Public Comment

Why are we not talking about decades of lavish tax abatements for fancy hotels, billionaire-owned sports franchises, luxury apartments, gargantuan nonprofit land holdings and swank office buildings that have effectively stripped urban public schools of desperately needed revenue increases? All this austerity talk now with respect to the public schools is being treated as if it’s somehow a good thing, sounding a lot like idiot Neutron Jack Welsh’s sadistic business orthodoxy: cut the fat, tighten the belt, trim the deadwood; like this is an inherently healthy process. It’s anything but healthy. It’s deeply toxic. NOBODY is talking about increasing funding, only cutting expense. So immediately, half of the critical arithmetic is made irrelevant. 40 years in business taught me this essential lesson: you NEVER can cut your way to success. It's a continuous death spiral for the city when we refuse to invest more in public schools, and the city’s children. Which is why we can expect only worse outcomes as a result, with no end in sight. Very sad.

It is abhorrent to me that Cleveland city council can easily pass resolutions regarding Ukraine, but is unwilling to stand with the majority of Americans, including over 70% of democrats, that are calling for a ceasefire (https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/2/27/voters-support-the-us-calling-for-permanent-ceasefire-in-gaza-and-conditioning-military-aid-to-israel#:~:text=Around%20two%2Dthirds%20of%20voters,escalation%20of%20violence%20in%20Gaza.) All this while council president is taking pictures with known harassers of the Palestinian community, and council members are spewing racist rhetoric about Palestinians in Cleveland.

Tamir rice age 12 who was murdered by the Cleveland police we need to lower the voting age to 12, six or really actually zero ! Cleveland should I thought adopt ranked choice voting and allow all residents regardless of the immigration status to vote. We had a cinemas defund War & prison. We awesomeness explain putting rights to those were currently in prison.

I think Cleveland as a City should not make proclamations about things such as this. We should focus on us and what can bring us together. I see how all the council people are respectful to each other. If only all of us acted that way. I know the protesters have their own thoughts, but I do not believe they have The City of Cleveland as their main concern. They can't impose their will on others. Cleveland first!

The flats east bank do not have any public transportation since the rapid closed. Can the B Like Trolley add a stop or 2 in the flats? In the winter it is difficult to walk up the hill to the stops on west 9th Street.

I remember playing softball for Chesterfield playground, around 1962 and on our way to play Glenside, we were called all kinds of niggers by grown-ups and kids. At that time that area was mostly white. During1964 and 1965, Busing was a big issue. I remember Black children bused to elementary school in Murray Hill. These Black children were not allowed to eat lunch with the white children and also one day the Black children, parents and school officials were assaulted by the People in Murry Hill. Also, Black children going to Collinwood High School were assaulted by grown White men as they got off the bus to attend school. Some of these Brothers and Sisters, I knew personally, and some were my friends. Some of us were Drafted, some Volunteered and some died in Vietnam for a country that did not protect us a children. I REMEMBER .

The public comment on display in this city has been abhorrent. People using the microphone or shouting from the gallery with calls for violence, threatening council members, erasing Israel from the map. Where has decency gone?

Cleveland stubbornly remains one of the poorest big cities in the United States, after decades of lavish public subsidies to the private sector to stimulate economic activity that would somehow “trickle-down” to poor people in the city. Why is endemic poverty in Cleveland not the city’s number one budget priority?

There are now pictures circulating online of Council President Griffin posing with Alexander Popivker, a person known for anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab hate crimes. This was at a meet and greet event. It causes me great, deep concern. This past Monday, Popivker was was charged for felony aggravated menacing and ethnic intimidation due to his actions at Cleveland State. This individual is dangerous - with the help of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, he circulated a heavily edited video doxxing two CSU students. He has destroyed/stolen property, intimidated and threatened students on campuses across our region. Most recently, he has been permitted to speak during public comment and shouting vague threats at Palestinians members of the public while doing so. This person should not be permitted a platforms. Take steps to ensure that EVERYONE is safe in our communities - this includes Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian communities.

Greetings Council Members, Ladies and Gentleman in the audience, my apologies for my absence. My name is LaTonya Goldsby, President of Citizens for a Safer Cleveland, one of the authors of Issue 24, now Charter Section 115. I write to you this evening during black history month to discuss the importance of civilian oversight and why you should be more engaged with the Community Police Commission. This council is responsible for appointing three members to the police commission and should be evaluating their performances as commissioners; those commissioners that you have appointed to the police commission terms will be ending this year, so you should begin the process of considering new appointments. I encourage you to have a more transparent and open process when you begin your new selection. It has taken residents of Cleveland 100 years to establish police accountability and civilian oversight of the Cleveland Division of Police, that’s longer than most of us have been on this earth. Black History in America and locally here in Cleveland has taught us that police need to be held accountable for their actions and not given a slap on the wrist for violating police policies and procedures, the consent decree, or Charter Section 115. These systems of accountability and oversight are in place to improve community-police relations and the quality and integrity of our law enforcement agencies. A violation of either of these violates residents' trust in their police department's ability to keep them safe in their community. Right now the CPRB is still reviewing cases of police complaints without an updated manual reflecting the changes under Charter Section 115, after two years of implementation. This is a direct violation of Judge Oliver’s amendment to the consent decree. I encourage you to attend their meeting tomorrow at 9 am right here in city hall and ask them about their manual of operations. Lastly, in order for true democracy to work, politicians have to listen to their constituents. I hope your ears are open and receiving the messages from the voices that put you in your seats. We deserve more than “Taxation without representation”. Thank You Good Night. Citizens for a Safer Cleveland LaTonya Goldsby, President