A coalition of nonprofits, unions and advocacy organizations is urging Cleveland’s mayor and council president to ensure that City Hall is a workplace free of harassment.
The letter referenced “specific reports of harassment within City Council” that had recently come to light but did not name Council Member Joe Jones. The coalition sent the letter to Council President Blaine Griffin and Mayor Justin Bibb on Friday.
The message said that both council and the mayor had supported “workers, women and families,” but added that gender-based harassment holds women back in the workplace. The letter noted that women have long been in the minority in positions of elected power at Cleveland City Hall.
“Until we have more gender representation in public office, we need you, our current city leadership and allies, to actively speak-up and show-up to create a culture and a workplace where women are safe, respected and valued,” the letter read.
Council hired a law firm to investigate the complaints about Jones, which included reports that he yelled at a staffer and made unwelcome comments to an artist about her appearance in a meeting. The law firm determined that Jones “likely violated” workplace policies, according to a council memo summarizing the findings. Jones has since apologized.
The letter does not ask for any specific policy changes inside City Hall. Instead it called on Bibb and Griffin to take “actionable, evidence-based steps to ensure City Hall is a workplace free from harassment and discrimination and to publicly share that commitment.”
The 20 signatories include the Cleveland Teachers Union, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, the Northeast Ohio Worker Center and Collaborate Cleveland. Birthing Beautiful Communities, a nonprofit that supports Black mothers and their babies, also signed the letter. Although the organization receives money from the city, CEO Jazmin Long said she did not believe that speaking out would jeopardize her funding.
“We’re not saying anything to be accusatory,” she said in an interview. “We’re not trying to be adversarial. We’re just saying that everyone has the right to workplace safety. If we can’t say the bare minimum things, right, how can we say the things that are more controversial?”
Signal Cleveland obtained the letter through a public records request.
Griffin said after Monday night’s council meeting that he is setting out new policies to require “professionalism and decorum” on council. The changes will include training both for council members and staff, he said.
“We are very serious about making sure that we address the culture of Cleveland City Council so that everybody feels safe and free from any harassment, whether it be sexual or violence,” the council president said.
City Council has not released a copy of the full investigation conducted by the law firm McDonald Hopkins. Council denied a public records request for the document, citing attorney-client privilege, although later released a summary of the law firm’s findings.
Jones did not address the new policies at Monday night’s meeting. At the end of January, he issued a statement saying that the allegations had “clouded my service to the community.”
“Although unintended, I recognize that my actions have made others feel uncomfortable, and I sincerely apologize,” Jones wrote. “I’ve learned a lot about myself and I feel a deep sense of remorse.”
