★ ★ ★PUBLICRECORDJAN 21 2026

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Cleveland Heights City Council Meeting - January 21, 2026

City Council Meetings — Wednesday, January 21, 2026

BodyCleveland Heights, Ohio

SessionCity Council Meetings

DateWednesday, January 21, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:18:11

Transcript — VerbatimClick a line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:10

Okay, I'd like to call this Cleveland Heights City Council meeting to order.

0:14

It is what is it?

0:16

January 20th at 840, 740.

0:21

Eddie, would you call the role?

0:22

CUDA.

0:23

Here.

0:24

Cohen.

0:24

Here.

0:25

Do it for Posh?

0:27

Here.

0:27

Larson.

0:28

Yeah.

0:28

Cobb.

0:29

Here.

0:29

All right.

0:30

Any amendments to the agenda?

0:33

None.

0:34

We'll move on to approval of the minutes from January 7th and January 12th.

0:40

Any problem with the agenda with the minutes from those two agendas.

0:44

Okay, good.

0:45

And then we'll go to communications from the mayor.

0:48

Thank you, Mr.

0:48

President.

0:49

Just wanted to cover two things this evening.

0:51

So one, I've had a chance to meet with mom most members from city council, and my goal is to include at least one goal from every council member in our work plan for the year.

1:15

Um the current state of the facilities and the work of a lot of the folks in the administration.

1:21

I also wanted to talk about snow removal for a moment.

1:24

So I have seen all of the comments on social media.

1:27

I've received a lot of emails, and I hear them.

1:31

And I agree that we need to do better.

1:33

I have been out there looking at streets myself.

1:36

I've been going through our nearby suburbs and looking at their streets, talking with folks in other cities' administrations to learn about their best practices.

1:46

Some folks may have heard we uh had uh assault shortage, and we are able to locate 150 tons that was transported to Cleveland Heights over the weekend to get us through until our next delivery on Wednesday.

2:00

Um I have arranged meetings with the public works and parks and recreation departments so that we can begin to go through every single facet of uh the snow removal process.

2:10

So today we are talking about staffing, we're talking about shifts, we're talking about equipment, equipment that's in need of repair.

2:18

Um, we're even talking about getting recalibrated the devices on the back of the trucks that spread the salt.

2:24

So those meetings are ongoing, and we hope to have a specific list of improvements that we're going to make to be able to present to council and to the public.

2:32

Um the next snowfall is forecasted for Wednesday.

2:37

Um we should have enough salt on hand, but again, we are still working through a lot of the structural issues that I think in the long term will help us to deliver uh better quality snow removal.

2:49

But I ask people to be patient.

2:51

I will Wednesday night be out on trucks myself so that I can observe for myself how uh things work, and I look forward to, like I said, sharing updates to council and to the public on uh the improvements that we plan to make.

3:05

But you're not gonna be driving the truck now.

3:08

Not until I get a CDL.

3:09

So keep everybody safe.

3:12

All right.

3:13

So we have no departmental reports, so we'll go to um report of the council clerk.

3:19

Nothing to report.

3:20

Not a thing.

3:22

All right.

3:23

Uh in that case, we'll go to public comment.

3:26

Now we have more than 15 people, so we're gonna we're gonna do two minutes tonight.

3:31

Um so make sure when you come up, name, street, city.

3:37

Uh and Eddie, you can start.

3:40

We have no legislative agenda item comments tonight, so we'll just do our regular um general public comment.

3:45

So Jamie Hickner.

3:53

Uh Jamie Hickner, uh Edge Hill Road, Cleveland Heights.

3:57

I'm here on behalf of Cleveland Heights Remegant Rights since July.

4:00

We have met with Mayor Petris and every council member asking for you to put our proposal for legal counsel and legal clinics on your agenda.

4:07

We are still waiting.

4:09

Um, on January 25th last year, ICE raided Solantra Takaria and abducted six workers without judicial warrants.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Immigration Services█████████████████████████████████████████████58%

Procedural████████████████20%

Public Safety██████8%

Racial Equity█████6%

Transportation Safety██3%

Water And Wastewater Management██2%

LGBTQ Rights██2%

Arts And Culture█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Cleveland Heights City Council Meeting - January 21, 2026

The Cleveland Heights City Council convened for a meeting focused on approving routine municipal resolutions, addressing a significant emergency regarding snow removal capabilities, and listening to extensive public testimony primarily advocating for the funding of legal representation for immigrants facing deportation. The atmosphere was marked by strong community advocacy for immigrant rights and a collaborative but cautious administrative response to both the immediate snow crisis and long-term policy proposals.

Consent Calendar

Approval of minutes from January 7th and January 12th.
Adoption of Resolution 022-2026 recognizing February 2026 as Black History Month.
Adoption of Resolution 023-2026 proclaiming February 14th, 2026, as National Donor Day.
Suspension of rules to adopt the consensus agenda items, which passed unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

Jamie Hickner (Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights): Expressed full support for funding legal counsel and legal clinics, urging the council to prioritize immigrant due process after a recent ICE raid resulted in six workers leaving the community and 600+ residents at risk.
Shay Sing (Union Member/Resident): Expressed full support for right-to-counsel funding, stating that discrimination based on race, garb, or accent renders residents at risk and that immigrants in unions have been protected, implying support for expanding legal protections to all.
David Barenson (Resident): Expressed full support for Cleveland Heights taking a lead role in supporting immigrant rights, drawing on personal family history of escaping Nazi Germany and pogroms.
Gary Benjamin (AMI): Expressed full support for funding legal representation to help neighbors maintain legal status, specifically noting the loss of right to post bond for those under federal programs and the need for habeas corpus petitions.
Melody J. Hart (Resident): Expressed full support for the proposal to fund legal clinics via a partnership with non-profits (Catholic Charities, Legal Aid, Jewish Family Service) rather than an outside for-profit firm, citing a successful case where a lawyer secured a client's release.
Barbara Aguilar (Resident): Expressed full support for legal counsel, stating that families separated by deportation would be 10 times more likely to remain if they had representation, and urging the council to act against family destruction.
Angela Manella (Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights): Expressed full support for funding legal representation, asserting that immigrants with counsel are 10 times more likely to win cases and framing deportation without due process as human trafficking.
Mike Corridani (Resident/Organizer): Expressed full support for the proposal while clarifying it is an “access to justice” program, not a “sanctuary city” policy, and noting zero overlap with enforcement restrictions.
Anastasia Kirillyuken (Resident): Expressed full support for funding legal representation to protect the safety of immigrants and her own family.
John Mark Wisnewski (Resident): Expressed full support for Cleveland Heights to support and protect the immigrant community.
Carly Whitaker (Resident/Activist): Expressed full support for the legal counsel proposal and noted that the word “immigrant” has appeared zero times on the council agenda since the raid.
Marcy Cannard (Resident): Expressed strong support, stating that until officials take tangible action, they are not anti-racist.
Alan Fetterman (Resident): Expressed full support for the proposal, arguing that Cleveland Heights should stand for values beyond immediate needs and that the community is actively backing this measure.
Raul Montejo (Cleveland DSA): Expressed full support and called for immediate action, stating that freezing in fear allows the continuation of terror and that residents must organize to build power.
Lynn Tremanté (Ohio Immigrant Alliance): Expressed full support for both direct representation and legal clinics, highlighting the benefit of portable legal question-and-answer sessions for the community.
Harley Rubin (Resident): Expressed full support for the actionable policy of funding legal funds, contrasting it with previous symbolic resolutions that lacked enforceability.
Quentin Yoder (Cleveland DSA): Expressed full support for the proposal, rejecting the claim that legal representation should be limited only to those with legal status and arguing for universal due process rights.
Natalie Davis (Attorney/Resident): Expressed full support for immediate action on legal counsel, emphasizing the difficulty of navigating immigration courts without representation.
Taylor (Resident): Expressed concern regarding speeding on Selwyn Road and supported the request for speed bumps to protect children playing on the street.
Marty Galfand (Attorney/Resident): Expressed full support for funding the program as a sovereign responsibility of the city to protect rights under the 10th Amendment.
Graham Ball (Cleveland DSA): Expressed full support and requested a specific timeline for the implementation, citing recent ICE surges in Columbus as evidence of an imminent threat.
Grace Heffernan (NE Ohio Worker Center): Expressed full support for portable legal representation, sharing the story of an undocumented worker who self-deported due to inability to access legal counsel in detention.

Discussion Items

Snow Removal: Mayor Petris acknowledged public dissatisfaction, confirmed the receipt of 150 tons of salt delivered to the city, and announced ongoing meetings with Public Works and Parks to review staffing, shifts, equipment repairs, and device calibration. He expressed support for structural improvements but requested patience from the public, noting he would ride on trucks Wednesday night to observe operations. Councilwoman Cohen expressed full support for the Mayor's collaborative approach and optimism for improvements.
Right to Counsel Proposal: Public speakers overwhelmingly advocated for funding legal clinics and representation. Vice President Larson offered full support for donations to the Immigrant Defense Fund. Councilwoman Cohen expressed full support for the cause but stated the council is awaiting further information and suggested the group consider immediate funding opportunities with non-profits or foundations, noting the slow pace of public sector policy. Councilman Posh expressed full support for the concept but emphasized the complexity of the city's legal authority and the need for thoughtful policy-making. Councilman Cobb expressed full support for the immigrants' plight and thanked the Mayor for his engagement on snow removal.
Committee Appointments: Discussion regarding the Planning Commission and Citizens Advisory Committee vacancies. Councilman Cobb expressed strong appreciation for the candidates selected for the Planning Commission (Schneer Kushner and Matthew Carey).

Key Outcomes

Snow Removal: No formal vote taken; the Mayor committed to presenting a specific list of improvements to council and the public after ongoing internal reviews.
Appointments (Unanimous Support):
- Resolution 009-2026: Confirmed Helen Hertz as a member of the Community Improvement Corporation.
- Resolution 010-2026: Confirmed Linda Strievski as a member of the Community Improvement Corporation.
- Resolution 011-2026: Appointed Schneer Kushner as a member of the Planning Commission.
- Resolution 012-2026: Appointed Matthew Carey as a member of the Planning Commission.
- Resolution 013-2026: Reappointed 22 members to the Citizens Advisory Committee.
Contracts and Grants:
- Resolution 014, 015, 016: Authorized agreements with Green Home Solutions LLC, SOSIC Painting and Remodeling LLC, and American Builders and Applicators LLC for lead abatement using Lead Safe Ohio grant funds.
- Resolution 019: Authorized a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for Kane Park renovations.
- Resolution 020: Authorized a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to purchase four 2026 Ford Utility Hybrid Police Interceptors.
- Resolution 021: Authorized participation in the NOPEC Green Community Choice Program for electric aggregation starting June 2026.
Dispute Note: The transcript reflects a discrepancy in dates and times. The header states 2026-01-21, but the Mayor states the meeting is January 20th at 8:40. Council comments refer to a meeting on the 20th, while the transcript header says 21st. The summary reflects the content of the meeting described (Jan 20th) in the header discrepancy note.
Next Steps: The Mayor will present the specific list of snow removal improvements to council and the public after completing current reviews. The council is awaiting further information regarding the legal counsel proposal before definitive policy action is taken.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, I'd like to call this Cleveland Heights City Council meeting to order. It is what is it? January 20th at 840, 740. Eddie, would you call the role? CUDA. Here. Cohen. Here. Do it for Posh? Here. Larson. Yeah. Cobb. Here. All right. Any amendments to the agenda? None. We'll move on to approval of the minutes from January 7th and January 12th. Any problem with the agenda with the minutes from those two agendas. Okay, good. And then we'll go to communications from the mayor. Thank you, Mr. President. Just wanted to cover two things this evening. So one, I've had a chance to meet with mom most members from city council, and my goal is to include at least one goal from every council member in our work plan for the year. Um the current state of the facilities and the work of a lot of the folks in the administration. I also wanted to talk about snow removal for a moment. So I have seen all of the comments on social media. I've received a lot of emails, and I hear them. And I agree that we need to do better. I have been out there looking at streets myself. I've been going through our nearby suburbs and looking at their streets, talking with folks in other cities' administrations to learn about their best practices. Some folks may have heard we uh had uh assault shortage, and we are able to locate 150 tons that was transported to Cleveland Heights over the weekend to get us through until our next delivery on Wednesday. Um I have arranged meetings with the public works and parks and recreation departments so that we can begin to go through every single facet of uh the snow removal process. So today we are talking about staffing, we're talking about shifts, we're talking about equipment, equipment that's in need of repair. Um, we're even talking about getting recalibrated the devices on the back of the trucks that spread the salt. So those meetings are ongoing, and we hope to have a specific list of improvements that we're going to make to be able to present to council and to the public. Um the next snowfall is forecasted for Wednesday. Um we should have enough salt on hand, but again, we are still working through a lot of the structural issues that I think in the long term will help us to deliver uh better quality snow removal. But I ask people to be patient. I will Wednesday night be out on trucks myself so that I can observe for myself how uh things work, and I look forward to, like I said, sharing updates to council and to the public on uh the improvements that we plan to make. But you're not gonna be driving the truck now. Not until I get a CDL. So keep everybody safe. All right. So we have no departmental reports, so we'll go to um report of the council clerk. Nothing to report. Not a thing. All right. Uh in that case, we'll go to public comment.

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