Amen.

Nothing trying to do that no more.

Yeah.

All right.

She said that she wasn't sure what you're gonna do, but that was her request.

I'm not sure what we're saying.

Yeah, and I took money out of the organization.

All right.

Okay.

We ready?

We ready, right?

Patty.

Madam Clerk, please call the rope.

Griffin.

Here.

Bishop.

Conwell.

Gray.

Hairston.

Harsh.

House Jones.

Jones.

Casey.

Kelly.

Moore.

Polensick.

Santana.

Slife.

Spencer.

Starr.

You have a core, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Would everyone please rise for a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance?

A pledge of legend to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic.

One nation under God.

I make the following statement.

This meeting of Cleveland City Council is a lawful meeting under Section Six O five dot oh four of the codified ordinances.

No person with purpose to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting shall do any act which obstructs or interferes with the due conduct of such meeting.

Members of the public are invited to speak only under the rules set by this council.

Disruptions, including but not limited to speaking out of turn and making loud noises and loud utterances are in violation of the rules and interfere with the due conduct of this lawful meeting.

Such disruptions may constitute a misdemeanor and a violation of section six oh five dot oh four.

Anyone who disrupts this lawful meeting in violation of the codified ordinances, commits misdemeanors, and is subject to prosecution.

The council proceedings will not begin again until those that participated in the disruption have left the chamber and the chamber doors are closed.

Again, this is the first and only warning.

Madam Clerk, please dispense with the journal.

By Councilmember Santana that the reading of the minutes of the last meeting be dispensed with the journal approved, seconded by councilmember.

Thank you.

We will now move to public comment.

I'd ask all of the speakers to acknowledge your time.

So once again, you have three minutes.

When you see the yellow light, that means wrap it up.

And when you see uh the red light comes on, that means you abruptly have to stop, and I will call the meeting to order.

Uh I will ask all the council members to turn around and acknowledge the speakers and all of the speakers, please acknowledge your time.

First and foremost, we have Tian Lun Jun from Cleveland, the Chinese Communist Parties, transnation repression, representing Ohio, Fulan DAFA association, and not being paid by anyone.

You have the floor, sir.

There it is.

Oh, sorry.

Please speak into the mic.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, you you the mic is good.

You just need to speak into it.

Yeah, I'm very glad to have this opportunity to speak about the Chinese uh communist parties uh repression on uh in the United States.

I I'm a U.S.

citizen.

I think I am responsible to tell the truth about CCP's uh uh aggression on this land.

Well, I have uh made a list of areas uh where they do this, how they did that.

Uh Juan has uh the list, and tomorrow she will distribute to the council members.

Uh I cannot leave so one by one, the time limit.

Well, I'm a Falun Gong practitioner, following three words truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.

But because of this belief, meetings of Falangong practitioners have been persecuted for the last 26 years, and this has extended to uh outside of China.

A concrete example is uh Farun Gung practitioner Then Kui Min.

He escaped from the organ harvesting.

When he was in China, he was operated, and his partial liver and kidney was removed.

And then on the second operation, he managed to escape the operation and help by the undersecretary of the State Department.

He escaped and came to U.S.

However, in U.S.

frequently has been watched, followed, and conslashed, and uh ran into his house so he do not feel safe.

And actually, in Ohio, OHSU, the cause of Farungong practice, simply because three words truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance.

Then the car was flashed.

The CCP is promoting the hyde around the world against Falan Gung against Sun Yun and against US against democracy.

Yeah, and the uh propaganda they paid about seven billion dollars each year on U.S.

Sir and Chinese media.

That's your time, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Next we have Michelle Hicks.

Michelle Hicks is from Garfield Heights.

Michelle Hicks is here to talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Michelle Hicks is not representing anyone and not being paid by anyone.

Ms.

Hicks, you have the phone.

You had the floor.

Okay.

After America witnessed the very public death of George Floyd in 2020, both private and public sector organizations sought to establish various DEI initiatives and commitments to further advance racial and gender equity.

That same year, the city of Cleveland was labeled the worst place in America for black women to live by Bloomberg City Lab.

Congruently, in 2020, City Council passed the resolution 296-2020 declaring racism to be a public health crisis.

The resolution not only asserts that racism acts on systemic institutional and interpersonal levels, but it also states that council supports the establishment of working groups that would promote racially racially equitable hiring and promotion of all employees, including city employees.

However, today, five years after the passage of the resolution and the implementation of various working groups and commissions, the city of Cleveland remains the worst place in America for black women to live.

According to Project Noir's findings, DEI hire is often used as a code of slur for black women.

The label deliberately reduces black women to mere tokens of diversity, suggesting that black women are hired into their positions based on factors other than their qualifications.

Yet 71% of Project Noir's respondents were passed over for a job promotion, and 79% of respondents were paid less than others in similar positions.

In a 2025 article, Natalie Washington writes this wage gap isn't just about money.

It's about being asked to do more with less.

It's about dignity, about knowing you're being undervalued the moment you walk through the door.

It's about watching your white colleagues get promoted faster, praise louder, and paid more while you're told to be grateful just to be in the room.

In closing, diversity means nothing without equity and inclusion.

DEI should be likened to a front organization if there are no actionable consequences in place to mitigate harm, exclusion, and bias.

And lastly, I want to quote some song lyrics from Salange.

It's from her A Seat at the Table album.

But you know that a king is only a man with flesh and bones.

He bleeds just like you do.

He said, Where does that leave you?

And do you belong?

I do, I do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we have Crystal Sierra, Christopher Sierras from Slavic Village.

She's here to talk about the Harvard refuse, and she is not, she's representing Slavic Village CDC, and uh not being paid by anyone.

Crystal, you have the floor.

Good evening, Council members and Mayor Bibb.

My name is Crystal Sear, and I'm the planning director for Slavic Village Development.

I would like to take this time to express our frustration with the status of a proposed project to build solar panels on the Harvard Refuse landfill, which sits beside Slavic village residents' homes and has been a blight on the community for decades.

This landfill was opened in 1949 and operated until the late 1980s, and over the years has had issues with leechate running into Mill Creek, slope stability issues, and methane migration requiring EPA and court intervention.

After being placed into receivership due to mismanagement and the bankruptcy of its owner in 2009, the site has been neglected.

Additionally, a concrete wrecking company has been allowed to operate for years, despite ongoing complaints by residents about the huge piles of dirt that are unmanaged and towering over residents' homes.

There has been nothing positive to come from this site and no proposals on how to address all of the issues.

However, in 2024, Cuyahoga County in the city of Cleveland, City of Painesville received 129 million dollars in federal grant money through a climate pollution reduction grant.

As part of the grant, the county and city proposed a solar project on the Harvard landfill together, which would not only bring cheaper, cleaner energy to Cleveland public public power customers, but help to remedy some of the environmental and health hazards caused by the landfill by taking it out of receivership to be owned by a responsible entity.

Unfortunately for Slavic village residents, the project is now in jeopardy.

Because the energy generated from the solar field would have to interconnect through Cleveland Public Power, the project heavily relies on CPP's cooperation.

Two weeks ago, we learned that CPP Commissioner Amon Danielson announced that Cleveland Public Power is pulling out of the project.

Commissioner Danielson gave three reasons for this sudden departure.

One, an engineering costs, two, land concerns, and three, grant concerns related to the agreement between the county and the city.

At no point in the last eight to nine months has CPP raised these issues, so this announcement was abrupt, unexpected, and un upsetting.

Commissioner Danielson's reasoning is confusing as the interconnection cost is factored into the grant.

CEP renewables would manage the land, and the other parties all have been striving to move this forward, as well as other projects supported by the grant funds.

Cleveland can't claim to be a pillar of clean energy and sustainability while destroying this project.

And while you, Mehir Beb, we're at Climate Week in New York City advocating for grant money for residential solar panels.

Your administration simultaneously has allowed this project to fall apart.

Time thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have Astria Everson.

The topic is love.

She represents the Love Project movement, and she is not being paid by anyone.

Thank you.

Peace and love, everyone.

I am President Austria with New Era Cleveland, the Love Project Movement, and I really wanted to focus in on love.

Our organization, we focus in on going in hard target areas with crime, and we go in the middle of the night.

And so this past week, I we got to experience a lot.

On the 130th, since Justin Bibb were closing down gas stations, that 130th gas station in Buckeye has been a constant nuisance.

We've lost plenty of people's loss of life, multiple shootings there.

There's human trafficking, there's drug trafficking, everything that you can think of.

And most of the people that are being trafficked there are young girls and boys, right?

The age between 12 and 17, because there are very limited resources for us to be able to refer them to if it is not uh CPS, like going through the system of group home or Bell Fair, which only has a 30-day crisis care, and that's about it, especially if they don't want to go back home.

So it leaves them very vulnerable to this environment.

On top of that, we have a park right across from our clubhouse on 117th.

Throughout this week, we have seen people utilize drugs, strip off their clothes, start peeing in the bushes, using having sex in the park, all sorts of things, and there is no response from police, there's no response from the council person.

However, when we throw a community party where we're bringing love and life back into the community, we get all this extra energy because we didn't check in.

I want to make it very clear.

New era Cleveland don't check in.

We are the people.

The people don't check in.

Every single property that is signed by the city of Cleveland is owned by the residents.

No matter if you live in Cleveland, no matter if you live in South Uclip, wherever, every single one of us contribute to these communities.

And I would like to know why do y'all not put the same energy and effort that y'all put in and creating barriers and creating dysfunction between us two, but we don't put that same energy in the things that are killing our communities.

And it is devastating what the conditions of our people are.

I would like to know what are we going to do, not just New Era, not just y'all, but we.

How are we going to utilize the resources and the executive power that y'all utilize when it's beneficial at the flats?

But we don't utilize this same executive power in our communities when people are asking for these stores to be closed down.

No, instead, we give them more gas stations, like race fuel on Lee Miles and Harvard or Miles and Harvard.

I don't know how many people have lost their lives at those gas stations, but we continue to give them more.

Why?

So I would just like to know and know when can we start working together?

Because most of y'all know that we are very good at what we do, very good at what we do, but we continue to get blocked, continue to get blocked, continue to get blocked.

Thank God our justice system worked.

We were found not guilty on all 15 counts, and we are not a criminal organization, no matter what someone wants to say about us.

But we are not criminals, we are people who love our people and are willing to go the mile for them.

Peace and love, y'all.

Next we have Chairman Fahim to talk about Buckeye Woodheel, and he has topic is Drape to Mania, and he's with New Era Cleveland, not being paid by anyone.

Good evening, Council.

How y'all doing today?

Good evening, Justin.

How are you, sir?

Yeah, Drape Domania, it's a mental health condition that enslaved that slaveholders would put on enslaved people that refuse to be enslaved to really just diagnose them with a mental health condition because liberation was the key focus by any means necessary.

So this past August, we were found guilty on, not guilty on 15 charges that stem from the boycott of a gas station and chasing a drug dealer out of our neighborhood that was selling dope to a 13-year-old kid.

15 counts.

I had nine felony charges with gun specs attached to them.

The amount of time that I was looking at was immeasurable.

And it's insane.

We found eight missing children that were being human trafficked on the southeast side of Cleveland with no police support, with no help from anyone from the administration, nor were we looking or asking for it.

Right?

So we have a serious problem here in the city of Cleveland, where community leaders, activists are being targeted, and this is historic.

This has happened throughout the history of this country, are being intentionally targeted, right?

For freedom of speech and the right to bear arms and the right to control the conditions of our community where kids are being slaughtered.

Like Quinn just said, every day we're seeing children being human trafficked, young girls in our communities.

And there's this false notion that the only people that can do something about it is the police.

By the time I call 911, four hours later, and they'll tell them where that little girl is gonna be at.

So we have to hold ourselves accountable, members of the community.

We have an active role to play when it comes to creating stability, a safe environment within our communities.

That's not just the job of counsel, that's not just the job of the police department.

Now, over the next couple of weeks, I'm gonna be down here every Monday making public comment, right?

And we're gonna dive into our case.

We're gonna bring that to the forefront because I don't want to wait until we're on a national or international platform, and you guys colleagues from around the country are reaching out to say, hey, what's going on in Cleveland?

Did y'all hear about this case?

I'm gonna tell it to you right here, right now.

And so so many people have been implicated in this thing, the use of police informants to try to criminalize our work.

It is so pathetic.

We had a detective from the fourth district that allowed surveillance footage, three hours of surveillance footage just vanished from this gas station incident.

Had we not been wearing body cameras, had we not been live streaming this incident, it would have been our word versus theirs.

We're talking about the police department.

Nine to ten police officers were brought in to testify against us.

Nine to ten police officers brought in to testify against an organization that many of these patrol officers support.

I'm talking about the men and women that work every day in these violent communities that see us and say thank you.

Hey, we got an issue over here.

Please go address it.

You guys have a report with these guys occupying this space.

Please go address them.

And so, my issue, I want to be clear, I'm not anti-police.

I'm pro-justice.

Time, thank you, sir.

Next, we have Dale Snyder.

Dale Snyder Jr.

is from Sacred Heights.

He's here to talk about recidivism.

And he's with uh representing Road Gold Inc.

And uh he's not being paid by anyone.

Mr.

Snyder.

Yes, thank you.

How you doing, council, council president, mayor.

Um, I'm gonna continue off where I started out Monday speaking about recidivism, but more importantly, about community.

When I look at what community is, community is really a tapestry of all the souls of individuals that stay in a certain place.

And they share a common goal, and that common goal is really what's basic to us all.

You know, we want to put food on the table, take care of our kids, have safe environments, have occupations.

There's a lot of isms in this world that pull at the tapestry of community.

There's racism, there's classism, there's all of that.

But the biggest is putting profit over purity.

When people don't have opportunities, when people are limited, when people feel back into a corner, then it puts them in a position to do things that again pull at the fabric of community.

My grandfather always said this to me, and it took me years to understand this.

He said, listen, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Now, of course I didn't understand what that meant.

I'm grew up in the 90s.

I don't know what that is, but I understand it now.

We need preventative measures within our communities to fight crime.

Salute to that organization.

I'm not familiar with you, but from what I hear, I support it all.

I I'll come with preventative measures and one aspect of community, and that's back to recidivism.

And that's creating opportunity.

I believe economic advancement is the key.

The Bible says for those that believe in it.

Or not.

No disrespect to no one's belief.

Money solves a multitude of problems.

You get some money in the pin in the hands of some of these people.

You can prevent some of the crime waves that's going in our communities.

Without that money, you just got a bunch of people in survival mode by any means.

And you back anybody with a family.

What do you respect?

Again, I'm with Rogold Inc.

I look to work with you guys.

I reached out to some people, and I'm gonna continue to reach out with my plan, not just with talk, with lived experience.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Next, we have David Hill.

David Hills from Ward 4.

He's here to talk about the shootings that have happened in the flats.

He's not representing anyone and not being paid by anyone.

David, you had the floor.

Good evening, City Council, Council President Griffin, Mayor Bibb.

Immediately after the tragic shooting in the flats, Play Barn Grill was wrongfully blamed.

And according to our mayor, was the bar involved with the shooter.

Recent text messages that were released from our mayor, Justin Bibb, on that day of the shooting state.

And I quote use every department to shut this place down.

If we get sued, we get sued.

Not only did he shut play down, he boarded the place up and publicly humiliated us.

I don't know the personal vendetta that the mayor has with us, but I do remember this.

When the mayor was campaigning for a seat, he had a quote saying, in order to have public safety, we must have accountability.

It has now been one month since that shooting.

And in this month-long time span, that shooting has not been tied to play in any shape, form, or fashion.

It has been one month since that shooting, and not one of the flat out lies that have been conjured to the nuisance history of play, has had a police report, incident report, or any proof that these allegations ever even happened.

Just two weeks ago, there was another shooting in the flats, right outside of Punch Bowl Social, in the exact same location as the shooting that took place on September 7.

This time, tragically, someone was murdered.

And when this happened, there was no statement from the mayor.

There was no statement from the chief of police.

There was no boarding up of any establishment.

I guess the administration ran out of scapegoats.

At some point, this administration has to take accountability for the public safety of the city of Cleveland and not rely on taxpayer dollars to clean up their messes.

But then again, I guess if you get sued, you get sued.

Thank you.

Next we have Juan Tilado Diaz from Ward 11.

He's here to talk about Hispanic Heritage Month.

Uh he's representing Inquisitor Media and not being paid by anyone.

Juan, you had the floor.

Good evening, Consul, Consul President.

I just want to really quick before I can I go and with my address.

Um, for someone who's an adult and a mayor of Cleveland, you should maybe shouldn't be laughing when people speak.

It's kind of rude and it should be common adult sense.

Now, going back to Hispanic Heritage Month, I wish I could say happy Hispanic Hispanic Heritage Month, but it's the last thing I can say because it hasn't been any happy for my people and the Hispanic people in the United States.

We are a number one target of the federal government every day.

Just speaking Spanish in this society can get you arrested.

And the Supreme Court passed a ordinance or law, whatever you want to call it, then now you can be sent to a prison in El Salvador just for looking brown or even just acting Hispanic.

And what is that?

So seeing the United States since the next administration, we have to figure out that Latinos are the scapegoat or the punching bag for people every time there's a problem.

And it sounds really close to what happened in actually Germany during World War II, where they figured out one group attacked it and got rid of it because that's what they wanted to do.

Slowly in the United States, we are seeing the same exact problem, but instead of the Jewish people, it is the Latinos and Hispanic people.

Our people come to this country and has contributed a lot.

But instead of getting treated fairly, we get treated like crap every day.

And it's not by the local government, but by the federal government.

And I wanted to bring that to the attention of the people of Cleveland because when we see this, we also go back to times of slavery.

Hispanic people were also slaves, and we were thrown in the same boat.

And that's why one of the biggest things that we share, it's that relation with our black community.

And we are still marginalized every day.

And I want to ask Council to pass an ordinance and share publicly and make Cleveland a sanctuary city for my people than the servant and do a lot for the community.

I also wanted to share with uh design that my friend Ben made um for Cleveland, which is the Cleveland flag for Hispanic Heritage Month, and I don't have a larger image, but we changed the motto instead of progress and prosperity to the Spanish version, which chase process progreso and prosperidad.

And that means progress and prosperity.

Our city and our country has been made for by progress and prosperity.

And as someone said earlier, to keep our DEI in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

It's the best way for us to maintain our city and to keep our people here.

Remember, the Latinos and Hispanic have contributed so much to the United States every day, and you see it here in Council, as we have our councilwoman Jasmine Santana here.

It's been the first Latina ever to hold like a position in City Council, and we have seen it all across the nation.

I again ask our council to pass an ordinance to make Cleveland a public sanctuary city and make our people welcome here.

Thank you so much.

Have a rest of your name.

Thank you.

Next we have Angela Davis.

Angela Davis is from Ward 3.

She's here to talk about the illegal towing of her car.

She's not representing one, not being paid by anyone.

Ms.

David, she had the floor.

I was not going to be talking about the towing of my car, said CMSD.

CMSD.

You had the floor.

So this is for Mr.

Mayor.

I'm kind of confused because if you're gonna do a state of the school address, don't you think it would be best to schedule it when the students aren't in school and the parents aren't at work so that they can sit there and listen to the school system that's educating their children.

It made no sense for you to have a state of the school address at the sit at the city club during work hours when most parents can't afford a ticket to sit uh to the city club.

The children are at school, and nobody is there but you, your CEO, and y'all, and the people that you all are getting money from.

Dude, what you doing?

What you doing?

And you can ignore me, but you ain't gonna ignore me when I go in that voting booth and vote against you.

Thank you.

Next, we have Bridget Smith Jackson.

Bridget Smith Jackson is from East Cleveland.

She's here to talk about the rainbow terrorist explosion.

She's not representing anyone and not being paid by anyone.

Ms.

Jackson, you had the floor.

Good evening.

A week ago, I stood before you and spoke about the tragedy that struck on June 23rd at Rainbow Terrace Apartments.

An explosion that took the life of Mr.

Cordell Sheffield, hospitalized two children, and displaced over 44 families and 150 residents.

But tonight, I stand to remind you that this tragedy was not unforeseen and not without warning.

Every major department in this city, building and housing, the Department of Health, I'm sorry, the health department, the mayor's office, the council body, and even HUD was made aware of the ongoing dangers and conditions at Rainbow Terrace long before this explosion.

In fact, if you do a simple Google search, you'll find multitude examples of documented negligence dating back less than a year.

Residents crying out for help, violations reported, inspections missed, and promises made but never kept.

This was not an isolated, uh isolated oversight.

It was a pattern of inaction.

When families said their walls smell like gas, when pipes corroded and ceilings collapsed, when children got sick and management ignored them, it wasn't because no one knew, it was because no one acted.

So tonight, I ask this body again what are we doing differently now?

Because the reality is this these families are still scattered, displaced, and traumatized.

Many are still waiting for permanent housing, still waiting for answers, still waiting for accountability.

Children are still dealing with fear and instability, while parents juggle jobs, displacement, and grief.

And yet the site of the explosion where a man lost his life is still surrounded by uncertainty and no full public report.

No detailed testing shared and no clear plan for the 400-plus families still living there.

This is not just about rainbow terrorists.

This is a Cleveland housing issue, a moral crisis rooted in neglect and inequity.

Too many in our city live in deteriorating housing, owned by out-of-state landlords and managed by companies who view residents as numbers, not neighbors.

They profit while families suffer in silence.

So my request tonight is simple but urgent.

Provide a full transparent update on the Rainbow Terrace Explosion investigation, Mr.

Mayor.

Share proof of comprehensive site testing, air, soil, gas line, structure, and integrity.

Establish a citywide emergency response plan that prevents this kind of neglect from ever happening again, and hold accountable those who were informed and failed to act.

Cleveland cannot afford a selective urgency.

When it's an industrial side, we get immediate answers.

When it's a housing complex full with families and children, we get silence.

Cordell Sheffield field deserve better.

The families deserve better.

Cleveland deserve better.

If this were your family, your child, your neighborhood, would silence be acceptable.

Cleveland deserves better.

To truly honor Cordell Sheffield and the family still fighting to rebuild, Cleveland must not just respond, it must reform.

If this body is serious about public service, then it cannot look away from the families of Rainbow Teres or from the thousands of others living in the same conditions, praying it doesn't happen to them next.

Their suffering demands more than compassion.

It demands commitment, accountability, and action.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, please share communications.

We do have a swearing in.

Dear Clerk Britt, please accept this letter as my resignation from Cleveland City Council.

My resignation will be effective at the end of the working of the work day on October 3rd, 2025.

It has been an honor to serve on Cleveland City Council.

Thank you, Carrie McCormick, Cleveland City Councilman Ward 3.

I do want to acknowledge that uh Mr.

McCormick is here once again.

We know we uh gave you uh your flowers a couple of weeks ago, but let's give him another round of applause if you could thank you so much for your service, sir.

All right, uh I now declare that there is a vacancy in Ward 3 on October 6, 2025, and call for nominations from the floor.

Uh I will acknowledge the chair will acknowledge council member Jasmine Santana Hello, hello, hello.

Thank you, Council President.

I nominate Lauren R.

Welsh for Ward 43, Ward 3, Councilmember.

Thank you.

Councilman Conwell.

Our second nomination.

Thank you.

I'm going to ask if uh councilman Harsh can close nominations.

Thank you.

I announce that without objection, the nominations are closed.

Council President.

Um, I mean, as a council president, I would now acknowledge members uh to state the name of the candidate when responding to roll calls.

Once again, you have to uh announce the candidate's entire name.

Okay, and uh let's begin Griffin Lauren Welch Lauren R.

Lauren R.

Welch, Lauren R.

Welch.

Let me make sure I get it right, Lauren R.

Welch, Bishop Conwell, Gray, Hairston, Harsh, Lauren R.

House Jones, Joe Jones, Casey, Kelly, Moore, Polensick, Warren, Santana, Slife, Spencer, Star.

13 years for Lauren R.

Welch.

Thank you.

Uh so Lorna Welch has received 13 votes.

She is now the council person for Ward 3.

She has received a majority of vote of all council members and is the duly appointed council member of Ward 3 effect of today, Monday, October 6, 2025.

Councilmember Santana, Conwell, Slife and Harsh.

Can we please escort Ms.

Lauren Welch to the microphone for brief remarks?

Which microphone back?

And if any of her family would like to join her, does she have any family members here with her?

Yes.

Please you want to come?

If you want to come and take pictures with her, here she is.

Uh the floor is yours, council lady.

I think she's swearing.

Oh, she's gonna swear in.

Is she swearing them in now?

Okay.

So who's doing it?

No, I don't.

Who has the oath?

Did they give her the oath?

You gave her the oath?

Wait.

Yeah, that's what we're about to do now.

So here you go.

Who does she want to swear you on?

Oh, all right.

So make your right hand left hand on the five.

Aye.

Warren R.

Welch.

That I would support the Constitution.

That I would support the Constitution of the United States.

Of the United States.

The Constitution of the State of Ohio.

Of the state of Ohio.

And the charter.

And the charter.

And that I am thankful.

Honestly.

Honestly.

And partially and partially.

Discharge the duties.

Discharge the duties.

Of the office.

Of the office.

Of board three.

Of board three.

Member of House.

Member of Council.

Of the City of Cleveland.

State of Ohio.

State of Ohio.

During my continuous.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, it is an extraordinary honor to stand here tonight, entrusted with the responsibility to serve the people of Cleveland's Ward 3.

I have long believed that the true measure of leadership isn't found in these titles or these offices, but it is found in our willingness to show up consistently and courageously for others.

Whether you sit inside of City Hall or outside these walls, the work of service demands that we not only talk the talk, but we walk the walk.

Every day across departments in this building, there are people who do some of the toughest and the most unseen work, repairing, responding, and showing up so that they can live and thrive and people can be proud of this place that we call home.

To them, I want to say your quiet excellence matters, and you make this city function.

You make it possible for others to dream.

I know my time here is going to be brief, but brevity does not diminish purpose.

As the first black woman of Ward 3, my commitment is to use every moment to be a light, to listen with intention, to act with integrity, and to leave the door open a little wider for the next person who comes through here.

To the homegrown kids of Cleveland, this moment is for you.

I hope you are forever reminded to dream bigger and brighter, no matter what the obstacles or the odds are, and that you belong, and you're reminded that you belong in every room where decisions are being made.

Your voice has power far beyond what you can see today.

Cleveland has and deserves leaders who understand the progress is a shared project.

That the work of equity, safety, and opportunity does not begin or end with one vote, one ordinance, or one term.

It continues to live in the lives that we touch every single day and the examples that we set.

I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to Council President Blaine Griffin for his leadership and trust, to Councilman Kerry McCormick for his confidence in me and for the years he has dedicated to Cleveland Ward 3 and to the council colleagues and to council staff who has welcomed me with grace and support.

I also want to thank Mayor Justin Bibb and his team for their partnership and steady guidance during this transition.

To my grandmother, I want to thank you for swearing me in in this moment.

It will live in my heart forever.

To family and friends who stand with me tonight in every season, your love, your dedication, your partnership and steady guidance has been with me for so long, and I want to thank you.

Without you, this would not be possible.

Communications.

File number 1278-2025 from Mayor Justin M.

Bibb, City of Cleveland, Mayor's nomination for members of Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

Chanel Smith Wigham.

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

New appointment term ending March 2027.

File number 1279, 2025, from Mayor Justin M.

Bibb, City of Cleveland.

Mayor's nomination for members of the Landmarks Commission.

Michelle Anderson, Landmarks Commission, Reappointment Term ending August 1st, 2029.

Robert Strickland, Landmark Commission, reappointment term ending August 1st, 2029.

Raymond Terasuk, Junior, Landmark Commission, reappointment term ending August 1st, 2029.

Julie Trott, Landmarks Commission, reappointment, term ending August 1st, 2029.

Thank you.

Are there any condolence resolutions?

Resolutions of condolence by Councilmember Griffin for Mamie Carroll Gaines.

Thank you.

Are there any other condolences?

Councilman Charles Slife.

No?

There we go.

Please hold the number for Robert Schwin.

And uh Council President, did you already do one for Nassim Lynch?

For Nasham Lynch?

I did not yet, but please do it.

I did do one for Nasome Lynch.

Yeah, I do apologize.

I did.

Could we hold out a number for Miss Angela Edwards, Angela Edwards?

Are there any other condolence resolutions?

Any other condolence resolutions?

Seeing no other condolence resolutions, will all members please rise for a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, are there any congratulatory resolutions?

Resolutions of congratulations by Councilmember Griffin for Police Chief Clayton Harris on his retirement.

Thank you by Councilmember Starr for Danny Coach Boom Solomon.

By Councilmember Conwell for the United States Postal Service on their 250th anniversary.

Resolutions of recognition by Council Members Griffin and Polensic for Italian American Heritage Honoree Anthony J.

Constantine CPA by Council Members Griffin and Polensic for the Italian American American Heritage Honoree Joseph Sederi Sederi Foods.

By Council Members Griffin and Palencic for the Italian American Heritage Honoree Phil Bova.

By Council Members Griffin and Palencic for the Italian American Heritage Honoree Mayor Matthew J.

Costelli.

By Council Members Griffin and Palencic for Italian American Heritage Honoree Matteo Silvaggio, Little Italy Wines, by Councilmember Griffin for Family Violence Prevention Week.

By Councilmember Griffin for City of Cleveland Division of EMS on their 50th anniversary.

By Councilmember Slife for Franciscan Village Dedication of Father Crajan Pavilion.

Are there any presentations?

I don't see any presentations that haven't been informed of any presentations.

Therefore, Madam Clerk, please move to first reading.

Emergency ordinances referred for administrative review and committee review.01040608 and 10 of the codified ordinances as amended by various ordinances relating to impounding storage and towing and to repeal section 405.09 as amended relating to impounding bicycles.

Ordinance 1252-2025 by Council members Slife and Griffin by Departmental Request, authorizing the Director of Port Control to employ one or more professional consultants for wayfinding services to assess, audit, and make recommendations to improve the ticketing lobby operations at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for a period of one year with a one-year option to renew, exercisable by the Director of Port Control.

Ordinance 1253 2025 by Council Members Slife and Griffin by Departmental Request, authorizing the purchase by one or more requirement contracts of labor and materials necessary for constructing, repairing, maintaining, removing, replacing, disposing, and installing concrete surfaces and structures on roadways, taxiways, runways, ramps, and other paved surfaces for the various divisions of the Department of Port Control for a period of one year with three one-year options to renew, exercisable by the Director of Port Control.

Thank you.

First reading emergency ordinances to be passed.

Ordinance 1254 2025 by Councilmember House Jones, excuse me, authorizing Director of Department of Public Health to enter into agreement with motivated and empowered Inc.

for the Bloom Nourish Project for the public purpose of providing a parent education, mental health services, and character building programming through the use of Ward 7 Casino Revenue Funds.

Ordinance 1255-2025 by Councilmember Spencer authorizing the Director of Department of Community Development to enter into agreement with Cleveland Public Theater for the public purpose of cultural awareness and education by providing the 2025 Dia de Muertos Neighborhood Festival for the City of Cleveland residents through the use of Ward 15 Casino Revenue Funds.

Ordinance 1256-2025 by Councilmember Conwell authorizing the Director of Department of Parks and Recreation to enter into agreement with the Center for Arts Inspired Learning for the Play It Forward Cleveland Program for the public purpose of providing music education and character building programs through the use of Ward 9 Casino Revenue Funds.

Thank you.

Read the motion to suspend the rules.

By Councilmember Santana that the rules that the rules be suspended and the legislation just read be placed on final passage, seconded by councilmember Moore.

Thank you, Carter.

Griffin, Bishop Conwell Gray, Hairston Harsh, House Jones, Jones, Casey, Kelly, Moore, Polencick, Santana, Slife, Spencer, Star, Welch.

13 Yes.

Call to Roll on Passage.

Griffin, Bishop Conwell Gray, Hairston Harsh, House Jones, Jones, Casey Kelly, Moore, Polencick, Santana, Slife, Spencer, Star, Welch.

13 Yes.

Thank you.

First reading emergency resolutions to be adopted.

Resolution 1257, 2025 by Councilmember Casey, withdrawing objection to the transfer of ownership of a C1 liquor permit at 3671 West 130th Street and repealing resolution 610 2025 objecting to said permit.

Resolution 1258-2025 by Councilmember Bishop withdrawing objection to the new C2 liquor permit at 3879 East 123rd Street and repealing resolution 253 2025 objecting to said permit.

Resolution 1262 2025 by Councilmember Jones objecting to a new C2 liquor permit at 16605 South Miles Road.

Thank you.

Read the motion to suspend the rules.

By Councilmember Santana that the rules be suspended and the legislation just read be placed on final passage.

Seconded by Councilmember Moore.

Call to roll.

Griffin Bishop Conwell Gray, Hirston Harsh, House Jones, Jones, Casey Kelly, Moore Polencick, Santana Slife, Spencer Star Welch.

Call to Roll on Passage.

13 Yay's.

I'm sorry, I'm moving too fast.

That's okay.

Call to Roll on Passage.

Griffin, Bishop Conwell Gray, Hirston Harsh, House Jones, Jones, Casey Kelly, Moore, Polensick, Santana, Slife, Spencer, Starr, Welch.

13 years.

Thank you.

Second reading emergency ordinances to be passed.

Ordinance 820-2025 as amended by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request.

Authorizing Director of Finance to employ one or more professional consultants to study, assess, market, and sell corporate sponsorships for city facilities and assets.

Ordinance 992 2025 by Council Members Santana and Griffin by Departmental Request.

Ordinance 992 2025 by Council Members Santana and Griffin by Departmental Request authorizing Director of Human Resources to enter into one or more contracts with Pathfinder Solutions LLC to provide support for the city's comprehensive wellness and well-being programs for the Department of Human Resources for a period to run coterminously with the city's with the city's current employee health care contracts.

Determine the method of make of constructing, rehabilitating, renovating, replacing, or otherwise improving air monitoring sites and other similar structures on city-owned and city lease property, and authorizing the director to enter into one or more contracts for the improvement.

Ordinance 1174 2025 by Councilmembers Palencick and Griffin by departmental request to change the name of a portion of East 159th Street to Euclid Beach Boulevard.

Thank you.

Read the motion to suspend the rules.

By Councilmember Santana that the rules be suspended and the legislation just read be placed on final passage.

Seconded by Councilmember Moore.

13 Yes.

Thank you.

Carterola on passage.

Griffin Bishop Conwell Gray, Hairston Harsh, House Jones, Jones, Casey Kelly, Moore, Palencick, Santana, Slife, Spencer, Star Welch.

13 Yes.

Thank you.

We'll move to introductions.

And I will um start by asking all of the members of Ask Me Local 100.

If they could please stand there here to observe council meeting tonight, Ask Me 100.

Let's give them a round of applause if we could.

Thank you all for coming out today.

And also thank you for um the hard work that you guys do on a day-to-day basis.

We know that um you guys um help make sure we keep this city running.

So on behalf of Cleveland City Council, thank you all so much.

All right, thank you.

I also want to take a moment, if I could, to acknowledge um good friend of mine, businessman Danny Shadeed, if Danny could stand up, and also Brian Gresham, if both of them could stand up too, business guys.

Thank you.

Are there any other any other uh introductions?

Councilman Kevin Collins.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Where is young Glenn at?

Here in the audience, she's gonna you'll see her in the office working with me and Young Imani, and um she's gonna be a great, great addition in Cleveland City Hall.

Thank you, and welcome to City Hall.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Deborah Gray.

Cafe, can we stand up?

He has a cafe currently in ward four, which is going to be uh in ward one in 2026.

But please, his cafe, the food he served, is it's absolutely you know delicious.

So uh he's been a great supporter uh in the ward.

He gives back.

So please support his cafe.

It's on East 139th in Kinsma, and he just served delicious food.

Are there any other introductions?

Councilman Michael Palency.

Well, Mr.

Chairman's introductions slash miscellaneous as well.

I just wanted to um I too want to recognize ASPE for all the hard work and what they do fight every day for working men and women.

So thank you very much.

Um, Mr.

Chairman, I I want to again congratulate our new colleague to Cleveland City Council, Lauren.

Um I'll not forget that name, but it's my daughter name Lauren.

So I'm gonna remember that I can welcome you here, but he will also to our I don't know if he left or not to carry we held out a number for him to congratulate Kerry McCormick on his years of sir.

I don't think we held out of numbers for him.

Let's make it.

So we do, but if we but I will reach out reportfully asked that we do that, and Mr.

Chairman wanted just mentioned I was gonna recognize some of our Italian brothers and sisters, but they're down in the rotunda having a party with the pasta down there.

So we're gonna cut this short because I want to get down there, but I'd be remiss if I did not recognize this is Italian Heritage Day today at City Hall.

I want to thank you for co-sponsoring that event with myself.

We have these wonderful flags, and I'm always reminded, as I said today at the program when I walk into City Hall, the beautiful rotunda, which was put together, all that stolen, those pillars of stone carving by Italian immigrants.

We are a city of immigrants, and we must never forget that.

So again, I want to thank my Italian brothers and sisters, part of my family is from Cambo Pass, Italy.

And uh again, I'm very thankful for their contribution to the city of Cleveland.

And I want to again thank you for your for your help in how you represent Little Italy.

That tells me a whole lot about your closer from my brothers and sisters.

Thank you very much, thank you, Councilman Pelic.

Are there any other announcements?

Any other announcements?

You are all welcome to join the Italian American community down in the rotunda after council meeting.

I will tell you that the food goes fast.

So if you do want to eat, you better hurry up and get down there.

Any other announcements, any other announcements?

Seeing other announcements, is there any other miscellaneous?

Any other miscellaneous?

Councilman Christopher Harsh.

We are good.

Okay.

Uh Mr.

President, uh colleagues, I wanted to share something that happened.

I try to be cognizant of the community I'm talking to here, but I want to share something that happened on Friday with everybody so that everybody knows what happened.

Last Friday, which was October 3rd, uh at 11.16 in the morning, uh, Idea Stream Radio hijacked the airwaves of WCSB.

They hijacked them at 1116 a.m.

And at 1135, almost 20 minutes later, President Laura Bloomberg met with students on a Zoom call for 13 minutes.

And in one half hour, 50 years of community culture, and history in Cleveland was obliterated by Idea Stream Radio.

They spent months planning behind the scenes to take over the signal without telling anyone.

The station engineer had no idea this was happening.

They orchestrated all of this.

They didn't tell anybody, they locked the students out of the radio station, disconnected their key cards, they didn't have access to their own music collections or their personal effects inside the station.

But the really big deal here is that, as the one gentleman said earlier, our community is a fabric of cultures.

It is a diverse group of people that we bring to bet together as a city, and I don't think anyone exemplified that diversity better than WCSB or the college radio community in Cleveland.

Just for instance, every week they had radio shows dedicated to Hispanic, Hungarian, Slovenian, Polish, African, Asian, Arabic, and German music.

Just that community put together by people from that community for their community.

Not to mention all the other different genres of music.

There was a reggae hour, there was a metal hour, there were a few of those.

They had up to 98 different shows every single week, programmed by up to 98 volunteer student DJs who didn't get paid.

They were volunteers who came in because they love music.

I want to tell you about one of those shows.

It's called Anti-Urban Contemporary Thang.

It was hosted by Herb.

Herb hosted this show for decades, and he used to have a show from three to five on Friday afternoons.

And when I painted houses, I got the guys on my crew to all tune in to CSB on Friday afternoon and countdown to the end of the week.

And Herb did a two-hour show, and his two-hour show worked like this.

He started at the beginning of recorded music, late 1800s, early 1900s, and played nothing but black artists.

So he would start with gospel hymn.

He would move into blues.

By about halfway through the show, he was into the jazz and rock of the 50s.

The second hour would go through soul, funk, RB.

He'd end up with hip hop in the last half hour.

And he curated the African American experience every single week for two hours because he loves his community and he loves music.

And Councilman Conwell knows there is no better way to know a people than through their music.

And WCSB educated Clevelanders throughout the region on not just African American music, but Slovenian and Polish and Hungarian, Czech.

There was the German radio hour, not my favorite music, but the German people love it.

And they had a place to tune in to to get their fix.

And they did this for people for free at no charge.

And the difference between streaming online and terrestrial radio is cost.

Everybody has a radio.

And it is no understatement to say that college radio pieced together, a community that could not exist without it.

And WCSB did that for 50 years.

And IdeaStream ought to be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

And I hope that we can hold them accountable.

I've already canceled my membership.

I know that other people have as well.

We can demand that idea stream return programming to the student group.

Cleveland State University retains the license for 89.3 FM.

They hold the license for WRUW.

They could turn programming back over to the students like that.

It's simply a choice.

Oh, I'm sorry, I just want to give you a few more facts.

If anyone thinks that W CSB was a financial strain on the admin on the uh the college, they're wrong.

The college spends on average 40,000 a year on this radio station.

That's not even a full-time employee.

The students raised about 40,000 to 50,000 a year in the radio thon and covered half their costs themselves through volunteer student-run uh radio thons.

So the station was not cost uh the the budget for CSU is about 140 some million dollars a year, 146, 147 million.

So to spend 40,000 on a radio station is not preventing any other programs from happening.

It's not preventing any other athletics or anything else.

There's going to be a silent protest tomorrow uh in the plaza between the student center and Rhodes Towers.

That's gonna be from 11:30 to 12:30.

Uh I encourage people to reach out to Idea Stream and let them know that this was a dumb idea to let them know that we can cancel our memberships until they return this back.

And I just want to emphasize one more time.

What makes Cleveland a beautiful place is the amount of people that we can support in our community, not just the mainstream, not just the the normal folks, but those weird misfits that need their own island.

Those people that don't belong anywhere else, those people like me that tuned in in the middle of the night and discovered grind core.

All right, we need a place to go.

We need a home.

And college radio gives us our home.

It gives us a place to say, I belong.

And it gives that place to thousands of people.

And I don't think the people that run CSU, Dr.

Laura Bloomberg, or the people that run Idea Stream understand how important this has been to the cultural fabric of Cleveland.

So I just wanted to share that with you all so that you know what happened, and so that when this comes up while you're out and about, it doesn't surprise you.

And to please help us lean in on Idea Stream to hand programming back over to the students.

Lastly, Idea Stream thinks that culture is something you program, but the DJs at WCSB know that culture is something you create.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Councilman Michael Pelisi, Mr.

Chairman, Minor College, Honorable Mayor, I'm not gonna reiterate.

Chris summed it up perfectly because I got the email before I came into the council meeting.

But what Chris forgot or overlooked, they had the CSU police go in there and escort, escort all of them out.

I I want to say that again.

They had CSU police escort all of them out.

Now, I would respectfully ask you, Mr.

Chairman, I would ask for you to call a meeting together with Idea Stream here at City Hall in the council offices.

They need the this is no way to operate.

That's like the Gestapo going in there and marching them all out.

And they they they that's what they told me.

They marched them all out like they were robbers and thieves, and they didn't do anything.

That's the way they were treated.

So I'll leave it up to you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

I did just get notified of that this afternoon, too, so we'll figure it out.

Councilwoman Stephanie House Jones.

Yes, well, good evening, everyone.

Um, actually, just uh get a good of um a note of goodness that happens in Cleveland.

So this past Saturday, I was actually uh headed to a meeting, it was around 10 o'clock, and I was running late, but um I passed uh 30th in St.

Clair Avenue, and I saw that it was a fence that was covered with all of these things that said the wall of love, and I didn't pay any attention to it.

I'm like, whatever.

And then on my way back home, it seems like everybody was wrapping up, and I was like, let me go and see what's going on, right?

And so I had the pleasure of finding out that there is a group um called Wall of Love who um were working to set a Guinness Book of Record, or Guinness Book of World Records, uh, to be able to collect the most socks in an hour.

The current um with the previous uh number, I think it was around 2500 or so.

And that hour, uh, the way Cleveland and Northeast Ohio showed up, they obliterated the record and they actually collected over 17,000 pairs of socks in um in one hour.

And I just think, you know, just with all the negativities that is going on in the world, um, it just goes a long way to know that there are people in our community that care about others that are looking at set records.

I do have a message for you, Mr.

Mayor, that we're gonna talk about regarding this situation.

Um, but I just think uh they they um they you know it just deserves a round of applause and hopefully it will get verified by the Guinness Book of World Records, and uh they'll have some other programming coming up.

But again, just cheers to the walls of love uh to as we're getting into the to the winter months and understanding just the crisis and the presses that can be on people.

So congratulations.

All right, that looks uh to be all of uh miscellaneous.

Madam Clerk, please excuse the absences.

Seconded by Councilmember Moore.

All right, that concludes this council meeting.

Council is adjourned to the call of the chair.

The next meeting of council will be on next Monday, October the 13th.