Covered by Documenter Stesia Swain (tweets)
Cleveland City Council approved dozens of pieces of legislation at its July 12 meeting. Here are a few items council passed:
- Parental leave: 12 weeks of paid parental leave for full-time non-union city employees (eligibility for union workers depends on their collective bargaining agreements).
- Permits for parklets: A new permitting process for parklets, or curbside areas. Restaurants started using them to expand outdoor seating during the pandemic.
- Housing for veterans: Plans for housing in Union-Miles for veterans experiencing homelessness. The city is set to contribute up to $750,000 of federal stimulus money to the project.
Table for 22
Council also tabled 22 pieces of legislation. When council tables legislation, it cannot review that specific piece again but new legislation can be proposed. Here are two items council tabled:
- License for short-term rentals: This would have required property owners to get a license from the city before offering short-term rentals such as AirBnb in a residential district.
- University Circle special improvement district: This resolution would have allowed University Circle Inc. to assess property owners–including commercial properties and some rentals–a fee to help fund their police force.
An airing of grievances
- Hiring officers: Council Members Michael Polensek, Richard Starr and Joe Jones each shared concerns about violence in their wards. Referencing promises made during budget hearings this spring, Polensek said the administration had enacted neither a marketing nor a recruitment plan to hire more police officers.
- ‘Not fair dealers’: Council Member Stephanie Howse announced that she and Council Member Deborah Gray will be submitting amendments to the ordinance creating the Commision on Black Women and Girls. City Council never saw applications for the commission until they saw the list of nominees, she said. And that the administration nominated people who had applied after the deadline passed.
Check out more details from Documenter Stesia Swain’s live-tweet thread: