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Record of Proceedings

City Council Special Meeting on January 7, 2026: Kane Park Staffing

City Council Meetings — Thursday, January 8, 2026
BodyCleveland Heights, Ohio
SessionCity Council Meetings
DateThursday, January 8, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:10

All right, let me call this special committee of the whole meeting.

0:13

I'm sorry, special city council meeting together uh to order.

0:17

Uh it is Wednesday, January 7th at 6 p.m.

0:23

Addy, would you call the role?

0:24

CUDA.

0:25

Here.

0:26

Do it for Posh?

0:29

Here.

0:29

Cohen.

0:30

Here.

0:30

Lyerson.

0:31

Here.

0:34

Okay.

0:36

There's nobody absent.

0:37

So we're gonna I'm gonna ask for uh a motion to go into executive session.

0:43

And do that.

0:44

I yes, I like to make a motion that we go into executive session to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of any public employee or public official, the investigation of charges or complaints against the public employee official, licensee or contractee of the city, or one who seeks to be an employee licensee or contractee of the city.

1:08

Second.

1:08

All right.

1:09

Any discussion?

1:10

All right, Eddie, call the roll, please.

1:13

Owen.

1:14

Cohen.

1:15

Hi.

1:15

CUDA.

1:16

Hi.

1:16

Do it Foy.

1:17

Hi.

1:18

Posh.

1:18

Here.

1:19

Larson.

1:20

I Cobb.

1:21

Aye.

1:34

Okay, we're back from executive session.

1:36

Um before us is a uh one piece of legislation uh on first reading for consideration for adoption.

1:43

Go ahead, Eddie.

1:44

I have ordinance number 001-2026 on first reading, an ordinance amending ordinance number 023-2025, an ordinance establishing salary schedules and position classifications and other compensation and benefits for officers and employees of the city to assign the Kane Park General Manager position to salary grade 19 and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

2:08

All right.

2:08

Do we have a motion?

2:10

So moved.

2:12

Second.

2:13

All right.

2:14

Any discussion?

2:16

Mayor?

2:17

Thank you, Mr.

2:18

President.

2:18

I am grateful that City Council voted to more than double Kane Park's programming budget for 2026 so that we can elevate Kane Park.

2:28

It's the intention of the administration to put forward legislation early this year to create a standalone department for Kane Park.

2:36

But in the meantime, we are requesting that City Council adjust the salary grade for the Kane Park manager so that we can move forward with hiring a director level team member.

2:49

We are requesting that the position be increased from grade 12 to 19, which is the grade that the directors of communication and parks and recreation are currently at.

3:00

Thank you, Mayor.

3:02

Any other comments from council?

3:05

Council Posh.

3:07

I'm excited that we are elevating Kane Park and trying to go from a small number of productions to a lot many of productions.

3:17

I mean, we put a lot of money in a cane park.

3:19

It seems to me that if we're investing in Kane Park, we also need to invest in the management to make sure that that park is successful.

3:28

I mean, it's been running at a loss.

3:29

We need to find a way of getting it so it's not running at a loss and getting a professional in that can actually run it.

3:35

I think is a great idea.

3:36

So I'm I'm for this.

3:39

Um other comments?

3:41

Um I'll just say that I had the pleasure of being in on uh the interviews because I was on the other side at the time.

3:49

And um I found this person to be uh extremely uh qualified and uh professional.

3:57

You know, Kane Park needs somebody that can run on many cylinders.

4:01

Uh you can't just be good at one thing.

4:03

You have to be able to manage staff of a hundred seasonal employees, you have your year-round employees, uh, you have to run the box office, the concessions, uh, the bookings, the theater, uh, the local stuff.

4:19

You have to work with the city staff, uh, both the law department, finance department, and a parks and rec department.

4:27

Uh this takes experience, and it takes uh a uh really a total professional.

4:33

Uh Kane Park is a jewel.

4:35

It's an absolute jewel.

4:37

I would imagine that there's every community uh around us is you know wishes they had it, and we do have it.

4:44

And uh we've done uh some really good things in the last couple of years.

4:48

Um we now have our uh own equipment, so we're not renting anymore, which means we're saving money uh year in and year out uh on rentals.

5:00

Um we have new seating, we have new um dressing rooms.

5:07

Oh, and uh and a new roof uh and uh a new sound system and lights.

5:13

I'm I'm just thrilled to see what we can do this year.

5:17

And um, Mayor, I appreciate your willingness to uh think a little bit outside of the box because this is not something we've done before.

5:26

Uh and uh I'm all for it.

5:29

And with that, Addie, uh, would you go ahead and do a roll call vote?

5:33

Cobb.

5:34

Aye.

5:34

Larson, aye.

5:36

Do it for you.

5:37

Yes.

5:38

Posh.

5:40

Aye.

5:41

Cohen, aye.

5:42

CUDA.

5:43

Aye.

5:45

That's everybody.

5:46

Okay.

5:47

Um, so that concludes the business of this meeting.

5:50

Addie, do I gavel this meeting and start another meeting?

5:53

Okay.

5:53

And are we going over to okay?

5:56

So I'm gonna adjourn this meeting at 6:30, and we're gonna be headed over to the executive conference room for a committee of the whole meeting.

6:04

This meeting is adjourned.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Summary of Proceedings

City Council Special Meeting on January 7, 2026: Kane Park Staffing

A special city council meeting was convened on January 7, 2026, at 6:00 PM to address personnel changes for the Kane Park General Manager position. Following a brief executive session to discuss public employee employment and compensation matters, the council considered and unanimously adopted Ordinance 001-2026. This legislation amends Ordinance 023-2025 to elevate the Kane Park General Manager's salary grade from 12 to 19, aligning it with current directors in the city, in order to attract a qualified director-level candidate.

Consent Calendar

  • No items listed.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were recorded in this transcript.

Discussion Items

  • Proposal Context: The Mayor introduced the ordinance as an emergency measure to allow the hiring of a director-level team member for Kane Park after the council previously approved a budget increase to more than double the park's 2026 programming budget. The Mayor noted the administration's intention to eventually create a standalone department for Kane Park.
  • Speaker Positions:
    • Mayor: Expressed gratitude for the previous budget increase and stated the necessity of elevating the management position to attract a professional capable of running a complex operation. The Mayor emphasized that the role requires managing 100 seasonal employees, year-round staff, box office, concessions, bookings, the theater, and inter-departmental coordination with legal, finance, and parks and recreation departments.
    • Council Member Posh: Expressed strong support for the proposal, citing the significant financial investment in Kane Park. Council Member Posh noted the park has historically "been running at a loss" and argued that investing in management is essential to achieving success and professional operations.
    • Council Member Cobb: Described the position as requiring a "total professional" capable of managing "many cylinders," including diverse staff, equipment, and venue operations. Council member Cobb highlighted the park's recent improvements (new equipment, seating, dressing rooms, roof, sound system, and lights) as evidence that the park is a "jewel" and expressed support for the Mayor's "outside the box" thinking to hire the right candidate.

Key Outcomes

  • Ordinance 001-2026 Adoption: Moved and seconded. The ordinance amending salary schedules and position classifications was adopted.
  • Vote Result: Unanimous roll call vote (Aye) by all six council members present (Cobb, Larson, DoitFoy, Posh, Cohen, CUDA).
  • Directives: The salary grade for the Kane Park General Manager is officially increased from grade 12 to grade 19.
  • Next Steps: The meeting concluded with an immediate adjournment at 6:30 PM as the council relocated to an executive conference room for a committee of the whole meeting.

Meeting Transcript

All right, let me call this special committee of the whole meeting. I'm sorry, special city council meeting together uh to order. Uh it is Wednesday, January 7th at 6 p.m. Addy, would you call the role? CUDA. Here. Do it for Posh? Here. Cohen. Here. Lyerson. Here. Okay. There's nobody absent. So we're gonna I'm gonna ask for uh a motion to go into executive session. And do that. I yes, I like to make a motion that we go into executive session to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of any public employee or public official, the investigation of charges or complaints against the public employee official, licensee or contractee of the city, or one who seeks to be an employee licensee or contractee of the city. Second. All right. Any discussion? All right, Eddie, call the roll, please. Owen. Cohen. Hi. CUDA. Hi. Do it Foy. Hi. Posh. Here. Larson. I Cobb. Aye. Okay, we're back from executive session. Um before us is a uh one piece of legislation uh on first reading for consideration for adoption. Go ahead, Eddie. I have ordinance number 001-2026 on first reading, an ordinance amending ordinance number 023-2025, an ordinance establishing salary schedules and position classifications and other compensation and benefits for officers and employees of the city to assign the Kane Park General Manager position to salary grade 19 and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris. All right. Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. All right. Any discussion? Mayor? Thank you, Mr. President. I am grateful that City Council voted to more than double Kane Park's programming budget for 2026 so that we can elevate Kane Park. It's the intention of the administration to put forward legislation early this year to create a standalone department for Kane Park. But in the meantime, we are requesting that City Council adjust the salary grade for the Kane Park manager so that we can move forward with hiring a director level team member. We are requesting that the position be increased from grade 12 to 19, which is the grade that the directors of communication and parks and recreation are currently at.

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