Members of the Cleveland Board of Control meet in the Red Room at City Hall on Feb. 8.
Members of the Cleveland Board of Control meet in the Red Room at City Hall on Feb. 8. Credit: Cleveland Board of Control YouTube

Covered by Documenters Daniel McLaughlin and Mildred Seward

What happened: The board approved contracts with insurance companies to provide health benefits to city employees. The contracts could cost up to the following amounts per year: 

  • Anthem Blue Cross: $45 million
  • Medical Mutual of Ohio: $80 million
  • Delta Dental: $5 million
  • EyeMed: $600,000
  • Symetra Life Insurance: $300,000

An official said the city’s 2020 healthcare costs were about $110 million. This resolution was not on the meeting agenda.

Third time’s the charm, sort of: Fixes are coming to flooring at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The city received bids for this work three times, and, each time, vendors failed to meet Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) goals, according to Interim Director of Port Control Dennis Kramer. But, this being the third round of bids, the department recommended going forward with Architectural Floors of Cleveland, Inc., a plan the board approved. An official said the approved vendor was only off from OEO goals by a small margin. The contract covers any flooring that needs repair, including within restrooms.

And also: The board approved the purchase of new safety boots for the Cleveland Division of Fire for $219,937. 

Read the live-tweet thread from Documenter Daniel McLaughlin:

What is the Cleveland Board of Control? What power does it have? Signal Cleveland’s Service Journalism Reporter Abbey Marshall answered those questions and more in this Board of Control explainer.

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