Public commenters asked Cleveland City Council for information on a vacant school, to make life-saving CPR training available, and for help with traffic safety on Larchmere Boulevard.
The Public Comment CLE website has all of the week’s comments and transcripts, edited by Cleveland Documenter Carolyn Cooper. Read more about the meeting, which was covered by Documenters Chau Tang and Alicia Moreland.
Register to make a public comment or learn more about the process in our guide to public comment at Cleveland City Council.
Vacant school building

Cleveland resident Erick Walker asked council members what was happening with the vacant Robert Fulton Elementary School in Mt. Pleasant, which closed in 2010. Walker said he and others thought the property was going to be redeveloped but couldn’t get answers about it from the city.
The parking lot has consistently become an area for illegal dumping as well as a site for illegal fireworks during the Fourth of July. This site continues to plague our community.”
Erick Walker, Ward 1
Life-saving CPR training

Timothy Sommerfelt of Ward 15 said training more residents to perform CPR would save lives. Sommerfelt said 784 Clevelanders experienced sudden cardiac arrest last year and only 26 percent received CPR before EMS arrived.
I ask you guys, as you go through budget hearings this week–ask the safety director, ask the mayor. Say: ‘What do we need to do to get more people certified in CPR?'”
Timothy Sommerfelt, Ward 15
Watch Sommerfelt’s full comment.
Traffic safety

Anastasia Rokisky of Ward 4 spoke to council about the danger of pulling out from her street onto Larchmere Boulevard. She said she has to rely on a private mirror for safety.
And all it’s going to take is one person getting hurt, or hit. And I know that there have been some improvements on the Cleveland side to pedestrian safety there. But for driving safety, not so much.”
Anastasia Rokisky Ward 4