Cleveland City Council Meeting Highlights—October 19, 2026
Oct 19, 2026
Today, October 19, 2026, Council President Blaine Griffin convened a Cleveland City Council meeting at 7:00 pm and adjourned it at roughly 7:45 pm.
You can find tonight's agenda here and watch the complete meeting here.
Good evening, Guardians fans!
I'm hurrying tonight so I don't miss much of Game 6, but I'd be remiss not to point out that this is Cleveland Four-Sport Alignment Week, when the Guardians, Cavaliers, Browns, and Monsters all have games. If you're a sports fan, I hope you're rested up!
My family and I caught Game 4 on Saturday. I was at Opening Day for (then) Jacobs Field in 1994, and I have so many memories at the Gateway complex: too many concerts to count, All-Star Games, watching the World Series on the Plaza, and even ice skating with my kids on Progressive Field (it was a real thing--look it up!). Even after 32 years, Gateway still wows me. Progressive Field and Rocket Arena get better every year. When things are happening there, it feels like every Clevelander turns to watch. More than any place I can think of, Gateway is the heart of our city.
Seeing all the bars and restaurants full was also a good reminder of how important Gateway is to our downtown economy. I'm sure Ohio City, Tremont, and the Flats were hopping too Saturday night. Every playoff game is spending we weren't expecting, which helps keep people working. It gives us a huge boost.
Okay, enough sports talk.
Good Eats for Everyone. City Council's Health, Human Services, and the Arts committee heard and received a presentation on Ordinance 1230-2026, which will create a Good Food Retailer voluntary certification program that recognizes food retailers who actively support equitable access to nutritious food in Cleveland's underserved neighborhoods. Certified businesses will become eligible for a suite of financial incentives. The Certification Program will help food retailers retain jobs and give residents access to fresh, nutritious food.
The goals of the Good Food Retailer Certification are
- Maintain and expand food access
- Strengthen local retail economies
- Advance health equity
Read the presentation from this morning’s Health, Human Services, & the Arts committee meeting.
IX. Tonight, Council passed Ordinance 1042-2026, which amends the city’s lease with the I-X Center Corporation. The corporation intends to phase out shows at the I-X Center over the next three years and begin leasing space to large manufacturing businesses. Industrial Commercial Properties LLC (ICP) will serve as the I-X Center's master operator. ICP has successfully used this approach in large buildings in Cleveland and elsewhere.
This ordinance would make it easier for ICP to attract businesses to the I-X Center by creating a new tax credit based on the number of new employees they bring to the facility. The program should benefit Cleveland long-term by generating significant income taxes for the City.
Read the legislation summary for more information on the tax credits and the presentation about the lease extension.
Data. Council passed Ordinance 1246-2023 exercising Council's prerogative under Ordinance No. 556-2026 to extend Cleveland's moratorium on data centers for another three months. Council has held three public hearings on data centers, and two different committees are working to sort through this complicated issue. The extended moratorium will run through January 29, 2027, or until new regulations are in place, whichever comes first.
Going Unleaded. City Council's Health, Human Services, and the Arts committee also heard and received a presentation on Ordinance 1244-2026, which will update and strengthen Cleveland's lead certification program. The Bibb Administration collaborated with the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition and the Lead Safe Advisory Board and held dozens of conversations with tenants, landlords, and advocates over the last year to develop this legislation.
The proposed changes will incentivize landlords to focus on high-contact areas like porches, doors, and windows, where clouds of poisonous lead particles are most likely to form, and will reward investment in lead safety by allowing landlords to qualify for longer certification periods.
Read the presentation on the proposed updates to the 2019 Lead Safe Certificate Law.
Short-Term Changes: Council introduced Ordinance 1282-2026, which will amend the short-term rental ordinances it passed earlier this year. The Ordinance will go through administrative review before Council committees consider it. Read the legislative summary here.
Fair Pay. Council passed Ordinance 1279, amending pay classifications for non-bargaining City of Cleveland employees in accordance with Cleveland’s Fair Employment Wage ordinance. See the letter requesting the ordinance.
Senseless Census. City Council passed Resolution 1247-2026, sponsored by Councilwoman Stephanie Howse-Jones, opposing proposed changes to the 2030 U.S. Census that would, among other things:
- Exclude all residents who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, removing not only undocumented immigrants but also those who are lawfully present, such as refugees, asylum seekers, international students, and temporary workers who live, work, pay taxes, and use public services in our communities, from Congressional district apportionment.
- Prohibit questions on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation from appearing on the decennial census questionnaire, ending the collection of race and ethnicity data and foreclosing data on LGBTQ+ residents.
Stripping this information does more than pretend a whole host of people doesn’t exist. Census data guides the distribution of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding for programs Clevelanders depend on, including Medicaid, SNAP, Title I education, highway planning, housing, Head Start, public health, and other programs. If people in these demographics aren’t counted, the areas where they live will receive fewer federal dollars, which seems to be the point.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to say something is evil in these emails. I’ll check whether I can add it to this section and get back to you.
Cleveland City Council's next full Council meeting will be held on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 7:00 pm in Cleveland City Hall's Council Chamber.
Talk with you next week! Go Guards!
Mike
(Any errors are mine. Accuracies are likely someone else's.)
Please remember that the official record of Cleveland City Council proceedings is the weekly City Record, not this email.