The mayor's appointment meeting is brought to order for Tuesday, March 24th, 2026.

Can we call the role?

Mr.

Minnesota.

Here.

Thank you so much.

So today we'll be hearing five candidates today.

Everyone should have received everyone's, at least the application for Miss Nelson, the resumes for our Port Authority candidates, and we will begin.

So Miss Ann Nelson, you're welcome to come up to the table, please.

Okay.

If you could just pull the mic to yourself and press it, uh the green button and just bring it forward to you.

Yep, just press it.

Nope, just press it once.

Ann Nelson from the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls.

So Miss Nelson, as you are getting yourself settled, if you could take a time about two minutes to introduce yourself to us, uh, and then I will open it up uh to questions from our committee members.

Okay.

Pull the mic towards you.

Thank you.

I'm Ann Nelson and I am uh torture.

Full of torture.

Okay.

My name is Ann Nelson.

I serve uh as senior assistant dean at the College of Business at Cleveland State.

I've been there for 25 years.

I was raised in the Glenville area in Cleveland uh by a divorced single mom who fought hard for all four of her daughters to be educated.

And um I saw this opportunity like like this.

Yes, yes, so we can't.

I saw this opportunity, I think almost closer less than a year ago.

And I've served students and helped people for the last 25 years through my personal work in education.

But as an African American female, it really resonated when I saw the call and the need, and I know there is still so much work to be done uh to help young and women of people of color grow and feel more comfortable with themselves.

And I feel I have a lot to be able to offer uh to this committee, and so I decide to take a chance.

Um I believe in education, but I believe in all types of education.

I work in higher education, but we actually really need more people going into the trades.

And so if someone doesn't want a four-year degree, I really would love to find a way to support more of those people because um many times when people feel they can't go to a four-year institution, they feel lost.

And so I'm here today to serve.

As I said, I grew up in the Glenville area.

Um we moved, I think, when I was 25, and so it really resonates that I could be able to maybe serve this community.

Well, thank you so much for that.

Um I will now open it up for questions.

Councilman Casey.

Thank you, madam chairwoman.

Um Madam Chairwoman to Miss Nelson.

Uh where do you currently reside?

I don't want the address.

Oh, no.

No, University Heights.

Okay, so you're from University Heights.

And then what's your biggest achievement been in life?

I'm only asking you that because you had a post where you posted the tough the nine tough interview questions.

And that was one of the questions.

So I'm just going through your social media, so I thought I would just ask you that one.

Achieving many of the goals as a little girl who dreamed playing with her Barbie on Tacoma Avenue, that I've been able to accomplish many of those things.

So it was really never about money the way my mother raised us.

So accomplishing many of those goals I used to dream about.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

Um, Madam Chairperson and Miss Nelson.

Uh you've indicated to um Councilman Casey, you reside in University Heights to the chair.

Is I'm trying to get a better understanding because I'm becoming more and more concerned about appointing people to represent the city on boards and commission who do not live in the city.

And there are some outstanding people we know outside who do not live in the city.

But is this commission?

It's my understanding this commission is just for the city of Cleveland.

This would this is actually the appointment for someone who works at a university.

So this is part of the thing is the um appointment that she is Phil and Miss Nelson is someone has to work at a university.

And these are the candidates that have put forth.

She worked at Cleveland State University.

So the the um appointing entity.

Recommending any was this city council or the mayor's office.

This is actually the Echeman uh from uh the commission itself.

The commission itself.

Yes.

Okay.

This is something I'm I'm um wrestling with.

Um all these it's becoming again, I'm indicated to me it's becoming of concern to me on commissions and boards.

Um that are supposed to be um Cleveland oriented, but yet folks do not live in the city of Cleveland.

So um I'm gonna have to figure this one out.

But you're very talented.

I read your resume and your information.

But you um I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from.

I'm just concerned about what I'm seeing as a pattern here at City Hall of more and more people being appointed do not live in the city of Cleveland.

Can I address your concerns?

Yes.

I I see your concern, but here's where I feel personally with my candidacy.

Okay.

I grew up and lived in the Glenville area.

And no matter where I am, no matter my fancy title, I know who I am and I know where I've come from.

Also to serving Cleveland State for the last 25 years, the majority of our students are Clevelanders, and so I work daily with people from all areas in the Cleveland area.

And just living in university heights, you know, one of the things that I often tell people who live in any of our heights, we won't be able to survive without Cleveland.

So no matter if I'm living in University Heights now, I understand that we need to serve Cleveland.

And so in this role, I'm really excited about being able to serve beyond Cleveland State.

And, you know, I actually serve on the Well Link Committee, which used to be the center of health affairs, and our goals and aspirations are really focused on the Cleveland area.

And so I really don't think this would be an issue for me because the reason why I gravitated to this is because I know I could have impact on women or girls in Greater Cleveland who face many of the things I faced being in the community for over, you know, I was from the time until I left at 25.

Uh so I I really don't think it would be an issue.

I understand your issues with it, but in working at Cleveland State, which they don't have any criteria, you live in the city.

I would say 80 percent of the students that I've impacted are people who live in Cleveland.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairburgs.

Councilman Shaw.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Uh thank you to the chair.

Um wanted to uh I appreciate your time here today, uh Ms.

Nelson.

And I wanted to just um I think two questions I wanted to ask was what one question I've been consistent in asking all of our candidates so far, nominees.

Um so far has been if you can explain or talk a little bit about one time in your past where you stood up to authority or challenged authority um and how you plan on bringing that experience to your work with the commission.

Um yeah, I would love to hear that.

Well, when you work in higher education, uh when I decided I wanted to go into this particular discipline, I had no one around me who worked in this.

And I decided I didn't actually want to be a faculty member.

I wanted to be administrator.

And there's not many people even today at Cleveland State.

I'm the only African American senior assistant dean.

Ninety percent of my meetings, no one look like me.

And so it's strange you asked that question.

I was raised by a very firm, strong but caring mom who told us to learn how to speak up.

So my nickname at CSU is Rebel, because I often ask tough questions, no matter if it's the president or the provost or even our own dean.

Because um one of the reasons why I do ask questions of people in power.

I don't want to get emotional, but when I chose this this discipline, I truly wanted to find a way to help young people or returning people to any kind of education, find their path for a better way of life, but also to to feel good about themselves and what they want to study.

And so even though I have this fancy title and I'm an administrator, I still see myself as a servant to students.

And many times when I do ask questions for people in authority, it's because I see that they're not focused on the student.

I tell people this all the time.

Working in higher education, we are not creating widgets on a line for GM.

These are people's lives.

And so often when I speak, I speak for students, and I see that things are happening.

Because when you get into roles like I am, it's very easy to just see as the next rule to pass, the next bill, trying to find a way if we're in a financial bind, and you're not focused on the people there.

And so as much work as I have on my plate, I actually still meet with students.

I have a meeting with the student tonight at six o'clock, because that keeps me grounded on why we're doing this work.

And so it leads to me often speaking up to people of authority, but often I also have recommendations not to denigrate.

Have you thought about it doing it this way?

I appreciate that.

Um and thank you for elaborating.

And as you can imagine, you know, I the challenges that this commission is being asked to confront run deep through our society.

Um they're interconnected through our institutions, and it's gonna require um a strong voice to continue championing the policies that the commission chooses to undertake.

And I'm really excited for your experience to be there.

Um look forward to that.

Um wanted to just understand my final question was uh if you could have one policy or one thing that you would have the city champion in regards to what it can help the commission on, what would that be?

You could make magic wand, and it'll happen.

It doesn't matter what the politics are.

I would love to find a way if every school could have multiple types of people to help students.

You know, even when I was at FDR in middle school, the guidance counselors seem to only focus on students who raise their hand and say, I want to go to college.

But then you have this whole group of students who either A were not doing well academically, or B, they just didn't think about college.

They felt lost often.

And I still see it today, that if I speak with a young person who, if they can't afford Cleveland State and they need to go to Tri-C, they feel like something's wrong with them.

So I really wish the height, the middle schools and high schools had more representation of different types of career guidance counselors to make young people feel stronger earlier about themselves or what they're thinking.

Um I tell this story to parents all the time, uh, because part of my duty is when a student is failing at CSU in the College of Business, they must see me.

And I will see a parent devastated that they've realized that Paul had told them, I don't want to be an accountant.

I actually want to be a mechanic.

But their neighbor's son Jack went straight to John Cure for Encounting.

And so now here is Paul struggling and failing at CSU because he has felt bad about being a mechanic.

So if I could have this kind of change in the middle and high schools to try to inspire students earlier, but have a pathway.

Because for many parents and students, they do gravitate to the four-year because they don't know any other options.

And I really think middle school is really needs to be more so, maybe even than high schools.

So that's what I wish I could have more of those types of people in all of our schools.

If not, maybe there's more types of after care programs, but to have that exposure early and feel comfortable about yourself, because right now people are making decisions because of what their neighbors and what they see on TV or social media, and they don't understand about themselves because they don't want to disappoint people.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Um in conclusion, I'll just I think um echo some of the concerns I know other committee members have brought up about our candidates and nominees living in the city of Cleveland.

Um I I hear your um explanation on you know why you're still connected to the community.

The fact that you know you're at Cleveland State, I think helps assuage some of those concerns, but uh I I I retain those um broader concerns and um look forward to having the administration nominate more um residents of Cleveland as well.

But um thank you for your time.

Okay, and if for some reason I can't serve, I understand.

There was a question from a councilmember to ask how many appointments are still available on the Cleveland Commission for Black Women and Girls.

Uh there are four open positions.

Um there is uh the one that's still open currently, right now.

There is a college student, there are two um there are two high school students, and there are actually uh two individuals, actually three individuals that technically their terms have expired, and so we have to actually go through the process of actually recruiting people.

So it'll be we're trying to at least keep something because people are supposed to run a parole off, but how many total on the commission?

Right now it's three open spots, four open spots.

Yeah, but I mean total on the commission.

It's a commission of 14.

Okay, yes, it's eight um four and four of um I would say eight adults, and they're supposed and twelve um four younger people to high school, two college, and then there are um three appointments, one from council, one from um the mayor herself where he has appointee and another appointy.

So that's technically 15.

Okay.

Uh so Miss Nelson, I have a question.

Uh based on just your title, do you actually have the time commitment to serve on the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls?

Yes, I do.

Uh recently, the college uh at my request hired another person under me to help with my workload.

Uh, but I wouldn't have built out the application or put my hat in the ring if I didn't feel like I had the time.

I also am hoping, you know, one of the reasons you were interested in my candidacy because it did have a role for higher education.

But again, if I'm elected to serve, I would also be very open to look beyond higher education and just education.

Okay.

Um and then beyond that, what do you see could potentially be your role outside of the formal meetings?

Um, do you see kind of what your role can be and what type of work you would engage in on behalf of the commission?

I would be willing to, if you subcommittees, uh if there's volunteer opportunities, which I also too can pull in student organizations at Cleveland State if that's needed.

I also would not mind also to helping other women of color who may be in higher education and they're just starting their careers.

It's tough.

I've often told people it's a contact sport in higher education.

Um it'll be uh 16 years ago.

I'll never forget it.

Um April, 16 years ago, I almost lost my way because I had a person who told me that I did not belong in higher education, that um you know I needed to move on, and this person was a person of authority.

Um and of course I found out why, because um I even though I'm a fair skinned, I'm African-American woman, and they were not comfortable with the person of leadership, and I thought I was going to leave uh because and so I would also love to help individuals who are thinking of starting the path of a higher education administration career because it really is tough, and there's not many people in those roles.

Um, and so uh that would be something I would be interested in if that could be helpful to any person in the greater Cleveland community who are just starting their career.

All right, well, thank you so much uh for that information.

Are there any other questions?

And so that's one of the things that I will put forth the committee.

Um we will, in short order, the commission will be putting forth um some uh amendments to the current legislation as uh when it was initially put out there were some specific requirements and criteria we wanted for candidates, and we wanted to and will for council to consider um to just having more general members, half general members versus the titles like union member, faith leader, things of that nature, and just doing half general members and half titles so that we can ensure that we will be able to get pools of people and not just define people to boxes.

Um without any further um questions, um would like to just take a vote if for those uh for consideration of Ms.

Nan and Nelson uh for the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls.

Yes.

Yes, yes.

Yes, yes.

All right.

Well, I I'm sure my time is up.

Uh just one quick story.

Representation still matters.

I don't care what's going on in this country, I don't care who doesn't want to use the word.

But five years ago, a Caucasian mother did not want to speak with me because her daughter was interviewed for a scholarship, and they had to meet with me.

The end of the story, when her daughter graduated from Cleveland State, I was invited to the graduation party.

And the reason why the mother didn't want to speak with me.

She told me she had never met an African American because they were from a very small rural town in Southern Ohio.

And so representation matters.

After four years, she realized we had a lot in common.

And it I helped your daughter.

So thank you so much for your time.

And all of your service.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Howson.

Congratulations, and we hope to see you tomorrow at the Cleveland Commission of Black Women and Girls Meeting.

Okay tomorrow at five o'clock in room 514.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you so much.

All right.

So the way that we're going to try to do this next part, um, I wanted to do two and two, but for one candidate, we will not be able to do that.

So at this time, uh, who was here?

I'm trying to see.

Okay, so I'm gonna call up um Mr.

Jay Stephen Holmes as well as uh Miss Telly Anjay Thomas, if you both can come up together.

Uh these are candidates for consideration for the Cleveland Cuyahoga County Port Authority.

Um, as they are making their way um to the table, um, I would like for um each of them uh if you can take about two minutes both to introduce yourselves to the committee, and then from there I will open the floor up to ask questions.

Uh good morning to the chairwoman and to the committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to address you.

Again, my name is Telly Anjay Thomas.

I am a resident of Cleveland, have been so since 2003 officially, but also as a student in the late 90s, early 2000s.

Um I have the privilege of currently serving on the board of the port authority.

I've been appointed since 2000 2022, excuse me.

Um with that, I bring uh rich background and experience in economic development, community development, uh public-private partnerships, um, and have served um on a number of uh appointed boards by the governor as well as the city um in different capacities.

Um beyond uh my role as a board member, I'm also the current chair of the governance committee uh for the port.

Uh so I provide the leadership to the board and support the staff with our overall governance and compliance, uh making sure our bylaws are in place, uh, informing uh the scope and role of the board role um so that as new appointees are being brought forward that we're having alignment with skills and needs gap um to support the port.

And in December, I was also nominated to chair the Port Authorities Strategic Planning uh committee.

Uh so we have recently uh formed that committee and are undergoing a new strategic plan that will set strategic priorities uh for the port over the next five to ten years.

So we're very excited about that work.

Um outside of that, I would just say that this has been a very fulfilling um appointment.

I have a long history of board service.

Um I have tried to show up consistently um in my leadership and commitment to the people in the city of Cleveland, and this is just another demonstration um of how I bring that commitment and that work and that leadership forward.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Um I'm Stefan Holmes, uh lifelong resident of Cleveland, uh currently in Orange Village, Councilman, but uh I've had many years of service directly to the city, uh not only through the port since 2018 appointed by Mayor Jackson, but also the chairman of the Cleveland Citywide Development Corps, C C D C, where we uh opine and recommend uh many uh TIFFs and loans uh and grants as well to come back to you as council people for approval.

Um also have been chair for the past 10 years of Fairfax Renaissance Development, FRDC.

Um very proud of all of those commitments, accomplished a lot um uh with uh uh really the board members not only at the port but throughout the community as well as many members that are sitting in front of me.

We've had opportunity to to opine and and work on uh different projects that have uh basically improved the life and quality of life of the greater Clevelanders.

Um happy to be here.

Uh as I said, I was first appointed in 2018 by Mayor Jackson and reappointed in uh 2022 by Mayor Bibb.

So this is my third go around with you all.

All right, thank you all for that.

I'm gonna start at the end.

Uh Councilman Shaw, do you have any questions?

What was that?

Do you have any questions?

Okay, Councilman Casey.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

Um Madam Chairwoman to um Ms.

Thomas and Mr.

Holmes, your resumes are outstanding.

They're you're no one is going to um doubt your commitment over what you guys have done in the past.

I do have some questions though, um, since you're both current board members.

Um Ms.

Thomas, you you actually reside in the city of Cleveland, correct?

Mr.

Holmes, you reside outside of the city of Cleveland.

Correct.

Okay.

Um what is the stipend for the board?

Um those uh fees or stipends are set by um the state, I believe, after taxes, and please don't quote me on this.

Um I think it's roughly about $650 that a board member receives.

And then it's different for uh officers.

Do you know what the do you know what the stipend is, madam chairwoman, through our presenters for officers, the stipend for the officers, that's uh to uh the councilman to the to the committee?

No, I do not.

I'm I'm not an officer, so I'm not gonna officer, correct?

No, I was not.

Okay, you didn't didn't you say you chaired the government, you're government?

But governance does not receive uh elevated.

And then do we know what the board chair makes?

Uh it has changed.

Uh I can get that to you.

Okay.

Okay.

I just wonder.

It's it's less than just so you know, put some context to it.

It's and I pause because I want to be accurate, but it's less than 1500 uh uh a month, and that is for uh chair.

Well, and ms madam chairwoman to the presenters, the the reason I ask is because 7200 a year, I believe is what makes you eligible for PRS.

Correct.

Right.

So is the as board chairs are you making enough to be P ERS eligible?

Um I believe we had an update to the policy and the rate that made us uh OPAR's eligible.

So, with all due respect, okay, Madam Chairwoman to the presenters a little bit of a red flag if you're coming here, you've sat on the board and you don't even know how much the stipend is.

I'll just start I'll just start with that.

I mean, you you should I respect you should know that.

I I will I will just acknowledge that um in terms of not knowing the exact number is because I don't think about it as a earned income.

Fair enough.

I think about it in my service.

Yeah, and I and I echo that.

Okay.

And that's fair enough.

It's clearly not the money that we're doing.

I understand.

All right, Madam Chairman to presenters.

In 2018, um the board adopted the prevailing wage for um any projects that the port was going to help fund or finance or whatever.

In 2024, that was voted on to repeal prevailing wage for the port authority.

I'm asking just a yes or no question.

Did you vote to repeal the prevailing wage while you sat as a board member in 2024?

So I will go first.

Um I know you asked for a yes or no, um, but respectfully, I think it's beyond a yes or no question.

Context does matter.

Um, I was one of the newer member board members at that time.

We went through an extensive process to assess and evaluate the implications of that 2018 policy on the ability of the port to attract um deals and opportunities to generate revenue and what the implications were kind of collectively.

After that assessment and the data came back to us, the question before us was not a question of if we believe in or are for prevailing wage or not.

The question was what is the right policy to open up and consistent opportunities for the port to drive economic opportunity.

And so with the data that we had with that framing and with that insight, um, that was the question that was put before us, and I did vote in favor of uh evolved policy to ensure that the port can continue to fulfill its mission and provide um sustainable employment opportunities.

Do you have anything to add, Mr.

Holmes?

Uh context is important.

Uh to answer your question directly.

I I voted for it.

Okay.

Um I was chair at the time.

I can tell you again for context that she didn't add.

Um discussions on that were over a year.

For me, and I'm a banker by trade, and I dealt in the bond market and is as a banker.

Um part of the reasoning behind it was for us to maintain our AA-rating.

We had been given we'll call it uh things to consider for better lack of better terms, um, by the rating agencies in terms of the number and types of deals.

So part of uh the the year-long discussion was what would make and keep the port very strong in in terms of its its bond rating.

The prevailing wage is something that um I didn't necessarily agree with uh some of the counsel that we had received from folks that had seeked uh financing from the port, but the fact remains that at the time uh and I think still today, uh for port financing in Ohio, the Greater Cleveland uh Calgary County Port Authority was the only port that had that as a as a as a requirement.

So I say all that to say we weren't really playing with the with an equal and fair deck.

Developers would come to us, decide, you know, because of the prevailing wage that their project would be at risk.

And they simply would go to either Akron, um Toledo, or in some cases the state of Ohio itself.

So we needed to basically level the playing ground.

Not that I agreed with it, um, all of my family members uh were union members, grew up in a union household, so I get it.

Um being a person of color, I'm very sensitive to uh equality on wage.

Um so it was really one of a business decision of how do we do best to keep our bond rating and make and lay and and even the playing field um for like finance.

Well, Mr.

or Madam Chairwoman to our presenters, I can I can appreciate that, but you know how many times I've sat on council, not agreed with something, but voted my conscience and was the only no vote?

A lot, right?

That prevailing wage is a is a major factor for my vote today, right?

And I'm going to vote my conscience because I I'm for prevailing wages.

This council, the city of Cleveland has done an awful lot to assure equal equal pay for for everybody.

And when the port voted to take prevailing wages away, the optics of that is that you're taking the side of big business and big developers over the working class, hardworking, blue-collar laborers, right?

And I'm just I'm just just saying it's right.

So they so there's there's different optics.

So the answer to both the questions is is yes.

I would I would that's your answer is you voted to get rid of prevailing wage, it's your vote.

There's there's you know, there's nothing you can do about it.

Now, madam chairwoman to the presenters, would you support reinstating the prevailing wage since you both are current board members and you've had since 2024 to do that?

Would you support in the future reinstating prevailing wages uh for any projects that the port finances?

I let me say this.

Uh I don't know.

Okay.

Uh it has to it would have to be project specific.

Um, it would also have to be something that what is going on in in today's marketplace.

Um I will say this, and this was also a consideration of mine.

Um I hear you, I agree with you, I I actually feel you.

Um it was a difficult decision.

However, um, in some cases, and I don't want to name them here because I want to be factual to you.

Would you rather have a project going where you still have 80, 85 percent of the workforce uh on that particular project making above prevailing wage or no project at all?

Uh Mr.

Chair, uh Madam Chairwoman to the you're you're on the port, I'm not right.

I don't have a vote on that.

If that project was to come to Cleveland City Council, I can tell you now that I'd be in supportive of anything prevailing wages, right?

In your situation, probably I would probably say everybody needs to make a prevailing wage and not 80 percent of the people making more than a prevailing wage.

But we have different maybe we have different philosophical beliefs.

No, not really we're not here to talk about that.

We're here about the reappointment.

One other topic I want to touch on, Madam Chairwoman, um, is as current board members, you know that the new project that is going up in Brook Park Road is or in Brook Park is going to hurt the city of Cleveland.

Okay.

Do you support the the port financing any infrastructure problem projects for the new stadium or the new development in Brook Park?

So I'll respond first uh to the chairwoman and uh to the committee member.

Um, you know, I've been following along uh with the numerous reporting, the opinions, the perspectives.

Uh of course, I have my own personal um perspective about the stadium project.

Um respectfully as a board member, I have to do the due diligence to see um any project that's brought before us um and assess the data and the facts and understand that, and then to your point, um understand the priorities and the mission of the port and determine how that aligns with my values and conscience and vote accordingly.

Um so absence the fact that there hasn't been a project brought before us or anything for consideration, um, I would not want to speculate on what I would or would not do um because it does require a lot of context, conversation, data, insight, research, and critical thought.

But thank you for the question.

Ditto.

Honestly, I and I I laugh only because there hasn't been anything brought before us.

Uh but I'm waiting for the Madam Chairwoman to the to the thing.

I I know there hasn't been anything brought before you, but we have to look into the future too for the city of Cleveland, right?

And and I'm not talking the region, right?

Your city of Cleveland appointees, right?

Absolutely.

I understand that you're there to represent the board, but you're also there to represent the best interest of the city of Cleveland, right?

As Cleveland appointees.

That's why that's why I'm asking that because if something does come down the pike in the future, I'd like to know where the where the the Cleveland appointees would stand in that situation, right?

So did you want to elaborate any more or not really because it it's hard.

You're you're asking for a philosophical question.

Right.

And uh philosophically, you're saying are you asking am I for or against the city and moving from the I didn't ask about no, I said are you for or against the port financing any infrastructure projects that would be a part of the new development in Brook Park, knowing that that new development is going to hurt the city of Cleveland.

I'm only asking because philosophically, we were you already have your vote on the prevailing wage, right?

So philosophically, if this is what we're here for, you know, for the appointment, we need to know that the appointees have the city of Cleveland's best interest, knowing that you still represent the port, right?

I mean, I I get that, but we need to make sure that our city of Cleveland appointees are looking out for the best interest of the city of Cleveland and not so much other factors.

I I it's a tough situation, but you asked for the appointment, right?

So that's you know Well, let me let me say this too.

Um during my years on port, I've tried to stay Switzerland.

Um I know that some I have some some projects are are political in nature.

Um I looked at it and I tried to put myself above that as well as have more leadership discussions above that in terms of what is best for the city of Cleveland, number one, the port, number two, and the the whole economic development.

Um that quite frankly, the city and the state have been behind.

We're we're playing catch-up.

Uh COVID didn't help.

Um you know this the state of employment in this area, you know the state of education in this area, uh, you know the state of housing and affordable housing in this area, and they're all tied.

I get it.

So, you know, the question becomes given what can happen, um, we have to look at it in that context.

And and and I and I truly I'm glad that you're asking these questions, and I respect your opinion.

Um, but I can't ask for a philosophical question on on you know whether I'm for or against port financing.

We haven't been presented with any.

Okay.

Um and madam chairwoman, uh going forward, if we could for people who are reappointed, I'm gonna ask for the attendance records of of not just you two.

No, absolutely but any member.

So how madam chairwoman, how is your attendance been?

Happy to speak to that.

So as the governance chair, uh we did an assessment uh at the end of last year, uh, not only to assess skills and priorities of um the board members, but also attendance.

And I'm pleased to say that if you had like an A to a F rating, all of our um board members had attendance of B or higher.

Okay, all right.

I have a hundred percent.

I was the same way that's attendance is important to me.

All right, one last question, Madam Chairman to the presenters.

Who was the board chair in 2018 and 2024?

It was uh 20 and 24 was myself.

Okay, and 18 it was um do you remember?

Yeah, I do.

Um Pat Ramsey.

Okay, all right.

That was prior to my appointment.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

All right, thank you.

Uh, next we have is uh councilwoman Santana.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good is it morning?

I think we yeah, it's good afternoon.

Okay.

So um I've had a chance to serve with both of you guys in the community, and I'll start with you, um Telyanji.

Um I want to highlight that your um resume is impressive as Councilman Casey said.

Um I won't read it, but I I do think that the audience should just know how experienced you are.

But one thing about you is that your leadership and dedication and serving the people of the city of Cleveland, ensuring economic development, you know, that's equitable across our city is very impressive.

I love your passion.

You've been serving our community for over two decades, right?

Um, and you I know you're you're very young.

But um, I do have a question, you know, just with your experiences and your background, you know, what type of accomplishments are you hoping to accomplish through the port authority?

Yes, uh, to the chairwoman and to uh councilwoman Santana, thank you for your uh your kind uh comments and for the question.

You know, I'm very excited about what's ahead for the port.

Um, specifically, there's three uh areas that have me energized.

As I said, I had the privilege of being uh nominated uh by my colleagues to serve as the chair of the strategic planning committee.

That is work that I take very seriously.

Um I have decades of experience in doing that uh for various organizations, and being able um to be both a leadership and a thought partner, um, not only to the CEO, um Jeff Epstein and the staff, um, but the consulting team that we have secured, Deloitte and Third Space Action Lab, um, being able to set the trajectory and the focus of the port's work across maritime, across uh redevelopment and finance projects and infrastructure is critical and it's essential.

Um it is a very complex but also a very exciting time for the city of Cleveland right now.

Um there is a lot of opportunity in front of us, but it's gonna require a lot of alignment, a lot of coordination, a lot of collaboration and making a lot of tough decisions.

And so our ability to get clarity on where we can add the highest value as the port and how we can best deploy our resources and our talent to shape and inform and direct uh not only where Cleveland is today, but where it wants to be 10, 20, 30 years from now, um, is very exciting.

Uh I find that type of work rewarding um and I'm fully committed to show up and support that in my leadership as the as the chair.

Um beyond that, there's two other things that I'm very excited about.

Uh, since the day I joined the board, one of the conversations that was pretty consistent amongst the board was that um our financing capabilities, right?

Is one of the primary reasons why um uh folks seek us to work with the port.

And it's one of the kind of very concrete ways that you can see impact in the community.

A building goes up, a hotel goes up, fill in the blank.

Um, but what we collectively understood and realized is that um there still was a gap in a distance between uh those types of projects and opportunities happening in neighborhoods, right?

So not necessarily the suburbs or further regional areas, but in the neighborhoods.

So we have been working very diligently with the staff uh to challenge them and ourselves to think about how we make our financing tools more accessible to a support neighborhood level um investment and development.

Um so we have some opportunities that we anticipate rolling out this year.

Um I've been a champion of those, a supporter of those, along with my colleagues on the board.

Um, so that is another thing that has me very, very excited, but I can't prematurely speak about them.

Um, but that is something that we've been committed to.

And outside of um those two things, um, I would really speak to what's happening at Irish Town Ben and just kind of the environmental impact um that we've been able to catalyze with the stabilization of the hill.

But again, that's just another example of how we can touch people, how we can touch places, how we can touch neighborhoods, and continue to be good champions of the work of the port, but also good steer stewards of the resources and the assets that the lake provides.

Got it.

Thank you.

And you did answer my question.

You know, often I hear you know the poor authority, like they don't invest in neighborhoods, so it's good for me to hear that that's one of your goals.

But what would you respond to that?

People are saying, you know what, we don't ever see the poor authority investing in our area.

You know, it's either in the suburbs or in downtown.

And so forth.

You know, I think it's a legitimate uh comment, and I think you know, a couple of things play into that.

One, the port overall needed to get better at kind of like storytelling and outreach and engagement, and there's been a lot of um improvement in that.

We have a awesome uh marketing and communications uh staff person who has really kind of connected more at the community level.

Uh but secondly, also, you know, as board members, we have the opportunity to bring um uh awareness to the port of things that are happening in neighborhoods uh outside of just some of these large deals.

And so I have seen that myself and others have have done that, and so I'm excited in the direction that we're going, and I'm hopeful that the those types of opportunities will scale.

But legitimate feedback from the public, and it's you know, our obligation and our responsibility to to share the stories to be able to communicate what's happening and make sure that we're helping to connect people to um opportunities for capital stacks and financing through the report.

Thank you.

And you know, and I through the chair, I would also say like I didn't know about the port authority and what was their goals until Steph, you know, I met with you and and Lewis at the henna who's up for reappointment, but um I had no idea what plans that you guys you know had and how much you know you guys do for our city and our county.

So maybe improving that relationship with council members would be important.

And then my last question, and this will probably be for both of you guys is like as the DPS chair, my creep key priority is um to make sure that smaller contractors and developers have real opportunity to compete and benefit from development in our city.

Seth, I know we've talked about this, but I'm curious to know what are your thoughts about that.

Well, I think it's uh and again it's a conversation that was not really private, it was it was but it's basically where do we want to go.

Um I've tried to see my role as um connecting the dots.

Um I've set on bank loan committees, uh, set on bank reorganization committees, I've set on City of Cleveland different committees as an advisor.

And there's uh one thing that we've been missing, and there's a few of them, but there's one thing critical that we've been missing are opportunities for um minority contractors, black brown, as well as female contractors to take part in whatever we're doing, you know, for the city.

Um goes back to your question.

Half of those folks are not union, but they're still you know, City of Cleveland residents and they're employed here.

So those those are the factors, and again, I get you, but those are the factors we must weigh.

So to answer your question specifically, um working on uh ways that the port can actually uh help financially help um these those type of contractors to get to get going.

We're we're looking on, I don't want to talk out of school because it needs to go in front of the board to be approved, but I know one of the visions that we've had and things that we've talked about is how can we actually provide lines of credit for those businesses so that if they need equipment for an example, you know, we could provide that for them to get them started.

Um what what can we do in terms of bonding?

Because if all of you are familiar with that and the need for that in a lot of projects, uh the large, even medium projects to be a part of being able to them to basically ensure their work will get done, uh to know to the prime contractor.

We're looking at ways of doing that.

Um so if when you talk about other than the Browns philosophically, philosophically, I'm all for what we can do to support the small business person with a particular focus on on minorities and females.

Um the um oh I'm sorry, I'm talking long.

I'm looking at you.

So uh the answer to your question again specifically, uh yes, uh those are important to us.

Um there's discussions and and and actual um presentations and projects and and a and uh and uh and something that we'll be putting forth to for the greater community with the goal of you know increasing the numbers dramatically uh and I'm not talking about a percentage number because if you're at one and you get two now you're at 100 percent.

I'm talking about going from one to one hundred in terms of actual numbers.

Um that's what we're in the process of doing.

And that was actually for your question.

I mean, thank you, Steph, for answering.

But do you want to add on to that?

Do you want to repeat?

I just want to.

Okay, yeah.

So basically um DPS priority is ensuring that smaller contractors and developers have real opportunity to compare and benefit for developments in our city.

Yes.

Um so that is also a um topic that we have discussed widely um on the board too.

Um, and I agree uh that there is an opportunity to open up access.

Um I think it's part education, it's part outreach and exposure, um, but it's also part uh reducing barriers to entry.

Um and so just as we're thinking about you know the process and what could or could not be barriers for smaller development projects, uh we we can and should use a similar lens to determine what those implications are for contractors.

Um but I think you know in my history, um I've been a supporter of small business, um, have sought to help them scale um to be ready uh to take on larger uh contracts to have access to capital to do that type of work and uh continue to bring that level of leadership and and insight um to my role on the board, and so I am glad that that's a priority of yours and would be happy to support your committee and work with you in any way that I could.

Thank you, TNG.

And I will, Stefan, I'm not done with you.

So I've had a pleasure of serving alongside what your C C D C board, and I personally know that you are very passionate, very committed to serving our city, even though you don't live in our city.

Um, but you have decades of experience in banking, and so what you bring is um just a wealth of knowledge.

I do want to talk as the vice chair, I know this is not specifically about your leadership, but what is the makeup in terms of gender and um diversity of the port authority?

Um I'd have to think about it, but uh actually is a heck of a lot better now than it was ever was in the past.

Uh we have uh two females, correct?

No, actually, sorry, as the governance chair, I take pride in being able to answer this.

Um to the chairwoman and uh to councilwoman uh Santana.

So we're a nine-member board.

Uh currently we have three females.

Um we have one, two, three, four um African Americans, one uh Latino Hispanic, uh, the rest non non-minority and majority male.

Um so to uh my colleagues' point, it's better than it's been.

However, I am hopeful that it will continue to evolve and represent the city.

Got it.

Thank you.

Um and then I asked to Leanne J the same question, but what are, you know, while you were in leadership through the chair stuff, and what is something that you accomplished that you could be proud of on this board?

Well, uh quite a few things.

One was working through the questions of Consumer Casey, which was which was you know really important to us excuse me, philosophically, but I included on the information that you had some highlights of that that that were accomplished during my time.

Um Irish Town Band was one uh land assembly was a challenge.

Um if you remember some of the challenges, in fact, some of that's still going on as a billboard still standing over there, uh right there on the corner.

But uh that was a challenge which then led to the need to fill uh the loan gap, which was basically 75 million in uh land grants as well as a financing, so we secured that.

Um also secured a 96 million dollar EPA grant that didn't get a lot of play with the city, and I'm surprised.

Uh quite frankly, uh it was for uh port uh infrastructure, electrification.

It also went to one of um the uh city's um uh longest standing businesses, Great Lakes Towing, uh, for them to provide electric um uh tow boats.

Uh all this was basically trying to uh bridge the gap and change the narrative around you can be a manufacturing city but also lead uh in in terms of the environmental protections.

Um we also completed our strategic plan early on in my tenure.

Uh it was had a maritime focus, as you've heard from Teleonjay, this is gonna be a little bit different this this year given our our our our uh our leadership.

Um it was no small thing.

Um I don't know if any of you have ever presented to SP standering poor's or fitch, any of the breeding agencies in New York.

Um but it was no small thing for us to keep our A- rating uh in term in terms of bond financing, given what was going on, which again, you know, your question was part of that.

Um very proud that in 24-25 we had a record financing year.

So some of the changes that we made obviously were working, where um we had financing of over 350 million during that that period of time to give you some context about 1.8 billion um uh during my time as chair.

And then we had to initiate a search for a new president.

Um Will Freeman, the past president of of the port had been there for 14 years.

He resigned in October of 24.

Uh so that was a year-long process, you know, to to to get a new uh to get a new chair in there, or new president, I should say, of the organization.

And then something that you may or may not have heard about, which is always important to me, and I didn't put it in the highlights here, but because it's still in process, but um the port's everyday thing is kind of like you know, garbage and snow removal in the city of Cleveland.

It's every day, that's what people expect.

Well, it's the same thing with the port in terms of dredging and keeping the channels open for for shipping.

And uh I was surprised, and I always tell the again to put it in context every year.

If you t if you take Rocket Mortgage Field House, the the amount of dredge material that we take out would fill from the basement to the ceiling of uh of dredge material uh from the river alone.

So what's going on?

If you look out the window, you see these little white things out there, though those are where where that dredge material is actually being fed into now.

Well, it's only about three years, maybe four, uh, from being full.

And so the question then becomes where does it go?

So what we've talked about is cheers is actually creating an island uh off of uh 55th going up to Martin Luther King Drive.

Um that dredge material will actually create an island that would be not only um friendly uh uh and and environment and environmentally uh compliant, but would also give an another recreational area, won't happen in my lifetime because that's about 10 or 15 years ago, off I should say, for that part.

But for the for city residents, uh we have some experience in doing that.

Some of you may know, I think councilman, you may know that we've we've done that about 20 years ago um right off of Mark Luther King now in Gordon Park.

And that that that park is now um really a national model.

Um so this is not something that's pie in the sky, it's something that we've done before, and it's something that we're gonna be creating uh that I think will get a lot of play uh in the in the coming years.

Hopefully that answers your question.

Okay.

Um thank you for that.

Um I am in full support of your your reappointment, and I would just say you your accomplishments have proven your dedication to our city of field.

So thank you for your step.

Thank you.

Councilman Lesser.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson and my honorable colleagues and to the two representatives that are here.

I'm gonna follow up on along with some of the other questions and comments that have been made.

First of all, I'm greatly concerned as well about the issue of prevailing wage.

Um I felt I have felt very strongly about being a former union member myself.

So that has um has weighed on me very heavily as it pertains to the future support for uh board members.

Of the nine uh board members uh who are appointed, how many are at Cleveland to Cleveland appointees?

Six.

Six.

And so who are those six that are Cleveland appointees besides both of you?

Well you have you have four of them sitting here today.

Uh and then the other two would be um uh well, yes, true, Daryl.

Daryl McNear, whose term is up.

Um who's the other one um Darrell who?

Daryl McNair.

Okay.

So those are the other two, okay, besides the other two that are here in in the audience.

Um I don't know when this is gonna come up for a vote for the before the entire council.

But are you able to put together a list of the projects that you supported that the board supported in the city of Cleveland?

Oh, absolutely.

In the last year.

In the last year, sure.

Yeah.

I'd like to see a list of projects that's supported.

Is the disconnect that there is with the council and not just with the Port Authority, but I would say RTA and other outside agencies as well, is that we very seldom, if ever, engage where we can have um uh discussion as it pertains to issues and concerns that we have, and I would follow up on Councilwoman Santana's comments.

I'd say the overwhelming majority of businesses in our city, especially smaller size businesses, really don't know what the port does and how the port can benefit them.

And so I don't know if you have any flyers, brochures, whatever information you have that we could disseminate in our communities uh to the various businesses to see how the port could benefit them.

Um we're in tough times in the city of Cleveland.

I don't have to tell you, as I've commented, uh I'm tired of looking at Cleveland on the top of very negative list and at the bottom of every positive list.

Um and I was just looking at some of those ratings again this last week, how we're rated and looked upon by national organizations or national articles, which really concerns me because I've never lived anywhere else.

My roots are Glenville, born in Glenville neighborhood, and now live in Collinwood.

Um I want to see folks who are representing Cleveland to become aggressive, to become activists for us.

Um I I'm really concerned about the fact, and I and I'm follow up with one.

I'm hearing that the port the present chair is going to inject the port into the Browns issue.

Um I um I am becoming more and more parochial.

I gotta tell you that right now.

I'm becoming more and more proceed I keep hearing constantly we need to look upon things on a regional or mount or metropolitan basis, and I see the benefits of that.

But then every time I hear that I turn around and I find out Cleveland gets screwed somehow, some way.

And so I I am becoming very um protective, very aggressive when it comes to Cleveland, because I'm looking, and I can only relate um to the east side of the city, and I mentioned this last night on the floor council.

All I see is poverty, despair, lack of opportunity.

We went from when I came in this body, we had 33 councilmen, we have 15.

The proof is in the pudding.

We continue to lose every time we turn around, we lose, we lose, we're losing schools, we're losing the jail, we're losing the Browns, we're losing the stadium.

Um we keep losing and losing, and I don't understand why people don't see the optics in that or understand the optics, but I can tell you my citizens do.

So the reason why I'm saying this about the whole issue with the Browns, uh in Brook Park, they have no MBE, no FBE requirements, no city-based requirements, no nothing, to my knowledge.

And so by going there and having the port inject themselves into that, um, all I do is see a continued loss for the city of Cleveland with jobs and opportunities.

Because there's no mandates to do anything for Cleveland once they go to Brook Park.

And they're going to Brook Park, we all know that.

And why the mayor supported that is beyond me.

I'm just like I'm I'm like dumbfounded by that one.

Um why he supports that move.

Um, but at the end of the day, I I want to see board members that are gonna be aggressive on behalf of the people of the city of Cleveland and the businesses of the city of Cleveland.

That's where I'm at.

I mean, I'm I am that's where the rubber is meeting a road with me.

Because unless we have that, we're not gonna change the dynamics in this city because we keep sliding backwards, we keep sliding backwards, our population, businesses that are not staying or considering going elsewhere.

So I would really like to know, and if you can provide that through the chair to us before this comes up to a vote for council, I'm gonna see those projects that you've supported in the city of Cleveland, if there's a dollar amount associated with them or job creation, um, and then so I can have a better understanding.

Um I don't know um I've never worked with you both both of you on a personal basis, even though uh I've had the pleasure to work with Mr.

Holmes' wife in the past, your better half.

So I know her over the years, loaner for a long time.

And so at the end of the day, I'm I'm just I'm pro-Cleveland.

And I make no apologies for that.

I am I make no apologies for being aggressive when it comes to Cleveland.

Because if I'm not, and the rest of us are on this body, if we are not, we're going to continue to see what we got.

Yeah.

We keep getting so comment if you care.

Well, no, my comment, I agree.

Uh I I told you I grew up here.

In fact, close to the same age.

Um when I was growing up, outside of New York and Chicago, I believe we were third in terms of of corporate 500 1,000 headquarters.

Um, you know, now we're searching for three.

We were actually third in the nation.

Unbelievable.

So that's where I I remember.

Um that's what uh is part of my DNA in trying in terms of trying to, again, I just told you connect the dots.

How do how do we move Cleveland forward?

Um in any plan from a business standpoint, you have to start somewhere.

And part of it was stabilization.

And and I think that uh the port has played a good role in stabilizing uh where we're at.

Um I think you'll see from the numbers, and I don't I'm you know, I'm pretty confident that you will be impressed with uh the numbers of projects that we have done in the city over the last year or two.

Uh it's surprising.

And again, it goes back to your original comment, which I can speak to.

I've we've always been open to talking to members of council.

You all are awful busy.

Okay.

And until there's something in your particular neighborhoods, you're hard to reach.

Now that's from my perspective.

But I I can tell you that I'm always willing to talk to any member of council.

I'm talking about specific, you know, projects.

Um, but it's a it's a it's a two-way street.

Yes, it is.

And that's why we have the majority of leaders sitting right next to me.

So I'm gonna ask her through the council president that we need to um we need to meet with the port uh at through a caucus meeting um to have you folks come over.

Those are, especially those who are the Cleveland uh representatives, so we can have a better engagement and understanding as to what your priorities are, what your concerns are, what ours are.

And then again, if there's any brochures, pamphlets, documents, I go to I've got 21 neighborhood groups.

That's not counting the business groups that I deal with in my work.

I'd love to be able to pass something out and say, hey, if you're a small business and you're interested in expansion or doing this here, there's no guarantee you get anything, but here, check this out.

Check these programs.

And uh you probably will hear from some candies coming up.

Okay.

But we've actually had some reach out.

Um, you know, they're port, let's contracts.

Yeah.

Uh so we we've had uh at least two or three, I'm sure Glenn is others will can give me the exact number, but we've we've had um sessions where we say these are the current and upcoming contract opportunities.

Right.

If you have this type of business, you know, you're welcome to bid on it.

Okay.

So there are things that we've done.

Publicizing it may be one thing, but there are things that we've actually done.

But uh and just to wrap it up, madam chairman.

The the challenge that a lot of us have in the city is many of our businesses um, I don't want to refer to them as mom and pop type businesses, but they're family.

A lot of them are just trying to keep the lights on and keep the roof up over their head.

They don't have the they don't have the attorneys or the accountants to to do a lot of the grunt work, what I'd call grunt work to check.

So the things that you can provide to us that we can pass out.

I tell us all the time, about a third of the folks, if not more that I'm dealing with in my own ward, they don't have a computer.

They don't have a smartphone.

They I I I when I have my neighbored meetings, I I do mail.

I do direct mail because that's the way they get notified.

Uh if I didn't do that, they would not, they'd have no way.

So dealing in the city, I will tell you, especially that I uh uh from my perspective on the east side of the city, uh I've had to uh do things differently um than maybe some of my colleagues do.

So um I just said whatever you can provide to us, but that information would be critical, Madam Chair in person, before we take a vote of the vote on the floor of this.

Um I just want to I want to be supporting people who are pro-Cleveland and are representing our best interest.

That's my thing.

I want to have people that are representing our best interest.

So I'll leave it at that, madam chairperson.

I hope to get that information before this comes up before the vote on the floor.

Thank you.

Uh thank you for that.

Uh, next we'll have is Councilman Shah.

Thank you to the chair.

Uh thank you to our nominees.

Appreciate your time being here.

I um I think the newest council members, so congratulations.

Thank you.

And I I appreciate your patience as I move through some of my questions and listening to my colleagues always helps me.

Um so I don't want to go first.

Uh so uh you'll forgive me if I just ask you know some more basic questions, so I have a better understanding of not only what the port does, but also how you envision your role and what you're there to do, if you'll um bear with me.

So I think I wanted to just start out with understanding, you know, in your own words, what is the port's role.

You want to first?

Okay.

Sure.

Uh to the chairwoman and to uh councilman Shaw again, congratulations.

Um thank you for the question.

So in my own words, I would simply say that um you know the mission and the intent and the purpose of the port is one to be a steward of the lakefront uh resource um to manage the commerce um and uh economic activity that happens through the port.

So think cargo ships, that type of exchange um to leverage and utilize uh public financing tools to catalyze support and scale uh redevelopment and public investment in projects that are going to support economic activity um in the region and to consider um and work towards the preservation of our infrastructure, our natural infrastructure.

So we work across you know three kind of big buckets maritime uh financing and then the infrastructure.

And so beyond that, um, as the board members, because there is a delineation between staff management, right, and the board, you know, we we are first and foremost um oversight, right?

We provide governance compliance, um, ensuring that we are legally and ethically um carrying out the business of the port, um that we are being good stewards of the resources um that come into the port, whether it's federally, state, local, generated from uh fees and services, um, and then also providing the strategic uh partnership and leadership um to the CEO and president uh setting strategic direction, being ambassadors um of the port's mission, uh advocating for the city of Cleveland and for the region as it relates to our strategic positioning economically and otherwise.

Um so it's a very dynamic organization.

It's also unique because it's part public, part private, right?

In the sense that um we first and foremost exists to create a public benefit.

However, we have the capacity and the capability um to work and partner and collaborate in the private market space, um, which opens up a number of opportunities across maritime uh financing and and infrastructure.

So that's what I would share in my own words.

Thank you for the question.

I don't know if you wanted to add anything else to do.

Very good.

I have nothing to do to add with that.

Fair enough.

But the only comment would be we haven't talked about it much, was what did support do?

We've talked about financing and and opportunities, but I I think we overlooked the number of jobs that are already there and and the the job of we're we're one of the few active ports um on the Great Lakes.

I believe we're ranked number two.

It's hard to get to one.

Uh but it's that Toronto.

Pardon me?

Is that Toronto?

Um St.

Paul, Minnesota, because they have a lot of the minerals that are being shipped down and some grains.

Okay.

But um we're the first port coming in from Europe through the St.

Lawrence Seaway.

Um so maritime focus is something that uh is very important to the economy of of Cleveland specifically.

Um, there's a number of programs that we sponsored too.

Uh one was with I think to call the Argonauts, it's with the Davis School here, where we talk about you know education translating and evolving into jobs.

Uh we've done it, we we were one of the first five, six, seven years ago, maybe to sponsor that program.

Where now we have a track record of actually having high school students graduating from high school that have basically are now seamen when they when they graduate.

SEMAN jobs is so you know again in context or someplace between, and and I'll get corrected back there if I'm wrong, but it's between 55 and 70,000 here to start off.

Unbelievable in terms of what that does in terms of opportunity.

Envision.

Because as you know, people that are alike, you know, those folks that are like, hey, so I'm gonna call my kids, they talk.

And so this is a this is a viable option for them to make real money and to get real jobs.

So that's from the maritime focus, that's just part of what we've done.

And I don't want to lose focus on what gets done every single day out there in terms of our our maritime activities.

I appreciate both of your thoughtful responses.

Uh thank you, Councilman Casey.

Sorry about that.

Um I wanted to ask just a follow-up question.

Um, how many jobs are supported through the port right now, not counting the students at the port itself?

Yes, so we uh of course put out an annual report.

Um, I believe for 2025 it was approximately 27,000 um jobs and about 7 billion dollars in economic activity that's supported through uh the operations of the port.

Wow, so 27,000 people work there?

No, we support 27,000 jobs from activity that comes there.

We're actually small but mighty.

Uh we have less than a hundred people working at the port.

Okay.

Yeah, the entity, but there's 27.

I was about to say I didn't know we had that many over there.

I think you guys are still one of the biggest employers.

Fair enough.

Thank you.

Um, and then uh one of my other follow-ups, um, I think to to Ms.

Holmes or Mr.

Ms.

Thomas was um you mentioned the public benefit that you work towards.

Is there any requirement under the bylaws of the rules that the port operates with that requires you to have public part public private partnerships when you're financing things, or is it possible for the port to finance straight up public projects?

I want to make sure I understand the question to the chairwoman back to you.

So you are you asking are are there any specific like statutes that say when we participate in a finance deal that it has to be uh a capital stack of like multiple financing institutes, or can we solely finance a deal?

Is that what is that what I heard?

Um that is a great question.

To my knowledge, I think we have flexibility in my experience of being on this board and in other capacities, um, generally a capital stack is just that, it's multiple actors um that are bringing a portion of um the financial need to the table um to support the project.

So I can't recall any deal that we've done where we've been the sole uh financer of the project.

Um, but I would have to follow up explicitly to see if there's anything in the statute that that either limits us or requires us.

Um but nothing's coming to mind at this moment.

I'm 99.9% sure there's nothing in statute at the time.

Um but it's just the type of deals that come to us, we typically are not alone.

So nor do we want to be.

Right.

We want to be partners, usually fill the gaps, um, add value.

Um, we're looking at um other government entities as well as private banks, uh and investment companies to to also participate in the types of projects we did, but we're not limited by statute.

Okay.

No, that that helps, and I think I want to get back to that point a little bit later on after I um go through some of my questions, but thank you for uh that explanation.

I wanted to understand, you know, you've talked about some of the difficult decisions you have to make when you're picking where to invest, how to invest, what are the projects that you push through.

Um and I can understand, you know, you have limited resources, there's a lot of need, as my other colleagues have already mentioned.

Um I wanted to understand both of you for personally.

What is your philosophy that guides your decision making?

Um what what what's driving kind of that vision of where we're going and where the port should be.

Sure.

Uh to the chairwoman, uh to uh councilman Shaw, thank you for the question.

Um, you know, I didn't have the opportunity to comment after um Councilman Polinsek had spoke, um, but I just want to you know fully acknowledge and appreciate um not only your sincerity and your passion for Cleveland um but just the uh doggedness about being Cleveland first for lack of a better word.

Um I am not originally from Cleveland, I'm a small town girl, um Stark County Alliance, Ohio.

Um, but when I came to Cleveland, um Cleveland became a place that I chose to make home.

Um and I've really tried to show up um with a Cleveland first heart and orientation.

Um I think my work record and track record has shown that, my service has shown that.

Um, and I'm old enough to remember when there were 21 council members and have lived through um the uh transition of that in terms of neighborhoods, population, um, and was also part of you know the um generation that was being courted away from Cleveland, but still chose to stay here um to work here, to invest here, to buy a home here, um, to serve here.

And so, you know, my philosophy is that you show up for the communities that you're part of, and I have been very fortunate um to be able to build really deep roots in Cleveland, and so I do call it a second home.

Now I will all always acknowledge my hometown and where I'm from, but Cleveland is home.

Um, and so I don't I'm not an affiliate to Cleveland.

I am rooted in Cleveland.

Um, and so for me, being connected to and understanding the challenges, the experiences, the needs, the gaps in communities, in neighbors, real people, real lives, um, is essential.

Um, and so when I sit in a seat at a table, um I'm not just there as Tele Anjay, it's a representation of all of that um information um and stories and data points.

And so philosophically for me, yes, I do believe in a kind of Cleveland first um perspective um in understanding what is the highest value and benefit and opportunity that Cleveland can receive from decisions.

Um I have tried to operate in that vein, recognizing that there's a lot of complexity, um, even to the point of prevailing wage.

I remember going on record um to share my values.

Like that is by far um the board meeting that will forever stay in my memory.

Um there were more than a hundred people in the room, people were standing, standing behind us, leaning on the walls, and there was a lot of emotion and concern, there was tension, there was fear, there was confusion.

Um but I remember uh prior to the vote, um, just feeling compelled not to speak in data and all of that, but just to speak from the heart.

And I really wanted the shoreman and others who were in that room to understand that in that moment we as a board were not um making a decision on if um the if we had a value around uh living wages and that people should be able to feed and support their families.

We absolutely believed in that.

Um, and I went on the record to articulate that.

And as my colleague had you know shared, um it's not a zero-sum game, unfortunately, right?

Where if we vote yes, then that means um deals can still flow, and maybe 60, 70, 80 percent of those um who are employed on those projects see prevailing wage and a small minority doesn't.

Now, is that fair?

No.

If I ruled the world and could make everything just, I would.

Um, but the challenge of saying nobody eats or everybody eats something, um, it's difficult and it's complex.

And I suspect that with how the country is right now, with the city is facing the complexity is going to become even more entrenched.

And so it's my sincere hope that in living out our values individually and collectively that we leave room for grace in all of this, because I don't think um any of us can make perfect decisions, but we can make the best decisions in the context of the moment.

And so my obligation and my commitment is to do the work, to understand the data, do the research, talk to and connect to the people, um, and then align that information with my values um and do what I believe is in the best interest of the city.

So apologies for the long answer, but thank you for the opportunity to respond.

Sure.

Thank you.

Anything else to add, Mr.

Hall?

I feel the same way.

I mean, I've said it not repeat myself.

My grandson is sitting out there, so as I do that, I repeat myself too often.

Um, but it's Cleveland's in my DNA.

The short answer.

Um every decision that I make is based on my familiarity and my you know being brought up here in this city.

And uh I told Council Polandstick, I mean, I remember I'm old enough to remember when we were a leading um city in terms of number of corporate headquarters, uh manufacturing productivity, and we were at least stable uh in our population.

I'd like to see us, you know, we we've been declining as you all know.

So every decision that uh I can impact uh is really made under that lens.

How can we at least stabilize where we're at if not grow?

And how can we be fair and equitable across all parties?

Part of our problem with poverty is you had years of inequality.

Let's let's face it.

And so until you can address that, um, it's gonna be just more of the same.

We're further complicated now by federal, I'm not gonna say their laws, but there's certainly direction and rhetoric of dismantling the progress we made, you know, from civil rights laws of 64, which I just found out weren't really laws.

They were just uh they were they were they were amendments.

Um there was nothing institutionalized.

So you know, we're talking about changing erasing history.

I don't want to be a part of that.

I want to, if I'm gonna change and if I'm gonna change history, it's it's really one of standing up and trying to make a life better for all Clevelanders.

Um the East Side versus West Side, I see a diminishing.

There, you know, I grew up where you know you needed a passport to go from east side to west side.

Um, you know, I I see now because of a lot of factors, you you know, you're you're you're getting uh more people that had traditional east side routes now living in the west side.

Great thing, it's a great thing.

I I see people that once had you know the the jobs in in a lot of uh our our manufacturing plants around the area, I see them transitioning uh to um to either medical or or or things in tech field.

So I do see see hope, but you know, I want to be a part of that hope.

Uh so uh every decision I make is trying to stabilize and get us back to where we were, you know, during my youth.

Thank you.

I once again I appreciate your thoughtfulness and your responses.

Uh it helps a lot as I formulate, you know, um wanted to understand what in your viewpoints um what what is the greatest need that you see in the city of Cleveland?

Where should we be leveraging this um financing power that the port has, if you could pick what whether it's geographic areas or even if it's a good place this time, just you do it's just a great time.

I was gonna bring you every time we have to go somewhere.

But um if you turn around and look, what what what do you see?

The lake.

That's right.

Yeah, I get bored of how we look at it.

Um I'm locked in.

And if you and and that was part of the reason that that I still like to be on the port because I honestly feel that that is our greatest resource for a number of reasons.

Uh from a scientific standpoint, as human beings, you know, we're what 90% water?

We cannot live without that.

But yet we have we've really not paid any attention to it.

So if you go from the scientific with what we need, it's still one of the five um largest bodies of fresh water in the entire world, in the world.

Have we leveraged that?

Question mark.

I think not.

I think we could do better.

You talk about uh what we can do in terms of uh you you mentioned financing because you know, again, that's important part of what we do, but it was all based upon what we did in terms of maritime that those dollars started there.

Um we've we won, as you've heard, an EPA grant that was blessed by Congress and actually got through the new Congress for its distribution and use, but it was partly granted to us for the environmental reasons, reasons.

You know, how do we stop the pollution of our rivers and lakes and make it and make it livable?

So your question was, you know, what do you think is our greatest resource of of the port?

It's not what is the greatest need.

Me, the need is somebody to be a steward of our greatest resource.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Um to the chairwoman to Mr.

Shaw, um I don't disagree, but I would add um I think stewardship is important.

That's another value of mine.

But um, you know, when I think about needs, I think in the context of basic needs, and then opportunity needs.

So from a basic needs standpoint, it's affordable housing for me.

Um, and because we do have public financing tools, um, I think there is a lot of opportunity um in front of us, uh, especially with uh some innovation and the process that we're going through to develop a strategic plan.

And then when I think about the need of opportunity, specifically, I think people need the confidence, the ability, and a pathway for upward mobility.

And because the port is an economic engine, I think it lends itself to multiple pathways for people to access careers, jobs, et cetera, and can find a way up and through.

So that's what I would offer.

Thank you again for your thoughtfulness.

It is not.

Oh, you gotta you gotta give me a heads up.

Okay.

Um let me make this quicker then.

Um I wanted to add some I I also um echo, I think um, Councilman Palency um's request for the um financing deals that we've done in the city of Cleveland in the last few years, that would be really helpful in um going forward to understand.

I wanted to also understand, you know, I I'm sure you saw the um the issues that happened um that came up and why I well I I don't know why, but um Dawandelowski was not um put through for a nomination for the city of Cleveland because of the disagreements with the county and the city.

I wanted to understand, and I I found out that since then um the board has voted on him as the chair.

I wanted to just understand why um you believe that he was appropriate uh fit for that position.

Well I thought you might ask ask that question for somebody.

Um first of all, the issue of uh Mr.

Wandelowski being in the paper and the nominations and I'll be honest, I I don't know him, I've never met him, so I I don't know I I got nothing against him personally, it's only what I've read in the papers.

Well, you know, uh I've known him since 2018.

We're both nominated to serve together by Mayor Frank Jackson, so I've known him, you know, since then.

Um but the the the idea the in the paper is what I learned about what was going on, quite frankly.

And the vote of the the board, you need to understand again in context, um most officer positions are two years, but by our bylaws, we we uh we elect them every year.

So um I guess the paper uh articles kind of coincided with what is our normal process.

So it was it's really normal for um our officers to serve a two-year um term.

I see.

So you saw it as just continuing the tradition and correct continuing the two-year terms.

Correct.

Thank you.

And um, if you wanted to add anything, sure.

Um quickly as well.

Yeah, very quickly, yes.

Uh thank you for the question.

Uh, clearly that's been part of the public narrative.

I too became aware of it through the paper.

It was not something that was of discussion or or um brought to the board.

Um, as far as the uh renewal, again, I'll speak from the governance perspective.

Uh it was procedural in terms of a continuation of the of the terms that we had already had in place.

Um I would just underscore that.

Thank you.

Um and uh I'll I'll wrap up, I think, with just some of my comments and um that I've been formulating as I've sat here.

You know, I unfortunately I think there is a real disconnect.

Um, and this is not just a comment on on the port, but I think this is a broader um indictment, I'll say for our civic institutions in our city.

Um there's a disconnect between the people and our institutions.

And this is something that I've found a troubling trend with this administration when we are seeing nominees more and more that I think this trend is not uh I'm I'm looking to bridge this divide at as a union organizer and a worker.

Um I I really do find the reversing of the prevailing wage troublesome.

Um I I do not I cannot vote for any nominees that have voted against that.

Um I have to stand in solidarity with the workers um who pushed I was actually my organization as the Democratic Socialists of America were one of the sign on uh for the letter that was advocating against that prevailing wage being reversed.

Umward, it's going to continue a race to the bottom.

We see the same trend in TIFFs, we see the same trend in abatements where because we are dependent on developers for this development, um I I think we're incentivizing the wrong things here.

And this is a philosophical disagreement that I have with the administration uh based on how I view capitalism and the issues with what our city is being plagued with.

Um this is you know, um so for me that there's a real divide here that I cannot um overcome.

And I I believe at this point uh we we do need a change, not a continuity of the policies that have got us to this point.

Um so at with that with sharing those things and really appreciating your thoughtfulness.

Um, you know, I I want to make it clear that this is not regarding um anything um regarding what you have said personally, but I think this is a philosophical difference that I have with this administration and the direction that we're heading in.

Um and I will have to vote no on these nominees as well.

Thank you for your time, Chairwoman.

All right, we are rounding up our time.

Uh just quickly, um what was the request made um of you by the mayor uh for your reappointment to the Port of Cleveland?

Uh to the chairwoman, I believe I first received notice roughly late January, early February.

Um from a governance standpoint, we knew that renewals were coming up.

Um then I received a phone call.

Feb late February, early March.

So what just a clarification, was anything requested of you for being reappointed to the board?

Uh can you elaborate on what you mean by request?

So again, at being a Cleveland representative, was there something requested of you to your certain servant on this board to do what?

Was uh anything of that nature wired no or it was just you're going to be a reappointed to the board and that's it?

It was it was a notification that my term was coming up.

Um and if I was interested in continuing to serve um and uh that the process would ensue to to submit my name for renewal.

Okay, if I was asked nothing from the mayor or any of his staff about it, um it was actually Chair Wondolowski who was asking that would I consider doing it again.

So it was uh I had no kind no comment or really no no no conversation with anyone.

Yeah.

All right.

Well thank you.

All right, Mr.

Maneska.

Uh if we uh could take a roll call first on uh Ms.

Telly Anjay Thomas for consideration um of the mayor's appointment to the Cleveland County Port of Authority.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

Some time?

Yes.

No.

Three days and two days.

Yes.

Okay.

Uh next up for consideration is uh right paper.

Yes.

Jay Stefan Holmes, up for consideration for the mayor's appointment to the Cleveland Coyote County Port Authority.

House Joe?

Yes.

No.

Yes.

Yes.

No.

Three years, which isn't well uh you your names have been submitted uh for consideration.

We will move forward for now.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your time.

All right, so I uh using the leave I'm right.

Okay.

So I appreciate it.

Okay.

Yeah, so we are I am so sorry.

Uh yeah, that we about to leave.

Um I'm gonna just say apologies to Mr.

Schumach and Mr.

Uh Cartenga.

Um we are about to lose quorum, and so we are going to reschedule you at a time to be determined, okay?

I apologize and sincerely it went a little bit uh um and then we'll go from there.

Okay, thank you.

Uh the mayor's appointment committee is now adjourned.