Okay, welcome to Cleveland Heights City Council meeting.

It's February 2nd, Monday at 738.

Andy, would you call the role?

Cobb.

Here.

Larson.

Here.

Posh.

Here.

DeWitt Foy.

Here.

Cohen.

CUDA.

And I am getting Jessica.

All right.

Yeah.

And uh Councilwoman Cohen is joining us via Zoom.

So nobody's absent.

No amendments to the agenda.

Correct.

I'd like approval of the minutes.

We got October 20th, November 3rd, and November 17th.

I looked them over.

They look pretty good.

Anyone else?

Good to go.

All right.

So we'll approve those minutes.

Um communications from the mayor.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

As many people have heard, Cleveland Heights has someone going to the Olympics.

Layla Edwards.

I'm very excited about this.

In case you've not heard, we're having a watch party at the community center on Saturday.

So doors open at 10 a.m.

The match against Finland starts at 1040.

So I hope to see everyone there if you're available.

On Friday, I met with CHUH Superintendent Liz Kirby.

We talked through a lot of opportunities for collaboration between the city and the school district, and we agreed that we're going to meet quarterly going forward to make sure that we have good open lines of communication.

Also, the city is hosting its Black History Month celebration from noon until 5 p.m.

on Saturday, February 21st.

And I'm really excited that this year the City of University Heights is co-sponsoring the event.

So they are providing both financial support and manpower for the event.

Also, um I'd like to thank Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights for organizing the visual last week.

Even though folks have not heard many public updates from the administration, please know that many of us continue to work on this.

And in working with councilwoman Jessica Cohen, there are some other things that she will share some updates on later.

And with that, Mr.

President, I'm done with my comments for this evening.

All right, thank you.

And in honor of Black History Month, you'll see I'm supporting my Miles Davis t-shirt.

My guy.

Okay, so City Administrators Report.

Of course, we don't have that, but we will be voting on the city administrator tonight, so hang around for that.

Um no departmental reports, but we do have a report from the clerk of council.

Yes, I'd like to report that I've received the following notices to legislative authority from the Ohio Department of Liquor Control.

First for a transfer of a D5 permit from Christopher's PUP LLC to late black management LLC Culture Culture Ultra Lounge located at 3962 Mayfield Road, a new C1C2 permit for Care and Petroleum Inc.

located at 2294 Lee Road, a new D5 permit uh for four on six Inc.

Savoy located at 1318 Warrensville Center Road, and a new D1 D3 permit for 1223 Lounge Place LLC located at 2558 Noble Road.

These matters have been referred to the mayor in chief of police.

All right, thank you, Annie.

Um next we have public comment.

Uh this will be for agenda items only.

Do we have any?

You do not for legislative agenda items, no.

Then we'll move on to the legislation.

Uh first readings for consideration for adoption.

I have resolution number 024-2026 on first reading, a resolution reappointing Mohammed Irfan as a member of the Climate and Environmental Sustainability Committee of the City of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by all city council members.

So moved.

Second.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 025-2026 on first reading.

A resolution appointing James Arnold and Aaron McCor Markovi as members of the Climate and Environmental Sustainability Committee of the City of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by all city council members.

So moved.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next I have resolution number 026-2026 on first reading.

A resolution appointing Aaron Ware, Amber Rogers, Melinda Burt, and Bruce Delaney as members of the Citizens Advisory Committee of the City of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by all city council members.

So moved.

Second.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

I have resolution number 027-2026 on first reading.

A resolution appointing Rachel Bernstein, Don McBride, uh Shakara Ben, Judith Ryder Fromker, Eileen Rammerman, Amy Rosenbluth, Hannah Ginley, and Mary Beth Matthews as members of the Arts Commission of the City of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by all city council members.

So moved.

Second.

All right.

Any discussion?

Let me just say I see Judith's here and anybody else that's on the uh arts commission nomination.

Okay.

Well, thank you for coming.

I just want to first of all thank the three people who were appointed two years ago who never met.

Um it's a long story, but I'm so glad to see this arts commission getting put together.

Um I would like uh to know how the first meeting will happen.

I don't know if we need to discuss that now, but there will be 11 members if we put these people on the committee, and then a meeting needs to be um scheduled.

So I don't know if we just figure that out later.

I our office could schedule it or Addy could or however you guys want to work.

Yeah.

Do you want us to arrange it?

I think I think Addie can do that.

Um you know, now we know who the members are.

But anyway, just couldn't be more pleased that we're getting this off the ground.

There's a lot of business that that they could be helping with.

Um, you know, we have events and and so forth.

So very glad to see this happening.

Okay, so um, I'm a little confused.

Okay.

Sorry.

That's right.

Uh, but is this a council committee now, or is this a administrative mayoral committee?

I mean, there are appointments made by both the mayor and council, and they're they will be advising both the mayor and council.

So I guess the answer is both.

Okay.

All right.

Um, it's been motioned and seconded.

Um, all in favor?

Aye.

I agree.

Aye.

Any opposed, that motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number zero two eight-2026 on first reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Green Home Solutions LLC, a certified lead abatement contractor for the use of lead safe Ohio grant funds in connection with the abatement of lead-based paint hazards at the home located upon permanent parcel number 684-01-117, providing compensation therefore and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras.

All right, before anybody says anything, um, because of the questions that were asked in committee of the whole, I would look favorably on not motioning to move this forward.

So we have a couple of weeks to dive into it a little a little deeper.

Is that okay with everybody?

I think that's a very good idea because I was going to be a no tonight.

All right.

So in that case, if unless we have somebody that's pressing for them to move this forward, we'll we'll put this off.

Go ahead.

We can discuss.

I would assume that you'll communicate with the people that were in the community whole, the committee of the whole that we did just did this because those two people that were there are expecting us to be voted on tonight.

So I'm hoping somebody put the closure on that communication loop and let them know that it didn't go through this evening because they were talking about um the contractor needed to start work and Brian Brian Yorio.

So somebody will communicate with him that this changed.

I can tell them tomorrow.

Okay.

I appreciate that.

All right, in that case, Addie, go ahead go on to the next uh item.

I have resolution number 029-2026 on first reading, a resolution authorizing an agreement with Hall Public Safety Ufitters for the purchase and installation of upfitting equipment for the Cleveland Heights Police Department, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

So moved.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 030-2026 on first reading, a resolution resolution confirming the mayor's appointment of city administrator for the city of Cleveland Heights and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

So moved.

Second.

All right.

Any discussion?

I am happy to see someone hired in that position, and I'm thankful that the mayor now has a city administrator that will do us and do an excellent job.

Thank you.

And mayor, would you like to?

Thank you.

Yeah.

Just to reiterate, we um received well over 50 applications for this position.

We interviewed 13 people.

Um we had two in-person interviews with Mr.

Reese along with a number of Zoom meetings.

And uh he brings a wealth of experience to this position.

He served in the City of Columbus for almost 20 years.

He um was chief of staff for nine of those years, managed a very large organization with a very large budget, and I think that we could really benefit from his experience.

Thank you, Mayor.

Any other comments?

Uh I I would just say that first of all, I want to give you a lot of credit because in a month you've you've put forth uh a top top notch candidate for city administrator uh tomorrow.

We had a hearing on the finance director earlier today.

We'll be voting on the finance director tomorrow.

Those are two really key positions.

I think getting that together in 30 days shows that you know you did a lot of work in between the time you were elected and the time you took office.

And then um, you know, we're we're just more than happy to move this forward.

Um should we do a roll call vote on something like this?

Yeah.

Cobb.

Hi.

Larson.

Hi, do it.

Foy.

Hi.

Hosh.

Hi.

Cohen.

I'm an enthusiastic eye.

Uh next we have first readings only.

I have resolution number 031-2026 on first reading and ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement to le to lease an unoccupied room within the city's recreation center located at one Montecello Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 44118.

Finding that room is not needed for public use and declaring the necessity of this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

And I have resolution number 032-2026 on first reading.

A resolution providing uh providing for a contribution in support of the Heights Schools Foundation's fitness under the lights event and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

All right, next we have second readings.

One second reading.

I have resolution number 021-2026 on second reading.

A resolution authorizing the city to participate in the NOPEC Green Community Choice Program for the city's electric electricity aggregation program starting June 2026 and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

So moved.

Second.

All right.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Uh that motion passes.

Now we're on to committee reports.

Who has a committee report?

Vice President Larson.

Thank you, President Kuda.

Municipal Services and Environmental Sustainability Committee will meet Monday, February 9th at 7 p.m.

Our guests will be Public Works Director Clinkscale and Climate Environmental Sustainability Committee member John Barber.

The Climate and Environmental Sustainability Citizens Committee meets on Tuesday, February 17th at 4 p.m.

The Transportation Mobility Citizens Committee meets on Wednesday, February 25th.

That's it.

Thank you.

Any other committee reports?

Councilman DeWitt Foy.

The community relations and recreation committee will meet next Monday, February 9th at 5 p.m.

in the exec executive conference room.

We're hoping to hear from the directors of both community relations and parks and recreation to get an overview of major initiatives they've planned for 2026.

I'll highlight the watch party that Mayor Petris um highlighted earlier.

Um again our our own Layla Edwards and team USA hockey will take on Finland as a first match of for Team USA in the 2026 winter Olympics.

There'll be a watch party at the community center.

Doors open at 10 a.m., 1040 uh for the game to start this Saturday, February 7th.

And um I'll highlight that I, as well as several other council members, uh attended the parks recreation and open space master plan open house this past week at the community center.

Uh there's a great turnout to see the progress of the plan so far and to provide feedback on the to the planning team uh as they prioritize their recommendations to learn more about this plan or to provide feedback, please visit chparks.com.

And council should expect a presentation uh later this spring once those recommendations are finalized.

All right, thank you, Councilman.

Councilwoman Cohen.

Yes, uh looking forward to our first planning and development committee meeting this Monday, February 9th at 6 p.m.

We are in the midst of a zoning code review, and the zoning department uh planning department staff will be coming to us to talk about council engagement throughout that uh what is expected to be a year-long process.

We're also going to have a presentation from the planning department just to level set us with current planning initiatives, what they're working on across the city, as well as their uh recent work on auto shops enforcement.

We are also going to be hearing from the administration on a severance timeline update.

And we are uh looking forward to a legislation update.

We will start our conversation on potentially um some legislation to have a official park review, um, substantial changes to parks be uh reviewed by the planning commission or perhaps some other body in the city.

So should be an exciting meeting.

Looking forward to uh to seeing everyone there.

Yeah, jam packed agenda.

That that's Monday the ninth, correct?

Monday the ninth at 6 p.m.

So we'll have community relations and RAC, then planning and development, and then I think municipal services and environmental sustainability.

Any other committee reports?

Then we're on to public comment.

Uh General.

Judith Ryder.

Look at you.

Number one.

So I'm a committee of one right now.

One of 11.

Ah, yes, Mayor Petras and President CUDA and members of council.

The arts are so incredibly relevant these days as we grapple with security, not only for us in the community, but neighborhoods and people that we might feel might be in danger of threat of ice.

So the arts can help us connect.

It is it is essential that the arts are alive throughout the community.

And I know there are areas where it's very strong.

There are businesses and arts organizations, and I'm hoping that we can extend that footprint a little bit more broadly across the community.

Um, this is a precarious time, and it is really wonderful to be working with this wonderful new administration.

So I'm proud to be a member of the arts commission.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Glad to have you aboard.

Edgar Mitchell.

Good evening, council.

Good evening, mayor.

I'm happy to be here because uh the weather is bad.

And last Monday, I'm uh happy to say that Cleveland Heights did come out to the property on Neil of you, and they actually took a camera and ran a camera down to the drain to determine what's going on with that uh the roots from the tree.

That's great.

And uh that made me happy that had that happened because it's been so long trying to get that to happen.

And I want to thank council and the mayor for the stuff that they have done.

And uh I'm glad also to say that Cleveland Heights has been peaceful compared to when you look at TV and look at stuff that's happening around the country with ice and with other stuff, you know, in general.

We have maintained uh as much peace as we could.

So I want to thank Heights uh safety forces for that and all the people that push to have that happen.

I don't have much to say tonight.

I just came in to thank the city for the things that they they uh whether we are doing.

And I'd like to thank council for whatever that you know they're trying to do to make sure that everything is better for the residents of Cleveland Heights.

Okay.

Thank you.

Carly Whitaker.

I actually also have a pleasant task of coming here to thank and Carly Whitaker, uh 1171 Sylvania Road.

Um, so I I um I'm a member of Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights, and I'm here to thank um Councilwoman Cohn.

We really appreciate we we um received a correspondence from you that um gives a first step towards us putting some legal clinics um in place for um members of our community who are immigrant members of our community that was can happen as as early as the end of this month.

So we really appreciate your leadership, especially as a new member of city council um to try to make that happen.

So we look forward to working with you and thank you very much.

So we I do want to say like this is we do see see this as the first step towards we're still gonna pursue doing the two-year pilot program uh for legal counsel, but this is a great first step to help um our residents who might be afraid right now for what's going on and give them some good advice.

Um just um I after hearing the other people speak, um, I just wanted to say that on terms of the arts.

We had we did have this amazing vigil at Coventry Peace Park, and I want to thank there's an arts collective named See You Next Tuesday, and they helped create um the tombstones that we used to remember and honor Renee Good, Alex, Alex Pretty, and all of the people who have been killed in ICE detention this past year.

So it was a local arts collective that that collaborated with us on that vigil.

And um what you just said in terms of um safety.

So our next big event for we had a hugely successful teach-in that had over 300 people online the day before the vigil, and then our next upcoming event is a community ice defense training, February 5 uh Sunday, February 15th, from 3 to 5 p.m.

We already have over 350 people registered for that who want to prepare for what we need to do as a community to um Sagan.

So we're we're not for security reasons, we're not revealing the location.

So um, but if you register, you will get the information for that.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

That's all.

Oh, very good.

All right.

Uh now we're moving on to uh old business.

We have any old business, any new business.

Uh then we're on to council comments.

Councilman.

I ran into um state rep when you know Brent uh at the community center at the um event that sort of gave us sort of uh an idea of what's going on with our um uh rec plan.

And um state representative Brent um asked me to mention to council that there's four critical bills that are being pushed through the uh the Senate and the House uh regarding uh supporting ICE.

And she encouraged me to um inform council and the public um just through the little voice that I have that it's important that we send comment to Columbus uh telling them that we've got some concerns here, and I'm gonna just go over the the four bills here.

We have House Bill 26 and Senate Bill 172.

It's called destroying Ohio Communications or Communities Act.

It requires state and local agencies to share information about anyone uh arrested um with ICE authorities.

Uh there's another series of things.

Um if state and local agencies do not report, they lose their state funding or a piece of it.

Uh we have House Bill 281, no immigrant sanctuaries act.

Uh, this requires hospitals to allow ICE agents to enter and make arrests.

Uh if they don't comply, they lose their funding.

And we have House Bill 42, the Immigration Status Collection Act, and this requires state and local agencies to collect and report data on individual citizens uh and immigration status.

Um, for example, the schools would have to make would have to report um uh legal status and a citizen status of of their students.

It just seems like these are overreaches, it seems to me from my perspective.

You know, I'm not talking, I can't speak for council.

I'm an individual, but I will tell you um it just seems like this is escalating things to a point where we're we're gonna see more deaths, and I just would hate to see that.

So you can contact me if you need a listing of the um the uh the representatives, uh their emails and their phone numbers uh if you'd like to send an email on your um saying you're concerned about this vice president Larson.

First of all, thank you, Carly, for the positive message.

I really appreciate it.

And when I read my statement, you understand why.

Okay.

Yeah.

A concerned citizen included this sentence in her email dated January 23rd to your council members.

Quote, if you are unwilling to take any action to protect the immigrants in Cleveland Heights, please just let us know so we can alert the community to the local fascist collaborators on City Council.

That hurt.

The next day, I attended the Tactics at Work Restoring Our Democracy session at my church, Forest Hill, where the Cleveland Heights flock camera contract was the target the presenters chose as example for discussions about activism to support immigrants.

A member of my faith community asked me what was going on at the flock cameras, but was not interested in hearing my support for the crime to fighting tool the cameras do provide to keep us safer.

My friend walked away.

I've been involved in immigration activism since I rode the bus to Ann Arbor in 2019 to support Ainsley Dumas and his request to be released from detainment.

I have been an observer in the Cleveland immigration courts and shown up to support people when they needed a show of community.

So the judge knew that they were welcome here.

Do those who want counsel to take action to contribute 200,000 of taxpayer money to legal aid for immigrants in need of those services.

We have heard you.

Stillwater, Minnesota Police Department utilizes flock safety technology to capture objective evidence without compromising individual privacy.

The charges made against council that our silence is complicity, and thus we are fascists, are disturbing and personally disappointing.

These charges have divided our city and my faith community.

This council, the administration, and those interested in justice for immigrants need to work together, not against each ourselves each other.

The current resident of the White House who shall remain nameless wants us to fight amongst ourselves.

Instead, let's listen to each other and do what we can to make the all the citizens of this city safer.

Thank you.

Thank you, Vice President Larson.

Any other council comments?

One.

Oh.

One comment.

Yeah, please.

Um, we have a vacancy on our transportation and mobility committee.

Um we have, I believe, three or four people that had applied earlier in the year.

If you're still interested, it is not necessary for you to resubmit an application.

Um, but uh if there is any anyone that is interested, um, please get us an application.

So I think we'll probably try and consider those uh at our next administrative services committee meeting at the end of the month, the last Monday of the month.

That's all I have.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Collins.

Yes, thank you.

I wanted to follow up on Vice President Larson's comments um, to share a few things.

One, how deeply personal what is happening right now in the country around immigration is to me, both for my family history as a member of the Jewish people and as a lawyer.

And I share council uh council vice president Larson's hurt and um and surprise at being characterized as such when we are really working hard to see what we can do for these members of not only our community, but across the country to the extent that we can personally and to the extent that we can in our position here on Cleveland Heights City Council.

I'm very pleased to share that through some personal connections and the generous um spirit of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association who was able to make some connections for us that we provided with Cleveland Heights for immigrant rights, the name and the commitment of a bilingual immigration attorney who is willing to offer at least three legal clinics for the Cleveland Heights community, um, in particular immigrants in Spanish, if that's preferred, um, over the next six months.

So, as uh Miss Whitaker mentioned, as early as the end of this February, to provide the information that immigrants in our community may need, um, whether that be by Zoom or in person.

Um, we have communicated that to the organization, and we hope that they'll take us up on their offer.

There is a lot more, I believe, that can be done without having to uh follow exactly the prescribed uh requirements of the Cleveland Heights for Immigrants' Rights proposal.

We're going to continue to be creative and explore amongst ourselves with counsel with the partnership.

And thank you very much, uh Mayor Patrice for your partnership in this and your city staff as they help us evaluate what we can and cannot do, and we'll continue to work on this.

But I I will say that I appreciate the um the better tone.

We appreciate being able to work together.

And please know that for many of us, um, including myself, this is deeply personal.

And uh, we're gonna continue to do whatever we can to support in the way that we believe is the best way to steward city resources and to serve our entire community.

So thank you.

All right.

Any other council comments?

Okay, quick one from me.

Uh wanted to thank the members of our public works department for their tireless efforts in uh trying to keep our our streets cleared and the work of the city going while dealing with multiple snowstorms and a historic cold stretch.

It's been rough conditions, and the men and women of our public works department have been working hard to keep us safe and keep us going.

So thank you for that.

All righty.

Okay.

Um so what's left here?

Just my report?

Yeah, I guess that's it.

So um first of all, councilwoman Cohen, thank you so much uh for that initiative.

And Vice President Larson well said, um, I have been disturbed by some of the emails that we have received from uh the immigrants' rights group.

Um the fascist statement was certainly objectionable.

Um there was another email I got that you know, the first paragraph was completely false, and then everything after it was, you know, right on the money.

But it's hard when you um read something.

Uh this particular one said that there are people on council that uh want should stop encouraging people to attend council meetings.

I have never, and I have never seen anybody on this council say, don't come to these meetings.

Stop coming, stop talking.

That has never happened.

That I I haven't seen it, not once.

Uh the person goes on to say that uh they should stop showing up with their signs, you know.

I've had the law department tell me that's not a good idea, but I I've actually not heard anybody pardon give an objection.

No, but I I understand that because there are reasons for decorum and so forth.

Um but uh uh the way this works, and you know, we're a legislative body.

If there's nobody willing to sponsor legislation, at some point you have to understand that's the way it works.

If nobody's going to sponsor it, there will be no legislation.

Nobody has come forth.

We've listened.

We're glad that you come here and share your your views.

But at the end of the day, um that's how it works.

That doesn't mean we don't support the cause in general.

Uh, because I know every I've spoken to everybody on this, and including the mayor, and there is um a broader cause beyond the money for the for the attorneys that uh uh I believe is is generally supported by counsel.

But um I want you to know this is always a place where you can come and get up to that microphone and have at it for three minutes.

And and uh we're uh I have heard the most intelligent um inspiring messages from our community for for four years and hopefully four more years.

And uh I want you to know you're always welcome here.

And with that, at 8 12, this meeting is adjourned.