Cleveland residents came to City Council asking members to move on seating the Black Women and Girls Commission. The commission was created in June 2022 but has no members or budget. Another public commenter urged support for Cleveland Public Library workers.
The Public Comment CLE website has all of the week’s comments and transcripts, edited by Cleveland Documenter Gennifer Harding-Gosnell.
Register to make a public comment or learn more about the process in our guide to public comment at Cleveland City Council.
Black women and girls
Chinenye Nkemere, of Cleveland, challenged city officials to move forward with seating the Black Women and Girls Commission, which was created last summer but has not been seated and does not have a budget.
We should not have to repeatedly show up to ensure that an already passed legislation, you all passed this legislation, is actually carried through. This is an unfair expectation that Black women are consistently have to be put at the forefront of.”
Chinenye Nkemere, Cleveland
Supporting library workers
Terry Metter, Ward 15, representing Cleveland Public Library workers, said that the ranks of unionized library staff have shrunk from 800 in 2006 to 495 currently. He asked council to meet with and advocate for the workers.
These burnout-inducing staff levels are not sustainable, and they mean that the library still can’t return to pre-COVID hours in your wards. Three years into the pandemic, they also mean that hundreds of union jobs, a gateway into the middle class for people like me and many others, have been eliminated throughout the city.”
Terry Metter, Ward 15
State flat tax
Ohio Rep. Terrence Upchurch , who represents much of Cleveland, asked council members to pass a resolution opposing House Bill 1, proposed state legislation that would get rid of current income tax brackets and replace them with 2.75% “flat tax” on income over $26,050.
You all know that local governments have been suffering at the hands of the state legislature. There is more suffering to come if this bill passes.”
Rep. Terrence Upchurch, Cleveland