Public Comment

The opaque map process is another reason people in Cleveland think the City government and council is ineffective. I urge you to revisit Ward 15. Lumping Tillman Ave in to Kerrys ward (love him) makes too large a ward to have anyone listen or affect resident concerns. Looking at the map that someone put the Council peoples homes on it seems someone has a grudge against Jenny to lump her into Kerry's ward (that bump out - come on). Lets get this fixed and please act more professional and inclusive in the new year.

These maps SHOULD NOT be implemented without community input and comment. The decision to group the Detroit Shoreway, and specifically Battery Park, into the new Ward 7, while carving out our immediate neighbors along W 74-W 78th Streets to the south makes no sense. It actually breaks an existing (and long-standing and active Block Club) into two separate wards. I can now walk to new Ward 11 residents by crossing the street, but to reach many of my new Ward 7 counterparts, I literally have to drive 30 minutes away. Placing the 3 most active NWS neighborhoods (Ohio City, Tremont and Detroit-Shoreway) into a single ward also makes no sense as one councilmember will be hard-pressed to address the issues across all 3 of these actively evolving areas. Carving the wards into North/South slices like a loaf of bread ignores the already established connections between neighbors across sections grouped more closely and with more common needs (schools, construction, roads, traffic, etc.). For Ward 11, it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to travel from the north end (Lake Erie) to the south end (basically Brooklyn) by car without LEAVING the Ward with the exception of Ridge Road (which appears to be the dividing line, so if you're driving in the southbound lanes - you might not be in the Ward ...). The new Ward 11 suspiciously carves out current property - and land with first right of refusal - owned by one developer (JRoc) at the most northeastern end of the Ward - while placing IMMEDIATELY adjacent residents ACROSS the street in Ward 7, so any concerns about future development will need to be addressed to a Councilmember who has no accountability to some of the most impacted residents. The pressure from City Planning to build high-rise, massed, market rate apartments on the lakefront appears to be well-supported by this new Ward structure, taking the north west section of Ward 15 and breaking it into Ward 11, where the new Councilmember will have to focus from Brooklyn to the Lake, while developers take over everything north of Lake from W 76th to Clifton. These Wards appear to be designed to the advantage of some entity - because the re-structuring to north/south design is very clear - but it completely ignores the long-standing relationships neighbors have built within our communities - and breaks up vocal and active groups into small pieces falling under different Councilmembers and (in Ward 7) grouping neighborhoods with extremely different goals. In the new Ward 7, our neighborhood (former Ward 15) has a high concentration of families with school age children (vs. Ohio City and Tremont), so our needs and goals as a community are very different from those neighborhoods. But that appears to not be taken into account by these new maps, either. These maps do not represent how people in Cleveland live, interact and advocate. They appear to be drawn to reduce the impact of existing vocal community groups and dilute opposition to goals clearly expressed by members of the current Bibb Administration. These maps SHOULD NOT be implemented without community input and comment.

Why does public comment not start registering at 12pm on Wednesday like it says and why is it only for the first 10 people? The Residents are being deprived

The newly drawn ward map, splitting the Shaker Square neighborhood literally in half belies belief. In proposed map council representation depends on which side of Moreland Boulevard one lives--east side new Ward 3, West side Ward 6. Moreland Boulevard runs directly through Shaker Square. And Shaker Square, one of the most historic and important commercial districts in the City, and an area that has been heavily invested in by the taxpayers recently, is literally split in half on the map. Rather than providing our neighborhood with unified representation, which it sorely needs, this map makes a mockery of the concept of a neighborhood and all it represents to anyone who lives in, and identifies, with one. This is a terrible decision and I urge Council to please GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD to unify Shaker Square and its surroundings into one cohesively represented neighborhood at City Hall.

After supporting Issue 1 to make the redistricting process fair in Ohio, I am disheartened to see City Council considering enacting maps for their own districts with minimal public input and little consideration for community representation. As a resident of the proposed Ward 3, I see little rational basis in the grouping of communities I may soon share Council representation with. While I may soon share a Councilmember with Slavic Village, many of my neighbors just a block or two away in the Shaker Square and Larchmere area will now find themselves in Ward 6—seemingly arbitrarily. My hope is that Council will change course, and undertake a more transparent, more representative, and more democratic redistricting process.

I live on West 65th Street north of Detroit Avenue in current Ward 15. The proposed map splits Ward 15 across three new wards and moves my address – and more than half of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood – into new Ward 7 with Ohio City and Tremont. I think Council should reconsider these changes. The three current Ward 15 neighborhoods – Cudell, Detroit Shoreway, and Edgewater – share common geography, interests, and community organizations. Splitting us across three wards without regard for neighborhood boundaries or shared interests runs contrary to Council President Griffin’s originally stated goals for the redistricting process and will result in a reduced voice for our shared interests. I understand that the redistricting process will be imperfect given the charter requirements and realities of Cleveland’s population trends, but the proposed map falls below an acceptable level of imperfection. At the very least, Council should consider rejoining Detroit Shoreway as part of one ward separate from Ohio City and Tremont.

Dear Council Members: I am concerned that the new City Ward Map does not acknowledge and value the cohesiveness of neighborhoods. For instance, current Ward 15, except for the "Brady dogleg" that cuts through Cudell and Edgewater from Jefferson, makes a lot of sense. It consists primarily of three neighborhoods: Edgewater, Cudell and Detroit Shoreway. It is compact, cohesive, and shares common interests. Further, it has likely increased in population rather than decreased. The new ward map divides 15 into three pieces without regard to neighborhood boundaries and divvies them off in different directions. In particular, the new map divides three adjacent neighborhoods in half without necessity, namely Edgewater, Cudell and West Blvd., splitting them between two different new wards These neighborhoods could easily be kept together, and their neighborhood interests and character maintained, and properly represented. While I don't have complete information regarding population and neighborhood boundaries, most of the maps on Council's website created by city residents look more neighborhood friendly and fairer to residents than the one presented to the public. Without having fully explored them all, I find Map 4 very promising in maintaining as many neighborhood boundaries as possible. I do hope that the final map is more about residents and neighborhoods than politicians. Thank you for your honest, fair minded and impartial consideration of this matter, Chris Murray

I am writing to let you know about my concern about the proposed configuration of downtown Cleveland. Currently, my building is in Councilman McCormack's ward. The current configuration is, for the lack of a better word, a monstrosity of a district that would make the original gerrymandering king, Gov. Elbridge Gerry, proud. Downtown is the fastest-growing neighborhood in the city, with development in both commercial property and residential properties bringing in more jobs and residents. Because of this, we deserve a downtown-core-centric ward that represents our interests as Clevlanders. Specifically, there is no reason for the proposed wards 5 and 7 to split downtown right at Public Square and divide the most populated sections of the downtown core. Further, Ward 5 snaking down into the Industrial Valley and Slavic village is a peculiar choice that does not respect communities of interest (COI). We are all aware Cleveland is not competitive at the partisan level, but council members do hold different opinions about key issues locally. Downtown residents deserve a ward that keeps our voice united, and the current map does not do that and actively undermines our voice. While Council President Giffin did state no major changes would be made to this map, there needs to be. This process has been more open and transparent than ever before, so you must listen to Clevelanders. If that means reconfiguring certain wards, then do so because that is what we are asking you to do as our representatives.

The planned Wards 7 and 11 as drawn specifically break up an existing Block Club area. The Edgewater Hill Block Club has a long history of advocacy for the neighborhood from W 70th to W 78th from Detroit to the railroad tracks. This group was instrumental in keeping the pedestrian tunnel to Edgewater open and worked with Council, City Planning and other groups to ensure the successful development of Battery Park. With the addition of Battery Park this block club re-aligned to ensure cooperation and representation from the existing (legacy) residents and new residents in Battery Park (and more recent developments in the community). This new map literally breaks the legacy neighborhood off from Battery Park and and other parts of this active community. This plan did not take into account the decades long history of this group - or it did, with the goal to silence a group that speaks out and organizes to advocate for our community. Breaking up this neighborhood from north to south ignores how the residents have formed their own bonds through decades of change. We are strongly aligned as a community north of Detroit Avenue. Splitting us in two serves no purpose other than to reduce our interrelationship and silence our collective voice. We ask that the planned split of Wards 7 and 11 be reviewed and our community remain intact. Thank you. Abbe DeMaio Co-chair, Edgewater Hill Block Club

Not sure why Edgewater Park has been separated from the Edgewater Neighborhood. Use the Shoreway as a boundary and keep the park with the neighborhood in the new Ward 12. This in no way will alter the population numbers, not even by one single resident. As it stands now, the new Ward 11 will have both Edgewater Park on the north and the Zoo on the south. Let Ward 11 have the Zoo. Let Ward 12…and the Edgewater Neighborhood…have Edgewater Park. Also, the new Ward 7: Detroit-Shoreway, Ohio City, Tremont, the Flats East & West Bank, the Warehouse District and the entirety of the lakefront from Edgewater Yacht Club to the east end of Burke Lakefront Airport. That’s quite a ward. What happened here?? WOW!!!