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Where Am I: Resources / Public Comment

Making 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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WCSB hostile takeover
Radio station WCSB was removed from control of the students and community members without any attempt to communicate, work with, or notify any of those students and community members. This attempt to remove voices from many people and communities is irresponsible. Additionally, what is to be put on the air of the station is now a very limited range of what was already available on WCSB. In addition to that, the CSU President has traded those voices for a seat for herself on the Ideastream Board of Trustees. Please help see that the station is returned to the students and community members.

I listened to WCSB when I was in Cleveland, and listen at times, here in Los Angeles. What the students and community provided is valuable and rare. What Ideastream and CSU have done is shameful and must be stopped. I also worked in student and non-commercial radio as well are receiving formal training in journalism and mass communication. My experience in non-commercial and college radio was far more valuable to me in my professional work in radio and media, than the internship I had, though the internship was still valuable. Do NOT fall for the false presentations of CSU and Ideastream.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
Allen Gittelson
WCSB Radio
WCSB MUST be returned to the students and community at large. It's a travesty that Ideastream Radio is in control of the programming. This needs to STOP NOW! There are soooo few true commuminty radio stations serving the public. Corporations have destroyed radio & tv to a point it's not worth listening or watching the medium. Local radio is the last gasp of breath we have for access to the airwaves. NPR and it's affiliates have sucked the life force out of the lpfm spectrum for local programing.
jerry szoka
Resolution 1324-2025 WCSB
I am writing in support of 87.3 WCSB’s student-run programming, which has been a deep loss for my family. My kids and I have been measuring the days of our week by the radio schedule and we now have a huge hole instead of our favorite people and programs: Into the Void, Good Morning Metal!, the Auditorium, the Ray Carr Show, Edi Mejac, Sustainable Love Triangle and countless other serendipitous moments in which we discovered and re-discovered new and old artists, songs and entire genres. This is a unique community product. I couldn’t believe that radio could be so good when I moved here from Pittsburgh 10 years ago, and I’ve learned a lot about Cleveland’s musical heritage since then. Please let’s not lose the parts that bind us together and keep Cleveland open, exciting and homegrown.
Alexis Kunsak
WCSB Resolution
I am writing today to urge each member of the Cleveland City Council to vote in support of an official resolution to recommend that Cleveland State University transfer oversight of station 89.3FM back to the student-led organization that was WCSB for fifty years. As someone who was raised in Cleveland and continues my work and education in the city, I recognize WCSB as a pillar of not only Cleveland State University, but also of the community of Cleveland at large. Taking away the voices of a myriad of students and community members in such an underhanded and hostile manner was an egregious attempt to stifle creativity, passionate voices, and a cherished community. Moreover, this deal is simply impractical. There are no explicitly concrete provisions compelling Ideastream to provide the student opportunities so lauded by CSU as an integral part of the deal, instead being shrouded in vague language, with the agreement stating that "Over the term of the PSOA, Ideastream will prioritize paid and for-credit internships, classroom-level projects and other opportunities for students…” A lack of specificity in language is a common tactic utilized to escape scrutiny and responsibility. For example, how many opportunities does Ideastream have to provide CSU students in order for it to quality as “prioritization”? The initial obfuscation of a number of provisions in the agreement, such as a seat on the Ideastream Board of Trustees for CSU President Laura Bloomberg, and a misleading emphasis on student opportunities, makes it clear that Cleveland State leadership knew this deal was not to the benefit of their students nor Cleveland as a whole. While providing career preparation is an important component of higher education, there is also an essential requirement for institutions to foster student connection and community, NOT squander it. A society where commodification is valued at the expense of art and community will inevitably breed a soulless, discontent, and unfulfilled polity. With these sentiments in mind, please support the effort to transfer WCSB back to the hands that kept the station flourishing for fifty years.
Aviana Tovanche
WCSB 89.3 FM college radio takeover by "Ideastream" PBS.
The rug was pulled underneath WCSB college students and volunteers that run WCSB 89.3 FM radio station! I remember having the opportunity to volunteer at WCSB 89.3 FM Radio learning the in's and out's of radio broadcasting. This gave me the opportunity to be creative and supportive to Cleveland listeners. Playing music they enjoyed hearing and informing them of current events played a vital role in community radio broadcasting. Doing on-the-spot interviews from Cleveland residents and commuters added interest to my loyal listeners. WCSB 89.3 FM college-run radio station offers a vast variety of cultural programming and music genres. This allows the CSU students and volunteers a learning experience running, working and being creative fulfilling the needs of Cleveland and surrounding areas. "Ideastream" PLEASE consider giving back WCSB 89.3 FM radio to the CSU students and volunteers who volunteer their time, because they love what they're doing! This brings joy to their many loyal listeners depending on college radio since it's the heart and soul of radio!
Michele Fornaro Laskowski
WCSB transfer to Ideastream
I have been listening to WCSB for over 40 years and and was a programmer on sister college radio station at WRUW from 1980-1990. My mind has been continually expanded through the variety programs and music I have heard. I know from my own radio experience that the exposure to diverse musics and ideas when I was in college was a huge catalyst to my becoming the artist and educator that I am today. CSU has taken away an enormous learning and growing experience from their students. It has also wiped out a bedrock institution to the Greater Cleveland creative and cultural community at large. WCSB was public service to area artists, musicians, creatives, and the general public looking to go deep into a particular genre of music, or to expand their horizons. It was also one of the very few places where musicians, bands, and composers in the area could have their work aired. Over the years, WCPN and Ideastream have only tossed crumbs to the arts and cultural community and never provided that same intense and continuous impact. This loss is a travesty.
Catherine Butler
Just Because It’s Legal Doesn’t Mean It’s Right: A Public Concern Over the WCSB Takeover
I'm sure that what Cleveland State University did regarding the takeover of WCSB — a long-standing, student-run radio station — was legal. But that doesn't make it ethical.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. This decision appears to have been driven by personal gains and ulterior motives, not the best interests of students or the community that WCSB served for decades. Unfortunately, this is often how corporate agendas operate — the needs of the few end up outweighing the needs of the many.

Perhaps the president needed a new addition to their home, or this move guaranteed a yearly bonus, or even a convenient title bump. Whatever the incentive, it’s hard to imagine this decision was made without awareness of the backlash it would generate. I imagine those responsible thought: "Let the kids be mad and hold signs for a while — what’s done is done. And I’m getting that new car."

This action reeks of self-interest and disregard for the broader community. It may be irreversible now, but it should go on record — add this to the growing list of complaints from disappointed and disillusioned Cleveland citizens. We expected better.
Malcolm Bellew
WCSB
Cleveland City Council members:

Thank you for the opportunity to make a public statement about WCSB. Born and raised in Cleveland, I’m a proud CSU alum (BA 2007, MS 2009), former WCSB student member and Public Affairs director, and long time listener and donor to WCSB. Being part of the radio station while studying at Cleveland State was an amazing experience and led me to a career of public service. Even after moving out of state, I have continued to be a ‘CSB listener, supporter, and Radiothon donor.

Like so many, I was heartbroken by the news that WCSB was being taken over by Ideastream for a canned jazz format, and that students and community volunteers were unceremoniously ousted. Those responsible for making this decision, more interested in advancing their careers than serving the public interest, have no understanding about what WCSB has meant to CSU students and the community for almost 50 years.

At WCSB, people across many ethnic backgrounds and from all walks of life volunteer their time to broadcast the most unique, diverse programming imaginable. They represent their backgrounds and lived experiences and come together as one cohesive community. It was an amazing privilege, to be a listener and a member. I was just one contributor, during one era, among many generations of students who poured their hearts and souls into WCSB. Imagining the airwaves without this treasure is unfathomable.

Thank you for your attention to this situation and the opportunity to share my comments. Please take every action in your power to reinstate WCSB, for the students and the COMMUNITY.

Respectfully,
Holly Whisman, PhD, RN
Holly Whisman
Resolution 1324-2025 --- WCSB Student Radio
Dear Council President Griffin and The Cleveland City Council,

I am a CSU Alumni (Levin College of Urban Affairs 2002). Ever since my undergraduate days at CSU when I studied jazz appreciation as one of my Urban Affairs elective courses, I've been a huge jazz aficionado (thank you CSU.)
But today I'm disappointed that WCSB has been taken away from some of the the brightest young Clevelanders, then handed over to the local public media conglomerate, Ideastream for 24/7 jazz.

Cleveland can be very proud of what her local young people have brought to us with WCSB - for over 50 years. WCSB is unique and special and belongs on the air as just as it was. It will be a disservice to Cleveland to silence their voices now. Escorting these vibrant young folks out of the radio station by police with no notice should make Cleveland feel ashamed of itself. As Cleveland's top decision makers, please do what you can to upend this injustice.

Please investigate how this came to be, and how it is that CSU president Laura Bloomberg is now to be seated on the powerful Ideastream Board of Trustees. Her seat there appears as highly self-serving, and a quid pro quo for her giving away something that belonged to the present day students at my Alma-mater. 'Given away in exchange for a powerful voice in local media for herself.

These days, I'm a long-serving librarian at a public library and I understand from where I sit how important it is when we lose independent voices like this. Cleveland please honor your your young people and investigate this travesty. I hope you will do what you can to encourage the return of WCSB to our students. Allow them to continue presenting their messages to our city - not to only fetch coffee for Ideastream bigwigs.

Sincerely yours, Rob Schneider
Robert Schneider
SELFISH TAKEOVER OF WCSB -
This stupid and SELFISH action was absolutely ridiculous. In this already crap time in our history..to rip the real WCSB away from us was devastating! HOW DARE THE POWERS THAT BE?? We had NO say.. NO clue! I literally screamed and cried how horrible this action was. NO consideration of the DJs or the people that having been LOVING that station their entire lives..even just a few weeks! Where will I hear music that I would only hear on CSB? Where will I get my local updates on events in genres I love? I will NEVER support CSU, or Ideastream ever again and I will pass this on to my grave.
Andy Z