Summary
- The Department of Building & Housing is upgrading its digital infrastructure with new software and platforms including DocuSign, CityDetect, a new permit portal and Cleveland Department of Urban Analytics and Innovation (UrbanAI).
- The department still faces extreme hiring challenges, including outdated civil service laws and competing with private sector salaries for inspectors, which impacts code enforcement in the city.
- The city’s Boxing and Wrestling Commission is being evaluated for its continued relevance.
Follow-up questions
- Would the city consider creating “mini City Halls” in newly closed schools to provide services around the city?
- What would the next steps be to modernize the city’s civil service employment requirements?
Attendees
Finance Committee members:
- Blaine Griffin, chair (Ward 6)
- Jasmin Santana, vice chair (Ward 14)
- Kevin Bishop (Ward 2)
- Kevin Conwell (Ward 9)
- Kris Harsh (Ward 4)
- Brian Kazy (Ward 13)
- Michael Polensek (Ward 10)
- Richard Starr (Ward 5)
- Charles Slife (Ward 15)
Other council members:
- Joe Jones (Ward 1)
- Deborah Gray (Ward 3)
- Austin Davis (Ward 7)
- Stephanie Howse-Jones (Ward 8)
- Nikki Hudson (Ward 11)
- Tanmay Shah (Ward 12)
City staff:
- Paul Barrett, chief financial officer, City of Cleveland
- James Gentile, controller, City of Cleveland
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Review the Mayor’s Estimate budget.
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Read other budget hearing notes.
Day 5 of the City of Cleveland budget hearings began at 9:49 a.m. This session focused on the Boxing & Wrestling Commission and the Department of Building & Housing.
Boxing & Wrestling Commission
Paul Barrett, Cleveland’s chief financial officer, presented on behalf of the Boxing & Wrestling Commission, which currently has no staff. The budget details are on pages 89-90 of the Mayor’s Estimate. The commission’s budget is approximately $30,000 to staff three members. It was established by city ordinance.
Council members were split on whether the commission should continue to exist. Blaine Griffin, committee chair, questioned why we have the commission and noted that it could be eliminated with a counter-ordinance.
The commission received support from committee members Richard Starr (Ward 5) and Mike Polensek (Ward 10), noting that the city’s boxing program was once popular in rec centers and an important program for violence prevention. Polensek highlighted the city’s Golden Gloves program, which began in 1923. Starr said the city should work on staffing the commission and doing outreach in rec centers.
Committee member Charles Slife (Ward 15) argued that there are duplicate functions with the State of Ohio and that the $30,000 could be put directly into the rec center budget.
Griffin suggested consulting the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission to evaluate the potential of attracting events to the area. Barrett noted that Cleveland is going to be hosting the NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships from March 19-21 at Rocket Arena. “Despite the lack of funding for the commission, Cleveland is still rich in boxing and wrestling events,” he said.
Department of Building & Housing
Sally Martin O’Toole, director of Building & Housing, gave a detailed presentation on staffing, head count, hiring, updates on core initiatives, progress on 2025 programs and goals for 2026. The presentation covered the areas of department administration, the Division of Code Enforcement and the Division of Construction Permitting. The budget estimates for this department begin on page 265 of the Mayor’s Estimate.
Staffing and Hiring
The department currently has 143 staff with 24 vacant positions. O’Toole said inspector roles are difficult to fill, as tradespeople come to the department at the end of their careers and the private sector pays significantly more. They are working with Michelle Rose from Ohio Means Jobs and Tri-C to to build a pipeline of younger talent.
2025 Accomplishments
The accomplishments list (page 9 of the presentation) focused on internal process improvements such as the creation of the multi-departmental Problem Properties Task Force and on program additions such as the Innovative Housing Pilot for neighborhood revitalization. The major takeaway was the adoption of technology platforms to create more efficient workflows and data tracking, such as DocuSign to cut contract approval times by weeks and CityDetect, a grant-funded AI code enforcement tool launched in December 2025 to help monitor properties. The department launched a new Permit Portal (page 23) which has facilitated a complete overhaul of the permitting process. The new portal will quickly identify bottlenecks, create a transparent view of work-in-progress, and create a paperless workflow.
Goals for 2026
The department’s overarching priority is putting customer experience first. Part of this process is another tech initiative; the department plans to do a bootcamp with the Cleveland Department of Urban Analytics and Innovation (UrbanAI) The bootcamp will focus on the feedback generated from the permit portal.
Council Member questions and feedback
There were many questions from council members about the Building & Housing budget.
Polensek, Kazy and Hudson all had questions about staffing, specifically for building inspectors. Polensek brought up a Jan. 28 statement from former housing director Ron O’Leary, where he said he had previously lied about having enough funds to adequately enforce housing code.
Polensek asked O’Toole, “I’m going to ask both of you [O’Toole and Barrett], do you have enough people to enforce the building code in the City of Cleveland?”
Barrett responded that he has never lied or been told to lie.
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O’Toole asked, “Is there ever going to be enough people to do what we want to do in the City of Cleveland? … I’ve never lied to you and I never will.”
Polensek asked, “Do we have enough people?”
O’Toole finished, “Of course not … Year over year we carry over these vacancies because the state made it very hard to get certifications. There will never be enough staff.”
Davis raised the issue of charter civil service laws from 1934 potentially hindering hiring and asked if it was possible to modernize this process. “Surely there’s something we can do to think through the future of our civil service to make sure we are abiding by modern standards.”
Polensek reminded the group that Building & Housing is a revenue-producing department (because of the taxes and fees it collects), so the city should enhance whatever needs to be done to continue generating revenue.
Many council members asked for data on their wards or the city overall. Harsh asked specifically about a funnel audit of cases from inspection through court. Gray requested a list of commercial buildings that have been cited in her ward, and Jones requested a list of vacant buildings and demolitions in this ward. Santana asked for a flow chart or a guide for residents calling 311.
O’Toole said historically the department has not done a very good job of tracking but feels optimistic about being able to harness more data and create better reporting with the new UrbanAI dashboard.
Starr and Jones raised concerns about permitting and expressed frustration about building in Cleveland. Jones said the process is so slow that many developers avoid the city and choose to develop in the suburbs.
Howse-Jones — for the third consecutive year, she said — requested a “how to build a house in Cleveland” guide; O’Toole committed to producing one this year.
Starr and Hudson raised concerns about the Residents First program burdening elderly property owners with online registration requirements and penalties for missed deadlines. Hudson reported a resident being turned away from City Hall’s Building & Housing office when they tried to register in person.
O’Toole acknowledged the issues and described outreach through Community Development, including home visits and rec center assistance.
Polensek questioned the city’s lease arrangements, particularly the Erieview building, and urged smarter use of closed school buildings for city employees. Slife built on this, suggesting the city use its 20 rec centers and newly vacant schools to distribute housing division services around the city, making it easier on both workers and residents.
“I worry that it [going to City Hall] disincentivizes people to do things the right way to get a permit. I hope that we are looking at opportunities to use public facilities instead of paying for downtown rentals. We might be able to get more bang for our buck if that were not housed in City Hall.”
Gray raised a specific case in her ward where a code enforcer released a certificate of occupancy for a building with active violations including rodents. She said enforcers are “taking advantage of their position and allowing these buildings to remain deplorable in our community … regardless of council trying to make these neighborhoods more safe and more beautiful.”
O’Toole committed to investigating.
Finally, Polensek mentioned a presumably recent whistleblower message about Building & Housing that many on council received, but he did not elaborate on the content. He closed his time by reiterating, “We need to start ramping up inspections, holding the [inspection] chiefs responsible, and holding the mayor’s office responsible.”
Session adjourned for lunch at 12:15 p.m.
These notes are by Documenter Maria Shuckahosee.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.