Delete WardMaking a Public Comment
Council welcomes public comment before regular council meetings. Fill out the online form below for your chance to make a public comment at the next regular Monday Council meeting. Please read the revised rules and procedures.
Registrations can also be submitted:
* In person at Cleveland City Hall, Room 220, 601 Lakeside Ave. NE. Paper forms are available to register.
* If you don't want to fill out the online form below, you can download this form and fill it out, and email it to publiccomment@clevelandcitycouncil.gov or drop it off at Council offices. (Parking at City Hall on the upper lot is free on Mondays after 5 pm when Council is meeting.) If you need assistance, language, or disability, go here to make a request (at least 3 days in advance.)
Make a Comment in Person
Registrations to speak up to 3 minutes at a regular council meeting can be submitted between noon Wednesday and 2 pm on the Monday before a regular 7 pm council meeting. (Early, incomplete and false registrations are not accepted.) Only the first 10 are accepted.
Make a Comment Online
If you don't want to speak at a Council meeting, please submit your written comments below.
Public Comments
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I do not understand why this plan did not include a study of similar projects that have successfully addressed the housing needs of communities with similar economic challenges in the USA, Canada and worldwide.
It seems obvious that the area is rich in diversity, natural resources, and open spaces that could serve all.
In normal times, people are left on their own to figure out whether to pay for housing, food and medical care. This is not just an issue with seniors, it is everybody. We need universal healthcare, and it is possible, but more importantly it is humane.
I am asking that all members of City Council support the non-binding resolution and stand up for the health and well being of all citizens in Cleveland.
Hookah is a small category in the tobacco space, making up only roughly 0.005% of nicotine product sales. However, hookah is an important cultural practice to many and one that has existed for centuries, originating in the Middle East and India. Today, a broad cross-section of immigrants in the U.S. from around the world enjoy hookah at home and in lounges as a centerpiece for cultural, business, and social gatherings. Hookah is widely used by Middle Eastern, Armenian, Turkish, East African, Indian, Persian, Indonesian, and other minority immigrant citizens. Hookah lounges across the country have come to serve as safe gathering places for many diverse ethnic and religious communities. Despite the importance of this social practice and tradition, NHCA members continue to find that many policymakers are often unfamiliar with hookah, its practice, and its community.
NHCA fully supports efforts to eliminate youth access and usage of tobacco products, including hookah. Hookah is unlikely to be used or consumed by youth for many reasons. Hookah water pipes are expensive, several feet tall, not easily concealed, and the setup for use is a lengthy process. Lounges that offer hookah are restricted to of-age customers, preventing teens from accessing the product. Recent research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that of those middle and high school students who reported using tobacco, just 1% used hookah in the past 30 days, ten times less than the number of teens or youth who vape.
Shisha, the product used in hookah, is a combination of tobacco and a sugar substance such as honey or molasses, and the total product is only comprised of approximately 15% tobacco. As has been the practice for hundreds of years, hookah is, by nature, a flavored product. Unfortunately, noble efforts to address the teen vaping epidemic by banning flavored tobacco also would result in the ban of ALL hookah.
A ban on hookah would not only eliminate this important cultural practice for many U.S. citizens, but could also shutter many small, independent, and minority owned businesses. Many of these businesses serve as community gathering places for immigrant populations in cities across the country. Many hookah users are part of religious or ethnic populations that already face discrimination. Eliminating this cultural practice would make many feel as though they are misunderstood and targeted as an outsider by lawmakers and regulators.
We ask that you do not target this important cultural practice and shutter minority and immigrant owned businesses. Please grant an exemption hookah for both retail and lounges from the scope of any flavored tobacco ban legislation.
National Hookah Community Association
I am a resident of the Tremont neighborhood and am writing as an individual in my personal capacity to encourage you to join in celebrating Transit Equity Day on February 4th, 2023, which is observed each year in honor of the life and legacy of Rosa Parks on her birthday. I also encourage you to commit to the Clevelanders for Public Transit Transit Equity Day challenge by committing to ride public transportation for a week beginning that day. Experiencing public transportation first-hand is an important way to build understanding and empathy about the ridership experience, and to break down the "windshield bias" that develops from only experiencing life from behind the windshield of a car. When you try transit, you may also find yourself walking and biking more to get to/from bus or train stops as well - giving you more perspective about sidewalk and bike lane/trail conditions as well. There are great resources to learn about improving transit - two excellent books are Better Buses, Better Cities by Steven Highashide, and Human Transit by Jarrett Walker (who has a long-running blog by the same name: https://humantransit.org/)
My family moved to Cleveland in May 2022, and we are thankful to be able to share one car while meeting many of our transportation needs by walking, biking, and using transit. We appreciate all of the efforts by the City of Cleveland to make walking, biking, and transit safe and convenient options, and we know there is more work to do. Thank you for efforts on Complete and Greet Streets, and Vision Zero.
Sincerely,
Andrea Hamre, PhD
Tremont Resident
andreahamre.wordpress.com