Conwell Davis Gray.

Can we have quiet in the audience?

We are starting the council meeting.

Thank you.

Gray.

Harsh.

House Jones.

Hudson.

Jones.

Casey.

Polensick.

Santana.

Shaw.

Slife.

Star.

Mr.

President, you got a quorum.

Mr.

President, you have a quorum.

Thank you.

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

Thank you.

A pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I'll make the following statement.

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

No purpose, no person with purpose to prevent or disrupt the 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.

Again, this is the first and only warning.

Oh, you got condolence resolutions.

Smith, Councilmember Jones, Leslie Lee Johnson Benford, Griffin, Jamar L.

Parks Bay, Councilmember Starring Griffin, L.

Iman Thomas, Councilmember Conwell, Donna Carney, Councilmember Jones, Donnell Montel, Washington, Councilmember Palencick, Gregory D.

Hayes Bay Senior, Councilmember Palencick, Maggie Lee Peacock, Councilmember House Jones, Alawassian Gebet Jessen, Councilmember Griffin, El Haj, Amir Khalid Samad, Councilmember Griffin, Natina, Tina McGuinness Henson, and Councilmember Slife, Brother William G.

Lanning OFM.

Thank you.

Are there any other condolences?

Seeing other condolences, will all council members rise for a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Are there any congratulatory resolutions?

Yes, Councilmember Palencyc, resolution number 388, 2026, two friends brewing first anniversary.

Councilmember Griffin, resolution number 389, 2026, Ricky Tatum.

Councilmember Shaw, resolution 390, 2026.

Archwell Health Grand Opening.

Thank you all so much.

So I'm going to ask if councilwoman Deborah Gray can join me if she could.

But I want to invite up and please open the well for the coach and the team for the breakthrough Woodland Hills Lions basketball team.

Let's bring them up.

Yeah, that's all I can make it today.

Okay.

All right.

This is the breakthrough schools, and these are the city champs for the uh the young breakthrough schools, the Lions.

We always try, we always try to acknowledge all of the champions in the city.

So is uh it's uh very important to make sure we acknowledge these young champions and also want to thank you and congratulate all the parents uh and everybody who uh has been a part of this.

Uh I would uh turn this over for some comments to Coach Jawanza Clater, and then he and a couple of his uh team members will have uh a couple of words, and then if councilwoman Gray would like to say hello, or if any one of our young scholars would like to say anything.

You have the floor.

Good evening, everybody.

Good evening.

We're gonna keep it real brief.

Blaine told me I gotta gotta keep it brief.

So um this season was remarkable.

These young men fall hard.

We had people who dealt with um health challenges, people who lost parents, and they they they like coach.

I want to go to the game.

I want to win.

I want to play.

And to keep it brief, like I said, y'all already know how we do it at Will and Hills.

I don't know what you come to do.

I say, I don't know what you come to do.

I come to use my hand.

I come to use my fee.

I come to let you know.

Will the hills a place to be?

I say, I don't know what you come to do.

I said, I don't know what you come to do.

I come to use my hand.

I come to use my feed.

I come to let you know.

Will the hills a place to be.

Yes, sir.

Um good evening.

My name is Um A.

D.

Watkins.

Um, I am the athletic director for uh Will and Hills Breakthrough.

And just real brief.

One, I want to say, you know, this team right here went undefeated.

12 and up.

Never lost a game.

And the only the only breakthrough school to do that in the season from any grade level.

So I just want to acknowledge that first.

And I want to like back up what he said.

Like this was a challenging season for our kids, but they fought every time.

Right?

They kept going no matter what challenges face them in school, out of school, they did it.

Not only did they do what they did on the court to win a championship, but they did what they had to do in the classroom too, which is very important.

That's something that we're teaching them at Will and Hills.

And as the athletic director, I'm so proud of this group of young men because a lot of young kids would have stepped back when they went through the challenges they did, but they didn't.

They decided to push through and persevere.

And I'm so proud and so grateful to be the athletic director for this group right here.

And I just want coach to know, the parents to know, and the kids to know how extremely proud I am of y'all, and I love y'all.

And thank you to the city of Cleveland for this honor.

Thank you.

Okay.

I want to see if Councilwoman Gray wants to say anything.

And I do want to give a special shout out to my friend who said, hey, you acknowledge and all these babies in the city.

You better acknowledge too.

Uh Nicole Huffman.

So thank you, Sister Huff.

I just want to say I am proud of the kids at Will and Hills.

For the last three years, I have been invited to come to the school for the arts program.

The arts program is just fantastic to see these young kids create, you know, their own art, you know, their own style.

And every year I go, I support and purchase their art as well.

So I want to say congratulations.

Thank you for handing the school over to me.

I appreciate you.

And I'll be there in the school all the time because I'm boots on the ground.

Congratulations, y'all people.

Anyone, anyone of the young folks want to say hello?

Say something?

Okay.

You got young leaders.

Hold on, let me get you together here.

That's what I like to see.

Young leader.

Go ahead.

Um, even though um, my name is Corey Partee, and even though me and my teammates was all working hard, and we all was doubting ourselves down.

And I was the only one saying we will never lose.

We always gonna win every game we do.

And don't ever back yourself down.

Now that is a winner.

That's a winner, everybody.

That's a winner.

We're gonna give uh some scrolls of congratulations to everybody, and uh we won't read them because they're pretty much all uniform, but uh first and foremost, uh we want to give one to Coach Jawanza Clayton.

Second, we want to give one to Coach Austin A.D.

Watkins.

Oh, and I forgot one of the parents said, Well, who are you?

I'm council president Blaine Griffin.

Okay, so this is on behalf of all of council, okay?

But they are the stars today.

Uh next we have Corey Partee.

Is Corey Partee?

Yes.

Next, we have Aiden Carroll.

Aiden Carroll.

Next, we have Corey Moore Jr.

Corey Moore Jr.

Next, we have Sayer Wonzo.

Next, we have CB Reen.

Okay.

Next we have TJ Otis.

Next, we have Titus Campbell.

Next we have Terry Fields.

Before we take the picture, I want to know who is the power forward on the tape.

All right.

I'm coming to I'm coming to play against you in that new gym y'all got over there.

All right, we're gonna take a picture, and uh once again, parents are welcome to take all the pictures.

Thank you.

All right, I wanted to make sure that we got the youngins because you see they're pretty uh young, and I want to make sure that they get home at a reasonable time on a school night.

So my apologies for breaking protocol.

All right, uh we're gonna go back to our regularly scheduled agenda, and now we have public comment.

I would ask the speakers to acknowledge your time, which is three minutes.

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

When you see the red, it means abrupt abruptly stop.

Uh and I'd ask the council members to turn around and acknowledge uh the uh acknowledge all of the uh speakers as they speak.

Okay.

All right, first we have Adrian Freeman.

Adrian Freeman is from Ward One.

He's here to talk about the second chance employment network, and he's not representing anyone and not being paid by anyone.

Adrian, you had the floor.

Yes, greetings, one and all.

Can we speak into the mic?

Greetings, one and all.

I'm Adrian Freeman, and I'm a law lifelong resident of the city of Cleveland.

And uh exactly beg your pardon?

You go in, Adrian.

You got it.

Yes, I'm a lifelong resident, and it's obvious I'm a senior lifelong resident.

I was here a couple of weeks ago talking about the senior lighting LED fixture replacement program.

It's been rebooted.

It is now the senior safety and energy initiative.

It more aligns and aligns itself with maybe some of the potential partners who will be joining us on this campaign to get seniors outdated, antiquated, lighting systems, and then home replaced.

They've been living in the dark, and we say now let there be light, like you said in Genesis.

I don't require the full three minutes, but for the senior safety energy initiative program, I would like your votes.

I would thank you if I get them.

Thank you, Mr.

Fremont.

Next, we have Darrell Houston.

Daryl Houston is from Bedford Heights.

He's here to talk about city issues.

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

Good afternoon, everyone.

Um, it always hardened me to come down here and speak truth to light to my community and my community leaders.

Uh Mark Griffin, you asked me a question last week.

Uh, how do we get our black families to move back into the inner city?

So I want to answer that for you guys.

Um the way you build any community is through a positive school system.

A strong school system will bring any family to that district.

And right now we don't have a strong school system.

In fact, we have one of the weakest school systems in the state of Ohio.

And I believe that we can change that through better leadership.

Okay, better accountability, right?

Right now, we're not getting any leadership from this body whatsoever.

And we deserve better as taxpayers and residents of the city of Cleveland.

We should not be getting threatened by this uh Ohio because we're not in compliance with our school buses.

We should not have city workers telling you that their garbage trucks or their utility trucks or whatever they're using are not being properly maintenance, right?

These are tax dollars.

We have a lot of people in this city workers that want to go out here and service their community.

But when we have failed leadership and we have people elected and pointing, and then they stand here and not tell the truth on all of those budget hearings.

I want you to remember one thing.

They are recorded, and you guys are already on a statement saying things that's not accurate.

Is there a hold on hiring in the city of Cleveland?

If there is, I want to know why there's a hold on hiring in the city of Cleveland.

We have too many of these departments downtown that need to be filled by eager people within the city that want to work.

I'm trying to be nice about everything that I'm stating because now it is time to hold you guys to your own constitution and to what you swore an oath to do in public service office.

And right now, to even utter the words of trying to get rid of Burke Lake Airport and saying that we're losing two million dollars a year, you have lost more revenue in this city than any other mayor sitting downtown in the history of Cleveland, sir.

IX Center, Browns, uh uh uh the Greyhound station.

I can go on and on.

And what was so hurtful for me today is to come down here because I invited people from another city to come down here and see our downtown.

We went to herities, had a great time with great environment, only for me to walk them to their cars and realize that look at my sidewalks.

Look at my sidewalks, look at my environment downtown.

Why are we not enforcing codes?

Why are we not taking care of our residents in the city of Cleveland like we should be?

Why do we have people getting big six figures six-figure salaries and not doing any work?

I'm asking you guys to either do the work or remove yourselves, or I am doing the homework right as we start before we call.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we have Reverend Pamela Pinckney.

Reverend Pamela Pinckney has withheld which words she is in.

Her topic that she would like to discuss is legislation, agenda, and non-agenda.

And uh she is representing Pamela 2028 and not being paid by anyone.

Good evening.

Uh Council President Griffin.

My form was number two for speakers, and I keep being discriminated against and letting these men go around me when I come and submit my forms.

So I want to start there.

Before I go to why I came down today, I noticed we took prayer out of the process, but we still have pledges in the process.

I don't do a pledge to an inanimate object.

It's idolatry.

I keep promises to people.

And I asked that you would put prayer back into this process and not pledges to inanimate objects.

I come to you this evening.

I want to thank you first of all for honoring my mother before she transitioned, Dr.

Betty K.

Butts Pinckney, attorney at law, uh, who was married to Charles Pinckney, not Arnold Pinckney.

Um I thank you for the resolution you did right before she passed.

I would like this legislative body to do some storm prevention.

Storm prevention for multiracial people, black, brown, and indigenous people, storm prevention.

Right here.

I have a list of police reports that never got addressed on my behalf.

Because I'm not white, my hair is not straight, I'm not a male, I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, and I'd like to know why it is so thick.

As well as allowing the Cleveland police to violate my protection order and then put me in danger in the whole United States where they have me on the radars, so no other police departments will help me because my hair is not straight.

I'm not male, I'm not LGBTQ, and I want this legislative body to do some storm prevention.

Storm prevention.

When we came downtown, we saw some winds blowing and some snow coming down and caused some people to uh challenge with the traffic, storm prevention.

We as women of color need some storm prevention.

I reported the breaks of my children in me, and I ended up in a greater storm.

I I went to the county prosecutor.

He told me, I know you're being raped and abused.

I know all about you.

I'm busy.

I called his office the next day.

The chief prosecutor, they told me they didn't have to talk to me.

We need some storm prevention.

I I'm a little burdened this evening.

I'm congratulatory of the young people who got the the athletic awards, but we need some storm prevention because I need to see our children doing more than playing sports and playing music, entertaining racist white America.

We need some storm prevention.

I want to see our children making rules, making laws, making decisions.

I want to see our children in leadership positions, being the CEOs, being the owners, being the director, without having to buy hair, dye here, and fry here, without having to be white, without having to have your hair straight, without having to have sex with men or other women to get something done.

I need some storm prevention.

See, I live and I made it through my.

All right, next we have Brenda Bickerstaff from Cleveland.

Talk about the topic of accurate information among our council leaders.

And she is not representing anyone, not being paid by anyone.

Ms.

Bickerstaff.

I really want Polizic to look while he's not paying attention.

And Casey.

I got the goods.

I got what the monitors were making.

Charles C did not make $300,000 a year.

He made $300,000 over 11 years.

Matthew Barge, they got him down for $97, 9 973,000.

He made that Councilwoman McGregor in four years.

Man.

Inaccurate information.

The Ed Gallagher is putting out there because you guys don't want reform.

And if you look at the bottom of the sheet, I'm going to send it to all of y'all.

We was on the hook for 763 million dollars to be sued by the Department of Justice.

We've only spent 10 million according to this.

And this is from 2015 to 2025.

You got this one gentleman on here named Lewis.

He only made 176,000 in 10 years.

He ain't made no money.

But you saying, oh, they making all this money.

You're coming up with a narrative because you don't want reform.

And just like how disrespectful Politic is sitting there not looking, not paying attention, or nothing to what I've said.

I'm gonna send it to you anyway, so you can take a look at it.

Because the scheme that you and Casey working on with Ed Gallagher is not gonna work.

So I want to shout out Khalid Samai, who encouraged me to press on about my brother's death.

Thank Khalia Samai, because I was at his funeral Saturday.

Today, you know what the day is, playing Griffin?

Your girl, her son, Angela Miller.

Today's date has been 19 years since he was killed by the police.

John Lundy.

So at the end of the day, look at these figures.

I want to make a record.

The people in the city know the truth.

These monitors is not making what Fox 8 saying they're making.

I got the breakdown sheet.

I got the breakdown sheet.

The city is lying to you.

They do not want reform.

This is ridiculous.

I've never seen so much of chaotic stuff about this in my life.

Then you keep hiring these consultants.

The one gentleman named Rolling Fire from Harvard, Mr.

Bibb.

He keeps running the skew, so now you say there's no racial bias.

Because he keeps running the skew.

He keeps skewing the numbers and the bearables.

See, I took statistics to at Cleveland State, Mr.

Casey, but I was in the penitentiary.

When I was in the penitentiary 30 years ago, Cleveland State sent me my school work so I could get my degree.

And I gotta walk across that stage.

Come on now.

I know what's up.

I know the focus here.

Then you're hiring another guy.

Time, thank you.

Next we have Sabrina Otis from Cleveland to talk about rec center, shenanigans, potholes, the city's reply to reimbursement to re-impair repairing vehicles, the city's reimbursement regarding waste and the city's hands in two many pots.

Miss Otis, you had the floor.

And I'm gonna talk about Codell.

Um, as the DPC coach here, we've asked repeatedly to use that space so that people in that part of the city can be able to utilize and come to meetings.

And uh Mr.

Fields has made mad excuses.

He's agreed, and then he's pulled the agreements back.

Um, I'm gonna need them spaces.

I need whatever is free to citizens to utilize so that we can have uh prosperous conversation between residents and the police.

That's number one.

Number two, let's talk about potholes.

Potholes are everywhere, and I'm gonna explain something to all of you, especially to Mayor Bibbs.

He became the mayor, you know why?

Because a whole bunch of us, hmm.

Judge Kelly, he couldn't be our mayor.

You know why?

Because Pearl and State is tow up.

Pearl and state are still tore up.

But how could you be a representative of the city and you can't fix your streets?

That's why he's the mayor.

Um, next.

Um, reimbursement on vehicles.

Cars are being torn up, and when we submit the paper to the insurance, I don't know who who oversees that department here, but when we submit them, they're always denied.

They gotta stop denying them.

Y'all streets are torn up, fix our stuff because we got on the road with the good vehicle.

We want our vehicles fixed.

Next, let's talk about waste really quick.

Do you know renters can't object to waste?

We can't say anything when we're overcharged.

$350 if we put too much garbage out.

But if you're a resident and a homeowner, you can get your money back if you complain.

But as a tenant, we can't.

We're paying water, sewer, garbage.

We want our money back.

So whoever sees that, I'm owed a check for $350 and I'm waiting for it.

Next.

Um, when I say you guys have your hands in too many pots, it's just too much going on.

I need y'all to focus, figure out what y'all want to do, and go from there.

If you want to get rid of the consent decree, then let's get together, do these town hall meetings y'all like to do, and then hear from the actual citizens.

Not from the people you want to invite, but from everybody.

I mean, if that means you got to go to the barbershop, the beauty shop, the grocery store, wherever you gotta go.

Get everybody's opinion and then go from there.

But don't shut down something that benefits um 80% of the city and let the 20% oversee us.

And is that it that I want to complain about?

Because you know this is what I come to do.

Thank you, everybody.

Have a great day.

Thank you.

Next, we have Bridget Smith Jackson from East Cleveland to talk about housing disparities.

She is not representing anyone, not being paid by anyone.

Miss Jackson, you have the floor.

Good evening.

Today marks today, uh, March 23rd, 2026.

Marks nine months since the explosion at Rainbow Terrace apartments.

The explosion that claimed the life of Mr.

Cordell Sheffield displaced 44 families and left two children burned, or over 50% of their bodies.

Nine months.

Nine months of families trying to rebuild, nine months of asking for accountability, and tonight I brought someone with me whose story did not start nine months ago.

Mayor Bibb, if I can have your attention, that would be nice.

She is currently homeless and as a result of intimidation and bullying at Rainbow Terrace apartments.

And what's important to understand is that Miss Watkins was evicted from rainbow terrace over a year before that explosion happened.

The very same place she spoke up about the conditions she was living under.

She asked for help.

She tried to do the right thing.

Her concerns were serious enough to be covered publicly, where residents describe living in what was humiliating conditions, including unstable bathtubs and unsafe living environments.

And after she spoke up, her payments were denied.

Her unit was altered.

It went from a handicap accessible unit into a unit that did not fit her needs, and she was pushed through a system she could not navigate alone.

She didn't qualify for legal aid, so she showed up in a fight with the odds against her.

And now she carries an eviction on her record for circumstances that were truly never within her control.

So when we talk about what happened at Rainbow Terrace nine months ago, we also must ask, what was happening there before?

Because Ms.

Watkins' story is not separate from the tragedy.

It is part of the pattern that led up to it.

Mayor, the cabinet.

I sent emails, nearly a hundred emails.

The health department, the law department, hood, Google search it.

Her name is Novena Watkins.

I sent emails informing you all of what she was going through as she was going through it long before she was evicted.

Now she's homeless.

And now I'm standing here before you because when she called me from the hospital, when she called me with the things that she got going on, trying to find housing, even though she was wrongly evicted, a lot of this stuff is public records.

You have within your authority to research what happened with her situation and find and assist her through this process.

You have everything you need, her story, the documentation, and her presence.

This isn't just about what happened.

This is about what is still happening.

This is Miss Watkins.

She is here.

I ask that you see her and respond to her.

Ms.

Watkins have turned every stone that she can find, and unfortunately, she has not been able to find housing.

If you came in the same doors, I came in, it's snowing and it's 20-something degrees outside.

Thank you, Time.

Let's not forget about Miss Watkins.

Thank you.

Next, we have Christina Hill from Ward 11 concerns regarding regulatory actions impacting a child care business and the request for accountability and support, not representing anyone and not being paid by anyone.

Is Miss Christina Hill here?

Miss Christina Hill.

I mean could someone assist Miss Hill if we could.

If we could assist Ms.

Hill.

Thank you, brother.

Appreciate it.

Which one goes?

Okay.

Turn around a little bit.

This is a private sound for everybody.

Thank you, Ms.

Hill.

You had the floor.

Hello.

My name is Christina Hill.

I'm a mom, a nurse, and the founder of Tiny Heroes Academy, a go-rated child care center, built right here in Cleveland, Ohio.

And today, I am not here angry.

I'm here so that you all can hear about the story and everything that I went through.

For over a year, I went through a situation with the Cleveland Department of Public Health that didn't just affect me.

It affected families, children, and entire communities.

After months of concerning inspections, I filed a complaint regarding an inspection and an inspection that took place on February 26, 2025.

While I was waiting for answers, I didn't get answers.

But on March 26, 2025, I received an order asking me to cease operations immediately, labeling my child care center as a threat to the public.

No conversations, no correction plans, not even clarity, just shut down.

And I have to ask how does a child care center become labeled a public threat with zero citations, zero reported of food illnesses, or zero reports of safety hazards to the children.

Because to this day, there has been no evidence, but I was still treated like a criminal.

At no point did I operate a food shop.

Meals were provided as part of child care, and families were never charged separately for food or parents.

So again, I have to ask, why was I treated like a criminal?

On April 1st, I reached out for clarity.

On April 9th, I was told that the decision was made and already final.

The next day, I went in person and requested copy of incident reports.

And the very next day, via email, I was sent 10 criminal charges of operating a food shop without a food shop license.

10.

A daycare charge as a food shop.

Let that sit for a second, because I had to live in that.

And I lost my reputation.

I did everything I knew to do to do right as a nurse, as a mother, and as a provider.

And I still found myself treated like a criminal.

Because one year later, on March 26, 2026, the case was finally dismissed.

But let this be clear.

This miss does not erase the damage.

It does not answer questions.

So I'm standing here today, not for myself, but for every small provider who may not have the strength to come up and speak, the resources or the voice to stand.

Because systems are supposed to protect us, not break us.

So today, I am not just asking questions.

I am asking for action.

I am asking for a formal review of this process.

Time, ma'am.

If you could, we do have the health director.

I'm asked if the health director can um discuss the situation.

Next, we have Fauzi Bador, Fozy Badours from Ward 11, and he's here to talk about public comment and the hyper scale data centers.

He is not being paid by anyone and not representing Fozia.

Good evening.

He wasn't even confirmed to speak, but again to witness a historic uh table of 7971 2024.

Uh one at 1002.

I'll speak about two points.

One, the public comment.

When we I personally or our groups, a coalition for better Cleveland or the Friends of Coudell, when we signed up to speak, we told the truth.

Because we took it as like under oath.

We have enough respect for this buddy to sign to tell the truth when we sign up.

Now, when we use before this over, many lies happened, and they're sign up.

We didn't say anything.

Use the fake email and different phone number.

They signed uh DiFdar Isa to speak.

When uh when he got confirmation, he called public comment.

He said I did not sign up.

Then public comment called me the next day.

They asked me if I signed up because they had problem believe it because it was different phone number and fake email.

And I said no.

So please, I mean, this thing should be a person lie and signing up, should be liable for something.

The other thing I want to speak about is the hyper scale uh dead center.

I mean, I I confess my knowledge about uh over this is zero, but I'm picking up this from the blane dealer and some use that is gonna end up costing me and every resident of this city, including you, $70 a month for electric bill.

Our electric bill will jump up by $70 a month.

I'm not gonna pay that.

If Jeff Bezos, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, they're gonna have to come after me to pay.

They they cause the increase, and I'm gonna pay it.

I'm asking this city, Mayor Bib and you to have negotiation with them to absorb any increase in cost of electricity or anything else.

Uh we will follow up on this, and if necessarily, we'll fill the street with people demonstrated because people in Cleveland should not pay $70 a month.

Second, why aren't they in Republican controlled cities and county?

Why are they only in Cleveland and Columbus?

Those thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Bado.

Next we have Matthew Sarasv Sarazinski, uh Ward 2.

The topic is police, and he is not representing anyone, not being paid by anyone.

You had the floor, sir.

Thank you, everyone.

I appreciate you letting me speak.

First of all, I want to say that council works for the people, right?

The mayor's office works for the people.

The people don't work for council, the people don't work for the mayor's office.

So let's get that clear.

I think there's a little bit of confusion there when I speak with some council people.

Okay.

So I want to talk today about the police department.

I'm former Cleveland police dispatcher.

I'm also a former corrections officer for the Kyogre County Sheriff's Department.

I left the department, City of Cleveland 37 years ago, Mr.

Mayor.

I left the department 37 years ago.

We had backlogs of assignments where people would call in, sometimes 100, 150 backlog a night.

You know what we have today with the backlog with assignments that police can't go out, the police aren't assigned to Simons.

Almost the same thing.

That's 37 years ago.

How many administrations is that?

Huh?

You got Voinovich, you got Jackson, you got Campbell, you got White, and now you have you, Mr.

Bibb.

What is the most important department of the city?

It's the Cleveland Police Department.

The Cleveland Police Department.

You want people to move into the city?

You want people to move into the city?

Do you want more people to join our school system?

It's a simple fix.

Okay, you don't have to be a rocket scientist.

Have better police protection.

Five years you've had the department.

Five years you've had the city.

Right?

And it's still the same.

It hasn't changed.

It's not to ridicule anybody.

It's facts.

What are we going to do to make the city better?

What are we going to do?

It's you know, people want to move in.

I heard this young lady here speak many times about people wanting to move in, people wanting to move in the city.

And I think her daughter, I listened to a committee meeting, and she and her daughter said, Mom, why would anybody want to move in if they don't feel safe?

It's very simple fix.

Now, if you need help, here I am.

I have plenty of experience.

I worked for Cleveland Municipal Court also.

And I worked for building and housing as a code enforcement officer and as building inspector.

And I gotta tell you, I never got complaints against me.

I did my job.

I came to work every day, and I was on time for meetings.

And I returned phone calls.

Hello.

I returned phone calls and emails, which you know who you are that don't do that.

You have to return phone calls.

Thank you.

That is public comment.

Madam Clerk.

Please proceed to first reading emergency ordinances referred.

Communications, please go to communications.

File number thirty three thirty-one twenty twenty-six from Mayor Councilmember Stephanie House Jones, Chair of Mayor's Appointment Committee of Cleveland City Council recommending the appointment of Lucas Reeve to the Fair Housing.

I'm sorry, to the Fair Wage Employment Board for a one-year term, term ending April 29th, 2027.

Without objection, the appointment is approved.

Received.

332 2026 from Councilmember Stephanie House Jones, Chair of Mayor's Appointment Committee of Cleveland City Council, recommending the appointment of Sydney Evans to Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls.

Without objection, the appointment is approved.

Received.

340 2026, Oath of Office of Nina Holzer, member, Board of Zoning Appeals, City of Cleveland.

342 2026, Oath of Office of our Leisha Wilson, member, Board of Zoning Appeals.

From Council President Blaine A.

Griffin, designating without objection by Council Vikita Stiggers to serve as clerk of council Pro Tem for all matters requiring the clerk's signature on March 16th through March 19th, 2026.

345, 2026, Oath of Office of Ren for Renee Raphael, Director of Department of Urban Analytics and Innovation.

346 2026 from Antonin Robert and Board of Directors of Cleveland Superior Arts Improvement Corporation, pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code, Chapter 1710, comprehensive services plan for the continued operations of the Cleveland Superior Arts Improvement District 2026 to 2032 and executed petitions of property owners.

395 2026 from Mayor Justin M.

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

Jeffrey Sleesman, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, reappointment term ending March 29th, March 2029.

396 2026 from Mayor Justin M.

Bibb, City of Cleveland, Mayor's nominations for members of Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, Anastasia Elder, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, reappointment term ending March 2029.

397 2026 from Mayor Justin M.

Bibb.

Withdrawal of the appointment to Cuyahoga County Port Authority, David J.

Wandolowski for an appointment to a four-year term ending January 31st, 2030.

399, 2026 from Department of Public Works, City of Cleveland, Notice of Grant Acceptance from Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District of 3,500, $3,500 for the purpose of informational posters and handouts about recycling.

Okay.

From the Ohio Division of Liquor Control.

File number 347, 2026.

Transfer of ownership C2C1, Old Brooklyn Food Mark, 4785 Pearl Road, Ward 4.

348, 2026, Transfer of Ownership C1, Wright Shop, West 25th, LLC 9402 Lorraine Avenue, Ward 11.

349, 2026, Transfer of Ownership C1 C2, Frank's Beverage, 4051, West 140th Street, Ward 13.

350 2026, Transfer of Ownership C1C2, K and K Portage Market, 3364 A.

Warren Road, Ward 15.

394, 2026, Transfer of Life License Application, D5, Lavender Lounge, 1830, West 25th, Ward 7.

Thank you.

We'll move to first reading emergency ordinances to be passed.

Introduce?

Introduction.

Excuse me.

Number 12.

Number 12 as far as reading emergency ordinance referred for administrative review.

Refer for administrative review and committee review.

Ordinance 351 2026 by Council Members Hudson Davis, Bishop Santana and Griffin by Departmental Request, an emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Capital Projects to enter into an amendment to contract number CT 100103 PS 2023 0338 with Michael Baker International Inc.

Incorporated to provide additional design services needed to enhance the scope of the rehabilitation of Lorraine Avenue from West 65th Street to West 20th Street for the Office of Capital Projects.

Ordinance 352 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request and Emergency Ordinance authorizing the Director of Finance on behalf of Cleveland Municipal Court to apply for and accept a grant from the Ohio Attorneys General's office to participate in the Ohio Law Enforcement Body Armor Program authorizing the director to enter into one or more contracts with various agencies or entities to implement the grant and authorizing the purchase by one or more requirement contracts of body armor gear needed to implement the grant.

Ordinance 353 2026 by Council Members Bishop Santana and Griffin by Departmental Request, an emergency ordinance giving consent of the City of Cleveland to the Director of Transportation of the State of Ohio to install a dynamic message system, a Q warning system light, cue detection cameras, and associated infrastructure at various locations along IR90 and SR 176 in the City of Cleveland, accepting gifts and grants, acquiring, accepting, and recording necessary rights of way, and authorizing agreements.

Ordinance 354 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Finance on behalf of the Mayor's Office of Prevention, Intervention and Opportunity to enter into one or more contracts with after school All-Stars for the purpose of providing after school youth enrichment activities under the city's out of school time program for a period of one year with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the Director of Finance.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Finance on behalf of the Mayor's Office of Prevention, Intervention and Opportunity to enter into one or more contracts with Art House Inc.

for the purpose of providing art lessons and activities with artists for youth and young adults under the city's out of school time program for a period of one year with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the Director of Finance.

On behalf of the mayor's Office of Prevention, Intervention and Opportunity to enter into one or more contracts with the Beat the Streets Cleveland for the purpose of providing after school programming involved involving structured physical activity and social emergen emotional learning to promote fitness, discipline, and healthy lifestyle habits for youth and young adults under the city's out-of-school time program for a period of one year with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the Director of Finance.

Ordinance 358 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request and Emergency Author Ordinance Authorizing the Director of Finance on behalf of the Mayor's Office of Prevention Intervention and Opportunity to enter into one or more contracts with Holden Forests and Gardens for the purpose of providing hands-on STEM-based educational experiences under the city's out of school time program for a period of one year with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the Director of Finance.

Ordinance number five 359 2026 by Council Members Palencick and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the mayor and or the director of public safety to apply for and accept a grant from the United States Department of Homeland Security FEMA for the fiscal year 25 port security grant program and authorizing the purchase by one or more requirement contracts for safety equipment for use on the fire boat supplies and operation search and rescue training needed needed for the division of fire department of public safety.

Ordinance number 360, 2026 by Council Member Griffin by Departmental Request, and Emergency Ordinance authorizing the Director of Finance on behalf of the Mayor's Office of Prevention Intervention and Opportunity to enter into one or more contracts with Kent State University for the purpose of providing various hands-on workshops for youth engagement under the city's out-of-school time program for a period of one year with two one-year options to renew, exercisable by the Director of Finance.

Ordinance number 361 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Finance on behalf of the Mayor's Office of Prevention, Intervention, and Opportunity to enter into one or more contracts with Making a Difference Consulting LLC for the purpose of providing an eight-week long summer program focused on well-being and college career readiness for youths in the age range of 11 to 17 years under the city's out of school time program for a period of one year with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the Director of Finance.

Ordinance number 362, 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request, an emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Finance on behalf of the Mayor's Office of Prevention, Intervention, and Opportunity to enter into one or more contracts with Eleanor B.

Rainey Memorial Institute for the purpose of providing various arts education and enrichment activities under the city's out-of-school time program for a period of one year with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the Director of Finance.

Ordinance number 363 2026 by Council Members Casey and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director Public Utilities to enter into one or more requirement contracts without competitive bidding with Murphy Tractor and Equipment Company Inc.

for the purchase of proprietary placement parts for heavy duty construction equipment and labor and materials to repair and maintain the proprietary equipment for the divisions of water, Cleveland Public Power, and Water Pollution Control, Department of Public Utilities for a period of two years.

Ordinance number 364 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance to supplement the codified ordinances of Ohio 1976 by enacting new section 127.481 relating to the purchase of food and beverages for the Cleveland Municipal Court.

Ordinance number 365 2026 by Councilmembers House Jones, Bishop Santana, and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Capital Projects to issue a permit to Juliet LLC to encroach into the public right-of-way of West 6th Street by installing, using and maintaining decorative wrought irons, four by four steel posts, footers, and a steel canopy.

Ordinance number 366 2026 by Councilmembers Slife and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Port Control to exercise the first option to renew contract number PIRC 2024-04 with Baum and Enterprises Inc.

for the demolition of various buildings and structures, disposal of related debris and materials, restoration of sites, relocation of employees, tenants, and effective facilities, and construction of temporary relocation facilities for the Department of Port Control.

Ordinance number 367 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Innovation Technology and Technology to enter into one or more contracts with United Way of Greater Cleveland to provide answering services to Route 311 calls for the Department of Innovation and Technology for a period of one year beginning April 1st, 2026, with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the Director of Innovation and Technology.

Ordinance number 368 2026 by Council Members Bishop, Santana, Polencyc and Griffin by Departmental Request, and Emergency Ordinance authorizing the mayor and the Commissioner of Purchases and Supplies to purchase property for the construction of the new Cleveland Division of Fires, Fire Station number 23, located at 122 Madison Avenue for the Department of Public Safety.

Ordinance number 369 2026 by Council Members Conwell and Griffin by Departmental Request and Emergency Ordinance authorizing the purchase by one or more requirement contracts of cremation services of deceased indigent residents for the Division of Health, Department of Public Health for a term of two years with two one-year options to renew, exercisable by the Director of Public Health.

Thank you.

Ordinance number 333, 2026 by Councilmember Davis, an emergency ordinance consenting and approving the issuance of a permit for the Santos in Tremont one mile run, December 12, 2026, managed by Hermes Sport and Events.

Ordinance number 334 2026 by Councilmember Davis.

An emergency ordinance consenting and approving the issuance of a permit for the Bruce Cruise 10K, August 15th, 2026, managed by Hermes Sports and Events.

Ordinance number 335 2026 by Councilmember Davis and Emergency Ordinance consenting and approving the issuance of a permit for the donut worry run happy 5K on October 17, 2026, managed by Hermes Sports and Events.

Ordinance number 336 2026 by Councilmember Davis and Emergency Ordinance consenting and approving the issuance of a permit for the Mount Olympus 5K June 20th, 2026, managed by Hermes Sports and Events.

Ordinance number 337 2026 by Council Members Davis and House Jones.

An emergency ordinance consenting and approving the issuance of a permit for the pig skin classic 5K on November 28th, 2026, managed by Hermes Sports and Events.

Ordinance number 370 2026 by Council Members Conwell.

An emergency ordinance to amend Section 2 of Ordinance 187 2026 passed February 9th, 2026, relating to the agreement with the Italian Cultural Garden Association for the Opera in the Garden Project.

Ordinance number 371 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request and Emergency Ordinance approving the collective bargaining agreement with the Cleveland Police Patrolman's Association, civilian personnel, and to amend Section 10 of Ordinance Number 194 2021 passed March 29, 2021 as amended, relating to compensation for various classifications.

Ordinance number 376 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance approving the collective bargaining agreement with the Ohio Patrolman's Benevolent Association Chief Dispatchers and to amend Section 15 of Ordinance No.

194 2021 passed March 29th, 2021 as amended, relating to compensation for various classifications read the motion suspend the rules.

Motion by Councilmember Gray that the rules be suspended and the legislation just read be placed on final passage, seconded by councilmember Davis.

Caldero.

Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh House Jones Hudson Jones Casey Palencick Santana Shaw Slife Star.

Call to Roll on Passage.

14 Yes.

Thank you.

First reading emergency resolutions referred for administrative review and committee review.

Resolution number 372 2026 by Council Members Conwell and Griffin.

An emergency resolution urging civility and local government and supporting calls for local governments to promote dignity, respect, and constructive dialogue in public meetings and community engagement.

Resolution number 375 2026 by Councilmember Starr, Bishop, and Santana by departmental request, an emergency resolution declaring the attempt to vacate a portion of Central Avenue.

Thank you.

First reading, emergency resolutions to be adopted.

Resolution number 338 2026 by Councilmember Bishop.

An emergency resolution objecting to a new C1 liquor permit at 4166 East 71st Street.

Resolution number 33926 by Councilmember House Jones and Emergency Resolution withdrawing objection to the transfer of location of a D1, D2, D3, D3A, and D6 liquor permit at 3704 Superior Avenue and repealing resolution number 540-2025 objecting to said transfer.

Resolution number 3373-2026 by Councilmember Gray.

An emergency resolution withdrawing objection to the transfer of location of a D5 liquor permit at 10300 Union Avenue and repealing resolution 246-2026 objecting to said transfer.

Resolution number 374-2026 by Councilmember Casey.

An emergency resolution objecting to the transfer of ownership of a C1 and C2 liquor permit to 4200 West 130th Street.

Thank you.

Read the motion to suspend the rules.

Motion by Councilmember Gray that the rules be suspended and the legislation just read be placed on final passage.

Seconded by Councilmember Davis.

Call to Row.

Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh House Jones, Hudson Jones, Casey, Valencick, Santana, Shaw, Slife Star.

14 14 Yay's.

Call to roll on adoption.

Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh House Jones Hudson Jones Casey Polencick Santana Shaw Slife Star.

14 Yes.

Second reading, emergency ordinances to be passed.

Ordinance number 1455-2025 by Council members Bishop Polensic and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the purchase of one or more contracts of labor and materials necessary to retrofit a division of police command bus including installation for the division of motor vehicle maintenance, Department of Public Works, and or the Department of Public Safety.

Ordinance number 27-2026 by Councilmember Conwell.

An emergency ordinance designating Mount Moriah Baptist Church as a Cleveland landmark.

Ordinance number 95-2026, Councilmember Palencick, an emergency ordinance designating the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, former Croatian Liberty Home as a Cleveland Landmark.

Ordinance number 98-2026 by Councilmembers Davis, Santana, and Griffin by departmental request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Development to enter into a tax increment financing agreement with Westinghouse Breakwater Properties LLC or its designee, TW58 Cleveland LLC, and or another designee to assist with the financing of the Westinghouse Redevelopment Project to be located at 1200 West 58th Street to provide for payments to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and to declare certain improvements to real property to be a public purpose.

The chair acknowledges Councilwoman Nikki Hudson.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I'm a no vote on ordinance number 98 2026.

The chair acknowledges Councilman Shaw.

Same.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

Council Chair acknowledges please mark me as a no for number 98-2026.

Thank you.

Read the motion.

Said it again.

Councilwoman House Jones.

Oh, I didn't see.

Okay.

I have more.

You have what?

Okay.

Okay.

That's fine.

Ordinance number 104-2026 by Councilmembers Davis, Santana, and Griffin.

An emergency ordinance approving the addition of property located at 1200 West 58th Street to the Northeast Ohio Advanced Energy District, accepting and approving a petition and plan from a property owner in the district proposing a special energy improvement project, declaring it necessary to conduct the special energy improvement project, providing for the assessment of the cost of such special energy improvement project, authorizing the director of development to enter into an energy project cooperative agreement and a special assessment agreement to implement the project and declaring an emergency.

Ordinance number 105-2026 by Councilmembers Palencick and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Public Safety to enter into one or more various written standard and requirement contracts and for professional services with Digital Intelligence Inc.

Celebrite Inc.

and Magnet Forensics LLC for the purchase of various types of digital forensic equipment and services and for the related professional services, including the acquisition of licenses if needed for the digital forensics unit for the division of police, department of public safety for a term of one year with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the director of public safety.

Ordinance number 182-2026 by Councilmember Conwell, an emergency ordinance designating Second Mount Olive Baptist Church, former St.

John's Lutheran Church as a Cleveland Landmark.

Ordinance number 227 2026 by Council Members Bishop and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the purchase by one or more standard and requirement contracts for the purchase, lease, or lease with option to purchase of various light duty vehicles and equipment for the various divisions of city government.

Ordinance number 228-2026 by Council Members Bishop and Griffin by departmental request.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the purchase by one or more standard and requirement contracts for the purchase, lease, or lease with option to purchase of various heavy duty trucks and equipment for the various divisions of city government.

Ordinance number 283-2026 by Councilmember Griffin.

An emergency ordinance authorizing the clerk of council to enter into an agreement with Miller Mosley Company DBA Buckeye Peach Group LLC, the professional services necessary to assist Cleveland City Council with automated phone calls and text messages to relay pre-recorded messages to Cleveland residents.

Thank you.

Read the motion to suspend the rules.

Motion by Councilmember Gray that the rules be suspended.

Okay.

That the rules be suspended and the legislation just be read be placed on final passage, seconded by councilmember Davis.

Call to roll.

Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray.

Excuse me, what are we what's the this is okay.

This is the same.

This is just called a role, and then they're going to call the official count.

Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh House Jones Hudson Jones Casey Polensick Santana Shaw Slife Star.

14 years.

All right.

Now what's the okay?

The chair acknowledges Councilwoman House Jones.

Yeah, vote me at um no on two eighty-three, please.

Ready?

All right, call to roll.

Star.

Oh, Councilman.

Please mark me no for 227 and 228.

Councilman Casey.

Madam Clerk, please mark me no on 98, 227, and 228, all 2026.

Thank you.

Cartero.

Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh House Jones, Hudson Jones, Casey Palencick, Santana, Shaw, Slife, Star.

An ordinance 283, 2026, 13 Yes, one nay.

An ordinance 98, 2026, 9 years, 5 nays.

On ordinance 228, 2026, 12 years, 2 nays.

On all other ordinances, 14 years.

Thank you.

Call to roll on passage.

That was it.

That was it.

Okay.

All right.

Uh third reading.

Emergency ordinances to be passed.

Ordinance 117, 2026 by Councilmember Griffin by departmental request, an emergency ordinance to make appropriations and provide current current expenses for the daily operation of all municipal departments of the city of Cleveland for the fiscal year from January 1st, 2026 until until December 31st, 2026.

Thank you.

Call to roll on passage.

Yeah.

Councilman Shaw.

Thank you.

Carterola, Council Woman House Jones.

I'm a no on 117.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh Councilman Starr.

Thank you.

All right.

Call to roll on passage.

Griffin Bishop Conwell, Davis Gray, Harsh House Jones, Hudson Jones, Casey Polancick, Santana Shaw, Slife Star.

11 Yes, three nays.

Thank you.

Next we have legislation to be tabled.

Ordinance number 791 2024 by Councilmembers Kelly and Hairston.

An ordinance changing the zoning use of a parcel of land north of Madison Avenue between West 100th Street and West 101st Street from local retail to general retail as identified on the attached map and removing the pedestrian retail overlay district designation for the same parcel of land.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any introductions?

Seeing no introductions, we'll now move to announcements.

Any announcements?

Any announcements.

Councilwoman House Jones.

Yes, good evening, Justin.

The Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls will be meeting this upcoming Wednesday, March 25th, at 5 o'clock PM on the fifth floor, and we will be swearing in one of our new commissioners.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilman Shaw announce uh the we will be having our first community ward meeting uh for the new Ward 12 at the Eagle Cafe tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Thank you.

Uh Councilman Michael Palency.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Honorable colleagues, um safety community, 10 o'clock on Wednesday.

We need to have everybody there in attendance because there's a lot going on that day.

So please uh we need a quorum for Wednesday at 10 o'clock.

Thank you.

Thank you.

See no we have another announcement, Councilwoman House Jones.

Please come.

And if you're not gonna be there, let me know.

We have um candidate for Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls, as well as the Port of Port Authority.

Thank you.

Next we'll move the miscellaneous miscellaneous.

Councilman Kevin Conwell, miscellaneous.

Just tap it, just tap it.

Just put your finger on the light.

Just put the finger on it.

Yeah, there it is.

Here this is.

You know, when we were pushing the uh, well, not me.

When the Westside Market was pushing us, and they were asking for millions of dollars, and you, Councilmember Mike Polinsky and I was talking about that we're gonna need help with the east side market, because we know in the long run that it's gonna go under.

Remember you remember when we mentioned that at the table.

People thought we were mad and mean about it.

We knew because we saw the direction when employees weren't being paid.

So the only thing I with the men made a decision already to close the east side market, but they never reached out to the surrounding council members, councilmember Kevin Conwell, Councilmember Mike Palencick, or councilwoman Stephanie House Jones, so that we can talk with our residents, the mayor's residents as well.

So you hear the underlying councilman, I hear the market is closing.

Councilman, I hear the market is closing.

I've never you ever witnessed anything like that.

You and I have been here for quite some time, Councilmember Mike Palency.

What that is is the administration should at least at least respect Cleveland City Council members to sit down, just like they did with the West Side Market, calling me at my house all the time, having me to go to walk the Westside Market to see what's going on, so I can understand why we need the millions of dollars in the West Side Market.

But you ignored Glenville, Huff and the Collinwood community.

You did not reach out to the council members over there to even tell us what was going on.

I would never do that.

When the housing project, when one of the council members wanted to close down the housing, you know what I said, director, because you called and let me know, Director David Margolius.

I said, go talk with him first.

It would be wrong to snatch the money out without talking with him.

That's what you gotta do if we're working together.

And I'm very, very disappointed in that.

I'm very disappointed.

So I sit down, craft this letter about the urgent crisis at the east side market, as well as Neon Health Services.

I'm writing you, Mr.

Mayor, you today with a sense of profound urgency regarding the looming closure of the east side market and the dire financial instability of the Northeast Ohio neighborhood health services.

That's NEON.

These two institutions are not merely businesses, they are the lifelines of our city.

Not only the Glenville neighborhood area, but the surrounding communities of Huff and Collinwood from the northeast area of the city.

If this, if the disparity in the municipal attention is too impossible to ignore, why the West Side Market has been in front benefited from a massive millions of dollars in revitalization plan and the transition of a dedicated nonprofit management structure.

The east side deserves a great public space and a reliable fresh food oasis with the same level and sense of urgency and capital investment and a long-term vision that has been afforded to the West Side Market.

The consequences of this inaction are manifested and it's devastating.

The problems to be caused include food desert expansion with the closure of the east side market.

We are witnessed the re-emergence of a food desert in the Glenville, Collinwood, Huff neighborhood that are only recently celebrated by the return of fresh produce for those outside reliable transportation.

And you know what?

You know what, Mr.

Mayor?

One of your one of your um supervisors over in the West Side Market.

When I talked with her, she lives a few houses up from me, through doors up.

And I said, What if the East Side Market going?

You know what she said to me?

Well, tell your residents to catch the bus to come over to the West Side Market.

That's so you're not caring.

You have to look at the entire city.

And no one came to reach out to Councilman Cowwell.

Uh Travis, I don't know.

I mean, it's not smiling.

No one.

Somebody told me.

Hold on, we're not gonna go back and forth.

Mongolias called me when I was at the airport, and no one sat down with me at all to tell me the systems are the structures of why and how they're closing the east side market.

Now that's true.

See never sit down with me to tell me about, and I found out about the 200,000 really from the east side market when I called them.

No one sit down with me.

Nobody at all, Mr.

Mayor.

My word is my bond.

My word is my bond.

Nobody did.

You gotta sit down and show me the plan.

But you never did.

Your administration didn't.

But they got in touch with me for the West Side Market.

And that's wrong.

And that's wrong.

And that's not right at all.

That's not right at all.

You know.

And the other thing that we have to look at the health care inequality, the threat of the NEON health is currently facing a red course, code red financial crisis, with reports of wage theft and properties are facing foreclosures.

NEON provides the essential medical care for two thousands.

If these clinic closes, the burden on our city emergency room was skyrocket.

The health care inequality on the east side will skyrocket.

We need to figure out a contingency plan, not only for the east side market, but also for neon health centers as well.

And what is going on in the health community in the Glenville community, as well as the Southeast Side.

So if you see the trend that the East Side Market is closing, you know that Neon Health Center is in trouble.

They already have a receivership there.

Let's not wait.

Let's talk with people now.

Let's do contingency planning.

With the Neon Health Center, they battle against cancer.

They battle for dealing with dental.

They battle with health care prevention.

If they close and we wait for them to close, then shame on us.

We gotta start moving right now.

In my community, you see a huge, huge of uh my residents with cancer.

I'm a cancer survivor myself because we didn't have a grocery store there.

I'm a cancer survivor.

I feel it.

I can't just get through the door and then pull the ladder up and don't benefit the people in my community.

Councilman, I added another forum to you, so I need you.

You know what?

You know what?

Yeah, I got 22 seconds.

No, I'm really 23 seconds.

But I put you up for this is the second four minutes.

Okay.

Here's the thing.

The residents are the bosses, they're my board of directors, they're the mayor's board of directors, the Cleveland City Council Board of Directors, and they deserve to know what's going on in their neighborhood.

And I'll tell you right now, no one from that administration sat down and talked with me.

Dr.

David Mongoli has called me, but a phone call is different than someone sitting down, meeting with councilman Conwell about the issues and the concerns in the health care inequality in the Glenville community.

Thank you, Council.

Councilman, the chair acknowledges Councilman Michael Palency.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, Montaba Colleagues, Honorable Mayor, members of the administration.

Mr.

Chairman, um, I rise as well.

Um, you know, we have a tough job, all of us here, the council and the administration, and none of us here want to be in an adversarial relationship or condition.

I've seen that in the past, and I certainly don't want to see that today.

But we've got problems.

We're confronted with on the east side 18 schools being closed.

We're confronted with a lack of traffic enforcement.

We're concerned with a lot of quality of life issues in our neighborhoods.

And NEON, I think has brought all of this to a head, maybe more so than ever before, because we're losing voting uh locations as well with the closure of the schools.

But what's happened to NEON is outrageous.

You talk about a mismanaged malfeasance, allegedly corrupt operation.

That is it.

Now we're confronted with losing health care locations.

I have the Collinwood Clinic on St.

Clair within the new Ward 10.

I have housing uh projects that they own that are in terrible condition.

And Mr.

Chairman, I'll be very blunt about this.

I think we, the council and the administration, uh and the law department, we need to be sitting down and talking of what action we can take.

I'll be the first to say I talked to the U.S.

Um attorney on Friday about NEON.

And I ain't mixing, I ain't playing because what has happened there is outrageous.

They don't pay their employees, they rip the community off.

And when we look at the challenges that we're confronted on the east side of the city, it's no wonder why our neighborhoods are in a condition that they're in.

Because people just rip us off, think they can take advantage of us, and nobody's gonna do anything about it.

Now, I'm I'm at the position at this part of my life.

I'm prepared to do whatever I have to.

I don't care what I got to go through, go around, or go over.

At the end of the day, what's happened to NEON is outrageous.

That whole board should be cleaned out.

That whole board of NEON should be cleaned out.

And when you have employees calling us, telling us they're not getting paid, and alleging all these other things that are taking place there.

So I want to say to the law director, to the mayor and his team, we need to sit down, we need to figure out a game plan on NEON, and then some of these other challenges we're confronted about.

We all know, let's be honest, we know that uh the east side market was ripped off, was ripped off, and one of those individuals went to prison, probably not long enough, but went to prison.

And at the end of the day, the market has just descended, descended to a point where now we have to worry about another vacant building on St.

Clair Avenue on top of all the other buildings we have on St.

Clair Avenue.

So again, I don't want to be in an adversarial position.

I'm I'm here to work with people.

I'm not happy what's happening on the east side of the city.

I gotta tell you this.

I'm not happy.

I grew up on the east side.

I was born in Glenville, not that far from where that east side market's at.

And and what's again, what's going on here is just ridiculous.

We keep losing, we keep getting things taken from us.

Malfeasance, mismanagement, corruption.

We've got to get a handle on it.

So, Mr.

Chairman, again, I would say this to all of us who are gathered here, especially to the administration to the law director.

We need to sit down.

We need to figure out what action we can take, the city can take against NEON, or what we can do to encourage a federal investigation as to what has taken place there.

This is totally unacceptable what they've done to us.

Our residents are about to lose additional health care, which is critical for our neighbors and our residents on the east side of the city and our kids.

We we keep losing and losing and losing ground on the east side.

Something's got to change here.

So I'm gonna leave it at that.

Um I'm here to work with whoever.

It's it's beyond politics at this point, beyond politics.

It's about quality of life and about our community.

And I'll leave it at that, Mr.

Chairman.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I believe that is all miscellaneous.

Madam Clerk, please excuse the absences.

That the uh absence of Councilman uh Christopher Harsh is excused.

Thank you.

Council has adjourned to the call of the chair upon adjournment.

Please exit the chambers and continue conversations in the hallway so that the police may secure the chambers.

Thank you.

The next meeting will be on March 30, 2026.