Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services, a network of clinics that provides medical care to residents throughout Cleveland, is adding to its long list of management troubles. 

The nonprofit, which is desperately trying to avoid being taken over by a court-appointed receiver after defaulting on a loan, stiffed its employees during the holidays. 

That’s right, just before New Year’s Eve, the organization informed staff that they would not get their final scheduled paycheck before year’s end, meaning the employees would have to live off their mid-December paycheck a little longer. 

Citing “insurmountable obstacles,” NEON CEO Willie Austin said the latest checks would be delayed until this week, according to an email to staff obtained by Signal Cleveland. (NEON delayed paychecks a few days in November as well.)

After breaking the latest news, Austin asked employees to give an “even greater level of commitment and performance” to ensure that the organization generates income through services the employees provide.  

Similarly, the organization’s medical director, Dr. Anita Watson, told service providers not to cancel appointments, even if they feel shorthanded. 

“I fully understand your feelings, concerns, and commitment during these unusually trying times,”  Watson wrote in an email to them. “If you do not have the support staff, do what you are able to do. If a nurse is in the building, she can give injectables at least. If anyone stops working it will only hurt future revenue used for supplementing salaries.”

One employee told Signal Cleveland that a few staff members went to  NEON’s headquarters on Payne Ave. to confront Austin about the delayed paychecks but he refused to meet with them. He gave staff a paid day off on Friday as a conciliatory gesture (or to avoid potential confrontation?). 

Austin – whose annual salary is $460,652, according to NEON’s 2023 tax return, the latest available – did not respond to our requests to talk about the latest issues. In the meantime, Austin’s record of troubled management continues to speak loud and clear for him. 

CMSD headquarters to remain put

Thousands of Cleveland Metropolitan School District students will have to change buildings this year because of the district’s plan to cut costs by merging schools and closing buildings. Many teachers and support staff will be changing buildings as well. 

One group of people not trading spaces is the administration staff. They will largely remain at 1111 Superior Ave. downtown. They can’t really move from the building, which was once the headquarters for Eaton Corp., because former CMSD CEO Eric Gordon signed a five-year lease extension in 2023 to stay in the building through July 2028. (CMSD signed a 10-year lease in 2013.) The district currently rents around 90,000 square feet at a 2026 cost of about $1,793,000, not including the $225 a month they pay for each parking space, according to a copy of the lease extension. 

Critics have complained that the former administration should have been better at reading the tea leaves, given the obvious trajectory of the school’s finances and shrinking student population. The new administration has publicly acknowledged the predicament but has suggested that breaking a lease is not an option. 

“I know there are questions about other offices that we have and what we might do with those in the future as other leases end,” CMSD’s current CEO, Warren Morgan, said at a recent school board meeting. “We will have opportunities [in the future] to move offices into other buildings we have. We have done that in the past.”

It’s certainly a math lesson that the school’s shrinking staff will lead to a reduction in the need for administration space in 2028.

New year, new newsletter

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb didn’t start the new year with fireworks or a big announcement. Instead, the savvy political promoter expanded his communications portfolio by launching a Substack newsletter. 

Substack is a platform that offers free and paid newsletters (Bibb’s is free) on a wide range of topics, especially politics, as an alternative to the hellscape of some other social media forums.  

Bibb’s first column entitled, “Four Lessons from My First Term As Cleveland’s Mayor,” is largely a review of his first term accomplishments. He notes that one key takeaway is “Take a Big Swing – Even If It’s Daunting,” which is about his efforts to remake downtown and the waterfront in the face of criticism. 

His top adviser, Ryan Puente, said Bibb plans to use Substack regularly in the new year. 

Signal Cleveland reporters Celia Hack and Franziska Wild contributed to reporting for this week’s column.