Cleveland’s Ward 9 covers the Glenville neighborhood, part of University Circle and stretches to the boarder of Collinwood.

Council Member Kevin Conwell faces Alana Belle in the Nov. 4 general election.

Share a bit about your previous experience in elected office, government or community work

I started organizing 15 years ago…by accident. What started with standing in solidarity with other Clevelanders/Northeast Ohioans who felt the pain of nationally circulated instances of police brutality grew into a dedicated commitment to advocacy in many forms. I coordinated, hosted, or spoke at protests/rallies that responded to local incidents of police violence, workers’ rights violations, and other instances where our freedoms were threatened. If you stood with the people in the streets of Cleveland during the onslaught of the Black Lives Matter movement, you stood with Alana. 

As an electoral organizer, I spent more than 10 years fighting for the people of Ohio — especially Black women and girls. Through various positions in nonprofits, I facilitated trainings that teach residents about civic engagement opportunities like lobbying elected officials and circulating petitions to get statewide initiatives on the ballot – including the successful 2023 Issue 1 Reproductive Freedom ballot initiative. The educational programs I curated teach people how to protect racial justice, environmental wellness, economic stability, reproductive freedom, voter protections, and workers’ rights.

I have a foundation of justice and a history of community service that centers our people, our policies, and our protections

What are the three most important issues facing the ward you want to represent?

After months of listening to my neighbors throughout the ward and former residents of Glenville and Collinwood, our 3 most common conversations focus on:

Housing – making sure residents have access to affordable, lead-safe housing in areas that have been well maintained.

Safety – different parts of the ward have strong feelings about finding ways to reduce violence & vary on if prevention can/should without the police and what it would look like

Resources – between blown streetlights, crumbling rec centers, and a high concentration of abandoned buildings, there is a clear line of demarcation for the distribution of city services.

Council members have money set aside money from casino taxes and other sources to spend on neighborhood projects. How would you spend your share?

I would, to the best of my ability within the limitations of Cleveland City Council, pilot a participatory budgeting effort that allows Ward 9 residents to decide how/where those funds go. I’d love to see these funds be used to ensure every person in our ward has food, shelter, and opportunities to learn new skills.

As a council member, how would you handle input and feedback from residents you represent?

Block Clubs: Attend meetings for existing block clubs with the purpose of listening, not presenting | Assist interested neighbors in establishing block clubs for their area of the ward

Survey: Develop & distribute a community survey that covers various aspects of residents’ daily lives | Provide a quantitative & qualitative report of Ward 9 experiences | Host series of community meetings to discuss my policy & practice suggestions | Listen to community feedback & reasonably integrate suggestions into our plan

Office Hours: Bi-weekly “office hours” at public locations in the ward | Virtual Office Hours with flexible times

Supporting local organizations that serve Ward 9 in various fields of study

Affordable housing is a critical issue for Clevelanders. How do you define affordable? And what specific plans or ideas do you have to create more housing that working class Clevelanders can afford to rent or buy?

Socially, I define affordable as rent low enough to still afford the necessities inside & outside of my home. Financially, we know that the “3x the rent” metric isn’t sufficient for most people and we need to re-evaluate what Cleveland’s definition of “affordable” is. One solution for Ward 9 would be to invest in mixed-income housing units that allow people paying luxury & market-rate prices to subsidize housing costs for qualifying families. For homeowners, I would like to update zoning laws to allow for certain add-ons that can house adult children/family/friends and accommodate elders who want to remain in their homes.

Clevelanders list public safety among their top concerns. The city has taken many approaches to prevent and respond to violence and make neighborhoods safer. How would you tackle this issue? Where should Cleveland City Council push for more investment?

Like most community issues, interpersonal violence is not a personal failing. Unsafe neighborhoods are the result of systemic violence — redlining, food insecurity, overpolicing, medical misdiagnoses, etc. It is possible to reduce violence with more organized community members, equitable resource distribution efforts, and consistent financial investment. Ensuring neighbors have food, shelter, quality healthcare providers, and well maintained neighborhoods through relationships with the Cleveland Food Bank, Cory & Glenville Rec Centers, and the local groups/organizations that serve the Ward.  

​​Should there be term limits for Cleveland City Council members?

Yes. 

Council members act as resident service representatives, legislators and guardians of city spending. Which of these roles matter to you most and why?

The roles are balanced for me, each unique but still just as necessary as the others. As an organizer, I’ve been involved in all three on some level and know that resident services are going to take more time, effort, and resources — including policy and budget.

Please share any other information you think is important for us to know about you and your campaign.

This is a Reproductive Justice (RJ) campaign. RJ sees all of our struggles as interconnected and dependent upon each other — our economic status determines the environmental issues we are exposed to, that determines the working conditions of our teachers; those conditions influence the education of our children, which is then assessed in the medical care and physical wellbeing of our families, etc. There are just as many pathways to the success for our communities as there were pathways to the issues we see everyday. I am prepared to take a progressive ideology to Cleveland City Council and utilize realistic approaches to implementing them.

On whether there should be term limits for council members: ABSOLUTELY. Public service positions should be obtained in the most authentic conditions for people altruistically dedicated to service to facilitate the needs of the people. Longevity in elected positions can allow room for misrepresentation for the people, outside influence for the elected official, and a dangerous complacency for everybody.

Candidate answers were edited for clarity. We took out responses that were off topic or included comments about opponents.

Share a bit about your previous experience in elected office, government or community work.

I have more than three decades under my belt working as a private and public servant of the people. I spent years as a community activist before taking a seat on city council 24 years ago. In the process, I’ve been recognized locally and nationally by the community, the media and various organizations. I’ve won three national awards – National Father of the Year from the National Fatherhood Initiative in Washington, D.C.; National City Cultural Diversity Award for Disabilities Awareness, and the National Public Leadership in the Arts Award from Americans for the Arts and the National League of Cities. I have been recognized annually in Who’s Who in Black Cleveland.

What I am most proud of as I reflect on my legacy as councilman is that I don’t just vote on legislation, I actually write policy and I have a track record for introducing new laws, ordinances and resolutions that shape our government and better our communities. 

What are the three most important issues facing the ward you want to represent?

Unfortunately the literacy rate is low and the number of vape shops is high. There’s a good seven or so vaping stores in my ward alone. We’re unsure of what health problems this could cause in the future, but you can’t wait for something to get out of control before legislating it. For example, just recently, I legislated laws with other council members to regulate smoke and vape shops in the City of Cleveland. As a cancer survivor, this was important for me to help legislate. Other cities have borrowed and enforced similar regulations based on our legislation.

Believe it or not, the ability to read keeps crime rates down and aids in combating health disparities. This is why I’ve helped to foster reading programs. If you can’t comprehend what the physician is telling you and can’t read what’s on the end-of-visit summary, how will you begin to heal? This is why I championed Glenville University Hospitals Community Center, a $17 million building, to help end health disparities.

But what really scares me about healthcare inequality is the potential collapse of NEON Health Center. It is needed in the inner city. If they collapse, it will affect thousands of jobs as well as healthcare. That is what worries me the most.

Also, three-quarters of the homes in Glenville are headed by single mothers. I am working with organizations in the neighborhood to provide programming that promotes engaged parenting and keeps children busy and off the streets during out of school times and when mom, dad, grandma or other caregivers are at work. I’m working with the city to get a bond to revitalize the rec centers in the ward.

Council members have money set aside money from casino taxes and other sources to spend on neighborhood projects. How would you spend your share?

I’ve spent a lot of the casino dollars on youth programs. My goal is to support youth and the arts. The arts build character and help keep children off of the streets.

Here is a breakdown of how I have spent nearly $105,000 of casino taxes so far this year.

Cleveland Public Theatre: $5,000 | Emergency Food Distribution: $40,000 | Cleveland Music School Settlement: $24,988 | Fatima Family Center after-school: $8,500 | Cleveland MOTTEP: $5,000 | Center for the Arts Inspired Learning: $20,000 | Puerto Rican Expo 2025: $1,000

Through my partnership with Center for the Arts Inspired Learning, my program Play it Forward Cleveland collects new, used and gently used musical instruments to donate to children. This builds character and fosters education.

I plan to spend more dollars on housing and storefront renovation to kill blight in the community.

As a council member, how would you input and feedback from residents you represent?

I meet with my residents every third Thursday to discuss policy and quality of life issues. I ask them what key stakeholders could help them, and then I bring those stakeholders to the meetings. If residents can’t make these meetings, I deliver the information to the residents during my Ward Walks. I walk the streets of the neighborhood and interact with them, bring them information and collect information from them as well. This is also a way I promote healthy lifestyles, leading by example.

I stay connected with the businesses in the neighborhood and ask them to employ my residents. I establish health fairs, housing fairs, senior events, back-to-school events, and I show up to all of these personally, meet with my residents and ask them if there is anything else I can provide them with.

I engage with my residents – by mail, by phone and in person, from visiting with the elders of the community to visiting the young scholars at their schools. I make my presence known. I provide them with information on how to get assistance fixing up their homes and include them in the process of renaming their education institutions from names of former slave owners to honor those like Stephanie Tubbs Jones. I’ve done this in CMSD schools in my ward and beyond. Cleveland State’s law school brings people to Cleveland from all over the world. It was important to work with those students to rename it from John Marshall to Cleveland School of Law. This better represents Cleveland to the world. 

Affordable housing is a critical issue for Clevelanders. How do you define affordable? And what specific plans or ideas do you have to create more housing that working class Clevelanders can afford to rent or buy?

Affordable to me is more than a concept. We can follow a guideline that says we won’t take more than 30% of your income, but how are we preparing you to get better jobs, better healthcare, better housing without paying top dollar for it? These are basic necessities. These have to go hand-in-hand.

I focus on healthcare inequality and housing inequality but also healing. How to fix systemic problems and break cycles. What we’re doing for affordable housing is opening spaces like the Hitchcock Center for Women and Children where we provide individualized service plans to residents to help stabilize mothers while their children get an education across the street at Willson Elementary School on Ansel Road. This is recovery housing offering single units and family suites. Anyone who knows me knows I’m big on pushing the fatherhood movement, but the reality is there’s a great portion of the ward operating with single parent households, single mothers to be exact. So, I have to do something for them as well. And what we’re doing is opening the Hitchcock Center for Women and Children — a $27 million building — with a ribbon cutting Sept. 15.

Additionally, I have partnered with Cleveland Housing Court Judge W. Mona Scott for a resource fair this upcoming Thursday, Aug. 28, from 4-6 p.m. at the Glenville Recreation Center. Residents can get assistance with housing, utilities, legal aid, home restoration, property taxes and so much more.

Just last month we opened Garrett Square Apartments, a 49-unit senior housing complex where those on fixed incomes can still enjoy modern amenities, a workout facility, things that not only provide housing but also quality of life. 

Clevelanders list public safety among their top concerns. The city has taken many approaches to prevent and respond to violence and make neighborhoods safer. How would you tackle this issue? Where should  City Council should push for more investment?

I am a huge proponent of investing in and expanding community-oriented policing. This keeps all of us connected — the residents, the police and the councilperson.

I am so much of a proponent of community policing that I call Commander Johnson up and he will send me a CSU unit (Community Service Unit) to do knock-and-talks. This is where we visit residents personally and find out what and where the issues are. When you build rapport with residents and police, they feel more comfortable telling you where the problem areas are, the hotspots for crime, etc.

This gets officers out of their patrol cars and into our neighborhoods— fostering real, personal relationships between officers and residents. We also need police to walk the beat, be present at social centers and block clubs getting to know the people, not just when a crime has been committed, but on a regular basis. This is also why I host events like Jazz and Coffee with a Cop with my band Councilman Kevin Conwell and Footprints. This adds the arts component, helping to further build connectivity. Just last week my wife and I hosted Pizza with a Cop. Here, residents interact with police, find out officers’ names, and share their concerns. This helps lower their guards.

Not all cops are naturally equipped to do community-oriented policing. The city should definitely invest in more of this type of training. 

Should there be term limits for Cleveland City Council members?

No.

Council members can act as customer service representatives, legislators and a guardians of city spending. Which of these roles matter to you most and why?

All of these matter to me and are equally important. I am elected to serve the people. Whenever I see things that can benefit my residents, that is always my top priority. But I can’t do this without writing policy to make sure those services are implemented and the community’s needs are being met, like the recently passed smoke shop legislation and bringing a business incubator to the neighborhood with GlenVillage.

I even go down state. My wife and I have visited personally with the governor at his home to talk about issues affecting Cleveland as a whole, not just my ward. My job as a councilman is to write policy for people who live, work and travel through the entire city of Cleveland, not just Ward 9. That policy affects the lives of those people. I love budgeting as well. I’m an MBA, how can I not love managing budgets? It’s a top priority to keep services and resources. If you improperly manage a budget, people will not remember all of the good things you put in place, they’ll remember that you didn’t handle their funds correctly. My reputation and my legacy are on the line. I want to be remembered as a servant of my people who actually got things done, addressed their needs, was never associated with anything inappropriate and revitalized the community. They all intertwine together. 

Please share any other information you think is important for us to know about you and your campaign.

After all these years on city council, I’m still having fun campaigning and talking with my residents. But I’m also still learning from them because their needs are constantly changing. I’m not only a councilman for Glenville, I’m a councilman for Cleveland. Elected officials need to understand that the people are our bosses, our board of directors. We are our best selves when we are properly representing them.

As a team — my wife, my residents and I — we’ve accomplished a lot in Ward 9, but I don’t believe we’re through. As an incumbent my focus is on place matters. Community creates a sense of belonging and makes people want to grow roots and utilize what the community has to offer such as rec centers and libraries. I championed the MLK Library, a $20 million project, as well as the Glenville Library, an $8 million project. Again, I am all for projects dedicated to raising literacy.

But I have more milestones to meet, like working with the YMCA to build a brand new facility in Glenville, renovating GlenVillage and ending blight. We have a powerful asset in our proximity to University Circle, and we need to capitalize on it. We must continue to invest in our commercial districts, particularly along East 105th Street, Superior, and St. Clair, to create an environment that is attractive to both local entrepreneurs and larger businesses. These are main arteries for Ward 9 and the city overall. 

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Tony Evans Jr. did not advance past the September primary.

Share a bit about your previous experience in elected office, government or community work.

At the age of 21, I was a candidate for Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I received 20% of the vote. After the election, the mayor appointed me to sit on the Community Service Board of South Florida.

What are the three most important issues facing the ward you want to represent?

Poverty, crime and economic development

Council members have money set aside money from casino taxes and other sources to spend on neighborhood projects. How would you spend your share?

The vacant homes that are worth saving but are simply sitting in the community, rotting away and hindering progress, could be purchased from private investors and equity firms that own them. I would allocate the funds to address foundation issues, update the electrical system to code, fix any roofing problems, and then sell the homes to residents in the community who desire to become homeowners. By selling these homes, I would recover the costs associated with purchasing and repairing the vacant houses, thereby providing low mortgage opportunities. Additionally, I would set aside a portion of the funds to establish scholarships for outstanding students and youths residing in the ward.

Over time, the funds spent would be made back from the selling of the revitalized homes. I would then take those funds and invest them in creating tiny home communities on any vacant lots that are owned by the city. I would also buy back vacant lots from private investors and equity firms, to build new housing.

As a council member, how would you gather input and feedback from residents you represent?

As a council member, I [would] firmly believe in the power of face-to-face conversations. I’ll keep canvassing throughout my time in office. I’ll also make sure to attend and host regular ward meetings throughout the year. And I’ll use social media to gather feedback and insights from our wonderful residents.

Affordable housing is a critical issue for Clevelanders. How do you define affordable? And what specific plans or ideas do you have to create more housing that working class Clevelanders can afford to rent or buy?

I define affordable as the ability to pay rent or mortgage and still manage other financial obligations. To achieve this, I would collaborate with my CDC to establish tiny home communities and homes using innovative building methods, utilizing non-traditional materials like shipping containers, and incorporating renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and water recycling to minimize utility costs. Additionally, I would ensure compliance with state law to enforce city rent ordinances.

Clevelanders list public safety among their top concerns. The city has taken many approaches to prevent and respond to violence and make neighborhoods safer. How would you tackle this issue? Where should Cleveland City Council push for more investment?

A multifaceted approach is needed. Community policing, culture competency training for police officers, and de-escalation techniques are essential. Youth violence prevention programs, such as after-school activities, job training, and mentorship, should be supported. Revitalizing crime-prone neighborhoods involves improving lighting, landscaping, and public space maintenance. Local businesses and entrepreneurs should be supported, and community centers should be invested in.

The city council should prioritize funding for public safety initiatives in impoverished areas and communities. Mental health services should also be increased.  

​​Should there be term limits for Cleveland City Council members?

Yes. 

Council members act as resident service representatives, legislators and guardians of city spending. Which of these roles matter to you most and why?

The role of guardians of city spending matters most, especially in the context of addressing urgent community needs like public safety. By prioritizing fiscal responsibility, transparency, and strategic resource allocation, council members can ensure that taxpayer dollars are used effectively to enhance the quality of life for residents. This guardianship fosters trust and accountability within the community while empowering residents to engage in the budgeting process.

Please share any other information you think is important for us to know about you and your campaign.

As a personal trainer, bodybuilder, and a 25-year veteran of the health industry, I possess a unique expertise that I am eager to contribute to the office of City Councilman for Ward 9. The ward stands at the precipice of transformative health and wellness initiatives and programs, and I am confident in my ability to effectively engage with stakeholders and advocate for their implementation.