As local elections approach, Clevelanders are deeply concerned about a lot of things — safety, public transit and road conditions, schools and housing, to name a few. But they also love their communities. They believe the city could thrive if elected officials did a better job of listening to residents and learning from them how and where to invest resources.

Those are the high-level takeaways from My Cleveland Agenda, a summer-long community listening project that sent four curious Clevelanders across the city to engage with their fellow residents. My Cleveland Agenda was organized by the Journalism + Design Lab (J+D) at The New School in New York, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) and Cleveland’s Neighborhood Media Foundation and supported by Signal Cleveland.

The four Community Listening Fellows — Dru Thompson, Teralawanda Aaron and Cleveland Documenters Emma Sedlak and Tucker Handley — spent about two months talking to people at events, in coffee shops, at bus stops and at community gathering places such as the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and Tri-C Access Centers.

They were joined by staff from four community media outlets – The Lotus, the Erie Chinese Journal, Profile News Ohio and La Villa CLE – who interviewed people in their communities with support from Neighborhood Media Foundation. All told, the team spoke with more than 170 people across the city. 

J+D and Signal Cleveland reviewed the responses and worked with the fellows and community media outlets to identify the most common priorities.

Housing 

People want more affordable housing, support for the unhoused, rehabilitation of vacant properties and a review of property development and tax abatement policies.

“I would invest in fixing up vacant properties on the East Side and turning them into affordable housing.”

“I’d want to make sure existing residents get LandBank properties.”

“I would shift the residential tax abatement program away from new construction and towards historic preservation.”

Safety

Gun violence and neighborhood crime were the top safety concerns, followed by the lack of mental health services.

“Trying to get more police on the force. Deal with this violence that’s going on.”

“You want to be able to go outside; you want to feel safe.”

“I think violence is the number one problem for everything that happens in this world.”

Community investment and uplift

The fellows heard a lot of requests for support for small businesses and other investment in neighborhoods, as well as for more activities for youth and easier access to food and to voting. 

“Make it easier for small business owners. Get rid of red tape preventing folks from participating in the local economy.”

“Funnel money into nonprofits who support grassroots work and services that help the people.”

“Who looks out for the little man? We all just out here looking out for ourselves.”

Roads and public transit 

There was wide agreement on the need to address road conditions (including cleanliness) and to support accessible and safe public transit.

“Our streets are damaging cars and hurting local pride.”

“Work on fixing the roads and stoplights. I think it matters to the quality of life, even if it seems like a small thing.”

“I use the bus daily, and it’s stressful.”

Public institutions and public spaces

People want more investment in public schools, libraries, parks and other community spaces.

“Try to get stakeholders together to improve schools.”

“Kids need spaces to explore their skills and creativity. They need to feel supported and challenged to be their best selves.”

“[Create an] easier process to obtain community gardens.”

There were also some themes that spanned across specific priorities.

Pride and care for Cleveland

People frequently expressed pride in Cleveland and a desire for local government investment to match community needs. There is a real sense of community nostalgia. People want to build back community spaces and a stronger middle class: “I want [officials] to know that there’s people willing to do what it takes to make this community better.” … “[Cleveland is] resilient and full of potential.”

Young people

Whether people were talking about schools, safety, mental health or spaces to convene, community members were concerned about young people.

“If I were an elected official my first act would be meeting with the youth. Why? To see what their needs are, the most important things are getting jobs and training [for those who will be] our future.”

“Open more recreation for the kids, more events [to] get young people involved, give them something to do.”

A call for politicians and leaders to listen

“I don’t think we have enough democracy in this city.” …

“Work to set up some systems for citizens to have a greater voice in decision-making on an ongoing basis.”

“We expect our elected leaders to be well-informed about the Indian community and its contribution to the larger American community.”

Voter disenfranchisement and distrust of government

People spoke of the need to “get rid of corrupt politicians,” review budgets and some expressed frustration over the Browns stadium move. Many community members of color said they are tired of elected officials and corporations making promises, but not fulfilling them.

“I would like for our elected officials to be transparent and not do things with developers behind the scenes.” 

Community harm

Residents are worried about how their information and identities are captured. A Palestinian American is worried about free speech backlash. Some Hispanic community members shared frustration about being asked about local government at the same time they are carrying around their birth certificates in fear of ICE raids.

Methodology and respondent demographics

The fellows and community media partners interviewed 172 people across Cleveland. Of those who shared demographic information: 

• 50% identified as women, 44.8% as men and 5.2% as trans or non-binary.

• People identified as Black/African American (29.4%), white (21.6%) or Latino/Hispanic/Spanish (21.6%). Fellows also spoke to people who identified as Middle Eastern/North African, Asian and Multiracial. 

• The fellows spoke to people of all ages. The largest group was those over 65 (23.7%). They also spoke with people under 18 (7.9%), who shared their perspectives about voting and the future. 

• Fellows also spoke to a small number of non-citizens and those outside the boundaries of voting in Cleveland. 

Meet the fellows

From Dru Thompson:

I loved being able to have conversations with people who both shared my views and challenged them. It also pushed me to research things that I was not fully educated about.

Some of the most memorable conversations I had were with my own family. Hearing how engaged they are with local issues…inspired deeper discussions at home and reminded me how valuable everyday conversations can be. 

This experience opened my eyes to how much attention national politics gets compared to local elections — and how important it is to shift that focus. It reinforced my belief that change truly starts at the community level, and that each of us has a role in making sure those local voices are heard.

From Emma Sedlak:

Cleveland residents love our city and are brimming with ideas to make it even better. Among the varied priorities, a sense of care and pride united respondents. “We all care about each other, and we want better because Cleveland is awesome,” remarked one interviewee, underscoring how this powerful sense of solidarity drives even the most practical policy priorities.

No one understands the needs, frustrations and hopes of Cleveland residents better than Cleveland residents themselves. This deep well of local knowledge and passion is a powerful resource — one that elected officials too often neglect. The folks elected to represent our communities must be prepared to listen — on schools, transit, housing and more — and deliver real improvements that meet community needs. After all, as one resident so powerfully put it, “strong communities can flourish when given the right opportunities.”

From Teralawanda Aaron:

Are you, like me, wondering if you are the only one who feels like government is failing you? Do you feel as if you have a voice in the current democracy process? I was given an opportunity to answer my own questions by participating in the listening fellows cohort.

Many people were largely focused on community life. This is something I expected to hear, but not expecting it to be at the forefront of most of my conversations. I expected people to talk about money, jobs, the economy or even President Trump. I was truly surprised that most spoke about abandoned houses, dirty streets, garbage, things to do in our community and places to visit. There was a lot of talk about the youth and the lack of opportunities that they have for recreation, education and employment.

From Tucker Handley:

I noticed a split in the people I interviewed over the past couple of months. People I met at events like candidate forums were highly engaged in local politics, while people I spoke to at church community meals and the Cleveland Food Bank were less so. It drove home the point that where people are in their lives is a big factor in their engagement.

Looking back, I feel a disconnect between the large majority of respondents who said they would vote in November and spoke about voting as a privilege and responsibility, compared with the 7% average turnout in Cleveland for the Sept. 9 primary. Were people just telling me what they thought I wanted to hear? Were people planning to vote over-represented in my social groups and the public settings I visited? I think this is just an unanswered question for me from this project.

With Cleveland elections next month, keep the conversation going

Journalism + Design Lab (J+D) at The New School in New York, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) and Cleveland’s Neighborhood Media Foundation invite you to keep the conversation going. They are asking: How do the themes in the My Cleveland Agenda resonate with your own priorities for local elected officials?

You can host a constructive dialogue in your community using the Agenda. Just gather at least two other people in your community, read the Agenda together and discuss how it lines up with what you’d like to see.

If you organize a conversation around the Agenda in your community, let them know by filling out this brief form and you will be entered into a raffle for a gift card.

This story was updated to clarify the contributions of the four news organizations that are part of the Neighborhood Media Foundation.