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Where Am I: Resources / Public Comment

Making a Public Comment

Council welcomes public comment before regular council meetings. Fill out the online form below for your chance to make a public comment at the next regular Monday Council meeting.  Please read the revised rules and procedures. 

Registrations can also be submitted:

* In person at Cleveland City Hall, Room 220, 601 Lakeside Ave. NE. Paper forms are available to register.

* If you don't want to fill out the online form below, you can download this form and fill it out, and email it to publiccomment@clevelandcitycouncil.gov or drop it off at Council offices. (Parking at City Hall on the upper lot is free on Mondays after 5 pm when Council is meeting.) If you need assistance, language, or disability, go here to make a request (at least 3 days in advance.) 

Make a Comment in Person

Registrations to speak up to 3 minutes at a regular council meeting can be submitted between noon Wednesday and 2 pm on the Monday before a regular 7 pm council meeting. (Early, incomplete and false registrations are not accepted.) Only the first 10 are accepted.  


Make a Comment Online

If you don't want to speak at a Council meeting, please submit your written comments below. 


Public Comments

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WCSB purchase by Ideastream
I, and many members of my community and family, are outraged by the loss of culture and diversity in the selling of this station. WCSB held many ethnic programs, all of which have been lost, a major one being the Arabic Hour that was cherished by many neighbors that are part of Ward 16's large arabic population and beyond. Even aside from ethnic programs, the station itself was a mammoth part of our city's culture for almost half a decade. It is very important to Cleveland that this station is reinstated to the students to bring back the diversity and communities it held.
Gustav JK Golden
WCSB
I join those urging the Council to adopt this resolution in support of CSU's students and community-based public media.
Zach Savich
WCSB
I am concerned about the nature of the deal struck by CSU and IdeaStream without public input or consent. This was executed behind closed doors without thought of the community and the students. It is concerning to turn a radio station that is licensed to be an education based programming into an all jazz with no education presented. The lack of transparency is appalling. There was no plan laid out for the valuable collections held by the radio station, no concrete education opportunities, just vague mentions of opportunities. There should have been public hearings and the CSU / IdeaStream negotiations made public. Why was an NDA needed? Why were funds specifically raised to support the station withheld by CSU? There are many questions and the deal struck by the 2 entities should be null and void. CSU’s president should be brought before the city to answer questions.
Christine Nottage
WCSB
I am deeply troubled by the abrupt takeover of WCSB 89.3FM by Ideastrem Public Media. I cannot imagine life in Cleveland without our beloved college radio. These past two weeks have been extremely trying while we all attempt to understand the reason for this harmful decision. Public media works best when it represents a broad cross-section of the community it exists to serve. It is impossible to imagine that the broad range of voices, previously accessible on WCSB and now silent, are being properly represented in this deleterious arrangement. The failure to address or even acknowledge the diverse communities impacted by this change is ignorant and downright callous. This is an affront to Civic engagement and further erodes an already strained relationship between the media and the public at large. If allowed to stand, this will be worse than Art Modell moving his football team to Baltimore. Thank you for your consideration!
Charles Hayden
The reinstatement of WCSB
Please consider giving back WCSB back to the students.

Cleveland deserves a radio station, our radio station, that reflects its people — not a corporate handoff. Recently, Cleveland State University turned over control of WCSB Radio, the university’s long-running student-led station, to Ideastream, a move that is being universally lambasted. This decision silences one of the most authentic and diverse voices in our city— no doubt, and important reason for the shift.

While WCSB may have been operated under the university’s umbrella, it has always been far more than a Cleveland State thing— it’s a Cleveland thing. It’s been a vital part of our cultural ecosystem — a space where students, community members, and local artists shared ideas, music, and, perhaps most importantly, perspectives that couldn’t be found anywhere else. WCSB’s programming wasn’t just student radio; it was Cleveland radio — raw, local, and real.

Replacing that with a corporate-run feed, even under the banner of “public media,” is a loss for everyone. The student DJs and producers who ran WCSB weren’t just learning media — they were curating the city’s sound, from underground jazz and global music to grassroots reporting on issues that actually matter. Cleveland’s jazz scene, in particular, deserves to be represented by passionate local curators — not a distant organization more concerned with branding than community.

Furthermore, it should be noted that countless artists have used WCSB as their entry point to our city. More times than I can count, I heard an exciting artist on WCSB before catching their show at Happy Dog or Little Rose.

What are we allowing to happen?

I urge (and hope) the City of Cleveland and Cleveland State University leadership to do the right thing, and give WCSB back to the students and by extension, the people of Cleveland.
Adam Steinmetz
WCSB
This station and it's diverse programming aren't just important to Cleveland but to those of us who listen online. The loss of the great student shows and especially the varied ethnic communities is a loss that can't be balanced out with smooth jazz. Literally no one but the parties who made this deal I secret wants this.
Jayson Shenk
WCSB
I am in full support of CSU/IDEASTREAM returning the operation of WCSB to the student body. As a two-time graduate of Cleveland State and a high school counselor in Cleveland, I cannot, in good conscience, continue to encourage my students to apply to an institution that has dealings like the recent partnership with IDEASTREAM, which complete lacked any integrity or transparency and then furthered the personal/professional agenda of Laura Bloomberg.

This current administration does NOT have the best interest of its students (or MY students) in mind, or the local communities they represent. What reprehensible behavior by both the president of CSU and IDEASTREAM Public Media. We will not tire in our efforts. We will continue to demand the return of WCSB to the students.

Lisa Ellis
WCSB
I am writing to strongly and wholeheartedly support the resolution to urge CSU to rightfully return WCSB to student management and terminate their ill-conceived and sloppily implemented arrangement with Ideastream/JazzNEO. The decision to unilaterally destroy a vibrant and vital source of free and diverse public creative expression and intellectual discourse that provided such immense value to students while serving such an important role in the Cleveland community for fifty years—replacing it with such a tone-deaf and boring alternative—shows a profoundly concerning lack of vision and basic good sense on the part of CSU’s administration. Further, the manner in which this “transition” was handled with virtually no notice and sudden police involvement is unprofessional and plainly coarse, bordering on violent. As a community member, alum, and (until recently) instructor at this university, their conduct has not only been disappointing, it is embarrassing. The administration absolutely knows better, as does Ideastream, and they can easily make it right by returning WCSB to student hands. CSU knows what they need to do. The city for which they are named will remember their choices.
Zach Peckham
WCSB
WCSB is a Cleveland treasure. For decades, it has celebrated and exposed people across our region to a massive diversity of musical genres and cultures -- all through the sweat equity of deeply committed DJs. It's been an invaluable community, a training ground on how to run a real-life radio station and a source of pure joy and exploration for so many across our region. The people who have invested their time, musical knowledge and administrative skills into making WCSB such a valuable station deserve to be on the air. They deserve Cleveland's appreciation and support for offering such a truly valuable public asset. I urge you to do what's needed to get WCSB back on the air!
Kate Sopko
WCSB
Please do not underestimate the role that WCSB played in providing news and entertainment to a variety of communities in Greater Cleveland. All of these communities lost an important cultural institution when Ideastream and CSU colluded to rob us of WCSB. All of which took place behind closed doors. They must be held accountable for what they have done.
Eric Schulte