A photo of Thad Franklin, Joe Schwarten,Omar Kurdi, and Adam Rosen stepping up to the mic to make a public comment at Cleveland City Council in the last few weeks.
Thad Franklin, Joe Schwarten,Omar Kurdi, and Adam Rosen all stepped up to the mic to make a public comment at Cleveland City Council in the last few weeks. Credit: Cleveland City Council YouTube

Many residents of Cleveland and nearby suburbs come to Cleveland City Council meetings to make a public comment on an issue that affects them most: from the dangers of vape products marketed to children, to those directly affected by violence and conflict in the Middle East. 

In this episode, we’ll highlights four local commenters who stepped up to the mic at Cleveland City Hall and shared their thoughts with City Council and the public.🎤

Listen to this episode here:

Listen to Signal Cleveland: On Air on Spotify
Listen to Signal Cleveland: On Air on Apple Podcast

Show notes:

  • Cleveland City Council’s online form to sign up for public comment. 
  • More from Signal Cleveland and Cleveland Documenters on the first year results of public comment. 
  • Public Comment CLE, the website where all public comments given at Cleveland City Council meetings are transcribed.
Signal background

Audio Producer (she/her)
I create audio stories meant to engage and inform people in a way that pushes beyond media stereotypes. I aim to build trust between local media and the community, striving to teach people “how” to think about life in Cleveland, not “what” to think.

Documenters Program Director (he/they)
I steward the Documenters community. That includes holding and maintaining space to raise up Documenters work and questions. It also includes creating easy on-ramps to civic life and deeper civic participation via the exchange of civic information, knowledge and skills.

Cleveland Documenters pays and trains people to cover public meetings where government officials discuss important issues and decide how to spend taxpayer money.