Cleveland Still Studying LED Retrofit Program

While Mayor Frank Jackson's second effort to tie the purchase of millions of dollars' worth of LED lights to job creation requires competitive bidding, some council members remain skeptical that it's a good deal for the city.

A joint council committee met Wednesday for the first of several hearings on the LED issue. It quickly became evident during the meeting that council opponents of the initial LED legislation are not ready to embrace this latest try.

Those members continued to question whether some of the LED lights the city proposes to buy would save on energy costs, wondered about the wisdom of giving one company a 10-year contract and were unsure if the effort at creating a new economic model for city purchasing is viable. Finally, there continues to be mistrust of the administration.

"This is an issue of integrity that lingers from the previous experience of trying to get the ordinance passed," said Councilman Jeff Johnson.

Darnell Brown, Jackson's chief operating officer, said the new ordinance gives companies the chance to prove claims that they can deliver both LED lights and jobs. The ordinance, which must be approved by council, requires the winning bidder to create at least 350 jobs and build a manufacturing plant and research facility in Cleveland.

"These are exactly the types of jobs that have been drying up in Cleveland," Brown said. "This is about helping Clevelanders compete locally in regards to an advanced energy product."

Jackson proposed earlier this year to give a Chinese company an exclusive contract to provide LED street lights, traffic lights, light bulbs and fluorescent tube replacements in exchange for the company building its North American headquarters in Cleveland and creating 350 jobs.

The mayor pulled the plug on the deal before a planned May 31 council vote. Jackson said he had tainted the process when he announced a deal with Sunpu-Opto Semiconductor Ltd. during his State of the City speech in March even though Cleveland Public Power officials were still gathering proposals from competing lighting companies.

Jackson also acknowledged there were questions about the role of a middleman who had introduced city officials to Sunpu representatives last August. That middleman later became president of the company's proposed U.S. subsidiary.

The new legislation is similar to the Sunpu-Opto piece except that instead of hand-picking the company, the contract will be bid.

Administration officials say the contract provides the city with guarantees and protections should the winning bidder fail to create the required number of jobs or deliver quality LED lights the city needs.

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