October 21, 2024

Good evening, council members. On September 15, 2024, the residents of 2010 Hampton Avenue were supposed to vacate their apartments because their building had been condemned by the City of Cleveland. Right across the street at 2899 Hampton Avenue, the building was in a similar condition. Both buildings must be evacuated.

Most of the residents are still there, however. The residents can't leave because they have no money and there are few affordable co-compliant apartments for them to move into. The residents have had their rents and security deposits stolen by people who claim to be the managers of the apartment buildings. The housing court has been unable to locate the real owners.

In June of last year, the city set aside $1 million to said residents in these kinds of situations. Winter is coming, and please release the money now. Enforcement of the law without help for residents is very harmful to people in need of affordable housing. Unless this money is released, and it is only the beginning of this nightmare. The residents need help now. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to speak.

Good evening, everybody. First I want to say happy Hispanic Heritage Month. It is one of the things that I want to talk about today. Our city council has only one Latina sitting in Council, which is Jasmine Santana. Since she got appointed, or I mean, elected, I'm sorry, we have seen a big amazing amount of diversity with our Latino community in Cleveland.

Now I wanted to talk about that when I was signing up for for public comment this week, I did notice that the website has no translation in the language of Spanish. For people that do not know, wards 12 and 14 are very populated with a lot of Latinos in Cleveland, and it's one of the majority of the people in Cleveland are also Latinos. Not having language for our people it's like not having ADA accessible areas for people that need it. I think council should look at that and see how that could be fixed in the future for people that cannot speak English, and maybe add a translator for those individuals here in City Hall at the council meetings.

With that said, I wanted to talk about also the future of public comment. Right now what's going on in the past week, we have seen a rise of individuals coming to use this platform as lobbying, and I am guilty of that cuz I've done it in the past. Hypocritical of me to be talking about that, but I wanted to see what are the solutions that Council can bring up instead of having people here taking the spaces from other individuals and have priorities that belong to the city and are more important to talk to you guys about, instead of talking about things that are happening in one ward or the other and just having 10 people speak about the same issue. I know a couple the council members mentioned that but this should not be a platform for lobbying, and again, hypocritical because I used it for lobbying in the past, but I want to know what are the possibilities from council to find out solutions for people to be able to lobby here, not in this using this platform, but lobby you guys directly, and I know Ohio laws have things but maybe we can share those and make those more public to individuals so they can come and not use this platform to do so. Thank you for your time.

Good evening, Mr. President and others. I'm standing here to tell you how hurt I felt when the mayor's administration denied a proclamation for a mother who lost her child, a sibling who lost their sister, and a child who lost their mother. I was devastated. There is no protocol or transparency with this administration.

On Friday September 13th, Christmas Barksdale lost her life in a fatal car accident on I-90 on East 55th Street. The family reached out to me requesting a proclamation from the mayor's office. The following Monday my daughter went down to City Hall and filled out the form. I had in the past requested numerous proclamations before this administration and some through this current administration. A few days passed and I received a phone call from Cassandra Moore stating she needed more information. I then resubmitted the form. She called me back and still wanted more information. She asked can the family member call. I asked what else was needed. She then stated she would check my last email and let me know if anything was needed. I did not receive a phone call. On Friday, the day of pickup the proclamation, my daughter went back down to City Hall, no proclamation. She asked to speak to someone because Cassandra Moore refused to come and speak with her. She spoke with Ryan Puente ,I may be saying his name wrong. He asked her to fill out the form again and have a family member to call and he would take care of it. Her brother Dazmin was devastated but he did call because they did want this, but they never called him back. Then Ryan Puente he didn't call him back, he then sent an email with denial from the mayor's office.

And then I then contacted the mayor's office myself and I spoke to a representative named Cameron. He asked me about my concern. I explained to him what had taken place. He chuckled and tells me the mayor do not speak to residents on the phone. Okay. Now I'm devastated. I let him know he was very unprofessional. He said if that is all and hung up. The family was looking forward to this proclamation. At that point I had no choice, I didn't know exactly what to do, so I called Councilman Richard Starr. I explained to him what had taken place. I asked him he could assist me and if he couldn't it would be fine cuz I knew it was the day before the funeral. Later I received a phone call from Councilman Starr's office that the proclamation was done. Not only was it done was brought to my resident. The Devil refused but God always have an angel waiting. I want to thank Councilman Starr on behalf of the family, and they said thank you so much, and Council President Blaine Griffin for signing, and Pat Britt for her signature. After I informed the family of the denial, the proclamation was read, I leave this with all of you. If God is for you, who can be against you. The election is next year.

Hello. I am here because Cleveland Police Department illegally towed my car. The first one, when they initially towed it they said that I was arrested for a hit-and- skip, no parking on private property, blocked drive rush hour, abandoned car and expired fictitious plates. 30 days later after they destroyed, towed and destroyed my car, they then said that they towed my car for abandonment. So I have been without a car for the last 6 months. I want to thank Councilman Kerry McCormack, Councilwoman Jenny Spencer, and Councilman Anthony Hairston for trying to help me get this issue resolved. But I do want to let you know that I have obtained an attorney and if this issue is not resolved and I have no vehicle within the next 30 days I will be suing Cleveland. Thank you.