[0:00] including but not limited to speaking

[0:02] out of turn and making loud noises and

[0:04] loud utterances are in violation of the

[0:06] rules and interfere with the due conduct

[0:08] of this lawful meeting. Such disruptions

[0:11] may constitute a misdemeanor and a

[0:13] violation of section 605.04.

[0:17] Anyone who disrupts this lawful meeting

[0:18] is in violation of the codified

[0:20] ordinances, commits misdemeanors, and is

[0:23] subject to prosecution. The following is

[0:26] the first and only warning. If this

[0:28] meeting is disrupted, I will gavvel a

[0:31] halt to the proceedings and direct the

[0:32] assembled officers to escort any person

[0:35] participating in the disruption out of

[0:37] the chamber. Once persons participating

[0:39] in the disruption or out of the

[0:41] chambers, the officers will close the

[0:44] doors and the disruptors will be handled

[0:46] as directed by the director of public

[0:48] safety. The council proceedings will not

[0:51] begin again until that that those that

[0:54] participated in the disruption have left

[0:55] the chamber and the chamber doors are

[0:58] closed. Disruptors will not be allowed

[1:00] back in the chamber after the meeting

[1:02] resumes. Again, this is the first and

[1:04] only warning. Madame clerk, please

[1:07] dispense with the journal.

[1:12] by Council Member Shaw that the reading

[1:15] of the minutes of the last meeting be

[1:16] dispensed with the journal approved,

[1:18] seconded by Council Member Davis.

[1:21] Thank you. We will now move to public

[1:24] comment. Uh I want to remind all of the

[1:26] council members if you could turn around

[1:28] and acknowledge the speakers and I also

[1:30] will ask all of the speakers to

[1:32] acknowledge your three minute time

[1:34] limit. Once again, uh when you see the

[1:37] yellow light come up right in front of

[1:39] me, that means to wrap it up. And when

[1:41] you see the red that mean that your time

[1:43] is expired and we will be moving to the

[1:45] next speaker. We will go in the order of

[1:48] how everyone signed up. The first

[1:50] speaker that we have is St. James

[1:52] Singleton from Ward 9 to talk about

[1:54] community concerns. He is not

[1:56] representing anyone and is not being

[1:58] paid by anyone to comment. Uh Mr. St.

[2:00] James Singleton, uh you have the floor

[2:03] directly right here.

[2:14] I want to share with y'all

[2:17] from a pastor standpoint

[2:20] a allegory to paint a picture of what

[2:24] I'm feeling.

[2:27] I had this dream

[2:30] that I was driving in my neighborhood or

[2:33] nine. As I saw what appeared to be kids

[2:38] jumping on another kid, there was others

[2:41] watching, but they did nothing about the

[2:44] situation.

[2:46] I was so upset

[2:48] that I slammed on my brakes,

[2:51] jumped out of my car,

[2:53] and at first just to break up the fight.

[2:57] I grabbed what appeared to be one kid

[3:00] and pushed him out of the way as I

[3:02] grabbed another kid and pushed him to

[3:05] the side, allowing the kid who was being

[3:08] jumped to get free.

[3:10] The moment the kid who was getting

[3:12] jumped got free took off and left me to

[3:15] fight a fight that was never mine in the

[3:17] first place. I couldn't blame him. He

[3:21] was helpless.

[3:22] But now I'm surrounded in a fight that I

[3:26] voluntarily got myself into.

[3:28] Started off by asking, "Please move out

[3:32] of my way." They wouldn't move, so I

[3:34] began to push.

[3:37] Then one threw a punch that landed in my

[3:39] chest. I thought to myself, "It's now

[3:42] right to hit a kid." But when I looked

[3:45] up again, it was no longer kids I was

[3:48] fighting.

[3:50] It was a government.

[3:52] It was the citizens and it was the

[3:54] church. Now I'm fighting and I'm

[3:58] swinging with everything I got cuz now I

[4:01] realize I'm fighting for these babies

[4:04] this summer.

[4:06] Soon summer begin.

[4:08] I've opened up a program me and my team

[4:11] because moms got to work and nobody's

[4:14] helping them. If they leave their kids

[4:16] in the house and you catch them then

[4:18] they're going to have a case. SO ME AND

[4:20] MY STAFF volunteerly did a free daycare

[4:24] service from 8:00 9:00 in the morning to

[4:28] 9 8:00 at night for absolutely free with

[4:32] no assistance. The the families helped a

[4:35] little bit, but I'm trying to figure out

[4:37] NOT EVEN A GRANOLA BAR,

[4:40] BUT Y'ALL LOVE US. Aund kids

[4:44] AND NOT NOBODY COME THROUGH. I I GOT MY

[4:48] CAR REPOSSESSED BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS

[4:51] MORE IMPORTANT TO BUY SWIMMING POOLS

[4:53] than bouncy houses AND FEED THEM. I GOT

[4:54] IT BACK BECAUSE I KNOW HOW TO GET the

[4:56] money when I got to. BUT I'M TRYING TO

[4:58] FIGURE OUT, Y'ALL DON'T LOVE OUR KIDS,

[5:02] BUT WE GOT MONEY to put in the streets

[5:06] and TO BUILD PRISONS.

[5:08] WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE ME THAT'S REALLY

[5:11] CARING ENOUGH TO FIGHT THIS fight that

[5:14] don't even got nothing to do with

[5:15] » Time? Thank you, sir. Thank you. Next we

[5:18] have

[5:25] Next we have Tyresa Thompson from W 9 to

[5:28] talk about community concerns. Uh Tyresa

[5:31] is not representing any organization and

[5:33] not being paid to comment.

[5:40] » Good evening. Back in May, I briefly

[5:43] stood before you in support of St.

[5:45] James, founder and visionary of the

[5:47] Build and Strong Individuals Youth

[5:49] Program. Our goal was simple, to let the

[5:52] city know what we were doing in the

[5:54] community and ask for assistance in

[5:56] funding it. This summer, we served

[5:59] approximately 100 children. Monday

[6:02] through Thursday, our doors were open

[6:03] from 9:00 a.m. until about 8:00 p.m.

[6:05] Even though tutoring ended at 6, some of

[6:09] these kids would literally kick and

[6:10] scream because they did not want to

[6:12] leave. And I thought about it. I can't

[6:15] remember any time or anywhere I wanted

[6:18] to stay that bad as a child besides a

[6:20] swimming pool. And so we got swimming

[6:23] pools, basketball hoops,

[6:26] art supplies. We went on field trips,

[6:28] offer activities, garden, tutoring, and

[6:31] multiple multiple meals throughout the

[6:34] day. Some of us bought things from our

[6:36] own homes. slushie machines, juicers,

[6:39] air fryers, cooking grles, deep

[6:41] freezers, whatever we had that could

[6:43] help us serve these children. Our

[6:46] program was also created to expose youth

[6:48] to hands-on skills like construction,

[6:50] painting, framing, basic electrical

[6:52] work, tool safety, and teamwork.

[6:56] We would have loved to operate in that

[6:58] portion at the capacity we did in 2025,

[7:01] but without funding, we simply could not

[7:03] afford the tools and supplies necessary.

[7:07] And yet, approximately eight unpaid

[7:09] volunteers kept showing up. By the grace

[7:13] of God, small organizations and

[7:15] community members saw what we were doing

[7:18] and gave. Some telling us they were

[7:20] giving their last because they wanted

[7:22] this mission to stay alive. The program

[7:25] was originally geared towards ages 10

[7:26] through 17, but when we saw a need, we

[7:28] adjusted. Families were struggling with

[7:30] food care, child care, simply being a

[7:34] unable to work during the summer. So, we

[7:36] opened our doors to children ages 5

[7:38] through 17. Not one dollar, not one

[7:41] bread scent came from city funding. Even

[7:44] on August 11th, St. James personally

[7:46] called Coun Councilman Conwell asking if

[7:48] he could contribute towards book bags

[7:50] and school supplies for the community.

[7:52] He directed us to submit a formal

[7:54] request through his assistant Ammani at

[7:56] 4:17 p.m. from rc city105@gmail.com.

[7:59] I sent a detailed email formally

[8:02] inviting him to partner with our back to

[8:03] school initiative. We never received a

[8:06] response and no contribution followed.

[8:08] So I'm forced to ask, what are we doing

[8:10] to save our youth? Our children are

[8:13] hungry to to learn to belong, hungry to

[8:15] be involved in something. And when

[8:17] healthy opportunities are hard to

[8:18] assess, unhealthy ones are standing

[8:20] right outside the door. Ask yourself,

[8:23] why are the recreation why aren't the

[8:25] recreation cities packed anymore? Why

[8:27] aren't the streets full of children

[8:28] riding bikes and playing? I want to see

[8:31] the neighborhood thriving, but I don't

[8:32] feel safe letting my children play

[8:34] outside. We live in a world where we

[8:36] can't do that anymore. That is what we

[8:38] tried to do. And I'm disappointed

[8:40] because the city did not show up.

[8:43] » Thank you.

[8:44] » Thank you. Next up is Daryl Houston.

[8:49] Daryl Houston is from Bedford Heights.

[8:51] He's here to talk about city issues.

[8:52] He's not representing any organization

[8:54] and not being paid to comment.

[8:56] » Um well, good evening everybody. Uh I

[9:00] would like to take a moment of silence

[9:02] for the juveniles that we just lost over

[9:03] the weekend. It seems that we had a busy

[9:06] weekend, but that's not what I came down

[9:08] here to talk about today, but I will

[9:09] acknowledge it. any child that's laying

[9:12] on the ground is a tragedy for everybody

[9:13] in this room. Okay. But what I'm down

[9:16] here to do is to talk directly to the

[9:18] mayor today because I had some concerns.

[9:20] Uh my mother's 75 years old. She had a

[9:24] tree placed in front of her lawn on one

[9:27] of her properties. The tree damaged the

[9:29] sidewalk. The tree roots damaged our

[9:31] sewer lines. And we had to pay about 7

[9:34] to$10,000 out of pocket. Right. She's

[9:38] emailed the law director, Mark Griffin.

[9:40] We've also emailed uh Marty Kaine.

[9:43] Right? And see, here's my thing, right?

[9:45] When you follow all the laws, all the

[9:47] policies, and all the procedures, and

[9:48] you do all of your due diligence, and it

[9:51] lands in the city hall desk, it goes

[9:53] unressed, and I'm tired of that. So, I'm

[9:56] looking for accountability. So what I

[9:58] did this summer is I just stood back and

[10:00] watched each and every last one of you

[10:02] departments and and tried to figure out

[10:04] who was actually working and who was

[10:06] actually kicking the can. So what I'm

[10:08] going to do is I'm going to dedicate

[10:11] seven Mondays. I'm going to single each

[10:13] and every last person out by name, by

[10:16] ward, by job title, and I'm going to ask

[10:19] some difficult questions. Not

[10:21] disrespectful questions, but

[10:23] accountability questions, right? because

[10:25] I am sick and tired of what I'm seeing

[10:27] take place within this city. There's a

[10:30] lot of nepotism downtown. There's a lot

[10:32] of people getting personal grants,

[10:35] right? There's a lot of things going on,

[10:37] right? There is a true complaint. 36

[10:41] months when you sign a contract with any

[10:44] grantee and it takes 36 months for you

[10:47] to get that, I suggest you go look up

[10:49] what a contract means. And I suggest you

[10:51] go look up when people spend their money

[10:53] upfront to get it back in 36 months. Oh,

[10:57] they deserve that interest that y'all

[10:59] collecting on that money that you guys

[11:00] don't report down here. Okay? See, I'm

[11:02] here to put the truth to the game. I

[11:04] don't have any enemies. I just want to

[11:06] speak truth to light. I just want people

[11:08] to be accountable. There's some six

[11:10] figure salaries down here that's not

[11:12] holding up to the game. I promise y'all.

[11:15] Guess what? My knowledge is not

[11:17] AIdriven. My knowledge doesn't come from

[11:20] chat. I'm 35 years in of studying the

[11:24] United States system, the charter in the

[11:26] city of Cleveland, the the the state

[11:28] system, and I'm ready for anything that

[11:30] you guys have to offer me, right? And

[11:33] I'm going to hold each and every last

[11:34] one of y'all accountable. And it's never

[11:37] personal because you can't sit a person

[11:39] like me in a bathroom for 16 years

[11:41] wrongfully in prison. And I come out

[11:43] here and do everything right in this

[11:45] city. and I put things in this city that

[11:48] this community needs and you guys sit

[11:51] here and act like we're not human. I'm

[11:54] not going for that no more. I'm not. And

[11:57] to my colleagues to sitting back here, I

[11:59] don't think they going for it either.

[12:00] See you next Monday.

[12:04] » Next, we have

[12:06] Mr. James Box from Ward 6. He's here to

[12:09] talk about city issues. He's with Black

[12:11] Guard and Truth Ministries and he is not

[12:15] being paid by anyone. Mr. Box, you have

[12:17] the floor. And once again, we have one

[12:19] speaker at a time.

[12:21] » Good evening, uh, President Griffin, uh,

[12:25] and Mayor Bib. What I got to say is

[12:27] going to be very uncomfortable and I I

[12:30] got a lot of emotion behind what I'm

[12:32] about to say. I want to know within the

[12:34] city of Cleveland how we have an

[12:36] individual that works for the city of

[12:38] Cleveland with knowledge of a homicide

[12:41] that took place. The disappearance and

[12:43] the homicide of Keshan Williams.

[12:46] Jockey Simmons that works in community

[12:49] relations has information about Keshan

[12:53] Williams disappearance and his

[12:55] subsequent death.

[12:58] We was in a meeting a year ago. Miss

[13:00] Woodson, myself and some of my

[13:02] constituents. And at the conclusion of

[13:05] this meeting at Friendly Inn, we walked

[13:06] outside and Jackie Simmon said, "Well,

[13:09] what y'all about to do?" I said, "Well,

[13:10] me and Rob about to go look for Keshan

[13:12] Williams cuz that's his cousin." He

[13:13] said, "Well, my cousin," well, he said,

[13:14] "My brother Black knows that area. He'll

[13:17] come out with you guys." I said, "Well,

[13:19] cool." Well, subsequently the next day,

[13:22] the US Marshalss called me Vinnie from

[13:24] works under Pete Elliot. He said, "Box,

[13:26] we looking for a guy by the name of

[13:28] Black." They said he got knowledge of

[13:29] Keshan Williams disappearance. I said,

[13:31] "That's crazy. A guy just told me

[13:33] yesterday that's his brother. He works

[13:35] in community relations. Maybe you should

[13:36] go down there and talk to him." That's

[13:37] the way I sent him down there

[13:39] innocently. Not with no malice, not with

[13:41] no garbage. So, a word come back to me

[13:44] through pastor Gates to Jakis said,

[13:46] "Don't call my [ __ ] car phone

[13:49] to for me, James Box." So, I'm like,

[13:52] "What?" So, long story short, the

[13:55] marshals came down there questioned him.

[13:57] He climbed up and got scared. Then he

[14:00] lawyered up. But then he said before he

[14:02] lawyered up, he said, "Well, it wasn't

[14:04] my cousins or brother subsequent cousin.

[14:07] It was a black on 40th that killed

[14:09] Keshan Will." Well, you a person that

[14:12] works in a position of trust for the

[14:14] city of Cleveland. You withheld

[14:16] information on a disappearance and a

[14:19] homicide of a young man we've been

[14:21] looking for for the last four years. You

[14:24] withheld that information. And if I'm

[14:26] correct me, uh, President Griffin, when

[14:28] I when you was the director of community

[14:30] relations and I worked up under you and

[14:32] if I had knowledge of a homicide, a

[14:34] rape, senior abuse, or child abuse, I

[14:36] had to report that. I couldn't withhold

[14:38] that information. So why is this negro

[14:41] allowed to withhold that information of

[14:44] this young man that we've been looking

[14:46] for? And I'm going to tell you something

[14:47] about me and the people that's with me.

[14:49] We don't play when it come to finding

[14:51] missing and exploited children or women.

[14:53] We get out there and we do this and

[14:55] we're not asking for no money because

[14:57] subsequently we had a little grant

[14:59] coming I guess out of community

[15:00] relations. They snatched the money

[15:02] because they said I sent the marshals

[15:04] down in community relations and the word

[15:06] I heard from Jesus and they said Miss

[15:08] Woodson they said you said it too that

[15:09] y'all don't [ __ ] with the police. So how

[15:11] you being community relations you work

[15:13] police community relations and you don't

[15:14] [ __ ] WITH THE POLICE. HOW IS THAT

[15:16] POSSIBLE? Can you explain that to me?

[15:18] because if you can't explain IT TO ME, I

[15:20] WILL go to the national media and make

[15:22] this known because I'm sick and tired of

[15:24] the BS

[15:25] » Time. Thank you, Mr. Fox. Thank you.

[15:34] I'm going to ask all of the speakers. We

[15:36] have children in the audience. We also

[15:39] have families in the audience. And I

[15:41] respect everybody's right to free

[15:43] speech, but can we please abstain from

[15:46] using profanity when we are at the mic.

[15:48] I'm going to ask all speakers if they

[15:50] could acknowledge that because once

[15:51] again, it's not just about you. I

[15:53] understand everybody's passionate and

[15:54] frustrated, but we do have children and

[15:57] others in the audience, and we want to

[15:58] be respectful of everybody. Thank you.

[16:01] Uh, next we have Matthew Strazzinski

[16:03] from Slavic Village. His topic is the

[16:06] police. He is not representing any

[16:08] organization and he is not being paid to

[16:10] comment. Mr. Stzinski, you had the

[16:12] floor.

[16:20] » Thank you. And uh welcome back everyone.

[16:23] First, it's not my main topic, but my

[16:28] goal, which I'm going to put on my

[16:29] refrigerator, and I would recommend that

[16:31] everybody puts it on the refrigerator.

[16:33] We want to see a million residents back

[16:36] into the city. We have 375 right now,

[16:40] and I want to see a million, especially

[16:42] through your administration. Mr. Bib,

[16:46] I don't think it's going to happen. And

[16:48] I want to see 33 council members back

[16:50] here like we originally are supposed to

[16:53] have here. Okay, that's our number one

[16:56] goal.

[16:58] Okay, now I want to ask everybody I want

[17:00] to ask everyone here this question.

[17:03] Okay,

[17:06] I got so much to say and I'm so

[17:08] flustered because I don't know where to

[17:11] start. I really don't. But I would like

[17:15] to know, maybe you can answer this for

[17:18] me.

[17:21] Of course, I lost it.

[17:25] Okay. Why do I have to smell marijuana

[17:29] coming from

[17:32] city employee water department work

[17:35] truck while the workers are in the

[17:40] truck?

[17:42] And I wanted to say maybe it was a car

[17:45] that was passing by. Okay. But then I

[17:49] noticed and I it was at another location

[17:52] where they were at and I smelled it even

[17:55] worse.

[17:56] Now this is unacceptable. And I also

[18:00] within the next day I observed

[18:04] a city worker sleeping in a vehicle city

[18:07] vehicle in front of my house.

[18:10] This is totally totally unacceptable.

[18:13] Mr. Mayor Bib, okay, you're going to

[18:16] really have to bear down on the police.

[18:19] I am a former Cleveland Police

[18:21] Dispatcher, former employee of the Kyog

[18:24] County Sheriff's Department. I am a

[18:25] former code enforcement officer

[18:29] and I don't think you understand. I

[18:31] really don't. I don't think you

[18:33] understand. Or maybe you're told by your

[18:36] adviserss not to put much emphasis on

[18:39] the police department.

[18:41] I experience waiting

[18:46] eight hours to get his own car. Okay.

[18:49] And this this this has been going on for

[18:51] 50 years. I'm a former Cleveland police

[18:53] dispatcher. This is what we experienced

[18:56] 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years

[18:58] ago.

[19:00] This has to change. You have to get a

[19:02] hold of your department from the chiefs

[19:04] on down. And if you need help, I have

[19:07] enough training and I can train these

[19:09] people. If not, if they don't train, if

[19:11] they don't understand, you need to get

[19:12] rid of them once and for all. My time is

[19:16] up and I wish I could say more. Thank

[19:18] you.

[19:19] » Thank you.

[19:22] Next, we have Maestro Stevens. Uh

[19:25] Maestro Stevens is from Akran. He's here

[19:28] to talk about Kyhoga County Juvenile

[19:30] Court Local Rule 35 and the effect of

[19:34] administrative delay and conflicting

[19:36] court notices on parenting time

[19:39] enforcement. Sir, you have the floor.

[19:41] » Thank you. Good evening. My name is Mro

[19:44] Stevens and yes, that's my real name. A

[19:46] Cleveland area father, self

[19:48] representative litigant in Kyhoga County

[19:50] Juvenile Court. Case FA2374239.

[19:55] Council does not need to decide county

[19:57] cases, but Cleveland families live with

[19:58] the consequences when court delay

[20:00] consumes a parent childhood

[20:01] relationship. On September 3rd, I won

[20:04] both of my appeals against the court by

[20:06] myself. The 8th district vacated the

[20:08] custody judgment after finding that I

[20:09] was denied a meaningful opportunity to

[20:11] be heard. It was also reversed the child

[20:13] support calculation because the income

[20:15] assigned to me had no evidentary

[20:16] support. The court conditioned my

[20:18] parenting time on a negative hair

[20:19] follicle test. I submitted the negative

[20:21] test result twice. The court identified

[20:23] no defect. mother still refused to

[20:25] schedule. On January 6, I filed for

[20:28] contempt and restoration for our lost

[20:30] time. That motion is 251 days old

[20:32] tonight and has never received an

[20:34] evidentiary hearing. On March 3rd, I saw

[20:37] emergency enforcement. The court refused

[20:39] to hear it because of an appeal. No stay

[20:42] existed. It ordered redirected immediate

[20:44] danger concerns to police 696 kids

[20:47] without addressing the relationship

[20:48] harm. Then the explanation started

[20:51] changing. A July hearing was canceled

[20:53] because proceeding supposedly remained

[20:54] stayed. There was never a stay. After

[20:57] that false premise was exposed. The next

[20:59] notice said pre-trial. But then the

[21:01] hearing became an arraignment and

[21:02] council referral. I requested an

[21:04] evidentary date. The answer was no.

[21:07] After my August 14th challenge, the

[21:10] court canceled September 16th for

[21:11] unavailability. October 5th was the

[21:13] first notice as a pre-trial, then

[21:15] corrected the next morning to an

[21:16] enforcement trial. Then on September

[21:18] 9th, the judges signed the same date,

[21:20] time, and courtroom to custody and child

[21:22] support without saying what happens to

[21:24] enforcement. Two orders now claim the

[21:26] same slot. Research reports Ohio

[21:28] commonly awarded schedule for fathers

[21:30] 23.7%

[21:32] of total parenting time, 86.5 days, just

[21:35] below the 90day overnight child support

[21:37] threshold. At 90 days, court ordered

[21:40] overnights, Ohio law reduces the child

[21:42] support obligation by 10%. those

[21:44] measures differently, but the proximity

[21:46] differs scr des deserve scrutiny.

[21:49] Three times in five weeks, what a

[21:51] hearing was changed for after the notice

[21:54] went out. The case I filed in January,

[21:56] still no answer. Ohio law permits

[21:58] restored parenting time. House Bill 550

[22:00] would require it for covered will for

[22:03] violations, but has received no hearing.

[22:05] Senate Bill 174 preserves judicial

[22:08] discretion and received four House

[22:10] hearings. I use contempt, emergency

[22:12] enforcement, or corrective motions. I

[22:14] followed every available procedure. I'm

[22:16] just asking for a hearing, not an

[22:17] outcome. I ask officials and local media

[22:19] to demand transparent assignments,

[22:21] accurate hearing notices, dates certain

[22:23] that hold, and public reporting on how

[22:25] long parenting time enforcement motions

[22:26] wait for evidence. And my judge was

[22:28] Jezel Mali. Thank you for your time.

[22:38] And our last speaker is Juan Colado Diaz

[22:42] from Ward 12. And Juan is here to talk

[22:44] about artificial intelligence and data

[22:46] centers. He is not representing or any

[22:49] organization and not being paid by

[22:50] anyone. Mr. Collato Diaz, you had the

[22:52] floor.

[22:53] » Thank you, Council President. Good

[22:54] evening, everybody. Um, so you know,

[22:56] welcome back um to listening to us every

[22:59] week. I wanted to talk a little bit

[23:01] about the usage of AI in our city um and

[23:04] the data center crisis we're is facing

[23:05] not only Cleveland but Ohio and the

[23:07] whole world right now right um I woke up

[23:10] this week to two news articles that I

[23:12] was like whoa what the hell is going on

[23:14] in our planet and one of them was Elon

[23:17] Musk Elon Musk is the creator of Crock

[23:20] AI um currently owns Twitter and all

[23:22] this stuff right multi-millionaire

[23:24] billionaire whatever you want to call

[23:25] him at this point Elon Musk used AI to

[23:29] put child pornography into the system to

[23:31] trade it to how to develop it and put it

[23:34] out there. This is one of the uses that

[23:36] artificial intelligence now through his

[23:38] platform can do and this one of the uses

[23:40] that people are allowing without

[23:41] restrictions at a city, federal or state

[23:44] level in any way, shape or form. We're

[23:46] also seeing right now that two

[23:48] executives from the organization Claude,

[23:50] which is an AI company, have said that

[23:52] by 2035 they can see AI causing the

[23:55] exition of humanity. If any of you

[23:57] haven't, I recommend you to read the

[23:59] book series, The 100. Spoiler alert, the

[24:02] AI does kill humanity by causing a

[24:04] nuclear war. So, that is exactly what

[24:07] we're seeing over here. And sure, a lot

[24:08] of people say there's a lot of fear

[24:10] coming from AI. And I see it, too. But

[24:12] when you're generating those images, you

[24:14] are destroying bodies of water. As

[24:16] someone who comes from the island of

[24:18] Puerto Rico, came here to the United

[24:19] States and are seeing my people

[24:21] suffering every day without water in the

[24:23] island, I just ask myself, how can we

[24:26] generate an image and think it's okay to

[24:29] just generate that image, waste all that

[24:31] water because we have it. We have a

[24:33] beautiful lake that we're going to

[24:35] destroy if we keep allowing the usage of

[24:37] AI and the data centers to come around.

[24:39] AI is also connected to a lot of racial

[24:42] targeting as we can see with the flock

[24:44] cameras around the United States. Their

[24:46] AI usage with the flock cameras is

[24:48] literally targeting people of color and

[24:50] immigrants to follow them and let

[24:52] organizations like eyes know where

[24:54] people like me because we look Latino

[24:57] are at and we can be targeted. So I am

[24:59] asking every council member because I

[25:01] have emailed some of you about the usage

[25:03] of AI in your offices. Please stop it.

[25:05] AI is not a good tool. designers out

[25:08] here in the world are willing to do your

[25:10] designs. And if you need a design, I'm a

[25:12] graphic designer. I will literally do it

[25:14] for free rather than you using AI. I'm

[25:16] pointing that out right now. Stop the

[25:18] usage of AI. Please, you are literally

[25:20] killing humanity. You are killing our

[25:22] planet, our natural habitats. And we

[25:25] have one planet. That red one isn't

[25:27] going to be ours. We're not going to

[25:29] conquer Mars. It's not Earth. We have

[25:31] one planet and we're made for it. So,

[25:32] please stop using AI. I urge you all to

[25:35] also read and stop the data centers

[25:37] coming to our city and anywhere in Ohio

[25:39] if you can communicate with your

[25:41] colleagues at other cities and make sure

[25:42] that we do not have a destruction made

[25:44] by computers. Thank you.

[25:47] » Thank you.

[25:53] » Um I usually don't comment but Mr. Diaz,

[25:56] I would strongly recommend that we have

[25:58] three community meetings that will be

[26:00] coming up to deal with that topic. And

[26:02] please be on standby because uh

[26:04] Councilman Brian Kazy has done a a great

[26:06] job of really um tackling this

[26:09] conversation and um I really encourage

[26:12] anybody who has that concern to come to

[26:14] those community meetings when we have

[26:15] them. Okay. Thank you. All right. That

[26:18] concludes public comment. Uh Madame

[26:20] Clerk, please share communications.

[26:28] File num, [cough]

[26:30] [clears throat] excuse me. File numbers

[26:32] 101-2026

[26:36] and 103206

[26:38] from Larry Jones, Commissioner of

[26:41] Innovation and Technology Services,

[26:43] notification of utilization of the

[26:46] cooperative purchasing agreement with

[26:48] Dell Technology for the purpose of

[26:50] equipment. File number 1102206

[26:54] from council president Blaine Griffin

[26:57] designating without objection by council

[26:59] Mrs. Rachel Nigro Scalish to serve as

[27:02] clerk of council prom for all matters

[27:05] requiring the clerk's signature on

[27:07] August 31st to September 1st. File

[27:11] number 1104 2026 pursuant to ordinance

[27:15] 34 I'm sorry 341-91.

[27:22] The Department of Safety applied and

[27:24] accepted several small grants from the

[27:27] state of Ohio's Office of Criminal

[27:30] Justice Services for the Extradition

[27:33] Reimbursement Program from the Ohio

[27:36] Division of Liquor Control, file number

[27:38] 11052026

[27:40] regarding a transfer of location

[27:42] application at 4170 Lee Road, Ward 1.

[27:46] File number 1106206

[27:49] regarding a transfer of ownership

[27:51] application at 16826 Lakeshore

[27:55] Boulevard, Ward 10. File number 1107206

[28:00] regarding a new license application at

[28:02] 10207 Madison Avenue, Ward 12. File

[28:06] number 1108 2026 regarding a transfer of

[28:10] license application at 11025 Ashberry

[28:14] Avenue, Ward 9. File number 11:09 2026

[28:19] regarding a transfer of ownership

[28:20] application at 4227

[28:25] Fulton Road, Ward 11, file number 110 11

[28:30] 10 2026 regarding a transfer of

[28:33] ownership application at 4741

[28:37] West 130th Street, Ward 13, file number

[28:41] 1111 2026 regarding a transfer of

[28:45] license application at 3870 West 25th

[28:49] Street, Ward 14.

[28:53] » Thank you. Are there any condolence

[28:55] resolutions?

[28:58] Resolutions of condolence by Council

[29:00] Member Bishop for Lincoln Andre Perkins,

[29:03] by Council Member Jones for Lois Opel

[29:05] Smith, by Council Member Griffin for

[29:08] Elder James Lee Gates, by Council Member

[29:11] Jones for Dorothy M. Williams by council

[29:14] member Jones for Dela May Owens by

[29:16] council member Jones for Clarence E.

[29:19] Mloud III by council member Santana for

[29:22] Maria Magdalena Gomez by council member

[29:26] Star for

[29:31] Jerome Morgan

[29:34] by council member Jones for Dr. Barbara

[29:37] Blameo by C by Council Member Griffin

[29:41] for Elizabeth Walker by Council Member

[29:44] Griffin for Arlet L. Wright.

[29:49] Thank you. Uh I would like to also if I

[29:53] could send out a condolence resolution

[29:55] for Rory James Garrett II. Um, many of

[30:00] you may not know who Rory James II, uh,

[30:04] Rory James Garrett II is, but the coffee

[30:07] shop that's downstairs, the Unbar,

[30:09] that's a popular location in Larchmere,

[30:11] as well as, uh, the, uh, the Cafe Indigo

[30:14] on Shaker Square, uh, he was the young

[30:17] man that you might have seen operate all

[30:19] of those. So, he passed away suddenly

[30:20] yesterday, and, uh, really want to keep

[30:23] him and his family in our prayers. Are

[30:25] there any other condolence resolutions?

[30:28] Councilman Christopher Harsh.

[30:30] » Thank you, Mr. President. Can we hold

[30:31] out a number for Eugene Richard Okconor?

[30:34] » Duly noted. Do we have any other

[30:36] condolence resolutions? Any other

[30:38] condolence resolutions?

[30:40] Will all council members rise for a

[30:42] moment of silence?

[30:51] Thank you.

[30:55] Are any congratulatory resolutions?

[30:57] Resolutions

[31:01] of congratulations by council member

[31:03] Star for George Washington Carver School

[31:06] Court celebration by council member

[31:09] Santana on the third annual Reyes

[31:11] community baby shower by council member

[31:14] Griffin for Christy Groves by council

[31:16] member Conwell for Charles Layman on his

[31:20] 100th birthday by council member Santana

[31:23] for the arch at St. Michael's ribbon

[31:25] cutting by council member Griffin for

[31:27] Lisa Ray's retirement by council member

[31:30] Casey for Andy Burke on his retirement

[31:34] by council member Jones for asphalt art

[31:37] ribbon cutting

[31:40] by council member Star for United Black

[31:44] Fund of Greater Cleveland by Council

[31:46] Member Palencic for Jeremy A Peak by

[31:49] Council Member Star for Pastor Milton O

[31:51] and Lady Phyllis Bradford on their 40th

[31:54] anniversary iversary by council member

[31:56] starr for Alexander Fernandez.

[31:59] Resolutions of recognition by council

[32:01] member House Jones, Big Brothers and Big

[32:04] Sisters of Greater Cleveland 2026 for

[32:08] big and little award of the year by all

[32:11] members of council to Judge Anthony J.

[32:14] Russo by council member Griffin for

[32:18] Kimberly Roy Wilson by council member

[32:20] Santana for Joseé Torres Ramirez by

[32:24] council member Jones for Khaled Samad

[32:27] Greater CLLE activism award honore by

[32:31] council member Jones for Dolores Gray

[32:33] Greater CLLE activism award honore by

[32:38] council member Jones for Northeast Ohio

[32:40] coalition for the homeless greater

[32:42] Cleveland activism award award honore by

[32:46] council member Jones for Hank Davis

[32:49] icons. Greater CLLE activism award

[32:52] honore by council member Jones for day

[32:55] for days one by for the greater

[32:59] Cleveland activism award honore by

[33:02] council member Jones for Margaret Wong

[33:05] greater CLLE activism award honore by

[33:09] council member Jones for Dr. Charles

[33:11] Mlin, Greater CLLE Activism Award honore

[33:16] by Council Member Jones for Lois

[33:18] Goodman. Greater CLLE Activism Award

[33:21] Honore by Council Member Jones for

[33:24] Phyllis 7 Harris Greater Cleveland

[33:28] Greater CLLE Activism Award Honore

[33:32] Council. by Council Member Jones for

[33:34] Janice Contreres Greater Cleveland CLLE

[33:38] Activism Award honore by Council Member

[33:41] House Jones for graffiti he by council

[33:46] member House Jones for Eduardo Cobra by

[33:50] council member Conwell

[33:52] for Jeremy Johnson by council member

[33:54] Jones for Alfred Porter Jr. Greater CLLE

[33:58] Activism Award Honore by Council Member

[34:01] Jones,

[34:04] Michael D. Pencic. Greater CLLE Activism

[34:07] Award Honore by Council Member Jones.

[34:10] Anita Bradley, Greater CLLE Activism

[34:14] Award Honore by Council Member Jones.

[34:17] Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Greater

[34:19] CLLE Activism Award Honore by Council

[34:23] Member Jones. Laura Cowan, Greater CLLE

[34:26] Activism Award Honore by Council Member

[34:29] Jones for Carrie Gibbons. Greater CLLE

[34:33] Activism Award honore by Council Member

[34:36] Jones for Dr. Shireen uh Nasser Greater

[34:40] CLLE Activism Award Honore by Council

[34:44] Member Jones for Brandon Kstowski

[34:48] Greater Cleveland Activism Award Honore

[34:51] by Council Member Jones for Blaine A.

[34:53] Griffin, Greater CLLE Activism Award

[34:56] Honore by Council Member Jones for Ted

[35:00] Gin Senior Greater Cleveland Greater

[35:03] CLLE Activism Award Honore by Council

[35:07] Member Jones for Blackonblack Crime,

[35:09] Inc. Greater CLLE Activism Award Honore.

[35:13] Resolutions of welcome by Council Member

[35:15] Griffin for attorney Fred D. Gray,

[35:18] senior.

[35:22] » Thank you. We'll now have presentations

[35:25] and um I'm g ask that councilwoman

[35:27] Stephanie House Jones can join us up

[35:29] here and then I would also ask if you

[35:32] can open up the whale for her guest

[35:37] and if they could join her right here to

[35:39] the right.

[35:53] this way.

[35:55] » And I needed them to come closer so I

[35:58] can see the mentor Ignite.

[36:00] » Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

[36:01] » Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

[36:03] » Hello. How are you?

[36:05] » And please

[36:07] feel free to come to both of the

[36:09] platforms so you can get up on the

[36:10] platforms.

[36:12] » Well, good evening everyone. Happy

[36:15] Monday. Welcome back. Um, so over the

[36:19] summer, um, I was invited, uh, by Big

[36:22] Brothers Big Sisters of Greater

[36:23] Cleveland, um, to a summer picnic they

[36:26] were having in June. And you know how

[36:29] our schedule goes and I missed it. And

[36:31] then a little while later, uh, Morgan

[36:34] reached out to me and said, "Hey, um, we

[36:37] just wanted to let you know that the big

[36:40] and little of 2026, uh, the little is

[36:42] from W 8." AND I WAS LIKE, "OKAY, LET'S

[36:45] COME ON. LET'S talk about it. Um, and

[36:48] does anybody know what September is? I

[36:51] know you don't, but I'll tell you, it's

[36:53] Big Brother Big Sister Month. So, it

[36:55] also is coinciding with Big Brother Big

[36:56] Sister Month. Um, they have like just

[36:59] the cutest video of Kelly and Arya uh

[37:02] talking about their journey. Um,

[37:04] mentoring is something that I just hold

[37:07] in just high esteem. Um, I had the honor

[37:09] of running a girls leadership program in

[37:11] Thga Marshall Recreation Center for 12

[37:14] years. And uh, many of us know how

[37:17] important mentorship is in a young

[37:20] person's life. And just to know that

[37:22] they have had this budding relationship,

[37:25] familyship now over the last five years

[37:29] um, that has really materialized and now

[37:31] they have been recognized um, as big and

[37:35] little of the year. Um, so on behalf of

[37:37] the city of Cleveland, I want to

[37:38] congratulate you both, Kelly and Arya,

[37:41] for this wonderful partnership. Um, a a

[37:44] partnership that's really going to last

[37:46] a lifetime. Um, so without further ado,

[37:49] I want to introduce everybody to both

[37:51] Kelly and Arya so they can talk a little

[37:53] bit about their journey. Let's give them

[37:55] a round of applause.

[37:58] [applause]

[38:04] I just want to start by saying this one

[38:06] right here, I don't know, three-ish

[38:08] years ago, challenged a Cleveland Browns

[38:10] football player to a foot race.

[38:15] [laughter]

[38:19] Um, hi. Oh, I'm so sorry.

[38:23] » Hi everyone. Um, my my name is Arya.

[38:27] This is Kelly.

[38:30] Um, I don't know. What do you guys want

[38:32] to know?

[38:33] » How did you meet?

[38:35] » Well, I was Okay, so for Glennville, um,

[38:39] I wanted to try cheerleading. So, I did

[38:40] cheerleading for a little bit.

[38:42] » Cheerleading

[38:43] » For Glennville. Um, [laughter]

[38:51] » And so my um, Deja, she ended up talking

[38:57] to me and she was like, she was telling

[38:59] me about the um, program and she ended

[39:03] up matching me with Kelly. I got to meet

[39:05] her on the Glville parking lot.

[39:08] [laughter]

[39:09] And I was shy, really shy, but she was

[39:14] really outgoing and she was um

[39:17] I don't open Oh, like I'm trying to

[39:19] think of where I'm so sorry guys.

[39:21] [clears throat] She was

[39:22] » Pretty uh open book.

[39:24] » Yeah, pretty much. Yeah,

[39:26] » She's really nice though.

[39:28] And ever since we just been together,

[39:31] you know that one song um I can't think

[39:33] of the Oh, but I'll just sing it.

[39:35] Together forever is Linda and Heather.

[39:39] That's right. [laughter]

[39:42] » You should hear Arya comes honestly by

[39:44] her name. She can belt out any tune from

[39:48] Hamilton like no tomorrow. That's her

[39:50] favorite thing to listen to in the car

[39:53] together.

[39:55] » All right. Sorry. OKAY. GIVE HIM A ROUND

[39:58] OF APPLAUSE, Y'ALL.

[40:00] And if there is somebody uh to introduce

[40:02] the Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the

[40:03] Greater Cleveland team and just talk

[40:06] about just the need and how people can

[40:08] sign up to become a big or a little. Um

[40:11] anyone here from the team would like to

[40:13] come. All right, Jessica, take it away.

[40:17] » No, you're good. Stay right here. I'm

[40:19] Jessica Payne. I'm the president and CEO

[40:21] of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater

[40:22] Cleveland. I, like Arya, was a little

[40:25] sister. I was matched with my big sister

[40:28] in 1994.

[40:29] So, it's been a minute, over 30 years.

[40:32] Um, and I have the pleasure of leading

[40:33] the Big Brothers Big Sisters team and

[40:35] all the wonderful volunteers like Kelly

[40:38] who really are the ones that put in the

[40:40] work and they put in the time and they

[40:42] build the relationships with our kids.

[40:44] We serve around 200 kids in Kyhoga

[40:46] County per year. Around half those kids

[40:48] are residents of the city of Cleveland.

[40:50] Um, and we are always looking for

[40:52] volunteers to step up to be mentors. I

[40:56] can't guarantee that you're going to be

[40:58] as amazed by your little sister as as

[41:00] Kelly is by Arya, but I can guarantee

[41:03] you that as a volunteer would it's an

[41:05] experience that will change your life.

[41:07] Absolutely. So, we are our doors are

[41:10] open to people that might be interested

[41:13] in spending a little time. All it takes

[41:14] is a couple hours a month to become a

[41:18] big to become a mentor to a kid in your

[41:20] own community. It's a relationship that

[41:22] maybe you wouldn't have if you weren't a

[41:24] part of our program. You might not have

[41:25] met each other, but like I said, I can

[41:27] guarantee that it'll change your life.

[41:29] So, we're very grateful to the council

[41:31] for the invitation um and to the

[41:34] opportunity to recognize these two

[41:36] wonderful big and little of the year for

[41:37] 2026.

[41:42] [applause]

[41:57] One, two,

[42:03] education.

[42:32] All right, let's get him another round

[42:33] of applause if we could.

[42:39] » [applause]

[42:41] » That concludes presentations.

[42:44] Madame clerk, first reading, emergency

[42:46] ordinances referred for administrative

[42:48] review and committee review.

[42:52] Ordinance 10312026

[42:56] by council members Santana and Griffin

[42:58] by departmental request authorizing the

[43:00] directors of community development

[43:02] and/or finance as appropriate to enter

[43:05] into one or more agreements with the

[43:06] legal aid society as the lead partner

[43:09] organization to implement a program to

[43:11] provide access to legal services for

[43:14] covered individuals in eviction

[43:16] proceedings. Ordinance 1032 2026 by

[43:20] council members House Jones, Bishop,

[43:22] Santana, and Griffin by departmental

[43:24] request authorizing the director of

[43:27] capital projects to issue a permit to

[43:29] 1293 West 9th Street LLC to encroach

[43:33] into the public right ofway of West 9th

[43:35] Street by installing, using, and

[43:37] maintaining a new elevated concrete

[43:40] landing ramp and stairs. Ordinance 1033

[43:43] 2026 by council members Bishop and

[43:46] Griffin by departmental request

[43:48] authorizing the purchase by one or more

[43:50] standard and requirement contracts for

[43:52] the purchase lease or lease with option

[43:54] to purchase of various on-road vehicles,

[43:56] apparatus and off-road equipment, cabs,

[43:59] bodies and accessories, equipment and

[44:01] other aftermarket items necessary to

[44:04] equip the vehicles authorized for their

[44:06] intended purposes. Ordinance 1034 2026

[44:11] by council members Palencic, Santana,

[44:13] Bishop, and Griffin by departmental

[44:15] request authorizing the director of

[44:18] community development to lease the

[44:20] fivepoint building, also known as the

[44:22] Colinwood Community Center, to to

[44:24] Famikos Foundation to operate and

[44:27] provide a range of social

[44:30] services and to maintain the fivepoint

[44:32] building for a period of two years with

[44:35] one two-year option to renew Ordinance

[44:38] 10352026

[44:40] by council members Pinsic and Griffin by

[44:43] departmental request authorizing

[44:45] director of public safety to cause

[44:47] payment to Kyhoga County for for

[44:50] services rendered through the county

[44:52] medical examiner's office to reimburse

[44:56] the county for the city's share of the

[44:58] cost for maintaining and use of

[45:01] automated fingerprint identification

[45:03] system.

[45:05] Ordinance 10372026

[45:08] by council members KZ Bishop and Griffin

[45:10] by departmental request to amend section

[45:13] 129.22 22 of the codified ordinances

[45:16] relating to easement acquisition.

[45:19] Ordinance 1038 2026 by council members

[45:23] Kazy and Griffin by departmental request

[45:26] authorizing the purchase by one or more

[45:28] requirement contracts with various types

[45:30] for electrical test equipment and labor

[45:33] and materials necessary to maintain and

[45:36] repair electrical test equipment

[45:40] including training when necessary for

[45:42] the Division of Cleveland Public Power

[45:44] Department of Public Utilities.

[45:46] Ordinance 1039 2026 by council members

[45:50] Santana, Bishop Conwell, and Griffin by

[45:53] departmental request authorizing the

[45:55] directors of community development,

[45:57] public health, and public works to

[45:59] transfer various permanent parcels for

[46:02] the control, possession, and use of the

[46:04] department of development, industrial,

[46:06] commercial land bank for future

[46:08] development. Ordinance 1042 2026 by

[46:12] council members Slife and Griffin by

[46:15] departmental request authorizing the

[46:17] director of port control to enter into

[46:20] an amended lease agreement with EX

[46:22] center corporation or whollyowned

[46:25] subsidiary for successor and interest to

[46:28] incorporate a payroll credit provision

[46:31] into the original lease. Ordinance 1043

[46:35] 2026 by council members Bishop and

[46:38] Griffin by departmental request

[46:40] authorizing the director of parks and

[46:42] recreation, public works, andor finance

[46:45] to enter into one or more contracts with

[46:48] one or more temporary employment

[46:50] agencies to provide professional

[46:52] services to supply temporary andor

[46:55] seasonal personnel for the department of

[46:58] parks and recreation, parks, public

[47:00] works andor finance for the various

[47:02] division. divisions of city government.

[47:05] Ordinance 1044 2026 by council member

[47:08] Griffin by departmental request to

[47:11] supplement the codified ordinances by

[47:13] enacting new section 173.22

[47:17] relating to the fair employment wage

[47:19] board.

[47:22] » Thank you.

[47:23] First reading emergency ordinances to be

[47:26] passed. Ordinance 1036 2026 by Council

[47:30] Member Griffin by departmental request

[47:33] approving the collective bargaining

[47:34] agreement with Cleveland Policeman's

[47:36] Association Analyst and Specialist Unit

[47:39] and to amend section 59 of ordinance 194

[47:43] 2021 relating to compensation for

[47:46] various classifications.

[47:50] » Thank you. Read a motion to suspend the

[47:52] rules.

[47:56] by council member Shaw that the rules be

[47:59] suspended and the legislation just read

[48:01] be placed on final passage. Seconded by

[48:03] council member Davis.

[48:06] » Thank you. Call the role.

[48:07] » Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh

[48:10] House Jones Hudson Jones Kazy Pensic

[48:13] Santana Shaw Slight Star

[48:16] 13 yays.

[48:18] » Thank you. Caught a roll on passage.

[48:20] Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gay Harsh

[48:22] House Jones Hudson Jones Kazy Palencic

[48:25] Santana Shaw Slip Star 13 yays.

[48:29] » Thank you. First reading emergency

[48:31] resolution referred for administrative

[48:32] review and committee review. Resolution

[48:36] 1029 2026 by Council Member Griffin by

[48:40] departmental request requesting the

[48:43] county fiscal officer to make advances

[48:45] during the during the year 2027 pursuant

[48:49] to section 321.34

[48:52] of the Ohio Revised Code resolution

[48:55] 10:30 2026 by Council Member Griffin by

[48:59] departmental request accepting the

[49:01] amounts and rates as determined by the

[49:03] Kyhoga County Budget Commission and

[49:06] authorizing the necessary tax levies

[49:08] pursuant to section 570534

[49:12] of the Ohio Revised Code and certifying

[49:15] them to the county fiscal officer.

[49:19] » Thank you. First reading emergency

[49:21] resolutions to be adopted.

[49:23] » Resolution 10226

[49:26] by Council Member Hudson. Withdrawing

[49:28] objection to a new C1 liquor permit at

[49:31] 6909 Clark Avenue and repealing

[49:34] resolution 5812026

[49:36] objecting to said permit. Resolution

[49:39] 1023 2026 by Council Member Pencic

[49:42] objecting to the transfer of ownership

[49:44] of of a D4 liquor permit to 15435 St.

[49:48] Clair Avenue. Resolution 103 1024

[49:52] 2026 by Council Member Jones objecting

[49:56] to the transfer of ownership of a C2C2X

[49:59] liquor permit to 15315 Barlet Avenue.

[50:03] Resolution

[50:05] 10252026

[50:07] by Council Member Gray objecting to the

[50:09] transfer of ownership of a C2C2X liquor

[50:12] permit to 7025 Fleet Avenue. Resolution

[50:17] 1026 2026 by Council Member Star

[50:21] withdrawing objection to a new D5 liquor

[50:23] permit at 24 Public Square and repealing

[50:27] resolution 580 2026 objecting to said

[50:30] permit. Resolution 1027206

[50:34] by Council Member Star, strongly

[50:36] supporting the continuation and

[50:38] preservation of the Cleveland State

[50:40] University UPass program with Greater

[50:43] Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and

[50:45] encouraging Cleveland State and Greater

[50:48] Cleveland Regional Transit Authority to

[50:50] work collaboratively to ensure students

[50:53] continue to have access to affordable

[50:56] and reliable public transportation.

[50:59] Resolution 1028 2026 by council members

[51:03] Conwell Gray and Palencic encouraging

[51:06] Cleveland Public Library to establish

[51:09] musical instrument lending at its main

[51:12] branch and various other branches.

[51:15] Resolution 1040 2026 by Council Member

[51:18] Bishop withdrawing objection to the

[51:21] transfer of ownership of a C1C2 liquor

[51:23] permit at 3750 Martin Luther King Jr.

[51:27] Boulevard and repealing resolution 244

[51:30] 2026 objecting to said permit.

[51:33] Resolution 10412026

[51:36] by Council Member Kazy calling upon the

[51:39] clerk of Cleveland Municipal Court to

[51:41] wave any automated red light and

[51:43] speeding camera citations issued prior

[51:46] to November 2014 and to immediately

[51:49] cease all collection efforts associated

[51:52] with such citations. Resolution 10452026

[51:58] by Council Member Bishop withdrawing

[52:00] objection to a new C1 liquor permit at

[52:03] 4166 East 71st Street and repealing

[52:07] resolution 338 2026 objecting to said

[52:10] permit. Resolution 1046, 2026 by Council

[52:14] Member Kazy, withdrawing objection to

[52:17] the transfer of ownership of a C1C2

[52:19] liquor permit at 4051 West 140th Street

[52:23] and repealing resolution 4126,

[52:27] objecting to said permit, resolution

[52:29] 1047 2026 by Council Member Harsh,

[52:33] renaming a portion of Lake Erie as the

[52:36] new Gulf of Cleveland now and forever.

[52:40] Resolution

[52:48] resolution 10 1073

[52:51] 2026 by council member Kazy declaring

[52:55] September 25th as Dolly Parton Day in

[52:58] the city of Cleveland to honor and

[53:00] celebrate her life and legacy along with

[53:03] the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[53:05] Resolution 1112 2026 by Council Member

[53:09] House recognizing September 14th through

[53:12] the 20th, 2026 as National Diaper Need

[53:17] as National Diaper Need a Awareness Week

[53:20] in the City of Cleveland and expressing

[53:22] appreciation to the Diaper Bank of

[53:25] Greater Cleveland for its continued

[53:27] service to families throughout Kyhoga

[53:30] County.

[53:33] » Thank you. Read the motion to suspend

[53:35] the rules

[53:36] » By council member Shaw that the rules be

[53:39] suspended and the legislation just read

[53:41] be placed on final passage. Seconded by

[53:43] council member Davis.

[53:46] » Call the roll.

[53:47] » Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh

[53:50] House Jones Hudson Jones Kazy Palencic

[53:53] Santana Shaw Slicear

[53:55] 14 yays

[53:57] » Call a roll on adoption. Griffin,

[53:59] Bishop, Conwell, Davis, Gay, Harsh,

[54:01] House Jones, Hudson Jones, Kazy

[54:03] Palencic, Santana Shaw, Slife, Star

[54:09] on 1047 2026, 13 yays, one nay on all

[54:14] others 14 yays.

[54:16] » Thank you.

[54:18] Second reading, emergency ordinances to

[54:20] be passed.

[54:27] Ordinance 9042026

[54:29] by Council Member Griffin by

[54:31] departmental request an emergency

[54:33] ordinance to make additional

[54:34] appropriations of 1,64,980

[54:39] to the general fund and $1,64,980

[54:44] to the special revenue fund. Ordinance

[54:47] 912 2026 by Council members Bishop and

[54:50] Griffin by departmental request

[54:52] authorizing the director of parks and

[54:54] recreation to enter into one or more

[54:56] concession agreements for the operation

[54:59] of a first class food and beverage

[55:01] service in the public auditorium and

[55:03] conference center for a period not to

[55:06] exceed 3 years.

[55:08] Ordinance 916 2026

[55:12] authorizing the issue and sale of bonds

[55:15] in the maximum principle amount of

[55:18] $2,885,000

[55:20] for the purpose of retiring outstanding

[55:23] bond anticipation notes that were issued

[55:26] to provide funds to acquire vehicles and

[55:30] equipment for performing functions of

[55:33] the city's departments, including the

[55:35] Department of Public Works and

[55:37] Department of public safety and

[55:39] authorizing related matters. Ordinance

[55:42] 917 2026 by Council Member Griffin by

[55:46] departmental request authorizing the

[55:49] issuance and sale of bonds in the

[55:51] maximum principal amount of $1,385,000

[55:56] for the purpose of retiring outstanding

[55:59] bond anticipation notes that were issued

[56:01] to provide funds to acquire heavy duty

[56:04] trucks and equipment for performing

[56:06] functions of the city's departments of

[56:08] public works and department of public

[56:11] safety. including the division of fire

[56:13] and authorizing related matters.

[56:17] Ordinance 918 2026 by Council Member

[56:21] Griffin by departmental request

[56:24] authorizing the issuance and sale of

[56:25] bonds in the maximum principal amount of

[56:28] $6,730,000

[56:31] for the purpose of retiring outstanding

[56:33] bond anticipation notes that were issued

[56:36] to provide funds to improve municipal

[56:39] parks and recreation facilities and

[56:42] authorizing related matters. Ordinance

[56:45] 919206

[56:47] by Council Member Griffin by

[56:49] departmental request authorizing the

[56:51] issuance and sale of bonds in the

[56:53] maximum principal amount of $13,650,000

[56:58] for the purpose of retiring outstanding

[57:01] bond bond anticipation notes that were

[57:04] issued to provide funds to improve

[57:06] buildings and structures and providing

[57:09] for the discharge of governmental

[57:11] functions and services otherwise

[57:13] benefiting

[57:14] public safety, health and welfare, and

[57:17] for the provision of necessary fixtures,

[57:19] furnishings, equipment, technology,

[57:22] appertinances, utilities, and site

[57:24] improvements for the purpose and

[57:26] authorizing related matters.

[57:29] Ordinance 920 2026 by Council Member

[57:33] Griffin by departmental request

[57:35] authorizing the issuance and sale of

[57:37] bonds in the maximum principal amount of

[57:40] $13,975,000

[57:43] for the purpose of retiring outstanding

[57:46] bond anticipation notes that were issued

[57:49] to provide funds to improve the

[57:51] municipal street system and related

[57:54] facilities and authorizing related

[57:56] matters. Ordinance 926 2026 as amended

[58:01] by council members Bishop and Griffin by

[58:04] departmental request authorizing the

[58:06] directors of capital projects and/or

[58:08] city planning to apply for and accept

[58:10] fund accept grants from the Ohio

[58:13] Department of Transportation for the

[58:15] 2024 pedestrian safety improvement

[58:18] program to implement safety improvements

[58:20] at various sites throughout the city to

[58:23] apply for and accept any gifts or grants

[58:25] and any public or private entity.

[58:27] giving consent of the city of Cleveland

[58:30] to the director of transportation of the

[58:32] state of Ohio to construct the safety

[58:35] improvements authorizing the director of

[58:37] capital projects to enter into any

[58:40] relative agreements and causing payment

[58:42] to the state for the city's share of the

[58:44] improvement.

[58:48] » Thank you. Read the motion to suspend

[58:50] the rules

[58:51] » By council member Shaw. That the rules

[58:53] be suspended and the legislation just

[58:55] read be placed on final passage.

[58:57] Seconded by council member Davis.

[59:00] » Call the role.

[59:01] » Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh

[59:04] House Jones Hudson Jones Casey Palencic

[59:07] Santana Shaw Slife Star 14 yays.

[59:12] » Caught a roll on passage. Griffin,

[59:14] Bishop, Conwell, Davis, Gray, Harsh,

[59:16] House Jones, Hudson Jones, Casey,

[59:19] Pensic, Santana, Shaw, Slife, Star,

[59:23] 14 Yay.

[59:25] » Thank you. Second reading, emergency

[59:27] resolutions to be adopted. Resolution

[59:30] 956 2026 by council members star Griffin

[59:35] Bishop Conwell Harsh KZ Palencic Santana

[59:39] Slife urging United States Postal

[59:41] Service to establish an agefriendly male

[59:44] access initiative working committee in

[59:47] partnership with Cleveland City Council

[59:50] the administration's department of aging

[59:52] Kyhoga Metropolitan Housing Authority

[59:55] senior and affordable housing providers

[59:58] and property owners owners to provide

[1:00:00] secure and accessible outgoing mail

[1:00:02] collection services for residents living

[1:00:05] in senior high-rise and senior

[1:00:07] residential buildings throughout the

[1:00:09] city of Cleveland.

[1:00:12] » Read the motion to suspend the rules

[1:00:14] » By council member Shaw that the rules be

[1:00:16] suspended and the legislation just read

[1:00:18] be placed on final passage. Seconded by

[1:00:20] council member Davis.

[1:00:23] » Thank you. Call the role. Griffin,

[1:00:26] Bishop, Conwell, Davis, Gray, Harsh,

[1:00:28] House Jones, Hudson, Jones, Kazy,

[1:00:30] Pencic, Santana, Shaw, Slice, Star,

[1:00:34] » 14 Yays.

[1:00:36] » Caught a role on adoption.

[1:00:37] » Griffin, Bishop, Conwell, Davis, Gray,

[1:00:40] Harsh, House Jones, Hudson, Jones,

[1:00:42] Casey, Pencic, Santana Shaw, Slife, Star

[1:00:47] 14. Yay.

[1:00:51] » Thank you. We move the legislation to be

[1:00:54] tabled.

[1:00:56] Ordinance 12742024

[1:00:59] by council members Slife, Bishop, Kazy,

[1:01:02] and Griffin by departmental request

[1:01:05] determining the method of making the

[1:01:07] public improvement of both designing and

[1:01:09] installing an on-site solar photo

[1:01:13] photovalttaic

[1:01:18] and battery energy storage ready system

[1:01:22] at the Gunning Park Recreation Center.

[1:01:24] authorizing the director of capital

[1:01:26] projects on behalf of the office of

[1:01:29] sustainability to enter into one or more

[1:01:32] contracts with Ammeris

[1:01:34] Incorporated for the purpose and also

[1:01:37] for that purpose and also for operating

[1:01:40] and maintaining the system after

[1:01:42] installation and authorizing the

[1:01:45] purchase of materials, equipment,

[1:01:47] supplies and services to implement the

[1:01:49] improvement.

[1:01:52] » Thank you. Call the role on approval of

[1:01:54] tableabling.

[1:01:56] » Griffin Bishop Conwell Davis Gray Harsh

[1:01:59] House Jones Hudson Jones Kazy Palencic

[1:02:02] Santana Shaw Slifark

[1:02:05] 14 yays.

[1:02:07] » Thank you. We'll now move to

[1:02:09] introductions. And uh I first want to

[1:02:12] acknowledge uh I know you see a lot of

[1:02:14] these folks in the purple shirts and uh

[1:02:16] I want if he could stand Mr. Fred Ward

[1:02:20] along with all of the uh members that

[1:02:22] are with him today.

[1:02:25] Want to acknowledge this group. This is

[1:02:27] Building Freedom Ohio Partners.

[1:02:37] They have uh been collecting signatures

[1:02:40] to try to uh put together a protected

[1:02:42] class network. Um, many people don't

[1:02:45] know this, but when uh a lot of people

[1:02:47] who are restored citizens come back into

[1:02:49] our community, a lot of times they have

[1:02:52] barriers to housing as well as barriers

[1:02:54] to employment. Uh, I know when I was on

[1:02:56] the administration side and community

[1:02:58] relations board, we worked hard and we

[1:03:00] made sure that we had a ban the box

[1:03:02] effort. U, we also continue to work with

[1:03:05] the Greater Cleveland Partnership and

[1:03:06] others uh because restored citizens are

[1:03:09] valued citizens in our community. So, I

[1:03:11] commend you guys on all the work that

[1:03:13] you're doing. And in short order, I know

[1:03:15] that uh Mr. Ward has sent me some

[1:03:17] information uh with this council, we're

[1:03:19] going to be reviewing and seeing uh

[1:03:21] what's uh legally allowable as well as

[1:03:23] uh what we could do to be able to help

[1:03:25] ease some of those collateral sanctions

[1:03:27] that you guys have to deal with. So,

[1:03:29] hang in there and thank you all so much

[1:03:30] for the hard work you do.

[1:03:38] Uh, I also want to take a moment if I

[1:03:41] can to acknowledge Earl Savage. Earl

[1:03:44] Savage is the new Cleveland Teachers

[1:03:45] Union president. Mr. Savage, thank you.

[1:03:48] Let's give Mr. Savage a round of

[1:03:49] applause if we could.

[1:03:54] Earl and I got baptized by fire last

[1:03:56] week cuz there was uh car breakins at

[1:03:59] Sunbeam. And I want to, you know, thank

[1:04:01] Earl for taking me into the school. And

[1:04:04] I know that my children have been there.

[1:04:06] I live in that neighborhood. And um we

[1:04:08] talked with some of the teachers and

[1:04:10] heard some of their concerns and fears

[1:04:12] as well as I heard from several parents.

[1:04:14] And let's face it, at the end of the

[1:04:15] day, this individual uh that committed

[1:04:18] these acts uh caused mass panic. Um and

[1:04:22] definitely we're going to continue to

[1:04:24] collaborate as a community to hold

[1:04:26] people accountable whenever they cause

[1:04:27] mass panic in our community. So, Mr.

[1:04:30] Savage, thank you and thank you for

[1:04:31] being here today. Uh, I also always love

[1:04:34] when my residents come down. Ebony Boen,

[1:04:36] if she could please stand. Ebony Boen is

[1:04:39] a W six resident. She comes to all the

[1:04:42] meetings and she is just here to watch

[1:04:43] government in action. So, thank you so

[1:04:45] much for being here.

[1:04:49] [applause]

[1:04:50] Do we have any other introductions? Any

[1:04:53] other introductions? Any other

[1:04:55] introductions?

[1:04:57] I don't see anybody's mic going up.

[1:04:59] Therefore, any announcements? Any

[1:05:02] announcements? Any announcements?

[1:05:06] Okay, I don't see any announcements.

[1:05:07] Therefore, we'll move to miscellaneous

[1:05:09] and Councilman Christopher Harsh. Uh

[1:05:12] Kazy, did you want to make announcements

[1:05:13] or miscellaneous?

[1:05:15] » Announcements.

[1:05:15] » Okay. Uh Councilman Kazy, announcements

[1:05:17] and then we'll move to uh Councilman

[1:05:20] Harsh for uh miscellaneous.

[1:05:22] » Thank you, Council President. you had

[1:05:24] mentioned it earlier in the in the the

[1:05:26] meeting about data centers and um public

[1:05:30] meetings. So, we've been able to

[1:05:32] solidify those dates. Uh Thursday,

[1:05:35] September 24th at Columwood Rec Center

[1:05:37] from 6:00 to 8. Tuesday, September 29th

[1:05:41] here at city hall and council chambers

[1:05:43] and Wednesday uh October 7th at Gunning

[1:05:46] Rec from 6:00 to 8 uh is when the public

[1:05:49] meetings will be held in regards to data

[1:05:51] centers. Thank you. Thank you,

[1:05:53] Councilman, and thank you for all your

[1:05:54] hard work you put into that. I know a

[1:05:56] lot of people think that we just take

[1:05:58] the summers off, but uh all of us are

[1:06:00] out in the neighborhoods, and you also

[1:06:02] in addition to that been really uh

[1:06:03] working on this issue. So, thank you,

[1:06:05] sir. Uh Councilman Conwell,

[1:06:07] announcements or miscellaneous?

[1:06:09] » Okay. Councilman Christopher Harsh. Uh

[1:06:12] and then Councilwoman Hudson. Is this

[1:06:15] miscellaneous? Okay. So, I have Harsh

[1:06:17] Conwell Hudson. Okay.

[1:06:20] » All right. Uh thank you, Mr. President.

[1:06:22] Um, I rise tonight to thank my

[1:06:24] colleagues for passing uh resolution

[1:06:26] 1047 2026. Um, for too long in this

[1:06:29] country, we have bent the knee to the

[1:06:31] past, Mr. President, allowing dead men

[1:06:33] to name all of our stuff. But we don't

[1:06:36] serve dead people in Cleveland. We serve

[1:06:37] living people, and the time is now to

[1:06:39] claim our birthright. Uh, you will all

[1:06:41] recall that last year our dear orange

[1:06:42] leader in DC had the wherewithal to

[1:06:45] rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of

[1:06:47] America. And more recently, he's chosen

[1:06:49] to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America.

[1:06:52] And even more recently, obliterating the

[1:06:55] concept of states, rights, and

[1:06:56] constitutions to rename the state New

[1:06:58] Mexico to New America, right? And thanks

[1:07:03] to him, this is a man who clearly isn't

[1:07:05] afraid to say what no one is thinking. I

[1:07:07] feel emboldened to take the

[1:07:08] extraordinary step of renaming Lake Erie

[1:07:10] as the Gulf of Cleveland today. Thank

[1:07:13] you.

[1:07:15] Keep in mind, there's a very real person

[1:07:17] in Pennsylvania right now who wants to

[1:07:19] rename it the Lake of Pennsylvania. We

[1:07:20] cannot as Ohioans let the Pennians get a

[1:07:23] jump on us. It's our lake.

[1:07:27] I would like to rename it Lake America

[1:07:28] as well, but I just can't do that. So,

[1:07:30] I'm no linguist, but I've heard that

[1:07:32] Eerie might be an Irish word. To my

[1:07:34] brothers and sisters in the fire

[1:07:35] department, I am sorry. But it also

[1:07:37] might be a Jamaican word. It might also

[1:07:39] be a native word. And to that, I say

[1:07:40] good. Good for us for not letting people

[1:07:43] who died hundreds or thousands of years

[1:07:45] ago dictate how we name our stuff. It's

[1:07:47] much better to name things after dead

[1:07:49] guys than let dead guys name things. In

[1:07:52] this case, we're naming it after Moses

[1:07:54] Cleveland, a man who knew how to part

[1:07:56] waters and cleave lands. He was

[1:07:58] bipartisan.

[1:08:01] I can already hear some of you commie

[1:08:03] pinko devil worshipp I mean developer

[1:08:05] worshipping corporate scum. You call me

[1:08:08] pinko corporate scum out there saying,

[1:08:10] "But Chris, it's not even a golf. It's a

[1:08:13] lake." And I say, "Who cares?" Listen to

[1:08:16] me very carefully and jot this down.

[1:08:19] Words don't matter.

[1:08:21] And from what I can tell from an online

[1:08:23] AI search, we didn't even need to pass a

[1:08:26] resolution. We could have just here.

[1:08:28] Look, look, I did this. I made a map.

[1:08:32] There it is. This is all it takes.

[1:08:36] Okay,

[1:08:38] you watch YouTube.

[1:08:40] It's now the Gulf of Cleveland.

[1:08:45] » And I do expect Google and Apple to

[1:08:47] recognize our sovereignty and show it as

[1:08:50] the Gulf of Cleveland on all maps,

[1:08:52] specifically when that search is done

[1:08:54] from within the city of Cleveland. Words

[1:08:56] don't matter, but the whims of powerful

[1:08:58] white men like me do.

[1:09:01] » Also, keep in mind this is good for

[1:09:03] tourism. People like to vacation in

[1:09:06] golfs. It's a big tourist thing. If the

[1:09:09] mayor gets his way, we'll have a golf

[1:09:10] course on the lake. Then you can golf in

[1:09:12] the golf,

[1:09:14] potentially setting up a driving range

[1:09:16] to golf, literally into the golf.

[1:09:22] So, it's a wonderful day when the city

[1:09:25] of Cleveland can finally remind the

[1:09:26] whole world that we're the only

[1:09:28] authorities on words and names and

[1:09:31] particularly on words that come from

[1:09:32] names. But join me in saluting the Gulf

[1:09:34] of Cleveland on your way home tonight.

[1:09:36] And for all the students, I know we just

[1:09:38] lost them, but for all the students, the

[1:09:40] pneumonic for the Great Lakes used to be

[1:09:41] homes, but now it's apparently turned

[1:09:44] into shame. And with this with uh

[1:09:46] Superior, Cleveland, Hiron, America, and

[1:09:49] and Michigan. It spells sham, which is a

[1:09:51] German word, and you can look it up. Uh,

[1:09:53] Mr. President, with that, I yield. Thank

[1:09:55] you for your attention to this matter.

[1:10:02] I think you may have just made Tik Tok

[1:10:04] and YouTube's top 10 this week with

[1:10:06] that. So, I look forward to seeing that.

[1:10:10] Uh, next we have Councilman Kevin

[1:10:13] Conwell. Councilman Kevin Conwell.

[1:10:22] » Could you speak into the mic? We can't

[1:10:24] hear you, sir.

[1:10:36] down to Columbus

[1:10:39] and

[1:10:43] govern

[1:10:56] the governor.

[1:10:59] and they do it all the time. Let me say

[1:11:04] my time now. It finally came on. Fred

[1:11:07] Ward, his group,

[1:11:09] they um they go down to Columbus

[1:11:12] constantly battling against collateral

[1:11:16] sanctions and they've been doing it

[1:11:17] forever and ever again to try to put

[1:11:20] people to work to cut down the barriers.

[1:11:23] and these collateral

[1:11:25] is hurting our people. So, he's down

[1:11:28] there. So, I want to give it up to you

[1:11:30] myself, um, Fred Ward, and you called me

[1:11:34] um, two weeks ago to come meet with you,

[1:11:37] but I was dealing with a family issue

[1:11:39] somewhere else, but um, you listen to me

[1:11:42] and I'll get

[1:11:45] you. you press you practice in your team

[1:11:48] manhood, fatherhood, um community

[1:11:51] activism, and that's very very

[1:11:53] important. There's another person when I

[1:11:56] walked in, they were saying something

[1:11:58] about me. I invited them to talk with

[1:12:01] Tony Tale. I did. I can't give them

[1:12:04] money and fill their paperwork out. I

[1:12:07] invited um the young lady um person St.

[1:12:11] James and people have called me, "Why

[1:12:12] you don't want to give St. James money?"

[1:12:14] I said he could come down and fill the

[1:12:16] paperwork out. I told Tony Tale because

[1:12:18] if you say no,

[1:12:21] you're a bad guy, then you're a bad guy.

[1:12:24] And I came from being an activist before

[1:12:26] I was a councilman. Matter of fact, I've

[1:12:28] sponsored at least 30. And I'm not

[1:12:30] putting down what they're doing. 30 of

[1:12:32] back to school events, job fairs, and

[1:12:34] any anything. I even helped to pioneer

[1:12:36] your harvest for hunger way back then.

[1:12:39] Took the fatherhood group to the

[1:12:40] national level. So I came in as an

[1:12:43] activist pushing and getting things done

[1:12:46] for the residents and that's what you

[1:12:48] got to do. So I didn't tell them no. I

[1:12:51] come in and and then they blasphe me.

[1:12:53] But it is what it is. And Tony Tail went

[1:12:55] back there to talk and said look come

[1:12:58] down and see us. We do what we do. It is

[1:13:00] what it is. But there's another and

[1:13:02] James St. James he's a great great

[1:13:04] activist. He's working with the

[1:13:06] children. He's teaching them um how to

[1:13:09] master their own destiny. He teaching uh

[1:13:12] young African-American males how to hang

[1:13:14] doors and fix windows and and do gutters

[1:13:18] and all those kind of things. He's

[1:13:20] trying to do away with idle hands. So,

[1:13:22] he's doing a good job, but I can't do

[1:13:24] the paperwork um for him. Let me move

[1:13:27] forward along.

[1:13:29] The mighty mighty mighty mighty top

[1:13:31] letters Glennville.

[1:13:33] When Ted Gillian left and he moved out,

[1:13:37] he started his own school. And a lot of

[1:13:41] people think it's football. Wasn't just

[1:13:43] football with him.

[1:13:45] He wanted to work with young men to

[1:13:47] teach them manhood and fatherhood. And

[1:13:50] that's very, very important to him. When

[1:13:53] Councilman Star called to tell me about

[1:13:55] what happened, I called him up and um I

[1:13:59] told him, I said, "Look, if you need me,

[1:14:01] I'll be there. I want these children to

[1:14:04] when they look back, they see that I'm

[1:14:06] looking right at them. I'll go down

[1:14:08] there with you. I won't meddle. I don't

[1:14:10] believe in meddling. And I will go down

[1:14:12] there. And the wife says she would go

[1:14:14] down also. So when the children look

[1:14:16] back,

[1:14:18] they see us looking at them. You They

[1:14:20] can't just see me when you bring them

[1:14:22] down to Cleveland City Hall and you

[1:14:24] honor them. They have to look up and

[1:14:26] they have to see that I'm looking at

[1:14:27] them. But let me say this also about Ted

[1:14:30] again. And you know this, you and I talk

[1:14:32] about it all the time, council member,

[1:14:34] Mr. Mayor Ted Gin needs more help than

[1:14:39] what you see in in the schools with the

[1:14:41] football coaches. He's been asking for

[1:14:44] help ever since Eugene Sanders was in

[1:14:48] there as CEO and it's like it's falling

[1:14:51] on deaf ears. He need help, a lot of

[1:14:54] help. And what I see what they're doing

[1:14:56] with the children over there. Now, I'm

[1:14:58] not saying what they did was right or

[1:15:00] anything like that. However, we as

[1:15:03] adults need to find out what help he

[1:15:06] needs. And I think by um putting

[1:15:10] sanctions on the children and punishing

[1:15:13] the kids, we got to find out the why.

[1:15:18] What really happened? And what is Ted

[1:15:20] Gin is talking about helping the

[1:15:23] children. That's who he's fighting for.

[1:15:26] the young African-American males. And we

[1:15:29] have to find out in the schools what's

[1:15:31] going on because if we don't,

[1:15:35] it will happen again. And what they do

[1:15:38] in society, especially with

[1:15:39] African-American males, they want to

[1:15:42] charge us right away. They push judicial

[1:15:45] inequality and they want to just lock us

[1:15:47] up. And if you do it again, it happened

[1:15:50] again and again and again. So, we need

[1:15:53] to listen to this coach. and he's more

[1:15:56] than a coach. He's a leader out there in

[1:15:58] the community and in the school system

[1:16:01] CMSD or the city of Cleveland, Mr.

[1:16:03] Mayor, you can go see him and find out

[1:16:06] what he need so that we can continue to

[1:16:09] help the children in the community. And

[1:16:12] that's all I have to say. Thank you very

[1:16:14] much.

[1:16:15] » Thank you,

[1:16:19] Councilwoman Nikki Hudson.

[1:16:23] » Thank you, Mr. President. Um,

[1:16:26] I would like to speak tonight about

[1:16:29] illegal dumping.

[1:16:31] I reached out to the mayor two weeks ago

[1:16:34] out of frustration because of a an

[1:16:37] ongoing situation with illegal dumping

[1:16:39] on a property

[1:16:42] on a privatelyowned vacant lot in Ward

[1:16:45] 11. I want to be clear that my

[1:16:48] frustration is not with any one person

[1:16:50] or department, but with the overall

[1:16:53] system

[1:16:55] and the general lack of enforcement of

[1:16:57] illegal dumping laws in the city of

[1:16:59] Cleveland

[1:17:00] and in getting sites cleaned up,

[1:17:04] particularly on private property.

[1:17:07] When illegal dumping happens in a

[1:17:09] neighborhood, everyone suffers. We

[1:17:12] cannot wait 30 days or however long

[1:17:18] for the owner, often an absentee or out

[1:17:22] ofstate property owner, to do the right

[1:17:25] thing. The stress that puts on the

[1:17:28] surrounding neighborhood is far too

[1:17:31] great.

[1:17:32] In the situation that I contacted the

[1:17:34] mayor about on Muriel Avenue in Ward 11,

[1:17:39] I ended up pulling together a crew from

[1:17:44] Metro West CDC, Westtown CDC, and then

[1:17:48] my office team, Jean and Paula, and

[1:17:51] myself, and we went out on a Friday

[1:17:53] afternoon, a rainy, muddy afternoon, and

[1:17:58] we removed 14,000 pounds of deb debris

[1:18:03] from this one vacant lot at 3801 Muriel.

[1:18:10] The CDC's created this program, this

[1:18:14] illegal dumping removal program out of

[1:18:16] necessity, and Metro West keeps a

[1:18:19] running tally of the garbage they

[1:18:22] removed.

[1:18:23] So far in 2026, they've removed 526

[1:18:30] 526,000

[1:18:32] lbs of debris, not from the entire city,

[1:18:36] just from this one part of the city

[1:18:39] that's in their service area. And I know

[1:18:42] that this is a citywide problem.

[1:18:46] So, what are we doing about it? What I

[1:18:49] want to know is what are we doing as a

[1:18:52] city to prevent illegal dumping from

[1:18:55] happening? This situation on Muriel,

[1:18:58] multiple people called the police when

[1:19:00] this was happening. People provided the

[1:19:02] license plate number. People provided

[1:19:05] videos with the license plate number of

[1:19:08] of the of the vehicles involved. Even

[1:19:12] when city departments without went out

[1:19:14] there, spoke with the individuals

[1:19:16] involved in the dumping. But still the

[1:19:19] situation persisted.

[1:19:21] Still now if if me and and my team

[1:19:24] hadn't gone out to clean this site up,

[1:19:26] it would still be exactly how it was two

[1:19:30] weeks ago. The and it's it's still it's

[1:19:33] not completely cleaned up. It's better,

[1:19:36] but it's it's not completely cleaned up.

[1:19:40] So why is this problem so huge? Why do

[1:19:44] why do businesses because this is what's

[1:19:47] happening. Businesses are disrespecting

[1:19:50] our neighborhoods. They are

[1:19:52] disrespecting our city because they feel

[1:19:55] like they can come and dump whatever

[1:19:58] they want in the middle of our

[1:19:59] neighborhoods in the middle of the day

[1:20:03] with no repercussions.

[1:20:05] So, I want to know why aren't we

[1:20:07] enforcing the laws on our books? And if

[1:20:10] the laws aren't strong enough, then we

[1:20:13] need to change them because this is if

[1:20:15] you want to talk about quality of life

[1:20:17] and you want to keep people from leaving

[1:20:19] the city, this problem needs to be

[1:20:22] solved. The situation you see on the

[1:20:25] news in East Cleveland, it's happening

[1:20:27] in Cleveland. It's happening at

[1:20:30] prominent intersections in in all of our

[1:20:33] neighborhoods. And if we don't if we

[1:20:35] can't tackle this, then what are we

[1:20:37] doing? Thank you.

[1:20:40] » Thank you. [applause]

[1:20:45] Thank you, Councilwoman. I don't see any

[1:20:48] other uh miscellaneous comments.

[1:20:52] Therefore, madame clerk, please excuse

[1:20:54] the absences.

[1:20:56] » By council member Shaw, that the absence

[1:20:58] of council member Santana is hereby

[1:21:01] excused, seconded by council member

[1:21:03] Davis.

[1:21:04] » Thank you. Uh council has adjourned to

[1:21:06] the call of the chair. The next meeting

[1:21:08] of council will be on Monday, September

[1:21:11] the 21st uh at 2026 at 7 p.m. Thank you.

[1:21:28] » [music]

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