Public Comment

City Council is wise to carefully consider the City administration’s abrupt shift in focus for the use of $10 million in ARPA federal aid set aside for housing assistance. In fact, City Council would be especially wise to be skeptical of the overly complex and grandiose plan the City has conjured up and brought forward, the details of which will take extreme vetting to assure that the City’s residents ever realize any benefit. The bulk of the benefit seems destined to go to the developers, construction companies and banks. Why is this administration so obsessed with developer profits? Why can’t it focus on community wealth-building, as in helping individual residents get ahead with living wage jobs, home ownership, small business development and affordable housing, as opposed to building the wealth of developers? Why can’t they invest more in critical infrastructure that will actually draw people to neighborhoods, like high performing public schools and safe streets? A strong city is built incrementally, one neighborhood at a time, one block at a time and this convoluted program envisioned by the City seems like just another corporate welfare scheme for business, wrapped in social justice bromides that may or may not ever come to pass. We’ve seen this movie in Cleveland repeatedly and we know exactly how it ends, just like Opportunity Zones, which ended up simply being more opportunities for rich people to get richer. Cleveland has been subsidizing wealthy developers in a variety of mechanisms for decades, yet Cleveland remains one of the poorest big cities in the United States. How do developers’ political and philanthropic contributions affect the City’s decision-making? Cleveland has a long history of the business community driving the civic agenda here, so much so that the local business cabal here has been known as the Shadow City Hall. And the business community has done quite well, hasn’t it? Just take a ride around Chagrin Falls, Avon or Gates Mills. Our Mayor said it quite clearly himself, “Cleveland is open for business!” No kidding. A great example is the inscrutable decision to move forward with an ostentatiously unnecessary, massively expensive (soon to be boondoggle) land bridge. Who influenced that decision? Developers, attorneys, construction contractors, banks, insurance companies and a billionaire-owned sports franchise that all stand to make a financial killing, no doubt. No taxpayer with a functioning brain is for this, unless they stand to make money on it. That’s the way decisions are made in Cleveland. Profits before people. Meanwhile, the City throws chump change at the problem of unhoused people and makes it sound like it’s a big deal. It’s not, and it’s shameful. One also need only look at the firing of Tessa Jackson to see how the untoward influence of powerful developers corrupts this city. Were they involved in this decision on the ARPA funds? Did they influence the bank who is driving this idea? The sales pitch made by the City for this ARPA money smells a lot like something a developer would have cooked up, frankly. It feels a lot like the City is carrying the developers’ water, yet again. Instead of direct assistance to residents that would drive community based wealth, the City is proposing a massive subsidy for developers, and it’s not at all clear that those developers will be predominantly from the community. In any case, developers are in the business of making money, lots of money, and they are in the business of promoting and capturing lavish public subsidies and guarantees to do so while taking little or no risk. It’s a great deal the developers have, to be sure. How closely will these developers be screened? Will we know who is actually owning our city, or will ownership be hidden behind an opaque phantom LLC? Cleveland has a long history of allowing questionable (and dirty) investment from all over the world into our real estate market with disastrous consequences. Will these developers be backed by foreign, hedge fund or private equity money? Will the City understand the developers’ business model, what they stand to make in profit on their investment and how much economic value will be extracted from and flow up and away from our community? Why do we trust developers to play by rules the City is incapable of enforcing anyway? Every neighborhood deals with ubiquitous developer marketing hocus pocus, as we certainly have in Little Italy. Big promises are made to get approvals, then there is anemic follow-through on commitments to the community and zero code compliance enforcement by the City. We see it every day here. Corporate properties not maintained, raising rents, deferring maintenance, an historic building left to fall apart, the overflowing dumpster with no screening, a discarded mattress, the cracked and disintegrating parking lot surface and minimal and unhealthy landscaping abound. A fact of neighborhood life in Cleveland: corporate neighbors are LOUSY neighbors. Who owns our city is critical, and local and community ownership is essential, by individuals and families as much as possible. City Council is on the right track: community wealth-building. Helping residents to own and rehabilitate property, homes, apartment buildings and businesses so the wealth stays in the community and recirculates. Developers extract wealth from the community, pure and simple. And who knows where in the world that wealth ultimately lands? So, to the maximum extent possible, direct assistance to give individuals living in our neighborhoods a crack at generating some wealth and pursuing the American dream is preferred. To the extent developers are utilized at all, they must be proven to be truly local and backed by demonstrably local financing, and they must deliver substantive, predictable and measurable community benefits as a matter of routine. And City Council needs to assure that the City administration is not being unduly influenced by the rich political donor class from the business community, and in particular wealthy developers and their power broker attorneys. Thank you.

I am a resident of the 4th ward and our CDC is Burton Bell Carr. They are to help out the residents with many different grants, classes and other things. I need some repairs on my home and put in an application October 2023 but heard nothing till December 2023 and no help just a phone call. 2024 came around and I put in another application April 2024 and was informed that the person in charge went on paternity leave with no one trained to step in. Burton Bell Carr sent my application to a suburb which isn't a Cleveland Ward. It was confusing and strange to be sent to a suburb that has it's own constituents to take care of. It is now August 2024 and have heard from neither of these companies. I contacted the president of the the City Council Blaine Griffin who also has Burton Bell Carr as their CDC along with Ward 5 and asked him has his ward been receiving actual services from Burton Bell Carr. The president of City Council Blaine Griffin as of today August 21st 2024 has yet to answer. Nor has Burton Bell Carr. What is concerning is this company is in charge of hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the families of wards 4, 5 and 6 but seems to be non responsive. Update: The president of City Council finally answered me but with no help or resolution to the issue of non responsive Burton Bell Carr. I also sent an email to the executive director of Burton Bell Carr August 21st and have not received any response. I am wondering if anyone in these wards has gotten any grants from Burton Bell Carr since they have been CDC's for our wards. I can't even get them to call or acknowledge my application. Nor does the president seem to have any answers that could make me understand why Burton Bell Carr isn't being actively working to help the people of these wards.

I was informed that this program was extended till August 28th 2024 so I sent my application in Aug 16th and was informed with in hours that my application was denied because they had filled their application quota. The problem with this is there was no such quota on the website nor the flyer. The flyer said there would only be 150 family homes chosen by September 30th 2024. On August 16th 2024 I was informed by Michiel Wakers a Residential improvement employee that they received the maximum number of applications. I emailed her back but as of today August 21st 2024 have heard no response. What concerns me that this wasn't what was announced and they are now breaking their own rules and not abiding by them. This isn't looking like a fair and just lottery. No I don't expect to be the recipient of the lottery but in less than a day they changed the rules and decided that they were going to change the rules without a Public Announcement. It seems very Shady.

Why re-name Detroit Ave. in Cleveland, Ohio to west superior. Because Thee original avenue of Cleveland's west side is and was west superior Ave., and shouldn't be mistaken to the slums of Detroit, Michigan. Detroit Ave. is being beautified in Cleveland, Ohio and Cleveland, Ohio should get acknowledged for the modern buildings and houses being built in thee city of Cleveland., rather than Detroit, Michigan. My asking of council is for the Detroit Ave. to be return to the original name West Superior Ave. Remembering thee Superior bridge to and from w. superior was and is in the original city of Cleveland's books. Thank you for honoring Council 15 of my asking to city council, to return the Avenue' name in Cleveland, Ohio to West Superior... to get away from the slums of Detroit, Michigan.

Just wanted to make the City aware of my daily consent issues have made many Cleveland police reports and all request to the city proscutors office has been rejected or Denied.

On a crisp October 2nd evening in 2022, a peaceful interracial couple, Mark and Kelly, found themselves on the brink of death in a horrendous hate crime orchestrated by six individuals. For weeks leading up to the attack, the couple had been subjected to relentless stalking and harassment, culminating in a brutal assault on their own property. Despite their pleas for help and justice, they were failed by the very system meant to protect them. The county prosecutor did apprehend some of the perpetrators, but the couple's quest for justice hit a roadblock when the city prosecutor, Aquila Jordan, unexpectedly charged Mark, the victim, with a violation of a restraining order as a form of retaliation. As the legal battle ensued, the reality of corruption within the Justice Center became painfully clear. Judge Jennifer O'Donnell dismissed the criminal charges against the assailants in favor of a case brought against Mark in municipal court, showing a blatant disregard for the truth. Further manipulation came to light as the city prosecutor's office, led by Judge Cassidy, attempted to coerce Mark into accepting a plea deal for a crime he never committed. Despite the immense pressure, Mark stood his ground, placing his trust in the justice system to see the truth and deliver justice. The assailants, with a dark history of criminal behavior ranging from animal neglect to scamming the city, were allowed to roam free, evading accountability for their reprehensible actions. The support that was supposed to be provided by the justice center, city prosecutor's office, and police was instead utilized to shield a psychotic family from facing the consequences of their hate-fueled attack. The true victims in this tragedy, Mark and Kelly, were left to question where justice truly lies in a system that seems designed to protect the wrongdoers rather than those in need of protection. As the shadows of corruption loom over the once-hopeful couple, one cannot help but wonder if a federal investigation into the Justice Center is the only way to uncover the truth and bring about the justice they so desperately seek. Kelly and Mark's story stands as a chilling example of the failures within the system and the urgent need for reform to prevent others from suffering a similar fate. Where is the justice for the victims when those tasked with upholding it betray their duty and let the guilty walk free?

Let’s bring Indycar back to Burke Lakefront Airport. Our business need the extra boost this race will bring.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency describes the Great Lakes as "vast inland freshwater seas." I think the time is right to start branding the great lakes as such. Especially with the west drying and burning up and the growing problems on the east coast and Gulf of Mexico, which will only get worse. Imagine our area being thought of as being on a "vast inland freshwater sea."

Re: An Incredibly Elitist Idea Worthy of Withering Public Condemnation So the PD and Cleveland.com want us to dream big? They want us to embrace their “big idea” of a regional sales tax to pay for sports stadiums and a refurbished airport. And if we don’t just love their idea, they think we are de facto losers. Dream big? Embrace bold ideas? Really? Many who live here NE Ohio are getting just a little bit tired of being chastised by breathless, bloviating local civic boosters when we won’t wildly support their neoliberal “economic development” schemes that primarily benefit regional elites and fat cat oligarchs. We’ve all witnessed closely and firsthand here in NE Ohio the cosmic lie that “trickle down” economics really is. It’s a vile scam that enriches the top income earners and holders of immense wealth, and that’s it. The only thing that trickles down is contempt for average people. Truly bold ideas that would likely garner immense public support but are yet to be offered by civic “leaders” in NE Ohio are addressing endemic poverty, providing affordable housing for the middle class and poor people, properly funding urban public schools, promoting community wealth-building as opposed to rapacious investor economic extraction, ending the plight of the unhoused, rapidly restoring the tree canopy to protect a vulnerable urban population that has been ignored and discriminated against, fixing systemic racism in our local healthcare system leading to disastrous health outcomes for people of color, reducing disproportionate infant and maternal death rates for people of color, building up an anemic public transit system that underserves low income people, making the non-profit industrial complex serve its host neighborhoods and public schools, providing more living wage, family sustaining jobs, implementing community based anti-racist policing, stuff like that. But the PD and Cleveland.com focus on catering to the billionaire-owned, blood sucking sports franchises and glitzing up an airport that preferentially serves regional elite. These may be high priorities for the region’s elites, but they are not high priorities for most taxpayers and voters. And stunningly, they look to a regressive regional sales tax to fund the scheme, so that low and middle income people get the pleasure of paying a larger share of their income than the wealthy to build fancy sports palaces and a swank airport they can’t afford to use. No wonder Cleveland proper has so dramatically lost population and remains one of the poorest big cities in the United States. Our civic “leaders” do their absolute best to routinely transfer more wealth up to the already wealthy. “Public private partnership” has come to mean public money is used to grow private fortunes. People in the area don't warmly embrace certain "bold ideas" from our civic "leaders" because the ideas themselves are morally deficient at their core and selectively serve the interests of the region's posh, powerful and privileged. Let’s hear some bold ideas for a change that actually help the people that live here struggling to just make a living, make ends meet or get the slightest bit ahead. Not as respectfully to this elitist idea as I would like, but quite sincerely, Arthur Hargate

Why W.117th USA GAS STATION should be re-named. My writing to council is a request to re-name the USA GASTATION on w.117th. near Lorain Ave., Cleveland Ohio. Re-Naming the USA GASTATION on W.117th near lorain ave. in cleveland, ohio can help end the arson crimes from the gas stoves / gasoline crimes put on people / banks / Justice center. The United States of Americans should create healthier tittles for People / Employers / Employees / Businesses / Companies. The TV News stopped the deadly acts of gasoline. Thank council for helping to end pollution / for helping to end arson crimes. Council 15