The Cleveland Documenters team was in Chicago this week for a summit celebrating the civic power being built by people in more than a dozen cities that now have Documenters programs!

Here in Cleveland, we have a few bits from recent public meetings to share, including a contract approved to continue replacing outdated water service lines, and a call to have health professionals, not police, respond to mental health crises. Check out what we learned in this week’s episode.👇🏿

Listen to this week’s Public Meetings Report here:

The Documenters whose work contributed to this episode are:

  • Janelle James
  • Ayanna Watkins
  • Jenna Thomas
  • Tina Scott
  • Mildred Seward
  • Stesia Swain

Their work has been compiled this week by Signal Cleveland’s Rachel Dissell and Dakotah Kennedy. The Public Meetings Report is produced by Gennifer Harding-Gosnell. 

Learn how to become a Cleveland Documenter ⁠here⁠. The next Cleveland Documenters orientation is Thursday, September 21, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

The Public Meetings Report is produced by Signal Cleveland and Cleveland Documenters, in partnership with WOVU 95.9FM “Our Voices United,” a Burten, Bell, Carr community radio station.

Show notes:

Signal Cleveland meeting briefs:

Documenters coverage: 

  • Board of Control meeting Notes [1], Notes [2] and Live-Tweets (Cleveland Documenters, August 30, 2023) 
  • Mental Health Response Advisory Committee Community Engagement Committee Notes and Live-Tweets (Cleveland Documenters, August 31, 2023) 
  • City Planning Commission Notes and Live-Tweets (Cleveland Documenters, September 1, 2023) 

Related Signal Cleveland reporting: 

Legislation: 

  • Legislation approving lead and galvanized piping replacement

Recordings: 

Other resources: 

The Public Meetings Report is a weekly audio rundown of what happened in local government meetings here in Greater Cleveland – in five minutes or less! The show is based on the work of Cleveland Documenters – residents like you who are trained and paid to document these meetings for the public. Produced by Signal Cleveland and Cleveland Documenters, in partnership with WOVU 95.9FM “Our Voices United,” a Burten, Bell, Carr community radio station.

Gennifer Harding-Gosnell, Freelance Audio Producer(she/her)
Gennifer is a news writer returning to her first love, radio. She holds a MA in Journalism from Kingston University in the UK, and has spent the last couple years as a Cleveland Documenter.

Cleveland Documenters pays and trains people to cover public meetings where government officials discuss important issues and decide how to spend taxpayer money.

Managing Editor, Community (he/they)
Lawrence, a 2022 Stanford JSK Community Impact Fellow, was most recently field coordinator for Cleveland Documenters, where they led the recruitment of more than 600 Greater Cleveland residents. They bring a wealth of knowledge about journalism, civic engagement and technology. Lawrence has worked in non-commercial media for over 28 years, including 11 years at Ideastream where they focused on civic engagement and media production.