Ward 10

Councilman Roosevelt Coats has been working tirelessly since 1987 moving Ward 10 progress in a positive direction.  He concerns himself with economic development, providing affordable housing for residents and monitoring the education opportunities provided through our school system.

Councilman Coats took on the demolition and clean-up of the Fisher Body Coit Road site, which had 47 acres of condemned building and contaminated soil, in the early 1990’s.  After a multi-million dollar demolition and environmental clean-up, the Councilman secured a U.S. Department of Labor commitment to build a Job Corp College Campus on 22 acres of the land, scheduled to open in late 2007.

Due to the tireless efforts of Councilman Coats, Ward 10 is experiencing a good deal of economic development, including two new up-scale housing communities at Creekside Reserve and Hurston Court; the replacement of abandoned buildings and clean-up of land to house a Track Field and Football Stadium with concessions and more than 5000 seats; the complete renovation of the Five Pointe Community Center that was completely renovated for the neighborhood residents; and several new schools – Memorial School, now open, and East Clark and Euclid Park Middle Schools, scheduled to open 2008-2009.

Councilman Coats sponsored legislation creating the Sustainability Program and energy conservation and savings program, which lowers utility costs for residents.  He also worked on legislation requiring 5% of energy used by government facilities to be renewable.

Councilman Coats is also very active on the local and national level.  He is a Past President of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials. and  He served on the Board of Directors for the National League of Cities (NLC), was the Vice-Chair of the NLC Public Safety and Crime Prevention Steering Committee and is a member of the NLC Advisory Committee.

Councilman Coats, a native of Forkland, Alabama, moved to Cleveland after graduating from high school.  He earned his degree in Business Administration from Dyke College.

Councilman Coats is a steward at Lee Memorial A.M.E. Church, where he and his wife Shirley have been members for more than 20 years.
Prior to serving on Council, Councilman Coats served in the United States Air Force and was a union representative for the United Steelworkers of America