Ward 12

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About Rebecca Maurer

Councilwoman Maurer is a lawyer and community advocate. She focused her legal career on housing issues -- including lead poisoning in children, tenants' rights, and utilities access. During her time on Council, the Councilwoman has focused on creating change that residents can see and feel, by working to hold out-of-state landlords accountable, bettering city services, and creating programming for historically disinvested neighborhoods. Below are some initiatives Councilwoman Maurer has been involved in:

• Lead-Safe Housing in Cleveland -- During her time as policy attorney for Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing, Councilwoman Maurer drafted early versions of the 2019 law that requires rental property owners in Cleveland to prove that their units are safe from lead hazards. The Councilwoman has continued this work during her time on Council, serving as Co-Chair of the Cleveland Lead Safe Advisory Board. Councilwoman Maurer recently released recommendations for Cleveland as the city hopes to move into its next phase of tackling childhood lead poisoning.
• Holding out-of-state landlords accountable -- Councilwoman Maurer helped to draft and pass the Residents First legislation. Councilwoman Maurer works closely with Building and Housing to triage resident concerns and address dilapidated properties across Ward 12.
• Basic City Services -- Councilwoman Maurer has always been focused on providing quality city services to residents. During her first year in office, she released the first-ever Constituent Services Report, reviewing 6 months of Ward 12 call data and identifying changes needed at the city to improve the lives of all residents. The report led to further investment in the city's 311 system and systemic changes in how the city approaches resident needs.
• Tanisha's Law -- Councilwoman Maurer is a co-sponsor of Tanisha's Law, introduced in November 2024. Tanisha's Law would create an alternative, non-police response for people in crisis, also called "care response." It is named after Tanisha Anderson, who was killed by Cleveland Police in 2014 while experiencing a mental health crisis. Tanisha was 37 years old. She was known fondly for her problem-solving and dreams of becoming a broadcast journalist. You can read more about her story here.
• Ward 12 Commercial Corridor Program -- Councilwoman Maurer pushed for a commercial corridor development program in her Ward. This dedicated pot of funding has helped open small businesses along historic commercial corridors and is a blueprint for how to expand retail and commercial options in a range of neighborhoods from Old Brooklyn to Slavic Village.
• Accessibility -- Councilwoman Maurer has consistently advocated for making council and city services more accessible for residents with disabilities. This work has looked like advocating for WCAG website accessibility (something we have a ways to go on!) and pushing for the pilot of “Porous Flexible Pavement” as a sidewalk alternative to prevent cracks and ridges from forming in sidewalks. 

Councilwoman Maurer's Background

Prior to her time on Council, Councilwoman Maurer ran her own law practice, was a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, and clerked for Judge James Gwin of the Northern District of Ohio. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and her J.D. from Stanford Law School. When she was elected, she became the first out queer woman to serve on Cleveland City Council.

In 2018 and 2019, she was the policy attorney for Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing, a community coalition that pushed for the passage of a bill to better protect Cleveland's children from lead poisoning.

In 2020 she joined the Student Borrower Protection Center as counsel and program manager. In that role, she consulted with state legislatures on student loan issues and helped set up one of the first academic institutions in the country dedicated to student loan law.

As a community advocate, Councilwoman Maurer has been involved with organizations across the city: she served as a mentor and teacher at Minds Matter Cleveland; she is active in her block club; she was an inaugural participant in the Cleveland Leadership Center's Stokes Leadership Program; and she served on the board of Slavic Village Development. From 2018 until 2021, she served as the Ward Leader in Ward 12 and built a get-out-the-vote program across all four neighborhoods in the Ward.

Committees

Vice Chair – Health, Human Services & the Arts

Member – Municipal Services & Properties

Member – Operations

Member – Transportation & Mobility

Member – Rules