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

It is March 3rd.

It's 739.

Cobb.

Here.

Larson.

Here.

Posh.

Here.

Do it for Cohen.

Here.

Here.

Stone.

All right.

Our first order of business today is to give the oath of office to our newly appointed councilwoman, Sarah Stone.

Now she has been actually appointed be uh earlier, but this is the kind of ceremonial swearing in.

So uh Sarah, if you would agree.

By the way, when I say swear or firm.

I did it.

Hi, Sarah Stone.

You solemnly swear or affirm.

Do solemnly swear or affirm.

Support your constitution and laws of the United States of the American.

The Constitution and laws of the State of Ohio.

And the Charter and ordinances of the City of Cleveland Heights.

Discharge the duties of that office.

Councilwoman, would you like to say a few words?

Yes.

Thank you, President Kuda.

Members of City Council, I would like to thank you for the honor of this appointment and for your generosity with time, advice, and support as I join your ranks.

Meeting most of you for the first time, I am impressed by your breadth of knowledge, dedication to our community, and the sheer volume of work you accomplish every week on behalf of Cleveland Heights.

Thank you for all you do and for this opportunity opportunity to serve with you.

In these times when national politics for many of us seems so remote from our beliefs and everyday lives, I believe city government offers the best case tangible example of democracy that works for our community.

That's why I sought this position.

Because in our world today, I believe that we need that reassurance that public officials are listening and working for all of us.

The voters of Cleveland Heights and city leadership have done a remarkable job in rebuilding our city government to live up to that promise.

Joining in that movement, I pledged you to represent all of Cleveland Heights.

As residents, we chose to live in this special place.

As a public official, it means taking the time to listen, to be present and responsive to all our neighborhoods, because we are richer for being around those who don't look or think as we do.gov.

I look forward to seeing you throughout our community in the months ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you and welcome, Councilwalker.

Thank you.

Next, we're going to move on to approval of the minutes.

Okay, then the minutes are approved.

Communications from the mayor.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I'd like to begin by recognizing special guest here this evening, Mr.

Chuck Williams is here in the front row.

Mr.

Williams is not a stranger to our city council meetings, and I was really excited to see that at our recent Black History celebration, he was recognized for

It took us a little bit longer because there was a leak, and we had to find the source of that leak address map before we uh dealt with the elevator.

Um there's a new free parking sign up at Coventry, and um the Cedar League parking garage elevator will continue to be out of service.

Let me explain.

We just found out this year that the parts are too old to repair, and because of a situation we inherited where gradual improvements were not made over the years as part of maintenance.

We need a full modern modernization elevator, which will cost a minimum of a hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.

And this is not budget.

I'll talk more about Cedar Lee in just a moment.

Uh, we are also pushing the elevator company uh that we have a maintenance contract with to fix the uh community center elevator.

Um the company is waiting on parts.

We are contacting them daily, urging them to uh get addressed as soon as possible.

I recently met with Matt Carroll, my peer of Shaker Heights, met state representative Vanita Brent as we discussed the state capital budget process with her and our team.

Met with Todd Wahlburn, understand his role and how the map works.

Attended the Black History Month celebration on Saturday, February 21st, and the state of our schools eventually Friday, February 27.

I met recently with Ronda Davis Lovejoy.

Thanks to President Huda for the introduction.

And I'm going on a tour of our neighborhood with Ronda Marshall, Latin.

So we'll get some specific property properties and housing.

I have my first transportation mobility committee last week.

We had an important breakthrough.

And the credit here really goes to Vice President Larson, the mayor, and Chris Grace.

One public works will review several twenty twenty-six road projects to see if some modifications can be made to enhance pedestrian site and safety.

So really excited about about that partnership.

We discussed parameters associated with city assistance to a small business, consistent with our policies.

In addition, we just entered into a short-term arrangement with Jose Goao Thunderbolt to use a portion of the adjacent public works facility with the expectation that a purchase and sale agreement can be reached.

And thanks to uh law director Hannah and Julie Coffin and Brian Neverson that kind of developed it.

As the mayor said, Public works is working hard to address potholes throughout the city.

And I just want to talk about the C or League district.

We are working as a city to ensure the Cleveland International Film Festival, which runs from April 9th through April 18 as a success.

We are focused on how we promote the event, uh how to enhance signage for public parking at the Cedar League parking garage and addressing hotels in that area.

Um that's my report.

Thank you very much.

All right, thank you, Mr.

Reese.

Next on the agenda.

Uh we I guess we can we don't have any departmental reports, do we?

I don't think so.

Okay.

So uh this will be uh public comment for agenda items only.

Um is there anybody in that?

Yes, I've got one.

Sarah.

And when you come up, make sure you say your name and the street you live on.

You can pull the mic down just a little bit.

There you go.

Yeah.

Before I start to say easier to find my page.

Um but I wanted to talk specifically about the presence.

Um, which is um is road safety.

Maybe a few questions, I guess.

The goals were why can't we pay Cleveland Height residents to do this job as opposed to paying a uh organization that is harming our data from our phones, from our computers, from our cars, um, to apparently apply it to road stuff.

Um but the issue that I really have with this is that once it goes once we approve this.

We're setting up the infrastructure for this to be used into the future.

So we are okaying Cleveland Heights data to be continually used into the future.

Well, unfortunately, there's time to go.

Okay.

Uh, but did you want to address this?

Sure.

Um, so firstly, this is a tool that has been in use for several years now.

Um, it's it's not a new tool, and it's one of just a number of tools that are used when making traffic calming decisions.

So, for example, when it was demoed to me, we were contemplating whether to put, for example, speed bump on a particular street, and we're able to see that okay, during these particular hours, it looks like it might be justified, but it's just one of a number of different tools.

Right, and the way that it works is by collecting data from people's phones and stuff.

From people's cars, cars and phones and computers, yes.

I just want to respond because the resident mischaracterized my public comments, which are available on Facebook.

This is not about anonymizing data that we are collecting.

This data is already publicly available.

Anonymizing would mean to say that we have identifiable data or personal data, which is a specific legal term of art, which is not being collected through this system.

Yeah, I'm sorry, this I'm speaking right now.

That is not what I said publicly, and we are confident in the discussions that we've had as council that this is publicly available, aggregated data that is being used that is not identifiable and is collected through this uh this company that we're working with.

That's what you're saying that anonymized data is possible.

No, I'm not.

Okay.

So you're saying that council knows that anonymized data is not possible, but you're saying that you're confident that you're having anonymized data.

I'm you continue to mischaracterize, but I'm just confused.

I understand, but this unfortunately is not the place for this discussion in public comment.

Why would it not be the point?

Like at what point do we discuss this?

I mean, we did discuss it in committee of the whole, but uh certainly we could have a longer response from the administration if you'd like.

Uh we have your I take it, we have a contact involved.

Go ahead.

We've been discussing this in the um the public safety and health committee, and we're gonna be discussing it again in the next meeting, which is in about two weeks.

Okay, no, the date is you're welcome.

Oh, look it up.

Welcome to you're welcome to listen at that time.

And if you have questions, my question is when does the public get to have a good say in their own data collection and distribution?

Let's take this up in the committee.

Three minutes is only what I get.

I mean, that's everybody, but make sure that you uh look on the calendar for the public safety meeting and okay.

Next we have first readings for consideration for adoption.

Uh go ahead, Addie.

I have resolution number 041-2026 on first reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Tima Roofing Services LLC for design and construction services for the public improvement of replacing the lower roof of the Alma Theater at Kane Park, providing compensate compensation therefore, 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 would just like to say that the roof has been leaking for a while, and this is a much needed repair.

Uh all in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 042-2026 on first reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Daimler Truck North America through its authorized distributor, Cleveland Freightliner Inc.

for the acquisition of a freightliner 114 SD plus chassis with armed commercial dump truck for the streets division of the Department of Public Works, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

Moved.

Second.

All right, any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 043-2026 on first reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Classic Ford Mentor for the acquisition of a 2026 Ford F 350 crude caps short box 4x4 truck for the streets division of the Department of Public Works and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced just by Mayor Petris.

Do we have a motion?

So moved.

Second.

All right.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

A motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 044-2026 on first reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with International Motors LLC through Southwest International Trucks Inc.

for the acquisition of a new MV607 SBA International Hot Box Combo for the Streets Division of the Department of Public Works and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras.

So moved.

All right, any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 045-2026 on first reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a grant agreement with Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District to accept funds under the 2026 member community infrastructure grant program for the overlook road area and SSO-46 control project and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

So moved.

All right, do I have a second?

Second.

All right.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 046-2026 on first reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to submit an application to the Ohio Department of Transportation for a grant under the Safe Routes to Schools grant program to fund a bicycle boulevard running from Canterbury Elementary School to Roxboro Schools campus and to accept and enter into any agreements related to the grant program introduced by Mayor Petris.

So moved.

All right.

President CUDA.

Any discussion?

Yes, please.

I I just want to state publicly I'm very supportive of safe routes to schools program, but we received this um in the middle of the day today.

And um I have I haven't been able to read it.

So for that reason and that reason alone, I'm going to abstain.

Um, but I look forward to reviewing this project in more detail and continuing to um assess it and support in the future.

Any other discussion?

All right, all in favor?

We got to do a roll call.

Oh, that's right.

Sorry.

Cobb?

Aye.

Larson?

Aye.

DeWitt Foy.

Aye.

Posh.

Aye.

Cohen.

Abstain.

CUDA?

Aye.

Stone.

All right.

Next I have.

So uh just so that it's clear under uh codified ordinance 1121.

Um, since we don't really have an abstention uh mechanism, and since this wasn't a recusal based upon the grounds recognized in the ordinance, this is just a failure to vote.

And that then counts as an affirmative vote on the underlying measure, just so that the vote is clear if somebody looks back at the minutes and thank you.

All right.

Next I have resolution number 047-2026.

On first reading, a resolution declaring the intent of the city of Cleveland Heights to finance to the extent necessary the construction of a new outdoor municipal pool and to pursue all available funding sources to offset local cost introduced by Mayor Petras.

So moved.

All right.

Any discussion?

Mayor, did you want to say please?

Thank you, Mr.

President.

So just for folks who may not have heard during the committee of the whole meeting, very excited that Cumberland is turning 100 next year.

It's something for us to celebrate.

But we're at a point where the county is telling us that Cumberland is polluting the local watershed.

So at the end of the year, council allocated funding for us to hire a lobbyist.

We distributed an RFP.

We interviewed respondents, and we selected Retzel to assist us with state and federal funding requests.

We've met with our state representative Juanita Brent four times, and we continue to work with Millennium Strategies, our grant writing partner on uh securing funding.

Community leaders and organizations are writing letters of support, and I'll be in Columbus on March 10th and 11th, meeting with legislators about funding for the poll.

And this resolution will be part of our capital request that we submit to the state on March 12th.

Thank you, Mayor.

Any other discussion?

President KUDA?

Yes.

I I just want to commend the administration for pursuing state capital funding for this important capital project.

This is an opportunity to receive potentially millions of dollars from the state, and it's a way for the state of Ohio to support local municipalities for specific capital needs.

And so this effort is something probably that we should be doing every two years when the state capital um funding comes becomes available.

And this is a really uh exciting opportunity to kick off our efforts towards a new and uh reimagines Cumberland pool.

So I just want to thank the administration and I want to re-emphasize how important this will be for ongoing capital needs as we continue to consider what we need as a city.

Thank you.

If we're able to pull off the funding, I hope this new one lasts 100 years.

Wonderful.

Uh any other discussion?

Okay, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 048-2026 on first reading.

A resolution appointing Samiya Azazuddin as a member of the Transportation and Mobility Committee of the City of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Councilmember Cobb, Council President CUDA, and Council Vice President Larson.

So moved.

Second.

All right.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 049-2026 on first reading.

A resolution reappointing Sam Bell, Chris Brace, Patrick Crago, Fern Hott, Gail Lewin, and Howard Meyer as members of the Transportation and Mobility Committee of the City of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Councilmember Cobb, Council President CUDA, and Council Vice President Larson.

So moved.

Second.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 050-2026 on first reading.

A resolution opposing the passage of Ohio House Bills 2642 and 281 and Ohio Senate Bill 172, which would require local law enforcement agencies and other entities to assist United States immigration and customs enforcement in its operations and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by all city council members and Mayor Petris.

So moved.

Second.

All right.

Any discussion?

Please.

I would encourage members of the communities to look real closely at these bills, especially many of the um pro-immigrant folks from the Cleveland Heights immigrant task force.

I'm butchering their name.

I don't mean to be disrect disrespectful.

I mean, this is important stuff that we can deal with at the state level, and we are taking a stand against it tonight.

Very good.

Yes.

I just want to I want to thank um the law department for moving so quickly on this.

We wanted to make sure that we can let the state know of our position on these bills before they uh before it's too late.

And I want to thank my fellow council members for supporting this also and moving so quickly.

I think this is a really important statement, particularly around protecting home rule and our allowing our city to determine how we want to um how we want to protect our immigrant residents.

You know, I I would say I would add that federalism, which is the levels of government, not the branches, the levels of government, is such an important concept because even in democracies in other democracies, they they don't all have this.

Where you have you know federal, state, and local.

And uh, you know, this is another diminishment or at least an attempt to diminish that uh kind of founding principle.

Um other discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

This next one we're we're gonna do just for first reading.

I have resolution or excuse me, ordinance number 051-2026 on first reading, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to execute an amendment to tower lease agreement with T Mobile Central LLC for the use of a portion of city-owned property located at 14200 Superior Road for the construction installation, operation, maintenance, repair, replacement, and improvement of a wireless communications facility and the grant of associated licenses and easements and declaring the necessity this resolution become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

And we are not voting on that tonight.

You can go on to the next one.

I have resolution number 053-2026 on first reading, a resolution approving the mayor's appointment of D.

Weber as the director of human resources, uh, and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Second.

All right.

We have two seconds.

That's that should be good enough.

Um, any discussion?

Go ahead, Mayor.

Sir President, I just like to thank council for considering my nomination of D.

Weber.

Uh for folks who did not have a chance to see it.

We had a confirmation hearing about two weeks ago.

Dee is an outstanding HR professional who has led organizations across the country.

And I look forward to her coming here to the city of Cleveland Heights and helping us stand up, our newly created HR department.

Um, any other discussion?

I want to thank council, first of all, for acting to put this on the ballot because, in a sense, the revised charter is the reason why we're able to do this.

And uh this is a missing link, you know, with these 400 plus employees we have.

Now we have a real uh HR department with a director and uh mayor really appreciate how quickly you moved on this and the appointment of Mr.

Reese and uh uh and oh Joe too, yes.

Um uh again, kudos.

Uh all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion passes on to first readings only.

I have resolution number 052-2026 on first reading, a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Play Corps Wisconsin Inc.

DBA game time through the Omnia Cooperative Purchasing Program for the installation of a top playground at Denison Park and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

Okay, and on to second readings.

I have resolution number 037-2026 on second reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with best equipment co for the acquisition of a Peterson TL3 lightning loader, aka claw truck for the refuse division of the Department of Public Works, 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.

Any opposed?

That motion passes.

Finally, a resolution number 038-2026 on second reading.

A resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with urban SDK for the provision of geospatial AI solutions and roadway data in support of the city's safety planning and operational analysis initiatives and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petris.

So moved.

Second.

Second.

All right, it's been moved and seconded.

Go ahead, councilman.

I just want to reassure residents.

This is not a system that uses your cell phone data.

If it uses your cell phone data, you're unable to really track car movements, or if you were walking, it uses it uses similar technology, but in newer cars, not older cars.

There's no way that the police or us can backtrack to try to figure out what cars are moving where.

There's no way of triangulating data.

I mean, it's just a way that you can go into a system and basically say, hey, what's the traffic volume in this area at this particular date?

Um it does measure uh crashes.

It's been in use for a while.

This is a renewal.

Um that's why it may look like it's twice the cost.

Um we can talk a little bit more about this um in our safety committee meeting because there's still things that we'd like to see.

I think the community, the committee would like to see how the city can utilize this uh for some additional things to increase traffic safety.

Um and also keep an eye on things like maybe we do need to have a data policy uh on how data is used uh overall.

That's something in the back of my head.

I don't know how this fits in, but I know there's some talk and other cities have flocked camera um data policies.

Um but there's a lot of things I think that we should be looking at and thinking about.

This is this is one of them.

So it's it's not not a closed book just because we're voting on this tonight.

Uh thank you for that explanation.

Any yes, councilwoman.

Yes.

I can understand, you know, certainly the public, whenever something is talking about data generally or AI, there's a lot of nervousness, there's a lot of skepticism, and that there's a lot of concern.

But I think it's important to for the public to understand that there are a lot of different ways that data and AI are used, and AI in some places is as common as Microsoft Office or other common tools.

It doesn't mean that it's um, you know, an invasion of privacy or using, like I said, personal data or sensitive personal data.

And so um, but one of those one of the reasons why we did ask for more time to consider this um to consider this piece of legislation is because council wanted to understand it better.

And I want to thank the administration for allowing Director KlingScale and at our um to talk about more about this.

Um we were able to discuss in the committee meeting.

We're able to ask our questions and get our questions answered.

Um, I feel confident with uh, you know, that we don't have concerns with this contract, which is why I think we're moving forward with this today um related.

I'll uh councilman Posh's suggestion that we look at our data policy outside of this, right?

Because I don't think that we're using personal data here for this particular contract, but that is something that during the campaign for council um that I had brought up because of my background and my professional expertise as a cybersecurity AI and privacy lawyer.

So I would be supportive of that, but I want to reassure the public that council looked into this very deeply, and we had our questions answered.

And um we wouldn't be moving moving forward if we weren't comfortable um with the information that we received.

Thank you.

Yes.

I'd also like to add that I'm comfortable with what the staff is recommending, that this is a tool that's been beneficial to them to get their work done.

And because the issues have been raised about what's done with the data or what data looks like, we're gonna keep asking those questions and learning more about this particular piece of software that's utilized right now by a planning development and public works department.

So I will be supporting this legislation.

All right, any other comments?

All right, all in favor?

Any opposed, that motion passes.

That's the end of our legislation.

We're gonna move on to committee reports.

Who has a committee report?

Okay, councilwoman.

I I just want to let the public know that this Monday, March 9th at 5 p.m., thank you to Councilman DeWitt Foy for swapping our meeting so I can attend um one of my son's performances at a at a dinner this coming Monday.

So at 5 p.m., the planning and development committee is meeting.

We will have a substantial update on accessory dwelling units and the work that the planning department has done so far, um, and including community engagement, the work with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission.

Um, so that will be presented.

If you can't um come in person, that's okay.

It'll be live streamed on YouTube.

So if you're interested in ADUs or accessory dwelling units, please tune in um on March 9th.

I'm also also hoping to have a council discussion around severance, and we will be getting a zoning code review update from the planning department.

So that's on the docket for this coming March 9th.

Very good.

Any other committee reports?

Go ahead, counsel.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

The community relations and recreation committee will meet directly following on Monday, February 9th at 6 p.m.

in the executive conference room.

Director Gonzalez for Parks and Rec will uh be there.

We're going to be discussing the youth scholarship fund among other topics related to parks and recreation.

Vice President Larson.

Thank you, President Kuda.

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

I hope to have an included in the agenda an update from Director Clink Scale Public Works on the EPA consent decree that has required all the work that we've seen done throughout the city, and it still is that still remains to be done on our sewer infrastructure, which is 100 years old.

The Climate Environmental Sustainability Citizen Committee will meet Tuesday, March 17th at 4 p.m.

And the Transportation Mobility Citizen Committee will meet Wednesday, March 25th at 6 45 p.m.

Thank you.

All right, very good.

Any other committee reports?

Okay, we'll move on to public comment, which is general public comment.

How many do we have?

Uh five.

Okay, well, that's not all right.

So uh again, remember name street, you have three minutes.

Go ahead.

Lee Barbie My name is Lee Barbie.

I live at 1048 here for Rogue.

Um I want to speak about structure, accountability, and evolution.

And uh I hope I'm not being too loud on this statement, Mr.

KUTA.

Uh it has been said that we already have representation under our current at-large system, but representation without a defined accountability is not the same as representation that answers directly to the community.

Under our current structure, every council member represents the entire city.

That means no council member is directly accountable to any Pacific neighborhood.

When everyone is represented, everyone is responsible, it becomes diluted.

This is not about personalities, it's about governance design.

Cleveland Heights has evolved before.

We transition from a city manager to a strong mayor system because residents want a clear accountability.

That was a structural reform and that was growth.

Our charter is not a document frozen in time.

It's a living, evolving framework meant to serve the people of the city as it changes.

If residents are raising serious questions about representation and neighborhood accountability, the appropriate response is not dismissal.

The appropriate response is review.

Tonight I am formally calling for the council to reconvene a charter review commission to evaluate the structure of council representation, the potential benefits and drawbacks of award-based system, whether a current model delivers the level of accountability to its residency as expected.

A review is not an accusation, it's a responsible governance.

If charter works perfectly as written, a review will confirm that.

All right.

Who's next?

Miriam Hosh who Shafian.

I'm sorry if I mispronounced that.

Close the morning.

Um I go by Schumann, but Hosheafian's my birth name.

And since I've returned to my birth city, I'm going back to that.

And I live on Hampshire Road in Cleveland Heights.

Thank you for the time.

I really want to make a statement and got a couple questions, and I would love to have answered tonight or at some point.

My statement is historically what has brought people to Cleveland Heights is its progressiveness.

It's and that includes its arts-based culture, which is deep and wide here.

It's obvious diversity and its competitiveness in sports, which has just been risen to a whole new level with our current Olympic champion.

But with 42% of this city population being black, we have one in this room, in council mayor, and director law, and that's not representation from my viewpoint, and I think a lot of others were getting a little bit better on women representing the number of women, if you don't know.

And assuming that you accept Wikipedia as a valid source of data says that 51% of Cleveland Heights is are women.

And so, you know, one would think that our council and other positions, uh, higher level positions would also represent the people that live here.

Um, I'm sure you're all aware that there's a lot of buzz going on around council and recent choices and appointing candidates.

And there's some question of a fear of people being appointed as positions who just might disrupt the status quo.

And I hate to believe that that might be true of this city because it's certainly not what brought me back here.

Um, but I do think that the residents are entitled to a very clear and transparent explanation.

We're aware, and this is not about you personally, we're aware of the qualifications and the work experience, but what hasn't been spoken to is this issue of race.

It is very real, and there are a lot of people that care about this, and they're not just the black residents, they're the rest of us who want to see, like Mr.

Phillips said last week that he wants to look up and see somebody who looks like himself.

And maybe they didn't go to Smith College or some other Ivy League school, but they still can contribute meaningfully to this council.

And so that's a question of curiosity.

Um lastly, I would uh I understand that a number of people have submitted applications to serve on several of the commissions.

Um, and I wonder if you might provide an update on when either interviews or appointments will happen for these committees, specifically recreation.

Yeah, parks and rec is uh uh soon, right?

Because we we agreed on the people, but we still have to do the legislation.

Yeah, so it might be in two weeks.

Where'd you go, Miriam?

Okay, sorry.

All right, go ahead.

Amy Eugene.

Hi, I'm Amy Eugene Scarborough Road.

I'm here to talk about racial equity and representation in our city's leadership.

Cleveland Heights is 46% white and 54% not white.

White residents are the minority, yet they represent the majority of our leadership.

Oops, sorry.

Again, white residents are in the minority and they represent the majority of our leadership.

In an in-depth study from Tufts University professor Brian Schaffner, he states just because someone is a white wealthy property owner, doesn't mean that they can't represent racial minorities and those of lower socioeconomic class.

But it does does mean that it's less likely to happen.

In fact, they found that the people who are elected tend not to pass policies that the disadvantaged groups would want, and they are more responsive to what whites and wealthier residents want.

They found that non-whites and less affluent residents are the consistent losers in local democracy.

Residents of color and those with lower income receive less representation from local elected officials than do whites and the affluent.

Additionally, they are much less likely than privileged community members to have their preferences reflected in local policy.

Reaffirming what Joe DeWitt Foy stated in a previous mess meeting.

The research says representation matters.

Based on what we know, what we all know about the demographics of our city, the demographics of our leadership, and this research.

And may my words haunt you in every meeting.

To again encourage you that your policies and legislation represent all of our citizens.

Again, Amy Eugene, I have a link to the study if you would like it.

You can reach me at Amy.public at Outlook.com.

That's AMY dot public at Outlook.com.

Thank you.

Hello, Mayor.

Hello, council.

It's been a hot minute since I've been here last.

My name is Lou Radovievich.

I live on Middlehurst Road.

I've been a resident here for 50 years.

To Councilman DeWitt Foy, thank you.

You did the right thing.

Diverse representation on council matters more than pedigree or resume.

Your empathy and your ability to read a room are real gifts.

Every member of council brings strengths, but when it comes to inclusivity, lean into Joe.

He gave us hope.

Intentionality works best when you use the appointment process to ensure leadership reflects our community.

You had an opportunity to correct the imbalance, and you chose not to.

To my neighbor and formal councilwoman Zenobia Sheets, I wish I could say thank you for your service, but you barely had the chance to get started.

After chatting with you last week about the Noble Area, I am convinced you are more than qualified.

And just four months ago, council unanimously felt the same.

Here we are, we have a young, bright black Cleveland Heights woman who stepped up, and senior leadership does nothing to nurture and support her.

For that, I am sorry.

Some say our city is now healing, rebuilding.

This is not healing.

This is fuel.

And I hope it ignites residents to become the change agents our city needs.

To councilwoman Stone, thank you for stepping up.

Any neighbor that steps up earns my respect.

But please be mindful that sometimes collaboration and this unanimous votes aren't always signs of a healthy council.

What we're really looking for are seven independent thinkers that represents each and every one of us and is willing to challenge each other in a respectful way.

Thank you for your time.

I came today actually to speak to Layla Edwards and give her her flowers, give her family her flowers, and just say I wish that we had the opportunity to give her a warm welcome home for bringing home gold from the Olympics.

I think that's a big to-do and something that doesn't happen on a regular basis.

With him being an activist, a leader, a mentor, a friend, and a voice, not just for African Americans, but for all.

And with him leading the force with creating civic abilities for people like me that want to be able to serve in municipalities or into civic politics.

I've never thought that I would be doing this, but you know, I just wanted to say, can we please give my last minute of silence out of respect to Reverend Jesse Jackson?

Thank you.

Appreciate that.

Mr.

President.

Yes.

If I could, I just like to note that the administration is working with the Edwards family so that hopefully we can have a parade to honor Layla and her family here.

And as we continue to work on that, hopefully we'll have details that we'll be able to announce soon.

I'm looking forward to that.

All right, old business.

Any old business.

Any new business.

Yes, Mr.

President.

Um, I would like to make a motion uh to appoint uh councilwoman Jessica Cohn and uh resident Daniel uh waters to the community reinvestment area housing council.

Second.

All right.

Any discussion?

All right.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

The motion passes.

Council member comments.

Vice President.

Thank you, President Kuda.

March is International Women's History Month.

The theme in 2026 is leading the change, women shaping a sustainable future.

In the past, Cleveland Heights City Council has asked that citizens nominate the women they feel made the greatest contribution to life in our city.

Unfortunately, this year we will not be conducting the request for awards or the celebration of winning nominations.

I do intend to request a budget for this event in 2027, and I will ask my colleagues on council to help me support that event and plan it.

Thank you.

Any more council member comments?

Yes.

Wood Floyd.

So I hope I'm not um preempting any formal announcement, but uh Cleveland Heights was recently recognized as a bicycle-friendly community by the League of American Bicyclists.

And I want to thank city staff working to ensure that our roads are safe for all road users and our community partners, including Heights Bicycle Coalition for supporting safe riding in the city.

Cleveland Heights received the bronze level designation.

And while this is something to celebrate, I want to call this I want to call out that this is the same level of recognition we've received for over a decade.

So while I'm proud of the efforts made to date, I want to formally challenge the city that when our uh time for recertification comes up in a few years, we go for silver or like Layla Edwards, go for gold.

Um the one step towards achieving this is the safe routes to school grant application we approved tonight.

That's uh one of many steps we need to take to make our streets safer across the city.

Uh our road should be safe.

I firmly believe our road should be safe for all kids to walk or bike home from school, and this will help us achieve that goal.

And secondly, uh I want to thank everyone who came here tonight who continues to come provide feedback to council uh to try to make Clune Heights a better place.

We we have work to do to realize our potential, but I absolutely believe we can get there together.

Um thank you for continuing to push us when we need it.

All right.

Any other council comment?

Yes, please, Councilman.

Um I want to echo uh Council Vice President Larson's celebration of women's history month.

Um exciting month.

And also congratulate Layla Edwards.

Um if you are not on social, Layla had the distinct honor of not only meeting um the Kelseys, but also Elmo and the Sesame Street crew.

And um, and it was just incredible to see the amount of social media across the country celebrating her her not only her win, but her trailblazing for those uh little girls, especially black girls um behind her.

So I I forgot there was a men's team by the time the gold had been won.

Um and so congrats to the men's team as well, but um very excited for the celebrations we'll have here.

Uh Mayor Patrice and I have both assured Jason Kelsey and Kylie Kelsey via social media that we are going to roll out the red carpet.

Um, and so we're gonna keep to that promise.

And um also just on a personal note.

So last night and today until sundown was the Jewish uh holiday of Purim.

Um, I think the Jewish people generally have a joke about all of our holidays where they wanted to kill us.

Um, we won.

And so let's eat.

Um, and so this was another one of those, but on a more serious note, um, this was a holiday.

This was a moment in history of the Jewish people where over, you know, over 2,000 years ago in the land of Persia, which is current day Iran, um, there was a uh an enemy of the Jewish people who sought to eradicate the Jewish people from that that land.

And um we saw the vindication of the Jewish people in that story, and that's something we celebrate today.

Um, again, over 2,000 years later, and being able to tell that story from this seat um is particularly meaningful for me at this point and also in this this point in history.

So I just wanted to acknowledge that and um to wish everyone who celebrated a Hagzamaya and uh now we'll start cleaning for Passover.

So I look forward to sharing my uh my trials and travails with all of you.

But thank you very much.

Any other council comments?

Okay, then um president's report.

I, you know, listen, I'm just grateful you're all here.

You're always welcome here.

Um I appreciate all the comments that were made tonight.

Um, and um, you know, you again just come back anytime you have something on your mind.

It is 83, and this meeting is adjourned.