Feb. 12: Cleveland City Council
Covered by Documenters Tucker Handley (notes) and Ayanna Rose Banks (live-tweets)
Cleveland Police promotions under review
During public comment at Cleveland City Council on Monday, resident and activist Brenda Bickerstaff raised concerns that the city violated its charter by failing to involve the Community Police Commission (CPC) in the promotion of two Cleveland police commanders.
Council Member Stephanie Howse-Jones, Ward 7, asked Mark Griffin, the city’s law director, about the accusation. Griffin said his office was looking into it and would provide a “legal answer for you very shortly.”
The CPC called on the city to rescind the promotions.
Bickerstaff, a leader of the police accountability campaign Citizens for a Safer Cleveland, also invited council members to attend CPC meetings.
“We need your help, and we need you to be more engaged,” she said. “Some of you have never been to a meeting.”
‘With or without you’
Three people spoke about Israel’s war on Gaza during public comment. One speaker, Noelle Naser, read from the proposed ceasefire resolution that advocacy groups sent to council last month. She also noted that other cities, such as Akron and Chicago, have passed resolutions calling for a Gaza ceasefire.
“We have been more than willing to work with council to come to the consensus language desired and yet, Cleveland City Council at-large has decided that you [are] unwilling to take a firm collective stance against violence,” said Naser, a Ward 15 resident and member of the Palestinian Youth Movement.
“With or without you, we will continue to advocate for Palestinian liberation,” she said.
Calls from protestors for a Gaza ceasefire resolution continued throughout the meeting.
Coming home to roost in Central
International Foods Solutions – a certified minority-owned business headquartered in Florida – is expected to convert the Goodwill building on East 55th Street into a chicken-processing plant. Council approved a deal to help make that happen.
It voted in favor of a 10-year tax abatement and five-year job creation incentive. The city expects the project to generate more than $5.5 million in tax revenue over the next 10 years and create 220 full-time jobs, according to a project summary.
International Foods serves Asian, Latin American and Indian meals to school districts, healthcare facilities and military bases nationwide.
Read the notes from Documenter Tucker Hadley:
Read the live-tweet thread from Documenter Ayanna Rose Banks:
