Cavs hire Bibb’s finance director, as city prepares to deliver massive subsidies for Dan Gilbert’s riverfront projectChief Finance Officer Ahmed AbonamahCLEVELAND, Ohio -- A top architect of Mayor Justin Bibb’s plan to remake downtown Cleveland, which is expected to provide massive public subsidies to Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s riverfront project, is taking a job with the Cavs.
Since Abonamah was hired by Bibb in 2022 to oversee the city’s finances, he’s played an instrumental role in launching the mayor’s downtown revitalization efforts. Those plans are expected to include tax subsidies for Gilbert’s project, which had been seeking upwards of half a billion dollars in public funds.
The spokesman said the team “evaluated and interviewed multiple individuals from a variety of diverse backgrounds for the role and are confident experience and leadership will bring a new, additive dimension to our team.” As an employee of the Cavaliers, Abonamah will be required to keep his distance when it comes to certain issues with the city.that there is a “strong ethical wall” in Ohio law that prohibits Abonamah, for the next 12 months, “from communicating with anyone in City Hall regarding matters in which he was personally involved.”
Abonamah acknowledged there were “good reasons to ask questions” about the ethics of the move, but in working with Law Director Griffin and Chief Ethics Officer Delante Spencer Thomas in recent months, “we fully analyzed the issues and came away with good confidence… we didn’t see any ethics issues.”