Good afternoon.

The mayor's appointment committee will begin.

Um can we do a roll call?

Do we need to take a roll call?

No.

Huh?

Okay, today.

Okay.

Uh, today's date is Wednesday, March eleventh, twenty twenty six, and the time is one o two.

Um, this is the first meeting of the mayor's appointment uh committee, and all the committee members should have received a I sent a couple of things and we printed it out.

One of first and foremost, uh, everyone uh should have received a letter as it relates to um our general process when it comes to this committee.

One of the things that um Miss Um Iva Coon and myself, we had an opportunity to meet with the mayor's administration to have a conversation of getting our flow together.

And um, in an ideal world, we would like to uh work very far in advance, uh, about sixteen weeks prior to when an expiration comes before us so we can give the administration and our council enough time to promote that opening so that uh community members who may be interested may have an opportunity to apply, go through the interview process, and then looking at that time frame between four to eight weeks prior to the expiration date to be able to bring them before our committee and and have conversations.

Um then they will be able to then, you know, if we choose to recommend them, it will take uh process from there.

Um, beyond that, there was a um uh shared like committee agreements that I propose for um council committee members to at least review.

I'm not sure if people had an opportunity to review them, um, but I would like to take a moment um to just review what our committee agreements will be so that everyone will know, and therefore, if there's any conversation, any changes that people will have, we can just talk about them and make adjustments accordingly.

Um, so number one, be prepared for committee meetings by reviewing materials and nominee information in advance.

Communicate in advance if you are unable to attend or will arrive late.

Thank you, Councilwoman Santana.

Um, thank you.

See, this again when you do commute committee agreements, it helps to set the standard.

Uh, number three, treat nominees, guests, staff, and fellow committee members with respect and professionalism.

Number four, be respectful of everyone's time by staying focused and keeping remarks concise and relevant.

Number five, share concerns, questions, or conflicts in a timely manner so that they can be addressed appropriately.

Practice active listening and allow others to complete their thoughts before responding.

Number seven, limit distractions during committee hearings, phone side conversations or multitasking.

Number eight, maintain fairness and objectivity when evaluating nominees.

Number nine, disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to nominees or appointments.

Number 10, engage in thoughtful and constructive dialogue, even when they are differing perspectives.

Number 11, focus on qualifications, responsibilities, and public impact of the appointment.

Number 12, support transparency and accountability in the committee's work.

Number 13, respect the role of the chair and establish procedures to ensure orderly and productive meetings.

Number 14, assume positive intent while holding one another accountable.

And number 15, center the public interest of Cleveland in all discussions and decisions.

So those are things that I wanted to offer to the committee for your consideration.

And so did anybody have any thoughts, changes, things that you feel like no, I absolutely cannot do.

Yeah.

I did call though and communicate in a timely manner.

Nonetheless, do we anticipate meeting on Wednesdays at this time regularly?

So that's what I wanted to talk about.

There are two things adjusted.

Ideally, yes, beginning in April.

Right now, one of the things that I realize is that this March time at this time is not necessarily conducive specifically to our partner, Miss Ibun, who also has a conflicting standing policy meeting, and I wanted to be respectful of that.

And so that's one of the reasons when I reach out to each committee member.

I've been trying to actually it's you, you might be able to answer this question for DPS.

But I need to know do you have the set schedule for um DPS?

Is it gonna be every Tuesday?

It's most likely every Tuesday.

9 30, and then workforce is yeah, I know workforce.

I got I got the um I do have the schedule for work for us, they're every other.

Um I was just trying to figure out and generally how long does your committee last?

Sometimes two to three hours.

Two to three hours.

Okay.

So that's the thing of getting your schedule because likely it will probably be like a 12 o'clock on a Tuesday that we're gonna meet in April.

Um this month we're gonna have to do Wednesday, another Wednesday, but moving forward, it's gonna be Tuesdays.

Okay.

And I just want them to confirm the time with everyone, but likely it'll be two face at 12.

Okay.

And that's based on the need.

Um, just right now.

I know we have I think like nine to ten outstanding um appointments that we will need to get through.

And um, and like I said, there are my commitment is to get at least the first iteration of all um boards and commissions that we have.

So everyone will have it, everyone will see the expiration dates, and it will be on as needed basis.

But there are some that we aren't considering now that are um definitely way overdue, and we have to just think through a plan of how we're going to fix those.

And is there a max of candidates that we'll be reviewing at these committee meetings?

So, no, I don't, I mean, I in an ideal world, I I would like not like this meeting to be more than two hours if that um like I said, we have the upcoming don't make that face, but it's up to you all.

But one of the things is like for the next um like for the the port, one of the things I wanted to consider is to bring at least maybe two of the candidates up at the same time.

You know, we can do it together versus individually, and then we could be more respectful people times.

Um, but everyone will know, and like some of these should not take exceedingly long, like the ones today.

I don't see them taking more than 15 minutes.

Okay, but it just depends on the pleasure of the committee.

That's real.

Are you ready?

Okay, all right.

So um first up, I will call Miss Sydney Evans.

Uh oh, before I get started, um I would like to take role.

Present.

Present.

Present.

Present.

Present.

Thank you.

All right.

Um, first I will call up uh Miss Sydney Evans.

Uh, she is a candidate for consideration for the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls.

Hi, good afternoon, Miss Evans.

So for us to get started, can you just briefly introduce yourself to us?

Introduce yourself to us, a little bit about your background, and tell us how you think like your skills are relevant to the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls.

So hi everyone.

I am born and raised here in Cleveland.

So I am a product of the CMSD school district by way of Andrew J.

Rickoff Elementary School and then transitioning to the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine at the John Hay campus.

With that being said, I decided to continue my education and earn a bachelor's of science at Kent State University, where I studied public health and community health outreach and development.

And during that time I became a community health worker.

If that's not interesting enough, my senior year was COVID, so I decided to come back home after that.

And I enroll in Jack Joseph Morton Mendel School of Applied Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

So that's why I say I'm a Cleveland kid through and through.

So I love Cleveland.

Currently I work at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is a consortium of the Cleveland Clinic University Hospitals in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.

But a part of the committee that really intrigued me was of course the new R project and just understanding that Cleveland has been deemed one of the worst places for black women to live in a major um city and just trying to understand where that data came from.

How was that data collected?

And what is my role as a I say I document the era or you know a public scholar and just continuing that work in order to really have uh a knowledgeable investment about how can we counteract these issues within that uh in addition to providing an intergenerational perspective as well within my work in the city, I've worked with many people um young uh or you know who are transitioning into the later years of their careers uh and I just see a need to pull everybody together and just really get programming around various health issues and just understanding the research of Cleveland.

Well, thank you so much for that, Miss Evans.

Uh so now I'm gonna turn it over to my colleagues.

Uh first and foremost, I will start with uh Councilman Palency.

Oh thank you.

Thank you, madam chairperson and my honorable colleagues into the Welling applicant that we have before us.

Um my question to you is this I've lived in Cleveland all my life as well.

I'm Eastside, never lived any place else.

Born in Glenville community, and then um my mother moved us over into the Collinwood area.

Um you mentioned about Cleveland as the one of the worst places for African American women to live in the city of Cleveland.

Um touch on that for a moment.

What do you what do you point to as the factors that that imp that bring that about?

in Cleveland all my life as well on east side never lived any place else born in the Glenville community and and then um my mother moved us over in the Collinwood area um when you mentioned about Cleveland is the one of the worst places for African American women to live in the city of Cleveland um touch on that for a moment what what do you point to as the the factors that that imp that that bring that about so from the perspective of a social scientist and a social science researcher um there is an aspect called um aspirational currency um is one of the forms of currency so we think about you know physical money but aspirational currency uh it's the analogy of uh of a goldfish a goldfish only gets as big as its environment um I think that is to play for some of the women in our community specifically the black women in our community uh of just being exposed to different um opportunities um and different um ways in which that they can fulfill their environment um so I believe that aspirational capital um can really grow uh and help individuals see um that there's other things and other things to achieve within um the structure of where we are okay um so you're in the health field any illnesses or uh that that come to mind that you would point to that's prevalent so through my research um as a from the perspective of cancer uh I could point out three um one being the misdiagnosis of um PCOS polycissic ovarian syndrome um within black women in our community um the next one is the growing rate of breast cancer um within our community and especially within the age demographic that I'm researching um and just as a whole not just women but also on the men in our community is colon cancer and colorectal cancer um some of these can be contributed to uh ultra processed diet um and various things but um it's just been a very high spike in being within that 20 to 35 demographic and you know I appreciate and the reason I'm asking is because growing up in the environment that I grew up in of poverty mother raising four of us by herself I'm hoping as a result of this effort that we start to look across the board um of all indicators all nationalities all races um as well in the city um I've lost um um several dear friends in my neighborhood um through uh breast cancer um including um my first cousin um my oldest daughter is dealing with it right now um and so um and she went through 13 weeks of treatment and um she's in remission right now but um I see what she went through and experienced what she went through and so um a lot of the a lot of the things that that I'm experiencing I'm looking at a mice time here as a senior member has to do great a great part of it has to do with poverty poverty um and then the environmental conditions in which you live um and we know um in the city especially on the east side we will we had the proliferation of factories and plants and who are adding to the um environmental uh degrad degradation of our neighborhoods uh pollution you name it I'm dealing with a site right now um that is contaminated with cobalt 60 um that I inherited with the redistricting um that I'm working with the Ohio Department of Public Health and try to figure out what to do with this location and with our own health department I appreciate the city's engagement but what I'm hoping that as a result of this commission um is that when we aren't looking at the impact on African American women and and um and young women in the city but it expands to take a look at all the environmental factors all the implications we have in this city because um I just saw again I as I indicated I've seen what uh my own family has experienced that we've gone through and with friends and and um and family um that we have to take a more broader approach um and hopefully again as a result of this endeavor and I want to thank all my colleagues been involved in this process especially the chairperson um that we start to really take a look at um those environmental factors that are affecting our community um because I don't happen to be black um I'm a Caucasian and um of of mostly of Slovenian uh descent Slovene and Italian and a couple other nationalities but I can just see the impact on my own um my own family of some of these um the trauma I guess I I refer to trauma of poverty of uh of lack of of um medical attention uh two members of my immediate family have asthma because they they weren't properly treated when they were children they didn't go they didn't go to the get the proper help um and so these are some of the challenges

Um I'm a Caucasian and um of mostly of Slovenian uh descent, Slovenian and Italian and a couple other nationalities, but I can just see the impact on my own um my own family of some of these um the trauma, I guess I I refer to trauma of poverty, of um of lack of of um medical attention.

Uh two members of my immediate family have asthma because they they weren't properly treated when they were children.

They didn't go, they didn't go to get the proper help.

Um and so these are some of the challenges that we're dealing with.

That's why when we had our budget hearings, a lot of us were so um voiceful about the our department of public health.

We want to see a more aggressive health department.

Uh we want to see more aggressive pertaining to lead contamination in the city.

So again, I just want to I I want to commend you for stepping up to the plate because uh we so many of our our folks um who have the the skill level have the educational level, have the um expertise, but won't step up.

Don't step up.

And um, and so I I just want to applaud you for coming to the table.

You're Cleveland resident, which that means a whole lot to me that you live here and you're concerned about the community.

So I want to congratulate you.

Thank you, madam chairperson.

Thank you.

Uh thank you.

Uh next uh uh councilwoman sent at them.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Um you had me at Cleveland raised at Cleveland Grown, right?

I think that you know, to Council Polensk's point, when you grow up in the city of Cleveland, there's just this experience that you know that you experience that others in in the suburbs don't, right?

Like you live it firsthand.

I do want to talk, you talked a lot about health, community health worker.

I'm very familiar with this as my background's public health.

I worked at Metro Health for about 10 years, developing the first program serving minority women that were presenting in late stage breast cancer.

Um, and it was black and Latino women, right?

That lived right down the street.

The access as we you know obtained the data, we realized you know it wasn't accessible, language barriers and so forth.

I'm sure you learn all that through community um health worker.

My question is kind of very similar to councilman Palencic.

I I serve on the women's health commission, and we are targeting and helping to improve um black and brown women's health, right?

But everyone has their own opinion on how to improve that health, how to move the needle forward.

When I worked at Metro Health, it's been what 15 years ago, right?

And when I look at the data, we're not bare we're barely moving the needle on black and brown women.

So I'm curious to know if you if there was one thing that you would start off on in this woman's um this black girls commission, what would be that one thing that you would put your most energy on to kind of start the process?

Because I know there's tons of things, and we could talk about social determinants of health, we can talk about cancer colon and so forth.

What is that one thing that you would say, hey girl, I think we need to um tackle this first before moving forward?

Well, other than um gathering qualitative information and holding various focus groups within the wards, uh, I come from an education first approach.

Um people don't necessarily know how to um ask questions or have advocacy over their health because they don't know what to be asking.

Um so I think the main thing is providing overall wellness education.

Uh I think it would be very alarming to you all um just having individuals retraced to me or um chattel to me, uh, how would they go about having a care visit?

Who would you call?

How would you reach out?

And they some individuals don't even know how to first take the first step in order to get a care visit or a primary care visit.

Um so just walking or I would start at 18 when individuals, you know, no longer are um receiving care from their maternal figure or a guardian figure, um, just them taking ownership of their health, them feeling comfortable asking questions and understanding that if you're receiving health um and it's not on uh track that is within two to three years that you're considering new patient in a new in the system uh in emergency situations, this can be dire to your health.

Um so keeping up with those yearly care visits, understanding when should you be receiving various screenings, cancer screenings or not, um, and just how to overall advocate for yourself when you don't feel right.

If you had a car, you would take it to the mechanic when they started to feel a little weird, but uh people for some reason aren't as inclined to do that with their own health.

So that's where I would start education.

Yeah, education, accessibility.

You you've mentioned a lot too.

So anyhow, I I love your passion, your energy.

It um you're making me want to meet more with the women's uh yeah, the black girl women's commission.

I would love to show up.

And I also see like maybe a partnering opportunity with the county women's uh health commission because that you know that is um our priority through this commission.

So thank you, and uh pleasure meeting you.

Thank you.

Um next we'll have uh Councilman Casey.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and and to the chair to Miss Evans, thank you very much for being here.

It was many years ago I sat on that side to get an appointment in the city of Cleveland.

So I know how nerve-wracking and how your stomach's probably in a knot right now, but just try to relax and and and you we're gonna get through this.

Uh through the chair to Ms.

Evans, in your opinion, what is the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls?

The Cleveland Commission of Black Women and Girls is very diverse.

Uh I love that one, just the commissioners, the age ranges, um, and their ability to touch various pockets of the community.

Uh, I think that it is a place um or a forum to hold community and um be an opportunity for individuals to understand how to strategize and organize on their own, um, especially given the data that I was given from the new R project, but a place that can hold education, can hold advocacy, um, can hold um various community events in which you know love and laughter can be there as well during various hard times.

Um, so I could just see it as an extension of our Cleveland community.

And then, Madam Chairwoman and Ms.

Evans, what would be some of your goals and objectives?

Uh it's a two-year appointment, correct?

Uh to one year appointment.

So within the next year, what what's some of the things you'd like to see accomplished?

So I would like to supply the uh committee with more qualitative information and be able to do thematic um analysis of that information.

Um so a part of that would be pulling out major themes.

Uh I believe that that is a very pinpointed way in order to understand where should some of the um lack of a better word, interventions be placed first because those are kind of at the precipice of what needs to be done.

Uh I would also like to um use that information to understand uh how um the systems dynamic of the um Cleveland community are happening.

Um so with that being said, um, the creation of causal loot diagrams, um, they're equivalent of you know, an HVAC system.

So you understand where the air is going, you understand where the hot air is coming in, the cold air is coming in, but being able to map out these various processes, so when um the council, you know, puts up um policy recommendations um that they are very tailored to the experience of community members.

Uh, if you all cannot tell I love community participatory research, nothing is done um without the say of the people uh and the will of the people as well.

Um so I would just see it as qualitative information and just that mapping.

Um to the chair to Ms.

Evans, my reputation in council is I'm attendance and and showing up are very important.

Absolutely.

Okay, so you do have an you do know what the commitment is.

You do plan on attending all the meetings, putting in the time, it's a paid position, so you know you won't have a problem with your other jobs or education or anything like that, and and attending the commissions and stuff like that.

Right.

Okay.

And then uh I just want to tell a story real quick, uh, Ms.

Chairwoman to to Miss Evans.

I now have the privilege of representing the oldest African American community in the city of Cleveland.

And I recently held a community meeting, and the majority of those in attendance were um elderly African American women.

And I was just introducing myself to this new portion of the city that I now represent.

And they were comical but angry at the same time because they feel that they haven't had, and I'm not knocking anybody who's represented them before, but they felt that they have not had proper representation in the past.

So I asked them why do you feel that way?

And their answer was very blatant, very blunt to me, was because they were black.

Okay, and we've always had uh a Caucasian representing that area.

I did everything I could to try to convince them that that would change because it doesn't matter to me who I represent.

But I'm very honored to represent this portion, and I look forward to engaging the individuals who live there and getting them more involved and making them at least feel like their local representation that they're important to them.

But sometimes I I may not know how to do that, right?

Because it's just a difference in history and culture and everything else.

So I am going to be relying on this commission a lot to help me with the integration of the new representation to the individuals who who live in this portion of the city because one thing that some people seem to forget in the city and they portray it this way, and sometimes it's our own fault, is people believe that the east side is all African American and the West side is all Caucasian.

And that just simply is a falsehood in this city anymore.

We are extremely integrated, right?

But uh I look forward to working with the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls just to help me help them feel like they have representation, and I rely on a lot of my colleagues to do that, especially this one, right?

Um, but to see outside forces come in and work with local representation to make people feel like they are important and they are, um, but to change that belief that they don't think that they are anymore.

I think that should be one of the goals and objections of this commission, and and I think it it's successful, and uh I'll look forward to working with you.

But one last question is you live in the city of Cleveland?

Yes.

Not Cleveland Heights.

Oh, I I do live in Cleveland Heights.

I go to school and uh I work in Cleveland.

Okay, so we have two addresses for you.

Yes.

Okay.

One, I don't want to give your addresses or your address out.

One is in the city proper, and one is not in the city proper.

So my question, madam chairwoman, to you is do you reside in the city proper?

Do you reside in the city of Cleveland?

No.

Okay.

All right, thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

Uh next we'll have is uh Councilman Shao.

Thank you to the chair.

Uh good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for your presence.

Uh it's always good to see a fellow flesh.

Yes.

Uh I also graduated from Kent State.

Um, so it's uh good to have you here.

Um you know I'm I'm really excited to hear what you bring to the table and to see the work that you want to commit to.

Um and it was clear from your application materials, you've put some thought into this.

Um I I wanted to understand kind of um what has been your experience here?

Can you share a time where you have stood up to authority or you've worked against what the system has been asking you to do or expecting you to do.

Um so a time that comes to mind is at Kent State University.

Um so unfortunately, my senior year um was not only COVID, but it was also overshadowed by um racial reckonings happened on our campus.

Um you all might be informed about the situation that happened with the ROC.

Um so a student group came in um and put on the rock um black lives matter.

Um the next day it read White Lives Matter Um and Blacks Have No Home here.

Um at that time of thinking about freshmen who not only they're going through a whole pandemic, but um they're isolated in their dorm rooms and they're seeing this information, and I've been here for about four years.

Um I organize um and also during that time I was the senator for the College of Public Health.

Um, and um racism was deemed as a public health crisis.

Um so seeing that information, uh, we not only uh tie our funds together, um, we over um overlay the rock with um positive messaging.

Um it was once again vandalized after that.

Um staff did not do anything on the president did not do anything.

Um they said it was uh aspect of freedom of speech.

Um and so therefore we decided to protest.

Um putting together a process was not on my bingo card during that time, but it taught me so much.

And during that time, I also sought information from the Center of Disease Control and just other public health.

And the best information that I could glean is that it was very important to have a physical aspect of acknowledging the black history and the black organizations that were at the school that have served the school for 50 plus years.

So during that time, I wrote a letter to Kent State and saying this is an aspect of when they can make history again.

Through that, there are something called the Divine Nine organizations.

They're historically black sororities and fraternities that have been at the university since the university has started.

And so I worked with the council president during that time, and I was able to get the university to put in on what are called plots.

Plots are monuments that honor the various individuals who charter organizations.

It was the founder of Black History Week.

And so that momentum and that pride as an alumni or during that time as a student still carries on in our blacks in the Black Student Union.

And so I used all this messaging and different professionals through the Black Student Association in order to come through this.

Individuals did not want plots to be there, but they're there.

I appreciate you sharing that.

I'm hoping that we will have that same tenor and spirit that has driven you throughout your advocacy to bring that to the commission as well and not be afraid to advocate.

And I see that through and through here, so I appreciate that.

Can you just my final question would be can you just share us a time where you've built consensus or where you've brought people together in order to stand up for what you believe is right and how you would plan to bring that for the commission as well?

So one example that I can give is being advisor for a student group within the first year of my master's program.

So we have an organization called Twing Study Over.

It was created because K students are very stressed from time to time.

This Twing Study Over is a place in which students can come and bring their books and study.

And I worked with uh or us as a committee and me being the advisor, we worked with 50 different food vendors, so the food would change every 30 minutes.

Um prizes were done on the hour, every hour.

Uh it was programming both inside and outside the building, uh, and it was just me and my small committee of seven students.

Um with that being said, um, not only are they navigating their academic experience, but they're also academic navigating their community experience as students and as student leaders.

Um so just keeping them grounded.

I'm a principal based type of person, um, and just having them be thorough in their approach and just gleaning all the knowledge, so just reaching out to various people to get a quote and you know, how does your professionalism come across during those times?

Um, you know, if committee members aren't necessarily pulling their weight per se, how do you have conversations?

Um and I just saw my students grow so much.

Um and I was able to contribute to not only their experience as committee members, but also they tell me that you know, they learn how to speak up for themselves, they learn how to um be knowledgeable, uh, how to um um process conflict and how to you know mediate conflict as well, uh, how to have a diplomatic process, how to do Roberts rules.

Um so just instilling those various things within my students um and just them taking ownership um is a time in which I feel like I made uh very big impact um with just having various people look at things various ways.

Thank you.

I I yield chair.

Thank you for your time.

Uh I have a question.

Um uh Miss Evans, when did you initially um up first apply to the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls?

So I applied about a year and a half.

Uh I saw the um posting and signal Cleveland.

Um so you know, every morning I get up and I read the newspaper uh and just try and understand what's going on in our world.

Um and I saw the role and I fell in love with it and I saw that it was a call for uh uh individual who was a um a university student or a college age student, uh, and I thought that that would be the perfect way in which I can start um getting involved in our political um process uh and beginning my journey as a public servant.

Okay, and the question are you currently in college right now?

Are you okay explaining are you where are you and what are you doing?

Um so I'm still at the Jack um Jack Joseph Morton Mendel of a um School of Applied Sciences.

Right now I'm in the third year of my PhD program.

Um so yeah, uh I have some time left.

Uh I have not um gotten to the point in which I move from a uh PhD student to a PhD candidate.

Uh I will move during that portion uh through the summer um where I become a candidate and I will begin to um embark on the journey of my dissertation.

Um so I see myself um still being a student for the next um two and a half years.

Okay.

Uh any other questions, Casey.

Councilman Casey.

No, um Madam Chairwoman, as as this committee is just starting to meet and we're laying ground rules, right?

Madam Chairwoman and Miss Evans, uh you have two different addresses here, right?

And one of your when your original application, you put 6700, right?

And that's not a residency.

Just just hear me out.

Okay.

So I'm not gonna hold this up, you know, because of that.

And then another council person asked you, you're a resident of the city of Cleveland, yes, and then I asked you, and now you're it's Cleveland Heights.

So one of the things that I'm going to be very picky about are actually um okaying Cleveland residents for these boards.

Now, this is a little different because this is brand new, it's up and running, and and and I get that.

Um, but when I when I look at two different answers and then I hear two different things to the table, it raises a red flag.

So, you know, again, I'm I'm gonna wish you all the luck and I'm not gonna hold I I'm not going to step in the way of this, but when it comes to to at least facing the council, you know, I don't want to use the term honesty, but throwing up red flags um is a thing for us, right?

So um I don't know why you would put Euclid Avenue down, but I get that maybe that's where you were working or or or what have you, but um, but going forward, Madam Chairwoman when we have Cleveland uh appointees, right?

I think we should really really try to put Cleveland, and again, you're born you're born you're raised.

Um I'm not I'm not questioning your love or dedication to the city.

Can I do a point of clarification, please?

Yes.

So the point of care uh clarification is that um the actual um application said um either like uh work or um home address, I put my work address um just because the application said that that was uh address that could be warranted on that application.

Um and again, this is brand new, so we could be learning on this side as well.

You know what I'm saying?

If you know, we need to be maybe a little bit more listen, yeah.

I think you're gonna be a great asset to the board, right?

Um, and I think I'm bringing this up for us on this side as well.

Um, but when we have Cleveland, you know, Cleveland appointees appointments and their their paid board, you know, this is a paid board, right?

Um, you know, we're we're always this council's always screaming about you know hiring Clevelanders and you know, CBAs and all that other stuff.

So, you know, we ourselves have to, you know, have to make sure that we we have the back of you know Clevelanders as well.

But again, I I think I don't think you're gonna have a problem getting through here.

And I think I'm just talking out loud for our members on this side as well.

Um, but you know, uh again, I just wanted to, you know, to raise that issue.

Thank you.

Uh Councilman Shaw.

Thank you.

Uh and I I appreciate Councilman Casey's line of questioning.

Kind of uh to going to that same effect.

I I think in the future I also plan on making sure that we have Cleveland appointees.

However, what I would uh also point out is I have a uh very, you know, there's as a student where you reside and what your home is is not always the case for you know where you are in that moment in time.

It's a very transitory period um as an immigrant, as a student that has lived all around Cuyoga County and Summer County at any one point.

You could ask me where I live, and I could give you two to three addresses.

So I can understand that.

Um and I think for students it is a different case.

And you know, it reminds me of my time at law school at case where we understood where someone is domiciled, there's a legal definition.

There's a emotional definition as well.

Um, and I'm always going to um I I think give special leave for students in that transition period, and I think it would um I anything outside of students, I think it's a different case.

Um, and in the future, I think we should also be aware of that.

But for me, I the fact that you are a student and in this phase.

And I'm also curious, just out of you don't have to share this if you're not comfortable.

Uh, but do you mind sharing this?

How much is your rent in Cleveland Heights?

Uh 1,200.

And if you had a similar place that you could rent that was safe with in Cleveland that was within walking distance here college, would that have made a difference?

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

That's right.

Because I I remember that like I said, I was at case as well.

And unfortunately, this is a reality of our city where we do not have the same housing stock or the um affordable or safe housing stock as Cleveland Heights does, especially for students um historically, especially in that region.

And I know with uh some of the development that's been happening, now it means that you can either live in Cleveland and pay a rent that most people can't afford, or you can choose to live in Cleveland Heights, where traditionally there has been that student housing stock.

So I completely understand.

And uh with that I yield chair.

Uh thank you so much for that, uh, Councilman.

So I want to give just a couple of context before we uh finish with Ms.

Evans.

Um a couple of things.

The Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls was started um as a uh uh response to Bloomberg did this report in 2020 outlining um, you know, that uh specifically in health outcomes, educational outcomes, and um economic outcomes that Cleveland was the worst city for black women in the country.

From there, um there had been another more Cleveland focused project uh I'm gonna say paper from uh Project Noor that kind of went at, I would say the more qualitative data from black women uh in our area in our region to give the terms, uh uh working with the administration.

We came up with the Cleveland Commission on black women and girls.

One of the things you said in the initial legislation, um, which we are revising, is that we came up with specific categories that there were eight designated categories of what the commission is.

We have found in the commission is that some of the people that were applying according to a category lived in various places, not in Cleveland.

And so moving forward, and uh one of the reasons why I specifically advocated um for um Miss Evans and Ms.

Nelson that will be coming before the commission is because these have been candidates who the commission itself put forth, but literally they have been waiting um in over seven months from the point that the commission, but they had pl applied in 2024, and it is just taking extremely too long to get them to this process, and I like I said, moving forward as uh the commission itself, the chair and the vice chair, which I am meeting with to let them know as we have vacancies, they're gonna have four months to fill vacancies and to bring candidates forward.

And I like I said, moving forward as uh the commission itself, the chair and the vice chair, which I am meeting with to let them know as we have vacancies, they're going to have four months to fill vacancies and to bring candidates forward.

So we will not be we will not continue to do this months, years long, waiting on things, and that is literally an expectation, and we will be changing these eight designated um categories on the commission.

Half of them will be the focused areas, and then there will be another four that will be just general members so that we can get over this thing of having the disconnect between Cleveland residents and those who are reside outside of the committee, uh the community, because there is a requirement like the union one in particular, the medical doctor in particular.

We are going to remove those, so this isn't a barrier, and we do not have these consistent vacancies.

But I thought it was fair for someone who had applied, had been interviewed, you know, to just sit lingering for months and months.

I just feel very strongly we just need the capacity on the commission, and that's why I've continued to advocate for months to get at least these two candidates uh through and moving forward as we change the legislation.

Um we will not be running a um, we will not run a file when it comes to residency to provide clarification.

Are there any other comments you would like to say, Miss Evans?

No.

Okay.

All right.

Well, thank you.

Um thank you.

Um I don't know if we have the do we just need to sign it all those.

Okay.

So uh for all of those who are um in favor um of recommending Miss Evans to the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls.

We'll take a roll call for this.

Thank you.

Um thank you, and everybody can please uh sign the uh recommendation letter.

Thank you so much, Miss Evans.

Uh as their treason now, uh, we'll now bring up Mr.

Reef There is a get Mr.

Smoot.

Okay.

Uh I just wanted to make sure.

Um, so um as we know, this is the uh Mr.

Lucas Reeves, who is for consideration for the Fair Employment Wage Board.

Uh we have attorney Lewis Smoot uh who is the attorney for the Fair Wage and Employment Board, uh, who is joining in the event that there is a question that Mr.

Reeve uh does not know.

Uh as we are getting started, uh similarly, uh Mr.

Reeve, uh, good afternoon, welcome.

And would like to have a just an opening introduction, who you are and how your experience is aligned to serving on the Fair Employment Wage Board.

Absolutely, thanks uh so much for having me uh here this afternoon.

Um Lucas Reeve.

Uh I work in the mayor's office as a senior advisor, uh, proud Clevelander, residents of the old Brooklyn neighborhood.

Um prior to joining the administration here with the city of Cleveland, uh had the distinct honor of leading the old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, and so uh much of my uh experience uh is around uh community development, uh meeting with folks and and helping to advance the priorities of of neighborhoods uh like old Brooklyn and and those across the city as I now uh work citywide with the mayor's administration.

Uh previous to that, uh I was uh working uh in uh real estate development, uh primarily hospitality real estate development, uh and and prior to that, which seems like forever ago, uh was also working in the hospitality industry.

Um for me, you know, I I think that uh when I was approached with the opportunity to to join this board, uh I I wanted to take the time to connect first to understand the work that they do, how critically important it is, uh, but also to speak with folks that uh you know were our colleagues of mine who had spent time on this board previously to understand um their experience uh and where the board is at and and what its uh its next steps are to be to continue to to grow in its effectiveness in service of of workers across the city.

Um and I think I was invigorated and excited by by both the work that the board is is charged with, uh, but also at the same time the opportunities in front of it to continue to be more and more effective as in service of workers across the the city of Cleveland.

Okay, well thank you for that.

Um I'm going to just go down the list for council members.

Uh Councilman Polinsich, do you have any questions?

Okay, councilman questions.

Yes, just he didn't you know he's just there for questions.

We're not interviewing him.

Um so through the chair, hi Mr.

Reese, finding get a chance to meet you in person.

Um so you work for the mayor as a special assistant.

Um I'm a little confused through the chair.

So are you getting paid to be on this board?

Or why can't you just work in alignment with this board as the mayor's special assistance?

So uh to answer your first question, this is not a uh a paid uh board appointment in any way.

Um this is uh I think in a lot of ways um trying to ensure that the uh administration is in lockstep with the work of of this board, uh, understanding that uh many of the departments across uh the city uh are interfacing uh and are critically important to the work of the board.

Uh and so having somebody I think that uh can uh help to um you know ensure that we have best practices that we're following, the communication is strong and that we're advancing uh this work uh I think is is what makes it valuable to have somebody from the mayor's office uh on the board.

Got it, okay.

And through the chair, I'm not I don't know much about this board.

How many um members do they have on this board?

Uh through the chair to the councilwoman, it is a seven-person board with five folks who are currently on it.

Um and just to add to his previous answer, uh 18904 of the codified ordinances uh designates a representative from the mayor's office to the board.

Got it.

Okay.

Um and so I I do want to ask you some questions.

This, you know, you talked just what your experience and so forth in your resume.

I'm sorry, I got to put my readers on here.

Um you talked about the ability to create shared vision, inspire collaboration and drive change, you know, expert in managing diverse, um, cross-functional efforts.

I'm curious to know once you get there, like what are you gonna be working at?

What's your agenda?

You know, what are gets you more excited most excited about being part of this board.

My understanding of much of the work that the board has undertaken over the last uh couple years has really been building a strong foundation for this work.

Uh and so um I think acknowledging that uh I I'm not yet appointed to the board, and and certainly uh I think a lot of um learning will will go on uh as I meet fellow board members and and get a much better understanding of of the work itself.

Um I think being able to center people in this work uh is incredibly important.

I think you know, as you look at the um various uh pieces of law that relate to the work that the board oversees, uh obviously the intention behind those is to protect workers.

Uh but I think we also sometimes get caught up in in laws and processes and and being able to really center people in this work is where I'm hoping to come from, understanding that you know, when uh a complaint is is lodged that there is uh a very real person uh you know that is making that complaint uh and in whatever means and and method they're doing it, whether they're doing it through the the website or on the phone or at a job site, these are real people.

You know, we had um a representative here earlier, and and you were councilwoman um talking about the social determinants of of health, right?

To me, these are quality of life issues, these are people-centric issues, these are social determinant of health-related issues in terms of um you know, folks' employment, uh, being paid fair wages for the works work that they are doing, having uh employment security, all these things are are very basic to me in terms of of rights for folks.

And so I I think uh I hope that answers satisfies the question that you have, but that is kind of the mindset and the approach that I'll come to this work with.

Uh and as I uh have a chance to connect with my uh potential colleagues on this board and learn more about this work, I hope to continue to evolve um my ability to help shape it, but always come from that place of being very people-centric.

Got it.

And I will share with you.

I mean, I get a lot of non-English speakers, right, who work in the manufacturing and hotel industry that um, you know, they go through this process, right?

And and their their checks are being with withheld, or they're cutting their hours last minute, right?

And so they go through this process, but they don't have an entry point because of the language barriers.

I just want to put that on your radar as something that I'm very passionate about and working on.

On another note, um, I want to talk about the transparency legislation.

In alignment uh with this um workforce group.

Um let's just say someone from the city of Cleveland, a director does interviews, and they ask them, knowing that we sponsored the legislation, um, and they asked them how much did you make in your previous you know um job.

How do you how would you handle that being on the board if you were to get that complaint from someone that's a director here?

So as I understand the scenario that you you pointed out, this the complaint likely would come from a potential applicant who's interviewing with uh a director, let's say within the administration.

Yeah, wants the job really bad, but is scared, right?

Yeah, in fear of not being able to get the job because they will report this director.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, first and foremost, I think that when someone takes a step of formalizing a complaint, uh that's a that's a very courageous act that that that person is undertaking.

I think we have to recognize uh that unfortunately, uh specifically as it relates to this work, you know, there are so many people that that do not feel empowered or have the agency to do that.

Uh and so I I think first and foremost, um, we have to make sure that that people have every opportunity and feel empowered to do so.

You had been highlighting um previously the language barriers and things like that.

There should be no language barriers uh that prevent anyone from doing something like this.

Um I think the other thing that comes to mind for me uh in the scenario that you outlined is that I think education and awareness is a big part of this too.

You know, I and I think that's a big part of the work of this board.

It sounds like um much of that work is is ongoing, but I think that that work can never end.

Uh you know, not to say that um in this scenario, as you highlighted, that a director within the city of Cleveland should not understand this law.

Um, but I think we need to constantly be working to make sure that people do understand that and and recognize that that that's not something that can be a part of the interview process and is intended to ensure that we're protecting the folks that uh are hungry for for those jobs.

Yeah, thank you.

And I would just close with this.

Is um, you know, we have to start in-house for first.

Um oftentimes we want to start educating outside of these four walls when in our own house, you know, these things are happening.

Um so hopefully we could allocate more more, whatever this funding, it's energy, um, on education, and holding people accountable that continue doing this type of um, you know, it situation event.

Okay, I yield.

Thank you.

All right, next we have is Councilman Shao.

Thank you to the chair.

Um good afternoon, uh Mr.

Reeves.

Appreciate your time being here.

Um as council's representative on the board.

Uh I'm excited to see that the mayor has um gotten around to getting this position filled.

And just to clarify, can you um this is the position that was previously held by Kate Warren, is that correct?

That's correct.

Okay.

Um I I wanted to kind of go through a few different questions.

Um I wanted to kind of start with a more um basic level of capacity.

I I see here you you're you have quite a number of uh boards and other engagements that you're a member of right now.

How do you anticipate juggling those responsibilities on top of your work addition to this?

I think the the first thing that comes to mind for me is that um some of the other board work that I do, I think is actually additive and informative to to this work.

Um I will highlight uh one in particular that uh I feel incredibly privileged and uh and honored to serve on, which is the uh the board of Global Cleveland.

Um, as as uh councilwoman Santana highlighted with some other um communities here in the in the city of Cleveland that these types of issues uh adversely impact.

Um, you know, whether it's through my work on the Global Cleveland board or uh time uh spent in the hospitality industry where uh I I saw um groups uh specifically targeted in in in this way from uh a fair employment perspective.

Forget about all the other challenges that they face in their day-to-day life, whether it's uh uh housing, um, you know, language barriers, these types of things, but employment is such a critically important piece of that.

And so I hope to I guess first in directly answering your question, I don't anticipate any issues with any of the other work that I do and any of the other boards that I serve on.

Uh, but I hope to bring uh a perspective from those other uh groups that I'm a part of uh in in that firsthand knowledge of of what this means for folks uh from a day-to-day perspective and how I can be a part of of helping to make things right and just I appreciate that.

Um then I I wanted to also understand, you know, the senior advisor to the mayor is a pretty broad title.

Um pardon me for my ignorance.

Um I you know just started recently, so I wanted to understand.

Can you um talk a little bit about what are the specific projects or um things that you have worked on in this capacity in the administration?

Sure.

Uh happy to do it.

I think uh I think you rightly point out that it's a pretty broad um job description.

Uh I sometimes jokingly describe it as the other duties as a signs section in in the job description that you get.

Um but essentially uh much of my work uh really focuses on um building relationships both internally and externally.

So whether it's here interdepartmentally, um within City Hall, with folks on city council, or uh working externally with various stakeholders to advance key priorities of the mayor's office.

That's right.

I generally see much of my work falling into those categories.

I think one of the things that I learned very much from my time in community development in Old Brooklyn was that um really to do community development, you've got to meet folks where they're at, you've got to build relationships out in the community.

And so uh I push myself and my role in the mayor's office to spend as little time in my actual office as I possibly can, um, spending time out on the streets in the neighborhoods, talking to folks to help advance and inform the work that we're doing.

Um specifically in terms of projects, uh recently been doing a lot of work around uh on-street parking reform, um, some off-street parking reforms that were uh passed last year through through city council to help increase uh safety uh downtown specifically for for folks that use those facilities, and then also uh quite a bit of work uh related to um short or quarter shore, but specifically around the core element of things.

So downtown Cleveland related, uh whether it's being involved on um the conversations around BERC, uh being involved uh with um the analysis and and and work on uh gateway uh and stadium funding and things like that.

I find myself spending a lot of times in those areas um trying to number one, as I as I stressed earlier, um build relationships that are important to advancing that work, understanding uh where folks are coming from, what their positions are on certain things, um, and then uh being able to translate that into to actionable plans that we can move forward that that make a difference.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

That that helps kind of understand um yeah, what what you're gonna be bringing to the table.

And I absolutely see already, you know, through my brief time on the board, the need for alignment across administration and council on what the board is working on to make sure, you know, for example, I think one of the things we were talking about at the last meeting was trying to understand how can we get data that the city already has in order to verify the number of employers, for example, that an employer employees that an employer might have so they fit within the statute, right?

And one of the things we floated was potentially getting that data from the tax folks down in CCA, or something like that.

And for that, I I imagine having somebody who's at a senior level in the administration would help us kind of cut through the communication silos that um are ample in City Hall is what I'm finding.

So that that makes sense.

I wanted to, you know, get to the also while that senior um access and the building relationships is I think is critical.

I wanted to also understand that I'm gonna ask you the same question I asked our previous candidate because I think it gets to something that's important now.

I'll follow up with that.

But can you tell me a little bit more about how do you approach working against authority or or making sure that what you believe is you you can stand close to your principles, even in the face of resistance from um other folks you're working with around uh above you, whether that may be the mayor or not, uh, wanted to understand kind of what is if you want to share something from your past or even in your current role where you believe you you've been able to stick to that and and what you would bring to the board as well, because I think that is gonna be an important aspect of this work.

Yeah, great question.

I thought it was a great question when you asked the the previous candidate as well.

Um, I think for me uh it's very much when I think about doing what's right, uh it's it's always very obvious to me because it's a very guttural reaction that I get.

I have a really hard time going, whether it's uh in my my work or or personal life, if something doesn't feel right to me, uh it's not something that I can easily pass by without uh you know, at least exploring uh doing something about it, you know.

Um so for me, I think if I could maybe provide a bit of an example, I I guess also I would say that when you when you think about authority and pushing back against someone who's in a position of authority, I think first and foremost.

Could be systems too.

Doesn't have to be an individual.

Of course, that's right.

Excellent point.

I think, and maybe perhaps even more importantly with systems.

I think you need to understand whether it's an authority figure, you know, where they're coming from, what their position is, uh, even if it it makes you feel uncomfortable, um, the direction that they're moving in, or a statement that they've expressed on a particular issue, I think first coming from a place of at least understanding what their uh thought process is behind it, or whether it's a system, you know, how is that system designed?

You know, every system is designed to get the outputs that it gets, and so how is that system designed?

Uh and then think about I always come from a place of wanting to um communicate and and meet with people face to face to face.

So who are operating those systems, who designed those systems, what's the intent behind them, who are the folks that are pushing a particular agenda or issue, meet with them and and not only understand and seek to understand their their point of view, but make sure that they understand mine too.

Uh and then, you know, it's not always the case that you can come to a place where there's some type of uh alignment and actionable plan that you can move forward in a place where uh whatever the issue, you know, the the unintended or intended oftentimes outcome is is the one that's happening.

Um that's always the way that I approach it is trying to figure out how we can come to a place where there's some level of compromise.

And and I also would like to point out in my answer as well that it a big part of having conversations and under and seeking to listen and understand is is looking for blind spots in my own approach to things too.

Like maybe maybe there's maybe my initial reaction to that level of authority wasn't right.

Uh and and so I can feel a little bit more comfortable and confident having gone through that process.

But that's that's typically how I think about those things.

Um if you want, I can give you uh maybe a small example from some community development work in in old Brooklyn.

One of the very first things that uh we were faced uh with in Old Brooklyn when I first joined the team there was um a uh chain of uh dollar stores uh that was very interested in our market.

Um in old Brooklyn, it's a classic middle neighborhood.

Uh even now to this day, there's not a single grocery store that exists in in old in old neighbor in old old Brooklyn.

Uh and so one of the first things that we did was was organize the community around uh pushing back against this dollar store's intention to open their business in our neighborhood in in old Brooklyn.

Um working with city council, working with the administration at the time uh to to put through um legislation, you know, that eventually established a moratorium and radius restriction on uh these dollar stores, uh much of that work was driven by uh community organizing and and pushing back against someone that wanted to do something that wasn't to the benefit of our neighborhood.

Uh and we felt very strongly, and and I continue to feel very strongly about the CEC ecosystem in general being such a critically important part of the the work that we do across the city in having them take a stand for important neighborhood issues like that.

And I think you know, one of the lessons that I learned from from that experience was that you know, one um meeting with community members and helping to um educate and inform them about what's happening, but getting their thoughts uh and and getting them excited about advocacy around an important neighborhood issue was was really important.

And two, uh being able to take that to city council and the and the administration with some options and ideas about how we could help prevent uh a predatory group like that opening up in our neighborhood.

No, thank you.

I I appreciate that, that makes sense.

Um one of my final questions is um just regarding you know, inherently this role, just like your current role is a political one, and there are going to be potential conflicts.

Uh, wanted to understand how you view um, let's say, for example, there is a complaint from a employer that has provided uh sizable contributions to a political candidate or a even the mayor, for example.

Um, do you believe that would be a conflict for you to be involved in that, or do you believe that you would how how would you deal with that?

I wanted to understand.

Has there been any discussions within even with between you and the mayor of setting up some sort of a firewall, or how would that kind of process play forward?

Because to me, really is to maintain the independence and integrity of the board, I think would be important.

I I'm sure it would be yours as well.

So I wanted to just kind of understand how would you approach such a situation.

Sure.

I I think first and foremost, uh any any time that issues like that come up uh or could potentially come up around this this board appointment, uh I always seek the advice of uh folks in the law department whose whose work it is to help guide us and navigate us through these types of issues.

Um so that would be my my first stop is is to talk with with the folks down there from uh um just their their guidance would be foundational to me uh in in whatever next steps were were necessary.

I think obviously the work of the board uh exists beyond its members, and so far be it for me to um to negatively impact the board in any way.

I want to make sure that they they operate with integrity and I operate with integrity as well.

And so if any issues came up um like that, I'd I'd want to get that guidance and then move forward with with whatever guidance I was given, whether to recuse myself from from those particular conversations or whether uh it's something to to go after, you know, with um uh you know, with with all the same uh you know gusto that I would any other uh challenge or issue that comes up around this.

Absolutely.

Thank you for your responses, uh yield chair.

Thank you.

All right, next we have is Councilman Casey.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

Madam Chairwoman to Mr.

Reeve, thanks for being here today.

In your own perspective, what is the fair wage employment board?

What and what's gonna be your role and responsibility there?

Um I I think I'll sort of split your question kind of into two different parts.

I think first the the Fair Employment Wage Board uh is really there to um protect uh workers' rights as it relates to various uh chapters, whether it's 189, 190, 669.

Um but I think also um and as we talked about in a few of the other answers that I that I gave here, there's there's of course the employer piece as well, um, making sure that they have um education and awareness around these issues and they're um you know we're holding them accountable um to them.

So I think there's sort of two pieces there.

It's on the employee side and also on the employer side as well.

And and if I could just in terms of of my role, I think um being able to work from inside City Hall cross-departmentally uh to ensure that um the work of the board is is moving forward, but also um as as Councilman Shaw pointed out, if there are areas that we can improve our processes, that we can enhance best practices and be more effective as a board, um, being able to uh to think creatively about those things is is also a place where I think I I could be very helpful.

All right, Mr.

Madam Chairwoman to Mr.

Reeve, how long have you been with the city?

I've been with the city of Cleveland a little bit over a year now.

Okay, and you're appointed, correct?

You're not civil service.

You and at will?

Yes, that's correct.

Right, you're not you you didn't go through the civil service.

So being at will, the mayor could wake up in the morning and you no longer have a job.

Not I don't know anything inside, don't get me wrong.

But you're you're at will, correct?

I mean that's correct.

Right, which um which does bring up just a red flag, as you heard me say earlier, and again, I'm not gonna hold up an appointment, but it's a red flag where and I understand that we need somebody from the mayor's office, right, on the board is as per the charter.

Um but if there is a conflict with the city, right?

I mean, it's it's a smoother process if we have an individual there who is at least protected from the city through civil service as it is an appointed position, if you if you if you know what I'm saying.

And again, I'm not saying you're gonna do anything unethical.

I'm just saying potential situations that could come up or we wouldn't want to see you get jackpotted up because somebody's complaining about the city and you're still a city employee and you're an at will city employee and as opposed to a civil service, you know, somebody who's civil service, and do you where does the conflict lie, right?

And that's a that's a terrible position to be in if it's you, right?

Um and again, I understand somebody from the mayor's office, but I just would hope that if something like that does come up, right, that you don't ever have to choose between doing what you ethically believe would be right for the board, but still having your employment with the city of Cleveland.

And not that anybody would threaten you or anything like that, but I'm just saying a potential situation that you could be put into.

Um and then my last question is when you were giving your just your description as your other duties is and again, you've heard us during budget hearings about the special assistance to you know the mayor and everything, and we don't know who they are or what they do, but I heard your description.

Do you do anything as a special assistant to the mayor outside of downtown?

Yes, absolutely.

It's not uh specific town's house.

Yeah, I just I just heard waterfront, gateway, yeah, you know, parking.

I was just wondering if you have any other duties to what we would consider neighborhoods outside of downtown.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

I mean, even parking exists outside of uh of downtown, so certainly uh my focus is is not entirely on downtown.

Okay, it's working citywide.

All right.

Um, one of your things was communication and getting to know people, right?

I've never met you.

Right?

So give us a call, right?

If you haven't individually met with council members yet, it would be a good it'd be a good good relationship to start building.

Thank you, Ms.

Madam Chairwoman.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Reeb.

Thank you.

Uh, Councilman Pomlinsky.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Personal Colleagues, and to Mr.

Reeve.

Um to the administration.

Who's presently on a board now?

Uh through the chair to the council person, there are five names that are currently on the board, include well, six including councilman Shaw now.

Okay.

But there are uh Chairman Matt Ashton, uh, Vice Chair Bishop Eugene Ward, uh, John Hodge, uh Helen Chin, and uh Camillo Via.

Okay.

And so there's two vacancies.

Uh well, with the addition of uh Councilman Shaw now, uh through the chair to the councilperson, uh, there is now six, so there would be only one.

Only one.

Okay.

And it was indicated, Mr.

Reeves.

You're resident of the city of Cleveland, correct?

That is correct.

Yeah.

Okay.

Uh the um how often does the wage board meet?

Whoever can answer.

Uh, through the chair to the councilman, uh, that would be monthly meetings.

Uh typically they have been towards the last Friday of the month uh at a location which is at the Ohio Meads Jobs Building, third floor.

Okay.

And is there a is there a um report?

Is there a is someone taking notes?

Is there a recording secretary?

Uh through the chair to the councilman, yes, there are uh minutes that are posted on the city's website as well.

So those will be uh in there, and then yes, they should there are documents of that as well.

And those are also open public meetings as well, and members of the public are starting to show up.

So after every meeting within some period of time, uh the discussion that took place is posted all righty.

Um I guess um all those in favor in recommending uh Lucas Reeves for the Fair Wage Employment Board.

Fair Employment Wage Board.

Fair Wage Employment Board.

Um just call the rope.

Yes.

Yes.

What are you gonna say?

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

Um please uh sign the appointment letter.

And now uh congratulations, and I will close our mayor's appointment committee.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you, and the city is a couple of things.