Nov. 30 – Safety Committee, Cleveland City Council
Covered by Documenter Gennifer Harding-Gosnell

Ward 5 Council Member Richard Starr asks questions at the Safety Committee meeting. (Credit: Cleveland City Council YouTube / Org: Cleveland City Council).
Ward 5 Council Member Richard Starr asks questions at the Safety Committee meeting. (Credit: Cleveland City Council YouTube / Org: Cleveland City Council).

What happened: The committee advanced legislation that would renew a lease for one year for Cleveland’s police headquarters. The city leases space from Cuyahoga County at the Justice Center downtown. The city previously owned the space and sold it to the county for $9.25 million in 2018. Signal Cleveland’s Paul Rochford reported earlier this year that the city was on track to pay more in rent than it sold the space for, particularly if it renewed the lease. The city announced Nov. 29 that it has selected 2530 Superior Ave. for the new police headquarters. But in this meeting, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects James DeRosa said the move would not happen until 2025. 

Homicide review team: The committee also advanced legislation that would accept a grant for $17,500. The Department of Public Safety would use the grant to fund a homicide review commission. Members of the Cleveland Division of Police and the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office meet monthly to review homicide cases, according to Cleveland’s Assistant Director of Public Safety George Coulter. Council Member Mike Polensek said $17,000 is not enough. Officials discussed support for crime victims and witnesses. Council Member Richard Starr mentioned the work done at Brenda Glass Trauma Center. A majority of the funding would be put toward witness-relocation efforts, according to the grant.

And also: Four other grants for Public Safety received committee approval. One for $1.7 million would focus on violent-crime reduction.

Read Documenter Gennifer Harding-Gosnell’’s live Tweet from the meeting:

Curious about how council moves legislation? Check out our one-page guide to council’s legislative process.

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