OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Special Cleveland Heights City Council Meeting: HR Director Confirmation Hearing and Legislative Actions - June 22, 2026

City Council Meetings — Tuesday, June 23, 2026
BodyCleveland Heights, Ohio
SessionCity Council Meetings
DateTuesday, June 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:03:10

Transcript — Verbatim
0:11

Okay, welcome to the special Cleveland Heights City Council meeting.

0:14

It is Monday, June 22nd at 5 PM.

0:20

And I guess I'll call the roll.

0:23

Sarah Stone.

0:24

Here.

0:24

Jessica Cohen.

0:26

Here.

0:26

Craig Cobb.

0:27

Here.

0:27

Tony Kuda is here.

0:29

Vice President Larson.

0:30

Here.

0:31

Councilman Joe DeWitt Foy.

0:32

Here.

0:33

And Councilman Jim Posh is on Zoom.

0:36

Here.

0:37

Actually, you're on team.

0:39

Um, so uh the meeting is called to order.

0:44

Uh our first order of business is communications from the mayor.

0:47

Thank you, Mr.

0:48

President.

0:48

I have no comments right now.

0:49

All righty.

0:50

Thank you.

0:51

Uh the next thing we're gonna do is uh we're gonna flip around five and six, and we'll do uh public confirmation hearing for the HR director nominee Christina Halstead.

1:04

Uh Ms.

1:04

Halstead, are you there?

1:07

I am, yes.

1:08

All right.

1:10

Um Mayor, would you like to do the introduction?

1:13

Thank you, Mr.

1:13

President.

1:14

It's my pleasure to introduce Christina Halstead for consideration as Cleveland Heights Human Resources Director.

1:20

Christina currently serves as HR manager for the City of Columbus's Department of Public Safety, one of the largest and most complex municipal workforces in the state.

1:29

In that role and throughout her career, she has built hands-on experience across virtually all facets of human resources, labor relations and contract compliance, employee discipline and grievance proceedings, FMLA and performance evaluation, and the list goes on.

1:44

Christina holds a master in the study of law from the Ohio State University with a concentration and employment law and a master of public administration from Franklin University with the concentration and human resource management.

1:57

She's also a credentialed professional in human resources, PHR, and a member of the National Public Employee Labor Relations Association, reflecting both her formal expertise and her ongoing commitment to best practices in public sector labor relations.

2:14

Christina's combination of municipal experience, legal and administrative education, professional certification, and a labor relations expertise make her exceptionally well qualified to lead Cleveland Heights Human Resources Department.

2:28

I'm pleased to present her for your consideration.

2:31

All right, thank you, Mayor.

2:33

Um before we go into questions, um I I want to say that this situation comes about because uh we did amend our charter in November.

2:47

Uh council believed that uh it was very important to establish an actual HR department with a direct, you know, a director at that level.

2:57

And um, you know, with 400 plus uh full-time employees and I know over a hundred seasonal employees, we thought that this was very appropriate.

3:07

Um, and previously this job was divided up between the finance director, uh well, actually was given to the finance director.

3:17

And we know the finance director has plenty on his plate.

3:22

Um, so uh Christina, would you like to speak first?

3:27

Um would be welcome to hear you from you, or we'll we can go to questions.

3:33

Sure.

3:33

I think that Mayor Petras did a wonderful job in uh his introduction.

3:38

Um he took a lot of the words out of my mouth when it comes to what I was going to say as an introduction for myself.

3:46

Um so um uh I would welcome the questions that you have.

3:51

Sure.

3:52

Who would like to start?

3:56

Well, um I guess I'll go first.

4:00

Uh thank you for uh interviewing with us.

4:02

I do say your name because everybody you have.

4:06

I'm uh councilman Craig Cobb.

4:09

Um what was it about this job that uh drew your interest?

4:16

Absolutely.

4:17

Um I as Mayor Petras mentioned, I am the HR manager for the City of Columbus.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Personnel Matters█████████████████████████████████████████████45%
Procedural██████████████████████22%
Parks and Recreation█████████9%
Budget Equity Analysis███████7%
Affordable Housing████4%
Community Engagement████4%
Public Safety███3%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Engineering And Infrastructure███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Special Cleveland Heights City Council Meeting: HR Director Confirmation Hearing and Legislative Actions - June 22, 2026

The Cleveland Heights City Council held a special meeting on Monday, June 22, 2026, at 5:00 PM. All council members were present. The meeting featured a public confirmation hearing for the nominee for Human Resources Director and several legislative first and second readings, with votes on some items and postponements on others.

Confirmation Hearing for HR Director Nominee

  • Mayor Petras introduced Christina Halstead, currently HR Manager for the City of Columbus's Department of Public Safety, which oversees 182 personnel directly and supports divisions with 2,500 and 1,700 employees. Halstead holds a master's in law and a master's in public administration, and is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR).
  • Council members questioned Halstead on her management style (hands-on initially, then trust-but-verify), experience building HR processes from scratch, performance evaluation systems, recruitment strategies for police and fire, and plans to relocate from Columbus to Northeast Ohio by July 4th weekend.
  • Halstead emphasized the importance of structured performance management, employee feedback, transparent communication, and creating talent pipelines through career fairs and vocational programs. She expressed comfort in advising the mayor or city administrator on policy changes.
  • No vote was taken at this meeting; a vote is scheduled for Friday, June 26, 2026.

Legislative Actions

First Readings (Adopted Tonight)

  • Ordinance 129-2026: Amends the city's housing and business maintenance codes, repealing previous ordinance 126-2026, and is effective immediately as an emergency measure. Passed unanimously (all in favor).
  • Resolution 127-2026: Authorizes the mayor to enter a professional services agreement with RFC Contracting LLC for owner's representative services for the Cumberland Pool modernization project, with a budget of $132,082 (corrected from $132,820). Council requested the proposal and timeline details before the final vote on Friday.
  • Resolution 128-2026: Appoints Helen Hertz, Linda Straevsky, Corey Clark, India Bird Song Terry, and William Fidel to the Municipal Property Development and Disposition Committee. This is a first reading; second reading planned for Friday, June 26.

Second Readings (Voted or Postponed)

  • Ordinance 120-2026: Budget amendment for Cumberland Pool owner's rep and a street sweeper. Councilwoman Cohen clarified the street sweeper is a replacement, not a new purchase. The ordinance was postponed to a third reading on Friday to consolidate with the original version.
  • Ordinance 124-2026: Reduces the number of directors on the Cleveland Heights Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) board to include only the mayor, council president, and planning director. Passed unanimously.
  • Ordinance 125-2026: Establishes a Municipal Property Development and Disposition Committee. Councilwoman Cohen proposed an amendment to Section 6 requiring the mayor to notify council before consulting the committee on property dispositions. The legislation was postponed to Friday for a clean version incorporating the amendment and changes to appointment structure (two by mayor, three by council).

Key Outcomes

  • The confirmation vote for Christina Halstead as HR Director is scheduled for June 26, 2026.
  • Council requested additional documentation (proposal and timeline) for the Cumberland Pool owner's rep contract before voting on Resolution 127-2026.
  • Ordinance 120-2026 will be revised back to its original form (including the street sweeper funding) and considered for adoption on June 26.
  • Ordinance 125-2026 will be amended and presented in clean form for a vote on June 26.
  • The meeting adjourned at 6:05 PM, followed by a committee of the whole in executive session.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, welcome to the special Cleveland Heights City Council meeting. It is Monday, June 22nd at 5 PM. And I guess I'll call the roll. Sarah Stone. Here. Jessica Cohen. Here. Craig Cobb. Here. Tony Kuda is here. Vice President Larson. Here. Councilman Joe DeWitt Foy. Here. And Councilman Jim Posh is on Zoom. Here. Actually, you're on team. Um, so uh the meeting is called to order. Uh our first order of business is communications from the mayor. Thank you, Mr. President. I have no comments right now. All righty. Thank you. Uh the next thing we're gonna do is uh we're gonna flip around five and six, and we'll do uh public confirmation hearing for the HR director nominee Christina Halstead. Uh Ms. Halstead, are you there? I am, yes. All right. Um Mayor, would you like to do the introduction? Thank you, Mr. President. It's my pleasure to introduce Christina Halstead for consideration as Cleveland Heights Human Resources Director. Christina currently serves as HR manager for the City of Columbus's Department of Public Safety, one of the largest and most complex municipal workforces in the state. In that role and throughout her career, she has built hands-on experience across virtually all facets of human resources, labor relations and contract compliance, employee discipline and grievance proceedings, FMLA and performance evaluation, and the list goes on. Christina holds a master in the study of law from the Ohio State University with a concentration and employment law and a master of public administration from Franklin University with the concentration and human resource management. She's also a credentialed professional in human resources, PHR, and a member of the National Public Employee Labor Relations Association, reflecting both her formal expertise and her ongoing commitment to best practices in public sector labor relations. Christina's combination of municipal experience, legal and administrative education, professional certification, and a labor relations expertise make her exceptionally well qualified to lead Cleveland Heights Human Resources Department. I'm pleased to present her for your consideration. All right, thank you, Mayor. Um before we go into questions, um I I want to say that this situation comes about because uh we did amend our charter in November. Uh council believed that uh it was very important to establish an actual HR department with a direct, you know, a director at that level. And um, you know, with 400 plus uh full-time employees and I know over a hundred seasonal employees, we thought that this was very appropriate. Um, and previously this job was divided up between the finance director, uh well, actually was given to the finance director. And we know the finance director has plenty on his plate. Um, so uh Christina, would you like to speak first? Um would be welcome to hear you from you, or we'll we can go to questions. Sure. I think that Mayor Petras did a wonderful job in uh his introduction. Um he took a lot of the words out of my mouth when it comes to what I was going to say as an introduction for myself.

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