Well, all the council members please come into the well so we can get started.

Madam Clerk, please call the rope.

Griffin.

Here, Bishop, Conwell, Davis, Gray.

Harsh, House Jones, Hudson, Jones, Casey.

Santana, Shaw.

Slife.

Star.

You have a core, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

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

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.04 of the codified ordinances.

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 loud 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 O five.

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

Disruptors will not be allowed back in the chamber after the meeting resumes.

Again, this is the first and only warning.

Madam Clerk, please dispense with the journal.

By councilmember Slife that the reading of the minutes of the last meeting be dispensed with the journal approved, segmented by Councilmember Palency.

Thank you.

We'll move to public comment.

I'll ask all the council members to turn around and acknowledge the speakers, and I'm asking all of the speakers to acknowledge your time.

Once again, when you see the yellow, that means to wrap it up.

And when you see the red, that means that you need to abruptly stop.

The first person that we have is Brenda Bickerstaff from Ward 9.

Brenda's here to talk about the clarity of oversight by Fox 8 and Gallagher.

And she's not representing anyone and not being paid by anyone, Ms.

Paperstaff, you have the floor.

Good evening, everyone.

First, I would like to do a shout out to Bill Patman.

As you know, he passed away and went to the service last week, and I want to say thank you, Bill Patman, for showing me how to do budgets, and thank you for showing me about politics.

Thank you for championing people that's been formerly incarcerated.

Great man, great person.

I just wanted to give that a shout out.

Well, it gallaged once again did a series on oversight.

He said there's too many oversights in the city of Cleveland.

Let me break it down to you.

You got all the subprofessional standards, all of the professional standards only does investigations.

Then you got the Cleveland Police Review Board.

Cleveland Police Review Boards takes the information of the investigation and makes a recommendation.

Then you have the Cleveland Police Commission.

The Cleveland Police Commission is like the appealable part where if you don't like or you feel that something that was missed during the investigation or the recommendation, you could take it to the Cleveland Police Commission.

That is not a lot of oversight.

Bernie Marino, mind your damn business.

Focus on Westlake, because you got cops in Westlake who kick people in the back of the head in their handcuffs.

So next time when I come, Bernie Marino, I'm gonna name the names of the cops and have pictures.

Stay out of our business here in Cleveland.

Mind your business.

I'm tired of you.

I'm tired of you.

I'm tired of a galley putting out wrong information.

So remember, there are three different parts now, Slive, three different parts.

They all function differently.

They are not the same.

Investigation, the recommendation, and the appeal part.

They overview to see if the information should stay the same as the recommendation when it goes to the chief and the second director, or should it be more?

So let's say if you don't get fired as a cop, let's say you get fired.

Okay?

Let's say they recommend for you to get fired.

Okay, so let's say you're the cop don't agree with that.

You know, you can appeal to the commission too.

The commission is just not for the civilians, it's for the cops, too.

But they're not telling you that.

So write your notes down, Mr.

Casey, so you will know too.

It's three different levels.

They operate differently, they are not the same.

They are not.

Okay, Mr.

Bishop, Kevin Bishop, it's different.

And if you guys will come to some of the meetings, you would know that they are different.

But until you don't come to meetings, then you're gonna listen to the news.

I'm gonna say, according to Denzel Washington said.

If you don't listen to the media, you're uninformed.

But if you do listen to the media, you're misinformed.

You see what I'm saying?

That's what Dizel Washington said.

And he's a great man.

So I just want you guys to know and understand that.

Thank you.

Next, we have Jenna Thomas.

Jenna Thomas is from Ward 13.

She's here to talk about transportation issues, not representing one, not being paid by anyone.

Hello.

So last week, Trump's transportation secretary launched the Freedom to Drive Initiative, a deeply unsettling program that calls on states to undo the safety measures that have significantly reduced crashes on our roadways and prioritizes moving cars as quickly as possible above all else.

They're calling it the freedom to drive.

But who in Cleveland has the freedom to drive?

About 76,000 Clevelanders citywide don't have a car.

That includes 40% of residents living in the central neighborhood, 38% in kinsmen, 35% in Hoff, over a quarter of residents in Buckeye, Detroit Sherway, and Lansaville, many more households, our families sharing one car.

Our seniors who cannot drive are left isolated, and our students are dodging reckless drivers as they bike and walk to school.

So what does transportation freedom look like in Cleveland?

Does it mean that we continue to make all transportation choices outside of a car deeply unsafe and inconvenient?

Does it mean that we force Clevelanders to spend more and more of their monthly income on their car payments and gas?

Because that's the only option that gets them to work safely and on time.

And I think this policy position touted by the Trump administration also speaks to the long-standing right-wing agenda to cater to the fossil fuel industry and other special interest groups over the actual needs of our people.

As someone who's been a member of the Democratic Party since I turned 18 and a current precinct and executive committee member, I think our party has a blind spot to these issues.

For decades, fossil fuel and automotive industry lobbyists have continued to tear our cities apart, leveling entire neighborhoods for the expansion of highways, incentivizing people to move their families and taxes and jobs outside of the city of Cleveland, and we're continuing to see that does investment.

These same policies left us with roads that feel more like highways than proper city streets, and a mindset that means any threat to the convenience of people in cars is a little politically inconvenient.

Our political leaders must come to terms with the fact that safety and affordability and access do not always go hand in hand with the policies that maximize convenience for people in cars and the speed of cars.

Our residents must be okay with it, hitting the brakes, traveling at safer speeds, paying a couple extra dollars for their parking.

If that's what it means to save lives, to give their neighbors, our neighbors, safe and affordable transportation choices, and build a city where everyone can get where they need to go.

I love living in the city.

I love living in Cleveland.

I think sometimes people forget that Cleveland is a city, and it should have an urban transportation system that rivals our Ohio counterparts and has a transportation system that cities like Detroit and Pittsburgh envy.

And so right now we're behind.

So when you're considering policies and projects that would fund safety improvements on our roads, would provide safe transportation options for people that don't drive or have a car.

Please consider all please consider all the Clevelanders that you represent and the political agenda that got us the streets that we have now.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Next we have Matthew Smart Strazinski, and he's from War II to talk about communications with the city.

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

Mr.

Strazinski, you had the floor.

Thank you as always.

It is a great honor.

A great honor.

This is a magnificent, magnificent building.

I just have to keep saying that.

Um, I'd like to say this respectfully first.

Okay, the mayor is not here.

Every one of these assigned seats should be filled.

This is disrespectful.

It is honestly disrespectful.

I mean, it's in your job description, isn't it?

To be here.

All right.

I I want to speak about which I left off last week about our airport.

Now listen, this is very, very important.

We need to save this airport.

We need to save Berkeley for an airport.

It's got so many advantages.

Now I don't know if anybody has seen, and you can look on your phones if you want.

Channel 5 today had uh a thing about air taxis.

Uh in the city of New York and how they can fly and they're quiet.

Uh they can go 100 miles.

This would be a great advantage.

This would be a good we don't want to lose this airport.

This would be a great advantage.

You could go to go to uh uh Canada, they can drive around and hit little spots in the city when we start building the city back up again.

We can't lose this airport for medical flights.

Uh there's 113, my understanding, 113 planes that fly in Berkeley every day.

Uh, I don't know how true that is, but that's what Mr.

Google says.

Okay, now if you look at the bat if you look at the far side of the land of the airport, wouldn't it be nice if we had boat docks there?

We can still utilize, we still can do both.

We can still have an airport, and we can utilize that whole front there behind in front of the brake wall and use that as boat docks if you want to do your motorhome thing or whatever, your golf course or your putt putt, that all still could be utilized.

But look, think about this, okay?

You get off the you get off your boat, and maybe you want to get on an air taxi.

You can fly into town or you can fly across Canada.

It's only 60 miles to Canada.

You have to do some research here.

It's not that difficult.

Okay, trade schools.

We can have a trade school for uh air mechanics uh for the drones.

Um if we lose this airport, it's gonna be so hard to get another airport in the city of Cleveland.

It just is.

There's zoning problems, you're gonna run into uh public hearings, uh approvals from the FAA.

Do some research on this.

It's a simple fix.

I keep telling you, it's a simple fix.

I'm not a uh a rocket scientist, I'm not an expert, but I mean, just how beautiful this could be.

Do not lose this airport, I'm telling you, okay.

And my final statement, I want to make sure I say this.

I want to see these chambers here.

I want to see 33 councilmen back before I quote.

Time, thank you.

Next, we have Daryl Houston.

Darryl Houston is from Bedford Ice is here to talk about city issues.

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

Everybody doing today.

Hope everybody is great today.

Because I'm not great.

I'm not great because what I see in my city, right?

And I'm sick and tired of people telling me that I don't live in the city and I shouldn't have anything to say, right?

A lot of you members don't even live in the city, but you work for the city.

Okay.

There's deserts just not being paid attention to food deserts, bus shelters, vocational trades, laundromats.

How can you find a laundromat in each one of you guys' wards?

I suggest all you guys go look in your wards and start paying attention to what the wards need.

Okay.

I would like for you guys to all have offices in your wards so people could come and address their issues with you guys, and you guys can resolve them.

But I am sick and tired of what I'm seeing downtown by all these paid administrators and people who took an oath to protect the Constitution.

Okay.

I caused some discrepancies in this budget.

A lot of these city council members asked some great questions in this budget.

The budget is not correct.

There's four departments that couldn't even answer questions.

Okay.

So I don't know how you guys approve the budget.

I don't know how you guys approved that parking hike as well.

But what it did tell me is that people are not reading before they're voting.

Okay?

So I suggest you guys start reading before you vote.

Then there's a thing that got past me too over in Mr.

Bishop's ward.

You think you can put a gas station over there without talking to the community, sir?

It's it's three gas stations within a thousand feet of each other, right?

You can't even get the store closed across the street that I've put numerous paperwork in on.

You think you're doing a good job over there?

Do you even live over there?

Are you a resident there?

You actually stay on Washington Street, correct?

With your wife, right?

So see, anybody down here that knows these violations is taking place that took a constitution.

I'm gonna hold you to it.

I'm gonna hold everybody to that constitution because I'm a constitution-driven person.

I gave 16 years of my life to this city, wrongfully in prison, and I'm gonna stand on that constitution as long as I live because that constitution got me free.

And that constitution represents everybody in this room.

And I suggest y'all start following it.

You're not following your charter.

Okay.

Let's talk about flock.

Let's talk about it.

If we talk about flock right now, I want somebody to tell me in this room by a spot shotter.

Is that preventing somebody from losing their life?

If we get a gunshot in this community right now, you'll get five calls from 911 saying where it came from.

So we're gonna spend a million dollars just to know that a gun got shot.

We ain't solving no crimes.

Spend money on solving crimes, spend money on solutions because we're not doing a good job with anything right now.

We're not.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we have James Bentley.

James Bentley is from Mayfield Village.

He's here to talk about the topic of safety.

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

You have the floor, sir.

Good evening, City Council and Mayor Bibb.

I work at Cleveland Public Power.

This is a continuation from last week.

Uh quick recap.

I was physically assaulted twice by my supervisor, Don Kleppel.

There was a witness Bill Carreras.

Mr.

Kleppel was arrested at the job site and was dismissed from his position.

Shockingly, Mr.

Kleppel was rehired and didn't waste no time coming out to my job site.

This created and triggered a PTSD episode.

I contacted the police and I was informed by the dispatcher to leave the area.

Go file police report at the third district, which I did.

Shortly after this incident, I was issued a five-day suspension.

This discipline area is extremely heavy-handed.

I should not get time off because I'm in fear for my safety.

I'm supposed to be protected from retaliation for reporting this.

Additionally, it is widely known that Mr.

Cleppel has had numerous, numerous complaints filed against him over the years.

Without appropriate accountability, his pattern of behavior has been allowed to continue unchecked.

This has created a hostile work environment.

I have been a dedicated employee of the city of Cleveland for over 29 years with a strong work record and no prior disciplinary issues.

I take pride in my service and the relationships I have built through the years of my career.

I've met a lot of amazing people.

However, I can no longer ignore the threat to my safety and well-being.

I am respectfully requesting immediate enforcement of my safety measures to be taken.

Protection from further retaliation, a formal investigation into these incidents and disciplinary actions.

Accountability for those who have allowed the situation to persist.

It was substantiated by DeAndre Benson conduct unbecoming.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your time.

I hope someone reaches out to me.

James Memphis.

Thank you.

Next we have Adam Rosen.

Adam Rosen is from Ward 7.

He's here in opposition to ordinance number 522-2026 relating to paid parking regulations.

Good evening, Council President Griffin and distinguished members of Cleveland City Council.

My name's Adam Rosen.

I'm an attorney and resident of Ward 7.

Thank you for allowing me to make public comment in my opposition to ordinance 522 2026 relating to paid parking regulations.

As a former director of economic development for Detroit Shoreway, I advocated for best practice parking reform with a cadre of community development professionals and planning professionals.

I continue to work on these issues as a board member for the Gordon Square Special Improvement District, where we have been planning a new parking program utilizing city owned lots and curb parking.

Evidence-based parking reform is simple and proven.

Remove off-street parking minimums, implement market-based solutions like charging fair market prices for curb parking, and use that revenue for local benefit.

Parking minimums were eliminated in 2024, and a plan was put in motion for market-based curb parking.

Now, I think we can all agree that the rollout of the parking program in Cleveland was slow, clunky, and met with lots of resistance.

Change is notoriously hard here, especially with the embedded mindset of free and convenient parking.

However, this proposed legislation is throwing the baby out with the bathwater by drastically limiting the ability to implement an effective parking program.

As with most complex problems, a solution requires maximum flexibility and good data.

After a full year of park mobile, there is now data to begin to optimize the system.

Restricting hours and the amounts that the director of public works can charge will hinder flexibility and cap the benefits of best practice parking reform.

It's a mistake to remove the ability to charge for parking on nights and weekends outside of downtown, especially in entertainment districts like Gordon Square when parking turnover is needed most.

And asking for a full council vote to make these decisions, subjecting such legislation to the gamesmanship of this body is like putting up a stop sign.

It won't happen.

Of course, the biggest obstacle to charging for parking is politics.

Resistance to market-based parking and putting a price on previously free parking is strong.

This can be overcome with parking benefits districts.

Under such a plan, the district or neighborhood would receive some or all of the parking revenue rather than seeing it disappear into the general fund.

The district would then use those funds for transportation and community improvements, much like the ones Jenna talked about, and this makes meter parking more palatable to curbside shop owners and residents.

If anything, council should introduce legislation to allocate a portion of parking revenue to create these districts.

This strategy will lead to community engagement, equity, and buy-in for the parking program.

And for the constituents who've been beating down your door about paid parking, this would be a step in the right direction.

Thank you.

Next we have Michael Armstrong from Ward 11.

Michael's here to talk about form-based code needs to be fixed first and restore citizens' input before funding expansion or enlarging form-based code areas.

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

All right, 1992, 34 years ago.

That was the last time these rules of the city planning commission were revised.

1992, where public meeting agendas don't have to be released until 12 hours in advance.

Form based code, all 240 pages you passed two years ago.

I, by the way, live in the Cadell Form Based Code pilot area.

This law you passed in the 34-year-old CPC rules made it possible for my neighborhood to not know that a 72-unit apartment complex is going to be built.

FBC also allowed a commercial parking lot to be administratively approved on my street between two residential homes.

Just wake up one morning to a new parking lot neighborhood next door.

So I think a neighborhood has a right to know in advance of these kind of developments.

1398 2025 is on your agenda tonight and funds more FBC consultants to plan new districts.

Council amended it to omit saying expand FBC to additional districts and geographies.

They get rid of that phrase, and yet that's exactly what the administration is going to ask you to do next month.

It just won't be called expansion, it'll be called an extended area.

Map change 2700 for St.

Clair Superior Huff.

This covers a large area.

I'm not going to tell this, tell this part of the city what they should do, but I'm going to mention in this because it indirectly impacts my neighborhood as it zooms an FBC expansion through and makes the problems bigger to fix.

Except where it calls out the conventional code specifically.

However, the unstated rule, the old conventional code still applies where FBC does not mention it.

Two codes at the same time.

This makes FBC incredibly complex and creates even more loopholes.

It says this code is adopted under the authority of Section 330.01.

That's that section does not exist now, nor has it ever existed.

There are quite a few dimensional standards errors too.

Section 3005 says there must be a technical review committee, TRC for larger projects.

There isn't any.

And PETBot is not a TRC per your law.

Zoning district boundaries can be administratively changed as well.

You, the council, the mayor, and city planning, created these pilot areas to learn from them and revise them first.

Instead, you want to perpetuate problems, make them bigger, fund and add bigger FBC areas.

You want to zoom all this through, but I think we need a pause.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have Sabrina Otis.

Sabrina Otis is from Ward 12.

Sabrina would like to talk about the lack of oversight between council and the mayor's administration.

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

Miss Otis, you had the floor.

I have no idea what you just said, but what did I say I was signing up for?

Nothing.

I'm gonna speak.

Oh, okay.

Um, I have no idea what I signed up for, but I'm here to talk about two things really quick.

One, um, everybody in this room has an opportunity to do something different this year.

Our police officers, the ones that actually drive the cars and out on the streets, a lot of them are never recognized.

When we do our um police awards every year, it's not our regular officers that get awards.

It's mostly the ones in specialty um units.

And it would be nice if council would consider, especially the safety council consider asking the chief and the safety directors to start recognizing our regular officers, all of them.

I think every district, every officer should be recognized.

They may not be good or whatever, but just give them a little boost because they are out doing things, and I'm gonna tell you why.

One of my children, my daughter, um, she was having a meltdown, and a regular officer was able to talk her down.

Um it did something for her, it helped her.

And a lot of us don't realize that it's not a social worker that's showing up when someone's having a mental health crisis, it's not an officer specialized in mental health, it's just regular officers in their cars that got the call and showed up.

So I think they should get some recognition because they are doing a job that we all complain about, but they are doing it with care and consideration and helping our young adults and and residents.

Second, my other thing has to do about these roundabouts.

A lot of residents wanted these roundabouts to take place, but Cleveland, y'all never taught people how to drive them.

They are called there are four-way.

That's what they really are.

They're four ways.

They're not just, oh, let me drive through and spin through, and I'm not letting you in, I'm gonna make you sit.

Um, in Ohio City, Still Yard, and 116th, and Harvard.

Yeah, I hate going over all three of those places because I'm sitting there for a while while one lane is just spinning right through.

If we're gonna have these, then somebody needs to teach people how to actually drive them.

You shouldn't have put them up just because people said it's calming traffic.

Well, if we're gonna calm traffic, we need to teach people how to drive them.

I grew up in another part of the county, um, and we have them growing up as kids.

There have always been four ways.

If you go out to Avon, there's a cop that sits in the middle, and he makes sure people go one at a time, one at a time.

You guys don't have those officers available, but somebody should teach somebody.

Um, because it's rude.

The next thing speed tables really quick.

Time, thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we have Robert Evans, Robert Evans is from Moreland Heels.

Robert Evans is here to talk about lack of responses to concerns from Cleveland Port Authority, EPA Berg Management.

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

You had the floor, sir.

Good evening, members of council.

My name is Robert Evans, and I'm here to speak about ongoing concerns related to the sediment processing facility operated by the Cleveland Cuyahoga County Port Authority at the Burke Lake Front Airport.

The facility accepts dredged material from the river, mixes it with other substances, and redistributes it commercially.

Every day, roughly 20 to 30 heavy trucks enter and exit via north marginal road.

These trucks leave behind dirt and debris on public roadways and generate significant fugitive dust that affects nearby residents and public spaces.

In addition, there are serious concerns that the site is not adhering to FAA requirements regarding the maximum heights of storage piles and equipment, raising both safety and compliance issues.

These are not isolated observations.

Numerous complaints have been filed.

The Cleveland Division of Air Quality has issued multiple notices of violation.

Yet, despite this pattern, meaningful corrective action appears limited or absent.

What is perhaps most concerning is the complete lack of response from leadership.

I have personally sent dozens of emails outlining these issues and requesting to meet to discuss my concerns with Brian Francis, the director of port control, and John Loeb, the director of the Ohio EPA.

These emails have gone unanswered.

No acknowledgement, no engagement, no accountability.

And I have to ask if my repeated documented attempts are ignored.

How many others in this community are also being ignored?

I understand the council members may not be able to intervene directly in regulatory or operational decisions, but you do have oversight responsibility.

You do have the authority to demand accountability from public agencies and their leadership.

There would be pressure to change.

Public agencies should be held to at least the same standard, if not higher.

Not necessarily on the technical details of the facility, but on the leadership failures that allow these problems to persist and citizens' concerns to be ignored.

Please investigate why these agencies are unresponsive.

Please require transparency in how complaints are handled.

And please ensure that the people responsible for protecting our environment and public well-being are actually doing their jobs.

Time, thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Next we have Daniel Wants from the Cleveland Playhouse Square.

And Daniel is here to talk about the cartel gang task force grant name change.

He's not being paid by anyone, and he's not representing one.

Is Daniel wants here?

Daniel wants going once.

Daniel wants going twice.

That concludes public comment.

Madam Clerk, please share communications.

File number 562 2026 from Director Martin Kane, Director of Public Utilities.

Notice of grant acceptance for 315,000 dollars from the Cleveland Foundation to support making the public improvement of designing and constructing local renewable power projects for the division of Cleveland Public Power received.

File number 563 2026 from the Mayor's Appointments Committee of Cleveland City Council, recommending approval of the appointment of Benita GT1 to Gateway Economic Development Corporation.

Term ending May 31st, 2027.

Without objection, the appointment is approved.

File number 564 2026 from the mayor's appointments committee of Cleveland City Council.

Recommending approval of the appointment of Eddie Taylor to Cleveland, Cuyahoga Count Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Port Authority, term ending April 7th, 2030.

Without objection, the appointment is approved.

File number 565 2026 from the Mayor's Appointments Committee of Cleveland City Council.

Recommending approval of the appointment of Stephanie Morrison Herbick to Community Relations Board, term ending March 31st, 2030.

Without objection, the appointment is approved.

File number 566, 2026 from the Mayor's Appointments Committee of Cleveland City Council.

Recommending approval of the appointment of Yasir Hamdala to Cleveland, I'm sorry, to community relations board, term ending March 31st, 2030.

Without objection, the appointment is approved.

Thank you.

Are there any condolence resolutions?

Resolutions of condolence by Councilmember Casey for James Jimmy Dean.

By Councilmember Palencick for Mother Lula M.

Boyd.

By Councilmember Gray for Margaret Marie Hart.

By Councilmember Griffin for Taj Malik Render.

Are there any other condolences?

Any other condolences?

Councilman Brian Casey.

Mr.

President, can you please hold out a number for uh Mary Devering, former Kiowa County Executive Director?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please hold out a number from Mary Devering.

Um other condolence resolutions.

Seeing no other condolence resolutions, but council members please rise for a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Are there any congratulatory resolutions?

Resolutions of congratulations by Councilmember Starr for Fade to Black by Councilmember Santana for the Northern Ohio Blanket Mills Grand Opening for Council Member Starr for Cuyahoga County Veterans Service Commission Grand Opening by Councilmember Starr for Elnora Pinson by Councilmember Griffin for Excelsior High School on their 53rd reunion.

Resolutions of recognition by Councilmember House Jones for the 17th Annual Asian Festival by Councilmember Griffin for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Youngstown Alumni.

Thank you.

Therefore, we'll move straight to first reading emergency ordinances referred for administrative review and committee review.

Ordinance 551 2026 by Council Members KZ and Griffin by departmental request authorizing director of public utilities to enter into one or more requirement contracts without competitive bidding with North Coast process controls for proprietary valves, actuators, appurtenances, and other components of the valve out of the valve actuator systems and labor and materials needed to repair, replace, maintain, exercise, inspect, and test existing equipment and to provide related services for the Division of Water, Department of Public Utilities for a period of two years.

Ordinance 552 2026 by Council Members Santana Bishop Palency Casey and Griffin by Departmental Request authorizing the Director of Development to transfer various permanent parcels to to the control, possession, and use of the departments of parks and recreation, public safety, public utilities for future development of parks, recreation centers, trails, and public facilities.

Ordinance 553 2026 by Council Members Polencick and Griffin by Departmental Request, authorizing the purchase by one or more requirement contracts of replacement firefighter high-rise kits for the Division of Fire, 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 555 2026 by Council Members Polencick and Griffin by Departmental Request.

Authorizing the Director of Public Safety to apply for and accept a grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services for Fiscal Year 2025, Ohio Drug Law Enforcement Fund Grant for the operation of the Cartel Gang Narcotics and Laundering Task Force, formerly known as Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force, and authorizing the Director to enter into agreements with Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office and other entities to implement the grant.

Ordinance 556 2026 by Council Members Slife Casey Santana and Griffin declaring a moratorium on the review and issuance of zoning permits, certificates of occupancy, and other license or permit applications, including licenses or permits issued by the Department of Public Utilities for data cent for data centers in the City of Cleveland.

Ordinance 557 2026 by Mayor Bibb, creating a designated outdoor refreshment area and establishing requirements to ensure public health and safety within such area and declaring the same to be an emergency.

Ordinance 558 2026 by Council Members Bishop Santana and Griffin by Departmental Request, authorizing the Director of Public Works, Development andor Parks and Recreation to enter into one or more agreements with the Board of Education of Cleveland Metropolitan School District for the exchange of lands for future redevelopment and the mutual benefit of the parties and authorizing the commissioner purchases and supplies to acquire and convey the properties.

Ordinance 559 2026 by Council Members Davis, Bishop and Griffin by Departmental Request to amend Section 453.01 of the codified ordinances relating to parking regulations in parking meter zones for pilot program of portions of Hingetown neighborhood in Ohio City.

Ordinance 560 2026 by Council Members Casey and Griffin to supplement an emergency ordinance to supplement the codified ordinances of Cleveland by amending section 541.03 related to responsibility for installation and maintenance of sewer connections.

Thank you.

First reading ordinances referred for administrative review and committee review.

Ordinance 561 2026 by Council Members Davis Santana Polencick and Harsh to supplement the codified ordinances of City of Cleveland by enacting new sections 686 B.01 through.11 686 B 99.99 and 686 B.991 related to short-term rentals and by amending sections 193.010203.021 as amended by various ordinances related to the transient occupancy tax and by amending section 337.02 as amended related to one family districts and repealing section 337.251 as amended related to limited lodging in residence districts.

Thank you.

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

Resolution 554 2026 by Council Members Davis Bishop and Santana by Departmental Request.

Declaring the intent to vacate a portion of West 59th place.

Thank you.

Second reading, emergency ordinances to be passed.

Ordinance 1398 2025 as amended by Council Members Hairston and Griffin by Departmental Request.

Authorizing Director of City Planning to employ one or more professional consultants to enhance the existing form-based code pilot program and expand the form-based code to additional districts and geographies for a period of one year with three one-year options to renew exercisable by additional legislative authority.

Ordinance 131 2026 as amended by Councilmember Griffin by Departmental Request.

Authorizing declarations of official intent under U.S.

Treasury regulations with respect to reimbursements from note and bond proceeds of temporary advances made for payments prior to the issuance and related to and related matters.

An emergency ordinance determining the method of making the public improvement of designing and constructing or constructing, rehabilitating, renovating, replacing, or otherwise improving public facilities, buildings, and other similar structures, including site improvements and appurtences, and authorizing the director of public safety, public works, parks, and recreation, andor capital projects as appropriate to enter into one or more public improvement contracts for the making of the improvement, enter into one or more professional services and other contracts needed to implement the improvement, to apply for and accept grants and gifts, and authorizing the direct employment of the necessary labor for the Department of Public Safety, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, andor the Office of Capital Projects.

Ordinance 234 2026 as amended by Council Members Bishop Santana and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance determining the method of making the public improvement of designing and constructing, rehabilitating, renovating, replacing, or otherwise improving recreation facilities, ancillary recreation buildings, parks and playgrounds, and other similar structures or amenities on city-owned and city-leased park property, including the improvements and appurtenances, and authorizing director of parks and recreation, public works or capital projects as appropriate to enter into one or more public improvement contracts for the making of the improvement.

Enter into one or more professional services and other contracts needed to implement the improvement, to apply for and accept grants and gifts and authorizing the direct employment of necessary labor for the departments of parks and recreation or public works or the Office of Capital Projects.

Ordinance 309 2026 by Council Members Bishop Santana and Griffin by Departmental Request.

An emergency ordinance determining the method of making the public improvement of repairing, constructing, or installing roadways, bus pads, bus pads, sidewalks, driveway aprons, curbs, brick streets, ADA compliant curb ramps, minor bridge repairs and appurtenances, and asphalt resurfaced resurfacing and asphalt crack sealing.

Authorizing director of capital projects to enter into one or more public improvement requirement contracts for the making of the improvement, authorizing director to apply for and accept any gifts or grants and authorizing any agreements for a period not to exceed two years.76.

Code Section 122.161 to declare said parcels as brown field sites requiring environmental remediation suitable for redevelopment and to authorize a five-year tax exemption for improvements to such property pursuant to Ohio revised code section 5727.76 ordinance 402 2026 by council members Slife Santana Harsh and Griffin by departmental request authorizing director of development to enter into a loan agreement with Guardian Structural Technologies LLC or its designee to provide economic development assistance to partially finance the acquisition of machine of machinery and equipment associated with the company's expansion to the building located at 18105 Cleveland Parkway and other associated costs necessary to acquire the machinery ordinance 403 2026 by councilmember Conwell designating the Saperstein Garage and House as a Cleveland Landmark.

Slythe and Griffin by departmental request authorizing the director of port control to enter into a license agreement granting the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation to the right, I'm sorry, the right to use an occupy city-owned property located at Dock 32 at 101 Eerieside Avenue to continue the operation of North Coast Yard and providing event programming for the general public for a period of one year with a one-year option to renew exercisable by the director of port control.

Authorizing the Director of Finance to enter into one or more contracts with one or more insurance carriers to procure various types of comprehensive insurance coverage needed to maintain continuous coverage for municipal operations, including policy renewals, adjustments, and other related services for a period of three years with two one-year options to renew exercisable by the director of finance.

Thank you.

Read the motion to suspend the rules.

Be placed on final passage, seconded by councilmember Palency.

Call to roll.

14 years.

Call to roll on passage.

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

Councilman is it Councilwoman House Jones.

Councilman House Jones.

Could you remind me what that's for, Councilwoman?

I don't have it in front of me.

These are our mayor's appointment committee, and there were two that we needed to get a response from the Ohio Ethics Commission regarding their appointments.

Um I was not aware of that.

Who who do we know?

Um I'm not sure.

I didn't get that request.

Right.

No, it it was in committee, and we just talked about it on this past Tuesday.

And so to see the two, and I'm assuming somebody got the responses.

Hence that they are up here.

I don't have them in front of me.

It would have been uh Miss Odie Martins, but I don't know if um I have not seen that request, but Odin Miss Odie Martins would be the one.

Um that would be the one that would have gotten us.

I was unaware of that request, Councilwoman.

Yeah, so I would I don't know how we need to look back at those two, but I would strongly suggest us before it is approved that we get those um get those decisions from the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Okay, so it's two people who need to get decisions from the Ohio Ethics Opinion.

Um director we we could just wait until we get those opinions.

That will be hold the peace until we get those.

We'll hold the peace until we get to pieces.

Okay, good to thank you.

Okay, councilman Casey.

Please mark me in no one 232 and 234 2026.

Thank you.

House Jones.

No, Councilman Joe Jones.

Yes, Mr.

Chairman.

We all need to know right now, but you know, whoever um those two people are, I would like to know who they are.

We'll get that information in when we get that things okay.

I do want to get up and say something.

One of them, but I'm not sure if this is that person, so I'll make it.

If you could add to councilwoman House Jones, so she would know better than me.

Okay.

All right.

Um Councilman Kevin Conwell.

Okay.

Um that is all of them.

What else we got?

What are we doing?

Call the roll on passage.

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

Oh, I'm sorry.

On 232, 2026.

13 Yes, one nay.

On 234, 2026, 12 years, two nays.

On all others, 14 years.

All right, thank you.

We'll move the second reading emergency resolutions to be adopted.

Resolution 375 2026.

My council members star Bishop Santana and Davis by departmental request declaring the intent to vacate a portion of Central Avenue.

Thank you.

Read a motion to suspend the rules.

By councilmember Slife, that the rules be suspended in the legislation just read be placed on final passage.

Seconded by Councilmember Palencick.

Thank you.

Call the role.

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

14 Yes.

Call the roll on adoption.

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

14 YAs.

Thank you.

We'll move to legislation to be tabled.

Ordinance 588 2024 as amended by Councilmembers McCormack and Spencer to supplement the codified ordinances of the City of Cleveland by enacting new sections 686 B.01 through 686 B.11 and 686 B9.99 related to the short-term rentals and by amending sections 193.01 0203.021 as amended by various ordinances related to the transient occupancy tax and by amending section 337.02 as amended by ordinance 586-16 passed July 13, 2016, related to the one family districts and repealing section 337.251 as amended by ordinance 1444 16 passed January 23rd, 2017, relating to limited lodging in residence districts.

Thank you.

Call to roll on approval of tabling.

No.

14 years.

Thank you.

We'll move to introductions.

I'm sorry, Mr.

Davis.

That's probably what you were going to do.

I just we all love Mr.

That's exactly right.

No, it's uh the indomitable Diane Howard, Ward 7A, uh Poor People's Campaign, CMHA board member, just all around stalwart of the community.

The commission, excuse me, the commissioner.

Uh we're lucky to have her in the room.

She's my hero, so she should be all your heroes too.

We love Diane.

Are there any other introductions?

Any other introductions seeing no other introductions?

I would like to make an announcement.

Uh we do not have a council meeting next Monday.

Next Monday is the day before election day.

Uh, so we do not have a council meeting next Monday.

I would like for all of council as well as any of the uh Greek um organization members that we will be having Panolinic Council, which is all divine nine organizations will be coming down on on uh Monday, May the 11th.

So they'll be coming down Monday, May the 11th at approximately 5:30.

The basically make a visit with all of the panel in the council on Monday, uh May the 11th, uh before council, and then we'll be acknowledging them on the council floor.

Okay.

Uh we'll move to miscellaneous or you our announcements or miscellaneous, councilman.

Announcements.

Announcements, okay, Councilman Starr, then Councilman Harsh, and then Councilman Shaw.

Um, just a quick announcement.

Um, we do have uh workforce education, training, youth development committee tomorrow.

Uh we do have two pieces of legislation as well as two hearings, one involving uh Greater Cleveland Works.

If you remember the built environment collaborative regarding the trade initiatives, and then we do also have the Office of Equal Opportunities come in and do a hearing regarding community of benefits tomorrow at 130.

In addition, at Ward 5 on Saturday from 11 to 2, we will be kicking off our uh gun violence survivors uh week regarding an event that we're gonna have a basketball tournament and different conversations about gun violence um in the neighborhood, and we also have a few other events taking place the following week.

Uh councilman Harsh.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

Since we're not gonna be here next Monday, I'll tell everybody now to remember uh Saturday, May 16th is pedal for prizes.

If you haven't done pedal for prizes, just meet us at Low Park around 10 o'clock in the morning, bring your bike or your roller skates or your rollerblades or your skateboard or your scooter or your wheelchair, anything with wheels that'll get you around the neighborhood.

You can walk if you need to.

We kick off around 10 o'clock, it's free, bring the kids, it's a fun family event.

You go around the old Brooklyn, you collect a bunch of stamps on a little card and you come back and they give you raffle tickets, and then you can win bikes and all kinds of fun stuff.

So come on out to Low Park Saturday, May 16th for pedal for prizes.

Thank you.

Councilman Tan Me Shah.

Thank you, Chair.

I I just uh my announcement is that um on May 1st, there is going to be a rally for International Workers' Day in public square for May Day.

Uh this is a tradition that has been going on for over 100 years, and we have a duty as workers to be there.

So if you can please be there.

May 1st, Public Square, 4 p.m.

Thank you.

Uh, Councilman Bishop has asked the question if um a chair does want to uh use their prerogative for a committee, then they need to uh work with the clerk.

So City Hall will be open on Monday, but that council meeting in the evening is will not be taking place.

Okay.

All right.

Um we'll move to miscellaneous, miscellaneous, and once again, I ask everybody to stay to their four-minute time limit.

I will say that Councilman Charles Slife and Councilman Tan May Shaw has asked for extra time.

Councilman Slife, you have the floor.

Um thank you.

And uh just as uh uh an aside, I was reminded as Councilman Shaw was speaking.

Uh tomorrow is uh workers' memorial day.

So if we could put something out for council from council as well, that's uh commemorating workers that were uh killed or injured while working.

Um but council president, uh I rise tonight to discuss ordinance 55626, which has been introduced this evening and would replace a moratorium on the review and issuance of permits, certificates of occupancy, and other licenses for data centers in the city of Cleveland.

There's precedent within this body uh in establishing moratoriums for uses that have evolved faster than we've been able to update our various municipal regulations.

To that end, this ordinance, if passed, would afford Cleveland City Hall an opportunity to analyze this land use and establish regulations that are in the common good.

Considering that I worked in the economic development field prior to joining this body, some may wonder why I would be seeking to hinder it.

But let's be clear economic development when done poorly can grow the economy while increasing unemployment, accelerating poverty, widening income disparities, essentially exacerbating the very challenges we seek to overcome in the city.

And while I support economic development, I can't support it when it's being exploitative.

I propose this moratorium amidst growing conversations about the proliferation of data centers across Ohio.

As noted in the legislation, data centers can be extremely energy and water intensive, often requiring major upgrades of transmission lines, substations, and water systems.

According to Ohio Consumers Council, a hyperscale data center can use as much electricity as a hundred thousand homes.

By 2030, 2030, it is estimated that nine percent of all U.S.

electricity use will be tied to data centers.

Beyond these concerns, I also worry that a proliferation of data centers within Cleveland, whether it be new construction on vacant land, which we have a lot of, or the repurposing of vacant structures, could preclude us from more beneficial economic investments.

Frankly, investments that create more and better paying jobs.

Nearly two-thirds of our revenue that we rely on to provide city services comes from income tax receipts, and the low job counts per square footage that data centers offer make them a weak economic development case.

Since news broke on Friday of this ordinance, I've received many messages from residents citywide who have expressed their discomfort with data centers.

Today, under our existing zoning code, a data center would be considered a semi-industrial use.

Now, without getting into the intricacies of the zoning code, this means that data centers could be allowed in pretty close proximity to homes.

However, within our form-based code, which is being piloted in multiple areas across Cleveland, as we've discussed today, data centers may be classified as offices.

This would mean that a data center could be located within areas we're intentionally targeting for mixed use and walkability, potentially undercutting the ability to achieve those very targets.

And of course, we operate within a wider system.

Data centers are expanding across Ohio and adding stress to an electrical grid that is inadequate due to failures in Columbus in monitoring investor-owned utilities.

As the State House grapples with the reality that costs to improve our infrastructure could be forced onto us, the consumer, some data centers are turning to on-site power generation.

Now, because the Ohio Power Sighting Board has authority to override local zoning regulations, this could mean the construction of an on-site power plant in addition to a data center.

Now I want to be clear that we do live in a data-centered world.

We all use email, we pay bills online, we log into our my chart.

This is being recorded.

My goal in legislating a moratorium is not so much to ban data centers outright.

Rather, it's to understand how we must differentiate between data storage as an ancillary use versus large-scale data storage to accommodate technological advances, particularly in AI.

I don't sense that the public anxiety surrounding uh data centers uh is is it's is concerning these known uses.

It really is these hyperscale data centers that are thousands of square feet in size being championed by tech companies.

In a PD article recently released, a data center developer is quoted as saying, quote, banning data centers is to say we don't want to participate in the future of industry.

And to that to that, I ask industry for whom.

Cleveland used to be a national model of how to build a robust middle class.

This is because industry employed people who were paid union wages that let them support their families.

But for the sake of national GDP growth, that model was cast aside, and CEOs turned their focus towards their shareholders and themselves, paying no regard to the workers and allowing communities to struggle.

Now, tech oligarchs will have us believe that warehouses full of servers are a path back to prosperity.

It isn't.

They get richer while we get poorer.

Frankly, through a business model that sows division, displaces workers, and I think undercuts democracy.

I look forward to this conversation as we consider how Cleveland should responsibly regulate this land use, and I welcome feedback from the administration and my colleagues.

And I encourage other cities, villages, and townships to follow suit, especially as we function within a state that I believe is abdicating its role in in protecting the common good.

Thank you.

I look forward to that robust uh discussion around that uh topic.

Thank you, Mr.

Slide.

Uh, Councilman Tan May Shaw and then Councilman Austin Davis.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh again, Councilman Shaw has asked for extra time.

I probably won't need it.

I wanted to, before I talked about what I had in mind, I wanted to just extend support for the bill that uh Councilman Slife just mentioned.

I think not only should we ban these uh be out go beyond a moratorium, but we should also tax the existing ones so that we can put that money towards CPP upgrade, something that we know desperately need and would help our residents uh get benefit from these noxious uses.

I had a longer piece planned, but I'm gonna hold off because I want to have some more conversations with our economic development folks.

I know we had a great conversation earlier today in our caucus, and I wanted to elevate because I think what we talked about was really important in terms of what the economic development priorities of our city are.

And I think having that space there was really useful in understanding where each of our council members stand, and I look forward to having more of those discussion spaces so that we can all get on the same page, because at the end of the day, that is what our residents expect from us to be on the same page.

And I'm looking forward to that.

Um I'll hold off on the larger piece, but I'm gonna give folks some homework so that my data references can make sense.

I probably am going to show my age by referencing the Avatar of the Last Airbender, which is a cartoon TV show that ran on Nickelodeon.

Uh and in it in season two, there is a phrase, it's called, There is no war in Ba Basing Se.

There is no war in Basingse, where people live within a walled city and they're told that there is no war outside of the city.

But in fact, there is a raging war.

And we see these parallels across not just our city, not just our state, but our country as well.

As of right now, we're bomb dropping bombs on a country and we're bombing innocent people.

We've conveniently overlooked the fact in many of our conversations, but we know all of these macroeconomic forces affect us, and it affects the development, it affects our residents, and what we can do is limited.

But if we are not planning with these things in mind, we know that all of our planning is no.

So I look forward to having a fuller discussion uh going forward, and uh I'll hold the rest of my thoughts.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Uh Councilman Austin Davis.

Thank you, Council President.

I I rise to uh support and bring acknowledgment to 561 2026, the short-term rental uh legislation that's being introduced tonight.

There was a piece for folks' reference.

There was a piece that was introduced last year.

Uh it received significant amendment from our uh body here and was reintroduced instead of engaging in the amendment process.

It is the culmination of, and I really wanted to highlight this some six years of work um from the staff level.

This has been in discussion for since before COVID, and we're finally, I think, going to get it done this May.

I don't want to jinx it yet.

Um but I also always bring up why this has been so important to me is because of um my community has had an unreasonable number of uh violent activities occurring as a result of Airbnb parties getting out of control, including the first drive-by shooting I ever witnessed in my life from my living room window uh when an Airbnb party across the street got out of control.

I I this to pass this legislation um is an essential part of our public safety framework here in the city.

Um it's a housing issue, it's a safety issue, it's a community resonance issue.

Anyway, I'm very excited that we're gonna finally see this to a conclusion after again six years.

Uh Rachel Scalish can tell stories.

She's been working on it for so long.

Um there's a lot of variables that could still change.

Uh the individual numbers, the particular subsets in 561 296.

If folks have feedback, commentary, let me know.

We'll figure it out.

Everything's a compromise, so we'll we'll find the right solution.

But uh thanks again.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

And I want to commend Councilwoman Santana.

I know she's not here, uh, but and Councilman, I think Polencyc is working with us on this as well.

But all of our areas have seen a proliferation of these um short-term rentals.

So hopefully we can come up with a policy that's fair and make sure that number one that we deal with safety as it as it pertains to these.

I have Little Hidley and the Cleveland Clinic area, which are proliferated.

Um, for a lot of those um uh Airbnbs or short-term rentals.

So, yes, looking forward to it.

Uh, I do not see any other miscellaneous.

Therefore, Madam Clerk, please excuse the absences.

My councilman, yeah.

By councilmember Slyke that the absence of councilmember Santana is hereby excuse, seconded by councilmember Palency.

Once again, remember that the next meeting of council will be on May the 11th.

That's Monday, May the 11th, and it will be Panalinic Day.

So please, um, any pan-alinic members, please come at 5:30 to greet your sororities and fraternities.

This council is adjourned to the call of the chair.

Please exit the chambers and continue conversations in the hallways so that police can secure the chambers.