 2018 by taking a job as chief of staff for County Executive Armond Budish, who had a history of using that position as a sinecure.
• Deaths and suicide attempts at the Cuyahoga County Jail skyrocketed after Leiken’s hiring, prompting the US Marshals to call it “one of the worst county jails in the country” in November 2018.
• Reports show Leiken ignoring emails from jail staff in desperate need of his help.
• The one time Leiken was reported as showing up to deal with the problems at the jail, it was to get a jail whistleblower fired.
• There are several lawsuits against Leiken relating to his role in the inhumanity at the jail.
• On May 11, 2021, prominent Shaker Heights Democrats co-hosted a fundraiser with Leiken as if the above never happened.

A Note on “Political Corruption”

Political corruption is a betrayal of the public trust. One form of political corruption is political patronage. For example, when an elected official hands a lucrative job (known as a “sinecure”) to a supporter, friend, or relative who can’t or won’t do the job competently, that’s patronage. Both the elected official who bestows the job and the friend who accepts the job are engaging in political corruption.

To feature a corrupt official at a political event, absent any apology or accountability for their corruption, is to condone a culture of corruption at the expense of the public.

Why I’m Writing This

A May 11 fundraising event for Shontel Brown’s congressional campaign was co-hosted by Earl Leiken alongside three of Shaker Heights’ most influential Democrats.

The fact that such prominent Shaker Heights Democrats would consider Leiken to be an attractive co-host for such an event tells me that most Shaker Heights residents are not aware of the scandalous year Earl Leiken had after resigning as Shaker Heights Mayor in early 2018.

Considering the implications for our political futures, I feel it would be irresponsible of us to allow this story to be swept under the rug. So, I compiled some of the best reporting on Earl Leiken’s 2018 from sources including CNN, Cleveland Magazine, Scene, cleveland.com, and Cleveland19. I hope the knowledge you gain here inspires you to help organize against the forces that have fostered such corruption in our political culture.

A review of the reporting on Leiken’s 2018 reveals a disturbing narrative

After resigning as mayor in February 2018, Leiken increased his salary from $87,000 to $149,000 (and his pension accordingly) when he was appointed as Chief of Staff to his old friend, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish. Because Budish’s previous Chief of Staff had resigned in disgrace after it was reported that Budish had allowed her to pursue a degree on work time, it was worth wondering: Would Leiken’s hiring be another sinecure, or would he embrace the responsibilities of the job and help turn things around for the Budish administration?

In the months after Leiken’s hiring, deaths and suicide attempts at the Cuyahoga County Jail skyrocketed. This stemmed from Budish’s efforts to monetize jail regionalization and prop up his bigoted and unqualified Jail Director, who was covering up a catastrophic nursing shortage. The US Marshals investigated and, in November 2018, described the jail as “inhumane,” and “one of the worst county jails in the country.” In response, activists (including me) launched the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition in December 2018 in order to put an end to the inhumanity.

(We later learned that an April 2018 email had alerted Budish and Leiken to the “critical nursing shortage.” I don’t know if Leiken read that email, but the problem was not addressed.)

On December 10, the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition staged our first action at a Cuyahoga County Council meeting attended by Armond Budish. Approximately 23 speakers rose to speak out against the conditions at the jail. The county was on notice, and if Earl Leiken were showing up for his job, he should have been, too. And yet, two weeks later…

“Please, please, please.” On Christmas Day 2018 (shortly after announcing his resignation as Chief of Staff, but before leaving office), Leiken got an email from Budish asking if the suicide prevention measures that had been urgently requested by jail staff on December 3 had been made yet. No response. Then: “Two days after Christmas, 27-year-old inmate Brenden Kiekisz hanged himself in his cell.” One imagines a more involved Chief of Staff would have taken care of the issue earlier in the month when it was first brought up. As mentioned earlier, it was later revealed that Leiken and Budish were first alerted to similar problems a full eight months earlier, on April 18. (More on that later.)

But Leiken was not entirely a no-show Chief of Staff padding his pension. Another cleveland.com report describes him accompanying Budish to help coerce MetroHealth CEO Akram Boutros into firing whistleblower Gary Brack, a nurse at the jail who had testified before County Council the day before. Cleveland.com’s Adam Ferrise describes a dramatic scene, as Boutros is caught off guard and intimidated by Budish and Leiken. Leiken’s job was to smear Brack’s whistleblowing as “unprofessional”:

The day after Brack’s testimony, Budish called an emergency meeting with Boutros and said he was bringing then-Chief of Staff Earl Leiken. Boutros told investigators he thought they’d finally discuss ways to fix the problems at the jail, the affidavit says.

He was wrong.

For the first 10 minutes, Leiken read pages of notes he took describing the various ways Brack’s testimony had been “unprofessional.” Budish told Boutros that the county’s relationship with Brack was “irretrievably broken,” that he would not allow Brack to enter the jail and that MetroHealth was “obligated” to remove him from his job.

Boutros told investigators that Budish’s presented his demands in a way that he felt “intimidated” and that if he pushed back, it would launch an “all-out war” between the county and MetroHealth, according to the search warrant affidavit. Boutros declined to comment for this story through spokesman Mike Tobin.

Boutros said Budish held significant financial leverage over the public hospital system, according to the affidavit. Budish also appointed several MetroHealth board members who oversaw Boutros’ operation. Boutros told investigators that he felt if he didn’t remove Brack from the jail, Boutros’ plans for a $946 million expansion of the hospital’s main campus, and Boutros plans to expand MetroHealth’s reach outside of Cuyahoga County could be at risk.

He also said he needed Budish’s political clout in Columbus to help ensure state lawmakers passed legislation that allowed MetroHealth to provide services in the surrounding counties, the affidavit says.

Leiken backed up those claims and told investigators Budish knew Boutros needed his support for the projects, according to a written statement Leiken gave to prosecutors described in the search warrant affidavit.

Boutros told Budish that County Council members would see Brack’s removal as retaliation and that they’d be “livid.” Budish “demanded to know” if Boutros was threatening him, according to the search warrant affidavit.

“Boutros stated that he perceived that the Hospital’s mission would be in jeopardy due to Budish’s demand and that no single employee — including himself — was more important than the Hospital’s mission, so he agreed” to remove Brack from his post at the jail, according to the affidavit.

As soon as Boutros acquiesced, Budish started talking about ways to cut MetroHealth’s budget, the affidavit says.

“Boutros stated that he perceived Budish’s budget-cutting discussion as a punishment for Gary Brack’s actions,” the affidavit says.

MetroHealth officials later fired Brack after he refused to take another position within the hospital system. He has since sued the county and MetroHealth.

Sam Allard reported in Scene that in the ensuing lawsuit filed by the whistleblower, Nurse Gary Brack, Budish allegedly withheld evidence that suggests Leiken (or, at least, a competent Chief of Staff) could have prevented the entire crisis at the jail.

[The new lawsuit] alleges that Budish failed to produce existing records which would have showed he knew about the critical nursing shortage as early as April, 2018, weeks before the first of eight inmates died that year.

Keenan’s April email to Budish and then Chief of Staff Earl Leiken sounded the alarm in explicit terms. She said nursing vacancies, low wages and a failure to attract new hires was creating risk for the county, referencing the potential for legal settlements if inmates died.

They were alerted in April and did nothing! One can only imagine what horrors could have been prevented at the jail if the Chief of Staff position were occupied by a dedicated public servant.

On the Chandra Law Blog, you can read about this and other lawsuits against Leiken, Budish, and others for alleged crimes such as “deliberate indifference” to the medical needs of inmates and the violation of inmates’ rights. The posts also include more context and more details, such as statements made by Leiken, the text of the emails referenced above, and Leiken’s legal obligations as chief of staff.

We Must Not Let This Blow Over With No Accountability

I could find no record of any attempt by Leiken to accept responsibility for, or even to offer any acknowledgement of, his role in the inhumanity at the jail nor his betrayal of the public trust in accepting a sinecure. Indeed, judging by official statements upon Leiken’s resignation, Leiken and Budish tried to manufacture a narrative to ensure that the scandal of Leiken’s tenure would blow over. Leiken’s statement was perfectly bland, as if all was well: “The County is doing great and important work. I am sorry that I will not be able to participate in all that we have planned. I have very much enjoyed my time with the dedicated staff and wish everyone the very best.” Meanwhile, Budish’s statement upon Leiken’s resignation was: “Earl has been a terrific and effective chief of staff. I am truly grateful for the way in which he stepped in when I asked him to, and I also support his choice, though I am sorry to see him go. I and my entire leadership team will miss him.” These statements not only misrepresent the desperate situation in the county and Leiken’s role, they are appalling insults (“enjoyed my time,” “terrific and effective”) to those who suffered and died as a result of Leiken’s tenure.

That such a well-reported and scandalous story from multiple reporters and publications could go largely unnoticed by the public reveals a critical problem. Not until we find the capacity to acknowledge and reckon with such betrayals of the public trust will Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga County, or the CCDP be able to overcome their multiple ongoing crises, let alone thrive.

Keith Wilson

Co-founder of The Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition

Co-founder of Shaker Heights for Black Lives

(Image from cleveland.com)