Washington, D.C., is almost 400 miles from Cleveland City Hall, but spending decisions being made there — and sometimes quickly reversed — hovered over a large portion of Day 4 of City Council’s 2025 budget hearings.

Dr. David Margolius, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, cited some of the Cleveland programs that could suffer as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to make massive cuts to the federal budget.

And at a separate hearing, a council member speculated that “stormchasing” is making it harder for Cleveland Public Power to hire enough line workers.

Read more in notes from the hearing by Cleveland Documenter Alfreda Williams.

For a primer on the budget process, read this.

Department of Public Health: Federal cuts are coming, but to what and when?

Margolius described some of the local programs that could be affected by federal spending cuts.

“Our air quality monitoring program is funded through the Department of Homeland Security, that’s one that we are concerned about if the federal government changes their mind,” Margolius said. He also mentioned:

• Public Health Emergency Preparedness funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which helps states and cities plan for “a range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological events.”

• MomsFirst, a Cleveland home-visit program providing a range of services for mothers and fathers during and after pregnancy. It is funded in part by the Healthy Start Initiative from the Health Resources & Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“We’re absolutely hitting all of our benchmarks [for federal funding], and our audits have been fantastic,” Margolius said. “All the websites as of right now are active and we’re able to pull down funds, but obviously we’re concerned about worst-case scenarios.”

Looking ahead to the possibility of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “being dismantled,” Margolius said the city’s own air quality efforts will become more important and that he’ll be returning to council “to discuss updates to the air code to prevent backsliding and to keep the momentum going to reduce our air pollution.”

On Wednesday, Margolius told Signal Cleveland that it could be a few more weeks before he has more clarity about the effects of federal cuts. “It’s been a roller coaster, trying to keep up with the uncertainty,” he said. “But the whole team’s still here, we’re still doing the work, and we’ll keep moving forward.”

‘How do you not know?’

There was lengthy discussion of the A Home for Every Neighbor program, which the city launched in February 2024 to take a more direct role in serving people experiencing homelessness. (Most local services for the unhoused are run by the county.) The 2025 budget included $1.9 million for the program, which has spanned several city departments but will move entirely into Public Health.

As The Land reported last month, A Home For Every Neighbor “focuses on securing housing first, instead of making housing contingent on people finding a job, entering a drug-addiction program or seeking mental health services.”

Margolius said that the program fills a gap in the county’s services by targeting an estimated 150 to 500 people who “are not willing to go to shelters for lots of different reasons.” (Council Member Stephanie Howse-Jones said later in the hearing that “a lot of [county facilities] are in deplorable conditions.”)

In its first year, A Home for Every Neighbor subsidized rents for 152 people who had been living on the streets and paid for services for them provided by nonprofit agencies. The goal is to serve 80 to 100 more this year.

Council Member Jenny Spencer asked for a detailed breakdown of spending and results from the first year — for example, how many people still needed rent assistance. Margolius agreed to come back soon with more information.

Council Member Brian Kazy pressed Margolius for specifics about the rent subsidies. When Margolius said he didn’t have the information, Kazy demanded, “How do you not know?”

Kazy also seemed skeptical that the program is needed at all. After Margolius listed the services the county provides, Kazy implied that he’d just admitted that the county is doing enough.

“Those words did not come out of my mouth,” Margolius replied.

Council Member Kevin Conwell, who chaired the hearing, said he and other council members would meet with Margolius soon.

Department of Public Utilities: Competing with ‘stormchasers’

The hearing for the Department of Public Utilities’ budget included some discussion about the challenges in hiring. Cleveland Public Power is budgeted for 305 employees but had just 218 at the end of 2024. Martin Keane, the director of Public Utilities, said the department is offering competitive wages but that “attraction of line workers is a national issue.”

Kazy said he’d read that “stormchasers” can make $40,000 to $50,000 per month driving around Kansas and Oklahoma, presumably by following tornados and repairing damaged power grids.

Signal Cleveland called Kazy to ask where he’d read this, but he didn’t respond. But we found web sites for a few companies — including one owned by union line workers — that recruit for such work. Rates were not advertised.

We also found a welding school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that promises to prepare students for an exciting career in stormchasing in just 15 weeks.