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Monday, Dec. 4, 2023
7:00 p.m. — 9:00 p.m. EST

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Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Cleveland in Ohio. In this meeting, residents may address council with public comments, and council typically introduces legislation and votes on legislation. Council does not typically discuss legislation in detail at this meeting; that happens in council’s committee meetings.

There are 17 elected Cleveland City Council members representing the 17 wards of the City of Cleveland. Each ward has approximately 25,000 residents. Council Members are elected to serve a four-year term. Council members serve two roles in their duties: to draft and enact legislation for the city of Cleveland and act as ombudspersons for their constituents.

Council members:

Joe Jones
Kevin Bishop
Kerry McCormack
Deborah Gray
Richard Starr
Blaine Griffin, council president
Stephanie Howse-Jones
Michael Polensek
Kevin Conwell
Anthony Hairston
Danny Kelly
Rebecca Maurer
Kris Harsh
Jasmin Santana
Jenny Spencer
Brian Kazy
Charles Slife

Note: Sometimes, council is late to update its agenda for this meeting. If you hear the clerk read something interesting, but you don’t see it on the agenda, you may want to check for updated agendas for this meeting and other council meetings from earlier in the day. Check out this video for how to find those agendas.

The meetings are streamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClevelandCityCouncil/streams

Also find meetings streamed online on TV20 at: http://www.tv20cleveland.com/watch-now/

Find past Documenters coverage of City Council meetings here: https://cleveland.documenters.org/reporting/?agency=181

For more information go to Cleveland City Council’s website: https://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org.

Attendees are encouraged to observe COVID protocols, including social distancing and wearing a face mask.

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Cleveland - OH Documenters Team

Note-taking by Anna Truax

Residents express support for Palestine and a Gaza ceasefire

View notes

Note-taking by Karima McCree-Wilson

Public commenters urge council to call for Gaza ceasefire

View notes

Live reporting by Timothy Zelina

Commenters advocate for Gaza ceasefire

tim zelina @t_zelina

Good evening folks, live tweeting the Cleveland City Council meeting @ 7pm this evening. If you want to watch along you can view a Livestream of the meeting here: or on YT @: …
@cledocumenters
@signalcleveland
#CleDocumenters

tv20cleveland.com/watch-now/ youtube.com/@ClevelandCity…

05:57 PM Dec 4, 2023 CST

tim zelina @t_zelina 2/50

Roll is called. All Council members are present.

tim zelina @t_zelina 3/50

Resident Jenna Mullahdeen speaks on Gaza, calling for a ceasefire. She discussed the history of Gaza and Palestine.
"At this point after seven weeks you are inexcusable for ignorance, but many do not know the history."

tim zelina @t_zelina 4/50

Christopher Hudson of PSL speaks on council's proposal to limit public comments to issues on the agenda. This proposal was floated in wake of the regular appearance of pro-Palestinian demonstrators .

tim zelina @t_zelina 5/50

Next is Cameron Demasca (sp?), another PSL member, who speaks to condemn the presence of heightened security during recent council meetings.
"At the last council meeting, there was an unprecedented number of police officers mobilized in city hall," he said.

tim zelina @t_zelina 6/50

Basma Hamid from Ward 13 speaks to call for a ceasefire. She mentions how the war is draining for her.
"Are you okay? I'm not. My days, my nights, my daily life are not the same anymore," she said.

tim zelina @t_zelina 7/50

Resident Julia Medina also calls for a ceasefire. She said the United States is sending financial and physical aid to help "Israel to commit war crimes". She then asks why the US has money to provide aid for Israel while Americans live in poverty.

tim zelina @t_zelina 8/50

Next is a Shaker Heights resident named Sayed (I unfortunately did not catch his last name) who speaks on public health.
"Not a bait and switch," he says with a smile.
He says Cleveland is failing to provide affordable housing, which in his view is integral to public health.

tim zelina @t_zelina 9/50

"We can't wait for politicians whose ambitions are beyond Cleveland to help out." Syed Shah said. (got his last name!)

tim zelina @t_zelina 10/50

Bryan Duplazer, a local resident, is also here to speak on Palestine.
He says he had a warped view of Palestine most his life, only perceiving it through the lens of terrorism and Hamas. When he met his wife, a Palestinian woman, his perception of Palestinians changed.

tim zelina @t_zelina 11/50

Duplazer says council's rhetoric is making Palestinians feel unsafe in Cleveland, and that anti-Palestinian sentiment is growing dangerously across the US.
"Even locally, in your city, a Palestinian owner has had his establishment vandalized and harassed constantly," he said.

tim zelina @t_zelina 12/50

Dana By, from Edgewater, speaks on the issue of council's public comment period.
She says council took a step towards democracy by opening up the public comment period. She's disturbed by the recent move to roll back the accessibility of the public comment period.

tim zelina @t_zelina 13/50

"As city council members, you have signed up to hear from all the people. Not just those who donate, not just those who march in parades with you," she said.

tim zelina @t_zelina 14/50

Michelle Jackson from Buckeye Shaker also speaks on the public comment dispute:
She starts by mentioning how the Public Budgement amendment, Issue 38, came very close to passage in spite of near universal opposition by council and local government.

tim zelina @t_zelina 15/50

She said the day after this vote (Nov 8), council released a statement pledging greater civic engagement with voters, but then turned around to try and "neuter" the public comment period before the end of the year.
"I urge this body to reconsider its shift away from democracy."

tim zelina @t_zelina 16/50

You can read more on Issue 38 and council's response to the vote here:

ideastream.org/government-pol…

tim zelina @t_zelina 17/50

The last speaker is Cleveland Heights resident and Palestinian youth activist Chance Zurub. He speaks to call for a ceasefire resolution and condemn council for not acting sooner.

tim zelina @t_zelina 18/50

He mentions how council criticized the resolution for not including a passage on Cle gun violence (?), but when an updated resolution included such a statement, it too was ignored.
"I lost thirty people in my family. The temperature is not cooling down," Zurub said.

tim zelina @t_zelina 19/50

Demonstrators chant "Resolution now" as Zurub continues speaking over Blaine calling for time. Zurub asks: "How many Palestinians need to die?"

tim zelina @t_zelina 20/50

Public comment period has concluded. Council shifts to appointments.

tim zelina @t_zelina 21/50

Council has approved councilmember Stephanie D. Howse-Jones, organizer Dameyonna Willis, Dr. Linda Bradley, social worker Taneisha Fair, and college student representative Anastasia Sakairoun to serve on the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls.

tim zelina @t_zelina 22/50

This commission seeks to "create opportunities and improve quality of life for Black women and girls", per the Mayor's office.
You can read more on the commission here:

mayor.clevelandohio.gov/initiatives/ci…

tim zelina @t_zelina 23/50

Council now reads ordinances for referral to committee.

tim zelina @t_zelina 24/50

Notable ordinances: 1380-2023 and 1387-2023 seek to apply for and distribute grants in pursuit of a "Cartel Gang Narcotics and Laundering Task Force, formerly known as the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force"

tim zelina @t_zelina 25/50

That's about it for first readings. The rest of these (even that one, really) are pretty mundane business, but if you're interested you can read on them at the Agenda tab here:

cityofcleveland.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx?…

tim zelina @t_zelina 26/50

Next is ordinances to be read for passage.
First, and notably, is an ordinance that allows the Director of Public Safety to contract social workers to serve as co-responders with the local police department.
This program was passed in Nov 22, following successful trials.

tim zelina @t_zelina 27/50

news5cleveland.com/news/local-new…

tim zelina @t_zelina 28/50

The ordinances were passed with 14 yeas, no nays.

tim zelina @t_zelina 29/50

Next are emergency Resolutions read in full and adopted. These both refer to liquor permits, one to reject a permit, one to approve one.
Council approves both with 14 years, no nays.

tim zelina @t_zelina 30/50

(*yeas)
Next are second reading ordinances for final passage.

tim zelina @t_zelina 31/50

Ordinance 1135-2023 will disestablish the Divisions of Neighborhood Services, Neighborhood Development, and Administrative Services, and replace them with the Divisions of Community Programming, Program Operations, Enterprise Operations, Residential Improvement ... (cont.)

tim zelina @t_zelina 32/50

(cont.) ...Housing Development and Property Utilization within the Department of Community Development.
Seems like a significant bureaucratic shuffle.

tim zelina @t_zelina 33/50

Many ordinances amending previously passed ordinances and providing grants for city repair/maintenance programs. So far nothing particularly noteworthy.

tim zelina @t_zelina 34/50

Ordinance 1340-2023 permits the city to apply for grants under the 2023 Stop Violence Against Women Act. Establishes a sexual assault advocate position w/i the city justice system, also funds the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center & LEO components of Cleveland Domestic Violence Program

tim zelina @t_zelina 35/50

1345-2023 permits the city to establish the Job Creation Tax Incentive Program, a bid by Mayor Bibb to encourage job creation in the city.
You can read more on this proposal here:

cleveland.com/metro/2023/11/…

tim zelina @t_zelina 36/50

Ordinance 1361 will allocate an additional $45 million to the General Fund, $11.3 million to the Special Revenue Fund, and $205,000 to the Internal Service Fund

tim zelina @t_zelina 37/50

Ordinance 1362 will reappropriate $18 million within the General Fund, $10,000 within the Internal Service Fund and $90,000 within the Small Enterprise Fund.

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1370 will establish MomsFirst services for women "at risk of poor birth outcomes for a period of one year."
MomsFirst is a local program that provides mothers pregnancy and early-childhood rearing support through home visits and consultations.

momsfirst.org

tim zelina @t_zelina 39/50

Council passes all ordinances, 14 yeas, 0 nays.

tim zelina @t_zelina 40/50

No introductions and no announcements. Demonstrators begin chanting "Free Palestine" during miscellaneous business, but only for a few moments.

tim zelina @t_zelina 41/50

Councilwoman Spencer speaks: "Although council did not introduce and pass a resolutoin this evening in regards to the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, I wanted to acknowledge..."
Spencer is cut off by protestors. Blaine asks for them to "please allow her to finish."

tim zelina @t_zelina 42/50

She continues: "I'm learning and please allow me to speak. I do rise..."
Cut off again.
"I do rise to say that our hearts have been breaking since October 7th, how could they not?"

tim zelina @t_zelina 43/50

"Too many civilian lives have been lost in this conflict, including a staggering death toll that is over 15,000 people." Someone interrupts to yell "20,000".
She then thanks the ceasefire advocates for their stories.

tim zelina @t_zelina 44/50

"I believe in the promise of the state of Israel, but Israel's increasingly right wing government has been going in the wrong direction for a very long time when it comes to policies towards the Palestinian people," she continues.

tim zelina @t_zelina 45/50

She says the US has leverage over Israel due to the amount of aid sent. Said US should condition this aid to be used for the pursuit of peace and a negotiated settlement. Also says council does not want to limit comment, but also speakers should not disrupt council business.

tim zelina @t_zelina 46/50

Councilman McCormack stands to speak on the public comment debate. He says council should take a step back to analyze how public comment has been structured and see if there is a need for improvement in the process.

tim zelina @t_zelina 47/50

McCormack says council should not limit public comments to legislation being considered. He feels the current scope of public comment is beneficial for the city council.
He says people should not allowed to come and promote businesses or share personal business.

tim zelina @t_zelina 48/50

He did not clarify what was meant by "people sharing their personal business." Unsure what this refers to.

tim zelina @t_zelina 49/50

And council is adjourned! Another night of high emotions, and this on the back of a litany of business stemming from council's committee of the whole meetings earlier today.
Questions? Comments? Got something wrong? Contact us @cledocumenters #documenters #cledocumenters

tim zelina @t_zelina 50/50

@cledocumenters correction: this was slife not mccormack

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Agency Information

Cleveland City Council

See meeting notes for details

www.clevelandcitycouncil.org

(216) 664-2840

@CleCityCouncil

Facebook page

See Documenters reporting

Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Cleveland in Ohio. There are 17 elected Cleveland City Council members representing the 17 wards of the City of Cleveland. Each ward has approximately 25,000 residents. Council Members are elected to serve a four-year term. Council members serve two roles in their duties: to draft and enact legislation for the city of Cleveland and act as ombudsmen for their constituents.

Find meetings streamed at: *online on TV20 at: http://www.tv20cleveland.com/watch-now/

*The meetings are also streamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ClevelandCityCouncil/