Council committee advances loads of legislation ahead of year’s final meeting

Dec. 5 – Committee of the Whole, Cleveland City Council
Covered by Documenters Daniel McLaughlin, Gennifer Harding-Gosnell, Marvetta Rutherford and Tina Scott

What happened: Cleveland City Council met as a Committee of the Whole for more than eight hours on Dec. 5. Four Documenters split up the task of covering the marathon meeting. Council members discussed and advanced dozens of emergency ordinances ahead of the final regular meeting of 2022 later that night. Here are some items that the committee approved and that full council passed at its 7 p.m. meeting: 

• Paid safe leave: Full- and part-time city employees who are victims — or who are a parent or guardian of a victim — of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking get paid leave. The legislation applies only to non-union employees. Ward 17 Council Member Charles Slife said council amended the legislation to require the administration to provide updates on whether city worker unions also get a paid safe leave policy.
• East Side lakefront study: The city contributes $150,000 to a study assessing proposed greenspace along Lake Erie on the city’s East Side. Partners include the Cleveland MetroParks, the Port of Cleveland, Black Environmental Leaders and others. Kelly Coffman, principal planner with the MetroParks, said funders have committed $6 million for construction and engineering. Coffman added that the total cost of development would be about $300 million.
• Compost at West Side Market: Rust Belt Riders will run a pilot compost program at the West Side Market. Sarah O’Keeffe, Cleveland’s director of sustainability and climate justice, said Rust Belt Riders will send some of the compost materials to the Rid-All Green Partnership in Kinsman. Ward 8 Council Member Mike Polensek said he wants the administration to create a residential composting program.

Left wondering: Documenter Daniel McLaughlin asked, “Why is so much crammed into this last meeting of the year, anyway? How much of it has an urgent or hard deadline at the end of 2022? How much of it could have just as easily waited until next year?”

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