Council Meeting Highlights

Oct 11, 2021

Cleveland (October 11, 2021) -– City Council held its regular weekly meeting tonight. The next council meeting will be held Monday, October 18th. Here are tonight’s highlights:

*Approved legislation authorizing the city to enter into agreements with various agencies to provide food cards for low-income families. The efforts were paid for by council members Casino Revenue Funds, which are pools of money that each council member receives to help fund neighborhood projects and other services and programs.

Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones gave a share of his casino funds to the Famicos Foundation to purchase food cards for low and moderate-income Cleveland residents. Councilman Mike Polensek gave to the Greater Collinwood Development Corp. for their purchase of food cards for low-income residents, and Councilman Blaine Griffin gave to the Fairfax Renaissance Development Corp., also for the purchase of food cards for low and moderate-income residents. Ord. Nos. 888, 889 and 891-2021

*Approved legislation authorizing the Director of the Department of Public Works to enter into agreement with Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation for the Old Brooklyn “Brighton Corridor” Placemaking Project through the use of Council President Kevin Kelley’s Ward 13 Casino Revenue Funds. Brighton Park, formerly a landfill in Old Brooklyn that took years to remediate, recently opened. The Cleveland Metroparks and other partners are planning various trails, including one that will run through the property from Pearl Road to West 21st Street, connecting on the Pearl Road side to the existing trail through Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Brookside Reservation. Ord. No. 890-2021

*Approved legislation authorizing the Director of Public Health to accept a grant of more than $2.5 million from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for financial assistance for the operation of the Division of Air Quality and to perform air pollution control activities throughout Cleveland and Cuyahoga County as delegated by Ohio EPA. Ord. No. 838-2021

*Introduced a resolution strongly opposing Issue 24 on the upcoming November ballot, which would establish, through a change in the city charter, an un-elected group of 13 Cleveland residents as a Community Police Commission that would have final authority on disciplining officers.

The resolution notes that this un-elected group of people without police training or expertise would also have final authority over police policies, applications, examinations and training for police recruits. The resolution also states that the unelected Community Police Commission will have immense power but there will be no checks or balances on that power; its orders must be followed, or it can file for injunctive relief; failure of any city officer or employee to follow orders or failure to cooperate is cause for termination; and would eliminate the oversight council now has over the administration’s purchase or contracting of anything over $50,000. Instead, there would be no oversight over the spending, contracting, or hiring in the new sections of the charter.

This council notes that the city’s Safety Department and Division of Police, are already under a federal consent decree and are making significant and positive police reforms.

It also notes that the proposed Issue 24 was not initiated by a majority of Cleveland residents, but was driven and paid for in large part by entities outside of Cleveland and even Ohio. Ord. No. 892-2021

*Introduced legislation authorizing the city to purchase trees, labor and materials needed for forestry services, including planting trees and removing tree stumps and tree waste materials. The purchases authorized by this ordinance may be made through cooperative arrangements with other governmental agencies. The director of Public Works may sign all documents that are necessary to make the purchases, and may enter into one or more contracts with the vendors selected through that cooperative process.

The costs of the contract or contracts will be paid from various city funds and from proceeds from the sale of future bonds. Ord. No. 887-2021.