Public Comment

My name is Kevin Willis I live on E.153 and kinsmen and they patching holes and last year they paved all of E.151st last year this was the second year that patch holes and the street is getting worse every year in the winter when they plow it's worse the city and the mayor need to change I'm a tax payer also that's why I voted for you for change.thankyou mr.taxpayer#

Idk who I need to speak with at this point but I'm tired of it and it has to end the victimisation and discrimination along with disrespectful antics towards woman has to completely stop the more I complain the harder my employer is it's a retaliation affect going on at hand .soon it will be in the news if I can't stop this and be heard I work at Humphrey ok station and it's toxic and intolerable

Good Evening, Councilmembers. My name is Brian Siggers and I am proud to serve as the Cleveland Metro Advocacy Director for the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund—the sibling organization of the Ohio Environmental Council which works statewide to advance important policy securing healthy air, clean water, vibrant public lands, as well as a strong democracy for all who call Ohio home. Here in Cleveland, we are pleased to work with community partners to ensure a healthier environment for all Cleveland residents. There are many ordinances you will be voting on this evening that do just that. I am here tonight to specifically urge you to vote in favor of Complete and Green Streets Ordinance (Ordinance 370-2022), sponsored by Council Member McCormack and Mayor Bibb. The Complete and Green Streets Ordinance will improve coordination on road projects among city departments, require street designs to prioritize vulnerable road users, invest in green infrastructure measures, and create an oversight committee to review road projects to ensure the designs meet the needs of all road users. At the OEC Action Fund, we are constantly examining different ways that we can tackle climate change and help cities reduce carbon emissions. Walking and bicycling are zero-emissions modes of transportation—and a solo commuter who switches to transit could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 pounds per day, or more than 4,800 pounds in a year. A National Household Transportation Survey indicated that approximately half of all trips in metropolitan areas are 3 miles or less and 28% of all metropolitan trips are one mile or less—distances that could easily be traversed by foot or bicycle; yet, 72% of trips under one mile are now made by automobile. We know that transportation is not just a minor issue of convenience; it shapes the community members’ access to jobs, education, healthy foods, and health care. According to our partners at Bike Cleveland, nearly 25% of Cleveland households do not have access to a vehicle—and in some neighborhoods, that rate is over 70%. Biking and walking are the most affordable forms of transportation; however, we have not built our city to make biking and walking safe or easy options. Many surveys have found that a lack of sidewalks and safe places to bike are the primary barriers that prevent people from walking or cycling more. With streets designed for 1+ million people, we have to rethink usage of transportation systems, and build towards more equitable, integrated and inter-modal ways to move people to and from their destinations. The updated Complete and Green Streets Ordinance also integrates important green infrastructure elements that help Cleveland ensure better air quality and stormwater management as well. Implementing this equitable transportation policy centered on people, will help to overcome some of the structural challenges that perpetuate disparity and environmental injustice in our city. It is imperative for the health of our environment and the health of our community, that we build our roads for multi-modal use and reduce our carbon emissions. We humbly ask that you vote to pass this ordinance so that the City of Cleveland will help mitigate climate change and support our city’s economic growth. Ultimately, passage of the Complete and Green Streets Ordinance will be a significant step in moving the city towards increased sustainability. Thank you. https://bit.ly/oecaf-cgs-publiccomment

Good evening, My name is Gwen Stembridge and I'm a 11 year resident of Cleveland and proud homeowner in Ward 11. I come to you tonight as a taxpayer, a voter, a white queer woman, and a self described "CLE-vangelist." I believe our government and democracy are working best when those with the most at stake have their needs met. Tonight you have the opportunity to create a commission on Black women and girls in the city of Cleveland. Some people might wonder why we need to create a commission for a specific population within the city. Isn't equality about just treating everyone equally? And sure that language sounds so pretty! But there's one adjustment we need to make. We need to not just treat people with equality but we need to ensure equality of outcomes for our residents and neighbors. There are plenty of studies to show how we are failing our Black Women neighbors when it comes to education, healthcare, and economic opportunity, from outside and inside the City of Cleveland. This is not just a problem for Black Women in Cleveland but it's a problem for us all. Dexter Edgar Converse is quoted as saying that the well being of any country is dependent on the culture of it's women. I would add that the wellbeing of a city like a Cleveland is entirely dependent on the culture of it's Black Women. If Black Women and Girls are not thriving in Cleveland, none of us are thriving. Cleveland cannot fulfill it's purpose until Black Women in Cleveland are THRIVING! This commission will ensure our government is prioritizing and investing in Black Women and Girls so that our city can truly thrive!

I am Dr. T. Carter, founder of Black Women Coping in Community an organization birthed from the plight of the black women coping in Cleveland. Established to provide creative cathartic spaces for black women to engage, be empowered, and supported. As a black woman currently coping in the city of Cleveland of Ohio I am both saddened and excited by the possibilities of this conversation today. I am saddened that it has taken so long for black women to be seen, heard, and acknowledged for our contributions to society and the inequity we endure daily with regard to viability and livability. But also excited that we are no longer the invisible marginalized group. I have personally lived in Cleveland for decades and have experienced every aspect of the oppression and disregard expressed in the Citylab article. I appreciate Mayor Bibb and the new administration for addressing a problem that will not only impact this people group but will improve our community overall. Because when you address the plight of the black woman you address the most prevalent issues that address our society as a whole; race, and gender.

This is a statement by Molly Ryan, PharmD in support of the implementation of a Commission of Black Women and Girls, due to the emergent need to support Black women and girls in Cleveland. As a healthcare worker (pharmacy, Fulbright alumna in Public Health) who seeks to advocate for patients and has provided service in multiple Cleveland establishments and community organizations during the last several years, I am emphasizing the healthcare need and benefits of this ordinance. This Commission can benefit the health needs of Black women and girls not only through direct health-related advocacy, but also indirectly through positively influencing Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), such as matters of the family and community like employment, housing, access to transportation. This ordinance is of significant importance to the health benefits of Black women, since an individual's health outcomes are influenced by SDOH, potentially to a greater extent than the exact medical treatment received. Given the quantity and quality of advanced healthcare resources in Cleveland, it is within the city's responsibility and benefit to improve healthcare access and lower health risks for Black women, girls, and their communities. The Commission of Black Women and Girls (Ordinance No. 373-2022) is an important measure to achieve this goal.

As Chairwoman & Founder of the Women of Color Foundation (20 years ago), we are anxious and excited to bring our resources and network to bear for this amazing effort. I am delighted to be personally involved at whatever level Mayor Justin Bibb, his administration, members of the Cleveland City Council, and others may believe that my 20 years of experience of working in this space and advocating for, and training black women and girls, may be needed. By way of background information, we have a database of over 30,000 emails, 75% of which are women, and more specially, women of color. It is important to note, that for this effort to be successful we must collaborate with partners and allies from all aspects of the community. (No matter their race, gender, and their station in life) We are all in this together, but it is time for black women and girls to be valued and appreciated as a force for a change and equity in the City of Cleveland.

I implore each member of Cleveland City Council to pass emergency Ordinance No. 373-2022, relating to the creation of the Commission on Black Women and Girls. This morning and every morning Black and Brown women and girls wake up to a system that fails them. Racism and sexism against Black and Brown women is under-reported, under-investigated, and under-prosecuted. We must demand better from all of those involved in maintaining civil society. I am an educator. My girls deserve to live in a city and world where they have unbounded possibility. Black women and girls matter. Black women girls deserve better.

I bought an Historical property at 3234 W 43rd St Cleveland Oh 44109 in Jan 2012 and left Berea, Ohio to start my life and the property was a foreclosure from a Wells Fargo Bank. It needed lots of repairs which I’ve spent 85,000 bringing it to code. I fell in love with this old butcher shop from the late 1800s and it will be designated as a Cleveland Landmark in June 2022 or so. Since then I’m 2019 Inspector To y Baraisic had pursued me for minor violations during August of 2019 for painting and minor repairs. However none of my neighbors have been written up for their homes which are worse than mine. I have been singled out “Selective Code Enforcement” which is considered criminal and I feel this is a poor way of handling these situations with homeowners that are low income to moderate income instead of working with them. I have not neglected my property and I was cited during a time right before the weather got bad in 2019 and I was going to fix and paint the next spring which I did. I was placed in a SIP program and since then put heavily under a microscope while my neighbors and neighborhood is in great disrepair along with drug problems and gunfire and theft. Home values are low here. I have cooperated in with my attorney in the program but I am being still treated hostilely. I feel my Constitutional rights to due process are being violated and I have the right to speak at my hearings but I am silenced by Magistrate Embry and held in a continuous loop where my legal correspondence from me and my lawyers aren’t being reviewed and the progress that I’ve done not being recognized and I am being harassed by Tony Baraisic the City’s Inspector who refuses to cooperate and work along with me to help complete my program. I am not a criminal and I am not a thug. I am struggling financially and I feel that code enforcement is being abused and the authority of those overseeing it are overstepping their authority as well. My rights as a home owner are being ignored and the violations are selective and not equal for the neighborhood and others here have gone years without doing anything to their properties. I know I looked them all up. This is illegal and is code enforcement harassment. I want City Council to decriminalize code enforcement for homeowners. It’s ridiculous the way it’s being handled. Councilwoman Jasmine Santana has helped me and Community Housing Solutions has spent along with me over $45000.00 this past year alone on my home and it’s very nice. There is a couple issues I’m working on but the magistrate is not following the guidelines for the SIP docket and this is causing me to not be able to provide food on my table for me and my mother who lives with me. This isn’t supposed to be happening and there needs to be intervention with City Council. I have so much more to say and elaborate on regarding my case and all that I’ve done please allow me to tell you in person one on one. Please let me go before City Council and plead my case to you. You are the legislative body that controls and manages housing code enforcement. Please help me call me. I have been physically sick and I’ll and almost ready for hospitalization because of how I’m being mistreated. I love my home and this isn’t the way to welcome me to Cleveland.

I have been watching cleveland build parks for kids and young adults. Ball parks basket ball parks. Kids and young adults that have these dirt bikes have no place to ride or enjoy having fun on there bikes. An intercity dirt track that can be made from properties of vacant buildings and run by parks and recreation department. I'm an old dirt bike racer and rider and I had to travel a long ways to enjoy my dirt bike. Give the kids your adults a place to enjoy their bikes without having to brake the law. You have the tools too do this. Thanks