Council Meeting Highlights

Aug 13, 2025

City Council convened for its last summer, in-person meeting in Council Chambers, which was also live-streamed. Regular Council Meetings resume Monday, September 15th. Below are the highlights from today's meeting:

Safety Improvements to Downtown Parking Garages and Lots: Council has approved amendments to several Codified Ordinances concerning public garages and parking lots, aimed at enhancing public safety.

Lighting Requirements:
•    Public garages must maintain a minimum of 1 footcandle of illumination across all walking surfaces and 10 footcandles in stairwells and landings, in line with Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) best practices.
•    Lighting at these facilities must be shielded to prevent glare onto any adjacent residential buildings.
Downtown Designated Districts
(Including the Downtown Core, Warehouse, Erieview, and Gateway areas)
•    License applications must include a list of the security measures in place, subject to approval by the Cleveland Division of Police.
•    Renewal applications, or for licensing a registered parking lot, must include an approved site and landscape plan as documented in the certificate of occupancy. Ord. No. 726-2025

Brown's Stadium Repairs: Council has authorized the city to reimburse the Cleveland Browns Stadium Company LLC $2,654,953 for emergency repairs to Huntington Bank Field carried out by the Stadium Company. Ord. No. 725-2025

Major Improvements at Police Stations: Council approved upgrades to the City’s Division of Police district stations, financed through guaranteed energy savings performance contracts with Leopardo Energy, LLC, for a maximum cost of  $21 million. The contract with Leopardo Energy is to design, install, and implement. The financing of the improvements is under a lease-purchase agreement.  Ord. No. 723-2025

Improvements include:
•    HVAC replacements at Districts 1, 4, and 5
•    roof repairs at District 3 and replacement at District 5
•    acoustical ceiling replacements at Districts 1, 2, 4, and 5
•    replace windows and doors at Districts 1, 2, 4, and 5
•    whole building back-up generator power at Districts 1 and 5
•    modify District 4 electrical systems for full building back-up power on the existing generator
•    LED lighting fixture replacements, plumbing fixture replacements, building façade repairs, interior finish upgrades, roof solar installation with battery storage, and electrical wiring and service modifications at all Districts

City Jail Costs to Rise: Council approved legislation to raise the per diem rate for housing City prisoners in the Cuyahoga County jail from $99 to $143 per day, effective January 2026.

The legislation also revises other provisions of the City–County agreement on booking and charging prisoners. Updates include new timelines for filing charges and a requirement that City prosecutors and detectives be available between 8 am and midnight to meet those deadlines. Ord. No. 812-2025.

Stockyard and W. 25th Improvements: Council approved legislation granting a $2.3 million forgivable loan to the Metro West Community Development Organization as part of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. The funding, sponsored by Councilwoman Jasmin Santana, will support catalytic neighborhood development by assisting with the acquisition, holding, stabilization, pre-development, and soft costs, and related fees for multiple mixed-use commercial projects across commercial corridors in Ward 14. Ord. No. 1000-2025.

Landmark Status Designated to Greater New Calvary Baptist Church: Council approved designating Greater New Calvary Baptist Church, formerly the First Congregational Church of Collinwood, as a Cleveland Landmark. Sponsored by Councilman Anthony Hairston, the designation honors the historic church located at 822 East 150th St.  (also known as 14904 Aspinwall Avenue), which held its first service on September 26, 1895. 

After voting to disband in 1967, the building served a variety of community purposes, including the Collinwood Multi-Service Center, Cleveland Community Relations Board, Cleveland Center on Alcoholism, Juvenile Court, Planned Parenthood, Ohio Youth Commission, Collinwood Youth Association, American Friends Service Committee, and Cleveland: NOW! It was later renamed the Collinwood Community Service Center. 

In December 1971, the property was purchased from the Western Reserve Association of the United Church of Christ. Ord. No. 818-2025

José Ramírez Way: Council approved designating José Ramírez Way“ as the secondary, honorary name for an unnamed park road running from approximately 950 Clark Avenue to Clark Field, home of José Ramírez Field. The legislation honoring the Guardians star was sponsored by Councilman Kerry McCormack. Ord. No. 940-2025

Council Calls on Congress to Adopt the Epstein Files Transparency Act: Council adopted a resolution, sponsored by Councilman Kris Harsh, urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass bipartisan  House Resolution 581, the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The measure would require the Attorney General to release unclassified files related to the federal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and their associates, including government officials. 

The resolution emphasizes the urgency of the bill, stating: “American citizens have a right to know whether elected officials are involved in the illegal sex trafficking of children.” It cites public statements from several political figures, including Donald Trump, who said in June 2024 on Fox News that he would declassify the Epstein Files, and later told Alexei "Lex" Fridman in September 2024 that he would release them; JD Vance, who told Theo Von in October 2024 that “we need to release the Epstein list”; and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who stated in February 2025 that the file was on her desk. 

Council’s resolution concludes that transparency should be a top priority for the current administration and urges the House to vote in favor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.  Res. No. 981-2025

Introductions

Legislation was introduced, sponsored by Councilman Charles Slife, to amend the penalty for setting out large quantities of waste. Under the proposal, residents would first receive a written warning or notice for an initial violation of the waste set-out policy. For a second or subsequent violation, offenders would be subject to a maximum fine of $350. Ord. No. 939-2025