Members of the Cleveland Community Police Commission’s Rules Committee voted to remove Commissioner Teri Wang from her position as chair this week. The Rules Committee creates the rules and policies outlining how the commission does its work.
The move follows a January decision from the full commission not to vote on two motions – one stripping Wang of her chair positions and the other recommending her removal from the commission. The motions were introduced by Commissioners Piet van Lier and Shandra Benito.
Commissioners decided against voting on the motions because some commissioners felt it was unfair to remove Wang when the commission had yet to clearly define what it meant to be a committee chair or the process for removing a committee chair.
At the January meeting, some commissioners questioned whether it was the role of the full commission or whether removing Wang from her chair positions should happen at the committee level.
Straight to business
On Feb. 7, the Rules Committee was set to discuss the rule that would create a process for removing commissioners from their chair positions.
Before that happened, van Lier got approval to add a discussion on “community leadership” to the meeting agenda. He motioned to remove Wang as chair, effective immediately. His reason: “I think the management of this committee has been lacking.”
Wang told Signal Cleveland that the Rules Committee has met more than any other committee. When the commission tabled the motions to remove her in January, she said commissioners “asked for specific processes for removal and discipline to be outlined by the Rules Committee.”
“Instead of focusing on that work, in the Rules Committee meeting, where it’s just the three of us, Commissioners van Lier and Benito took a vote out of order to remove me as chair,” Wang said. “Now, the two people who want me removed are going to be in the majority to draft the process for removing committee chairs and disciplining a commissioner. This seems like a clear conflict of interest.”
This article has been updated with a comment from Commissioner Teri Wang.
Benito and van Lier told Signal Cleveland that they’ve heard concerns from community members and fellow commissioners about the Rules Committee’s ability to address the commission’s issues with “structure and procedures.”
“In light of this, it is important that the Rules Committee evaluate its effectiveness,” they wrote in an email. “Two of the most important responsibilities of a committee chair are to: 1) schedule, coordinate, and facilitate committee meetings, and 2) ensure the work of the committee gets done.”
Benito expressed concern that canceled meetings were holding up the work of the commission during the meeting.
Wang said in the Wednesday meeting that only two of more than 20 Rules Committee meetings had been canceled. She said one cancellation was due to a work emergency and the other was because the drafted rule was not yet ready for review.
Benito and van Lier told Signal Cleveland that a draft of the rule on committee processes, including how to remove a committee chair, was sent to the Rules Committee in September of 2023, prior to the cancellations.
Wang disputes Benito and van Lier’s account and said she received the current draft of that rule on Feb. 6.
Wang was outvoted 2-1 in favor of her removal.
Commenters share thoughts and frustrations
Public commenters expressed frustration with the vote. Some argued that Wang was the only one doing any work, while others said the vote came down to personality differences.
One commenter told commissioners, “When the city does not cooperate with what you’re trying to do, that should be the number one problem. Not the personality of the only [commissioner] that’s talking about the issues. ”
Wang is still a member of the Rules Committee and the chair of the Police Accountability Committee.
Wang asked Benito if she should expect a similar motion during the next accountability meeting. Benito did not answer at the time, but she told Signal Cleveland that she resigned from the Police Accountability Committee earlier this week.
To learn what else happened in this meeting, check out the coverage from Documenters Tim Zelina (notes) and Christina Easter (live-tweet thread).
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