Cleveland Councilman Joe Santiago under scrutiny for help to bars

Joe Santiago's first big deed as city councilman helped get a liquor permit for a bar managed by a convicted heroin dealer, records show.

People who lived near Clark Avenue and West 25th Street feared La Copa would bring loud music and rowdy crowds. But Santiago, in his first month on the job in January 2006, wrote to state officials to assure them the sports bar would help revitalize a struggling strip on Cleveland's near West Side.