Street, you have to lock them up and you have to keep them locked up.

Mayor Want the Mayor answer that one.

Um we'll go to the government.

Existing section three to new section eleven.

I believe there's some amendments in here.

Hope it's not a whole it's not too bad today.

Uh a few amendments, seven amendments in here today that we'll read as we get through the uh presentation today.

Uh for those who are watching, those here, yes, it is one day for the time we are here.

We just need to get these dollars out the door.

Um, as you all know, we've had this delay is not a city council delay, nor administration delay.

This is a delay uh because of uh uh everything that's going on in the federal government.

Uh we were late to get these numbers.

Um the department worked, you know, over time, in my opinion, to pull things together to get it to us.

Um, unfortunately, people uh who are watching, you it just doesn't come, and we just throw it on as a process that has to happen.

And as soon as we were able to throw this on, that's why we're here on the Thursday.

And so as soon as I had the green light, once this body received everything it needed to have a proper hearing, uh we brought this uh team together to uh hear the ordinance uh today.

It's which we will do.

It is abbreviated uh agenda so we can focus on the um high level um aspects of uh uh the the ordin that is before us again so we can get these dollars out the door.

I know folks are waiting on these dollars, and we want to make sure that we don't um you know further uh delay waiting to next week.

Would have not wanted to wait to next week if we waited to Tuesday committee day, that would put us back another week.

And so, you know, once we we got through this week, we add it on for today so that way it can be heard and potentially passed on Monday at the finance committee.

All right.

And so I will be quiet there.

I'll let the director, the chief, uh open up with whatever remarks they'd like to uh to share with council.

Thank you.

All right, good morning.

Morning.

Um Chairman Harrison, uh Vice Chair Santana, and members of the development planning at Sistana Nope, we're gonna start over.

We're gonna start over because we're not doing that today.

Uh of the development planning and sustainability committee um and to members of the public.

Um thank you for the opportunity to present the Department of Community Development's 2025-26 HUD entitlement budget.

Our goal today is to receive your approval to expend the nearly 28 million dollars in community development block grant or CDBG funds by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and get these much needed dollars out to the community to benefit City of Cleveland residents and neighborhoods.

Before we get into the details, I want to begin with a moment of reflection.

This has been a difficult year and a sobering year for our department for our partners and for Cleveland's broader community development ecosystem.

The vast majority of our funding comes from a single federal source, the community development block grant program through HUD.

For more than 50 years, CDBG has provided the foundation for local investments and housing, neighborhood revitalization, and essential community services.

But over this past year, we have faced prolonged uh federal uncertainties, shutdown threats, and actual shutdown, the longest to date, uh, and continuing uh resolutions and potential cuts that directly affect our operations and more importantly, the residents that we serve.

We spent much of the first half of the year not knowing if or how much funding we would receive.

That uncertainty makes it difficult to hire and retain staff, and it takes a toll on morale.

I want to take a moment to recognize the incredible women and men of the Department of Community Development who continue to show up every single day with professionalism, compassion, and resolve.

This year also brought us deep personal loss.

Late last year we lost Tim Barrett, a stall worth of the storefront renovation program, and a champion for small business corridors across Cleveland.

And this past August, we lost Ellen Baker, a young professional whose light and leadership inspired so many of us.

Their absence is felt deeply.

For program year 2025-26, Cleveland anticipates receiving 19.46 million in CDBG funds, 4.25 million in home funds, 1.76 million in ESG, that's emergency solutions grant, and 2.37 million in HAPWA.

Every dollar is targeted to sustain the programs that matter most.

Home repair and lead hazard mitigation that allow residents to remain safely in their homes.

Investments to the Housing Trust Fund to make affordable housing development viable.

Neighborhood development activities and citywide assistance grants that keep our CDC partner strong, as well as other nonprofits, and public service programs that provide food shelter and essential support for Clevelanders in need.

While our federal resources have remained flat or declined slightly, we have refused to stand still.

Under Mayor Bibbs' leadership, we are pursuing a bold and forward-thinking vision for equitable development and thriving neighborhoods in every corner of the city.

The mayor's passion for innovation and impact is guiding how we modernize city systems, build trust, and deliver results.

Over the past year, we have launched a series of transformative initiatives to make our work more effective and resident centers centered.

My team will talk a little bit more about each of these, but I wanted to give a brief uh highlight of some of our major accomplishments for the year.

Contract modernization and streamlining, and partnership with urban AI.

We are digitizing and templatizing our contract process to make city contracting faster, more transparent, and more predictable for grantees and partners.

We're redesigning home repair with technology, working with the Bloomberg Sustainable Cities I Team.

We are reimagining the homeowner experience, integrating civic design and new technology to make applications simpler, communication clearer, and turnaround times shorter.

Our implementation vendor model.

This year we're scaling up a home repair through a new model that brings in qualified vendors directly to manage and complete repairs.