Last week, Documenters gathered details about a medical debt forgiveness initiative. They also heard public comments about child abuse prevention and about the ongoing West Side Market repairs saga. Plus, almost 18 months after residents voted for stronger civilian oversight of police, Cleveland City Council received an update on the progress. Get the details in this week’s episode of the Public Meetings Report from Signal Cleveland.

Listen to this week’s Public Meetings Report here:

Show notes:

-Cleveland City Council approves medical debt forgiveness plan for thousands of residents

RIP Medical Debt

-Council Member Kris Harsh Explains Medical Debt Forgiveness 

-Ordinance No. 532-2023 on funding repairs to the West Side Market  

Opposition To ARPA Funds For West Side Market

-Eugene Miller Robocall In Opposition

-Don Whitaker’s Comments On West Side Market Repairs  

-Cleveland Community Police Commission Public Meetings Information

-Finance, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee 4/24 Recording

-Cleveland City Council Meeting 4/24 Recording

-Safety Committee 4/26 Recording

Side Hustle: Mikael Ellis works four jobs focused on the LGBTQ+ community (video)

By Jeff Haynes

Mikael Ellis has purposely decided to work at businesses that either primarily cater to LGBTQ+ patrons or have a large clientele from this community.

YouTube video

The Public Meetings Report is a weekly five minute audio rundown of what happened in local government meetings here in Greater Cleveland. The show is based on the work of Cleveland Documenters — residents like you who are trained and paid to document these meetings for the public. Produced by Signal Cleveland, Cleveland Documenters and WOVU 95.9 FM


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

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.