Making an In-Person Public Comment at An Upcoming Council Meeting
Council welcomes public comments at each regularly scheduled Monday evening Council meeting.
If you are interested in speaking at a Cleveland City Council, please read the revised rules and procedures for public comments and fill out the online form below.
Submitting a Registration to Speak
Anyone who is interested in addressing Cleveland City Council at a public meeting must register with City Council prior to that meeting.
Registrations may be submitted:
- By using the online form below
- In person at Cleveland City Hall, Room 220, 601 Lakeside Avenue NE. Paper forms are available to register.
- By downloading this form, filling it out, and emailing it to publiccomment@clevelandcitycouncil.gov or dropping it off at Council offices.
Registration Periods
Registrations will ONLY be accepted between Noon on Wednesday and 2:00 pm on the same day as a regularly scheduled Monday evening Council Meeting.
Council allows no more than 10 people to comment at its regularly scheduled Monday night meetings. Registration will close as soon as the first 10 people sign up. Each registrant will be allotted 3 minutes to speak.
Registrations will only be accepted for making comments at the next regular meeting; registrations for any future meeting will not be accepted until the Wednesday before the meeting. Early, incomplete, or false registrations will be rejected.
Notice of Registration
If your registration is successful, you will be notified by email or phone.
Accommodations
If you need assistance due to a language barrier or disability, please let us know at least three (3) days in advance by going here to make a request.
Attending Council Meetings
Cleveland City Council meetings are held in the Council Chamber on the second floor of Cleveland City Hall, 601 Lakeside Avenue, East.
Visitors may park for free at the upper lot behind City Hall after 5:00 pm on days when Council is meeting.
Public Record
Please remember that all registration information and public comments are public records and can be subject to public record requests.
Decorum
Cleveland City Council must maintain orderly, efficient, and productive meetings to ensure the important business of city government is completed. Council has developed a set of rules and procedures that allow the public to be heard in a fair and orderly manner. These rules and procedures apply to all speakers, and Council does not discriminate based on the speaker's identity or viewpoint or the content of the speech. Please read Council's revised rules and procedures for public comments before you register and before you appear before City Council.
Please note: Anyone attending a Cleveland City Council meeting is prohibited from engaging in any action or behavior that substantially interrupts, delays, or disturbs the due conduct of the proceedings of the Council; such conduct includes but is not limited to: handclapping, stomping of feet, whistling, making other loud noises, yelling, or similar demonstrations. Any person who violates any of the above may be immediately removed from the Council Chamber.
Rules for Speakers
- Speakers may not yield their time to other speakers.
- Speakers shall only address the topic they registered to speak about.
- Speakers' comments shall not be frivolous or repetitive.
- Speakers shall not use language that is obscene or likely to produce imminent unlawful action.
- Speakers shall address all comments to the presiding officer.
Prohibited Items
- Signs, posters, banners, placards, or similar items
- Food and drink
Make a Comment In Person at a Council Meeting
To sign up to speak during the registration period (Noon Wednesday through 2:00 pm Monday before Council Meetings) click this button.
You will be notified by email or phone if you are one of the ten people who will speak.
Make a Comment Online
If you would rather submit your comments in writing, please fill out the form below.
Written public comments will be published on this page and delivered to all Councilmembers before the next full Council Meeting after they have been submitted.
Public Comments
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RTA's 25Connects BRT Project
Dear City Council Members,
I live in Cleveland Heights, but I rely on public transit to move throughout the area. I used the 51 route for many months to get to work in Parma Heights.
I am reaching out because I want to voice my support for the bus lanes on West 25th Street as part of RTA’s 25Connects BRT project.
As you may already know, the West 25th corridor is one of the busiest corridors in the city, and transit time for buses is often slow as buses must continually weave in and out of parked cars in an already congested area. A dedicated bus lane will improve transit time through this corridor.
Ohio City and Cleveland will be better off with better transit, and bus lanes on W 25th will be a good start. I know a few business owners are upset about losing a few parking spaces, and I find this hard to understand. Cars usually only bring one person to a business at a time, and once the car is parked in front of a business, it prevents anyone else from accessing the business via that parking spot for as long as the car is parked there. But a bus could bring 50 potential customers to the business every time the bus passes by, and the bus doesn't park in front of the business like a car does, preventing others from accessing the business. Furthermore, there’s a gigantic parking lot right behind the West Side Market.
I love Ohio City, I love the local businesses in Ohio City, and bus lanes will help these local businesses, not hurt them. The city can support these businesses by promoting them on social media, and the businesses themselves could promote themselves to transit riders through targeted signage and by offering specials to transit riders.
Cleveland is long overdue for more effective public transit. As it stands now, it’s almost always faster for me to drive than to take public transit. I choose to take public transit whenever I am able, but as a newly married person, it can be difficult to justify long transit times when my wife and I are both active people who work full time and have limited time just to be with each other. I shouldn’t have to choose between taking public transit or spending quality time with people I love. In cities like Chicago, DC, Boston, or New York, people don’t have to make that choice. And I’ve seen so many people leave places like Cleveland for places like Chicago for this reason. It’s time to move Cleveland forward and connect our city once again. We need bus lanes on West 25th Street as part of the 25Connects BRT project, and we need a lot more than that. Let’s get started making Cleveland a transit-friendly city it once was and can be once again!
I live in Cleveland Heights, but I rely on public transit to move throughout the area. I used the 51 route for many months to get to work in Parma Heights.
I am reaching out because I want to voice my support for the bus lanes on West 25th Street as part of RTA’s 25Connects BRT project.
As you may already know, the West 25th corridor is one of the busiest corridors in the city, and transit time for buses is often slow as buses must continually weave in and out of parked cars in an already congested area. A dedicated bus lane will improve transit time through this corridor.
Ohio City and Cleveland will be better off with better transit, and bus lanes on W 25th will be a good start. I know a few business owners are upset about losing a few parking spaces, and I find this hard to understand. Cars usually only bring one person to a business at a time, and once the car is parked in front of a business, it prevents anyone else from accessing the business via that parking spot for as long as the car is parked there. But a bus could bring 50 potential customers to the business every time the bus passes by, and the bus doesn't park in front of the business like a car does, preventing others from accessing the business. Furthermore, there’s a gigantic parking lot right behind the West Side Market.
I love Ohio City, I love the local businesses in Ohio City, and bus lanes will help these local businesses, not hurt them. The city can support these businesses by promoting them on social media, and the businesses themselves could promote themselves to transit riders through targeted signage and by offering specials to transit riders.
Cleveland is long overdue for more effective public transit. As it stands now, it’s almost always faster for me to drive than to take public transit. I choose to take public transit whenever I am able, but as a newly married person, it can be difficult to justify long transit times when my wife and I are both active people who work full time and have limited time just to be with each other. I shouldn’t have to choose between taking public transit or spending quality time with people I love. In cities like Chicago, DC, Boston, or New York, people don’t have to make that choice. And I’ve seen so many people leave places like Cleveland for places like Chicago for this reason. It’s time to move Cleveland forward and connect our city once again. We need bus lanes on West 25th Street as part of the 25Connects BRT project, and we need a lot more than that. Let’s get started making Cleveland a transit-friendly city it once was and can be once again!
Adam Rossi
Frustrations with the cost water and sewer utilities
Hello,
I have a concern I would like to bring to your attention in the hopes that your administration can figure out the best solution to address the issue. Namely, the cost of water and sewer in Cleveland is by far the most expensive water/sewer bill I've ever experienced in my adult life. I have rented and owned homes elsewhere, including in cities like Tampa, FL, and my water and sewer utilities have never costed me more than $18 - 35 a month total.
Using my most recent bills as an example, I am being charged $64.31 by Cleveland Water and $81 by Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District for having used 0.5 MCF. That's $145.31 for 0.5 MCF of water used. Compared to other Great Lakes region cities like Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Buffalo, Cleveland's water and sewer rates have been found by independent parties to be much higher. Additionally, Cleveland has the 2nd highest concentration of lead pipes in the U.S., with an additional 43% of the sewer pipes being over 100 years old. Why are we paying so much when the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Cleveland and Ohio's water and sewer infrastructure a "C" grade? I understand that there is a lot of investment needed to improve our water and sewer infrastructure - but why pull the majority of the costs of these upgrades from the pockets of everyday citizens? Why not from Federal dollars provided by the Infrastructure bill that passed under Biden, or through taxes on large businesses and corporations like Amazon that utilize way more water and create more wastewater than Cleveland households, or other funding sources whether private or public?
What's even more ridiculous, is that both Cleveland Water and NEORSD bill residents for the exact same services related to cleaning the water/pollution control and waste/sewage collection or cleaning. Why are they both charging me for the same things? That is duplication of services and even after speaking with representatives of both Cleveland Water and NEORSD, it is unclear how anything they are doing is different than what the other entity is doing and charging for.
With costs of living growing rapidly, every dollar counts. Honestly, I am frustrated and concerned that I am paying so much for so little and for what are clearly duplicative services. I welcome a chance to speak further and would encourage the administration to consider hosting town halls to get feedback, concerns, and suggestions for improvement from Clevelanders. So many of my neighbors and friends are struggling with this exact issue as well and I know they would welcome a chance to learn and to find an equitable solution. We Clevelanders are proud of our city, but to remain proud we need to be able to afford to live here and have infrastructure that allows us to live and thrive here.
Sources:
1. https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2019/02/why-have-cleveland-area-water-sewer-bills-doubled-in-a-decade.html
2. https://uswateralliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/An-Equitable-Water-Future-Cleveland_roadmap_final.pdf
3. https://neorsd.medium.com/report-ohios-infrastructure-is-mid-but-our-regional-work-is-major-d3cbdb36d08d
4. https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/society-news/article/2025/06/25/ohios-infrastructure-grade-improves-to-a-c-grade
5. https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/researcher-says-40-of-cleveland-water-mains-more-than-100-years-old
I have a concern I would like to bring to your attention in the hopes that your administration can figure out the best solution to address the issue. Namely, the cost of water and sewer in Cleveland is by far the most expensive water/sewer bill I've ever experienced in my adult life. I have rented and owned homes elsewhere, including in cities like Tampa, FL, and my water and sewer utilities have never costed me more than $18 - 35 a month total.
Using my most recent bills as an example, I am being charged $64.31 by Cleveland Water and $81 by Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District for having used 0.5 MCF. That's $145.31 for 0.5 MCF of water used. Compared to other Great Lakes region cities like Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Buffalo, Cleveland's water and sewer rates have been found by independent parties to be much higher. Additionally, Cleveland has the 2nd highest concentration of lead pipes in the U.S., with an additional 43% of the sewer pipes being over 100 years old. Why are we paying so much when the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Cleveland and Ohio's water and sewer infrastructure a "C" grade? I understand that there is a lot of investment needed to improve our water and sewer infrastructure - but why pull the majority of the costs of these upgrades from the pockets of everyday citizens? Why not from Federal dollars provided by the Infrastructure bill that passed under Biden, or through taxes on large businesses and corporations like Amazon that utilize way more water and create more wastewater than Cleveland households, or other funding sources whether private or public?
What's even more ridiculous, is that both Cleveland Water and NEORSD bill residents for the exact same services related to cleaning the water/pollution control and waste/sewage collection or cleaning. Why are they both charging me for the same things? That is duplication of services and even after speaking with representatives of both Cleveland Water and NEORSD, it is unclear how anything they are doing is different than what the other entity is doing and charging for.
With costs of living growing rapidly, every dollar counts. Honestly, I am frustrated and concerned that I am paying so much for so little and for what are clearly duplicative services. I welcome a chance to speak further and would encourage the administration to consider hosting town halls to get feedback, concerns, and suggestions for improvement from Clevelanders. So many of my neighbors and friends are struggling with this exact issue as well and I know they would welcome a chance to learn and to find an equitable solution. We Clevelanders are proud of our city, but to remain proud we need to be able to afford to live here and have infrastructure that allows us to live and thrive here.
Sources:
1. https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2019/02/why-have-cleveland-area-water-sewer-bills-doubled-in-a-decade.html
2. https://uswateralliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/An-Equitable-Water-Future-Cleveland_roadmap_final.pdf
3. https://neorsd.medium.com/report-ohios-infrastructure-is-mid-but-our-regional-work-is-major-d3cbdb36d08d
4. https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/society-news/article/2025/06/25/ohios-infrastructure-grade-improves-to-a-c-grade
5. https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/researcher-says-40-of-cleveland-water-mains-more-than-100-years-old
Joshua Swift
Homelessness/asking for money
Dining at Flannery 's the afternoon of Saturday January 10th, we were met my many people asking for money, one sleeping on East 4th St. So much garbage in the small area from East 4th parking to the restaurant. Leaving, groups of people approaching asking for money. A friend parked further away and encountered a man, naked waist down, "gratifying" himself. These people need help. Also this is Cleveland's lovely entertainment district which was not so lovely that afternoon.
Leslie McCafferty
ELIMINATION DOWNTOWN FREE PARKING
I've been driving nearly 50 years and it has ALWAYS been free to park Downtown on evenings, weekends and holidays. The text on the meters has always been the same, forever. It is an OUTRAGE that the city will now charge for Downtown street parking, 7 days a week. I intentionally do not own a smartphone and am now effectively prohibited from ever parking on a Downtown street. The city will make chump change off these meters while creating an inconvenience for citizens.
Jay Ryan
Regarding Reductions to Homelessness & Nonprofit Services in Cuyahoga County
To the Honorable Cleveland City Councilmembers of Ward 7/8 and Ward 3, To the Governing Boards and Leadership of Organizations Serving These Wards, And to All Officials Making Budgetary Decisions That Affect Our Lives:
My name is Ericka H.
I am speaking today as someone who is directly impacted by the decisions you have made — or allowed to stand — regarding the reduction of funding for homeless assistance and nonprofit services in Cuyahoga County.
I am not speaking in theory.
I am speaking from first-hand experience.
The programs being reduced or destabilized are not abstract line items to me. They are the difference between safety and danger, stability and chaos, survival and crisis — not only for me, but for the people who live, sleep, worship, and seek help in the wards you represent.
The Reality You Do Not Have to Live With
You return to stable housing after these meetings. You do not have to figure out where to sleep when services disappear. You do not have to navigate trauma, illness, hunger, or fear without support.
But we do.
The people making these decisions are not the ones who absorb the consequences. The consequences land on us — in the neighborhoods surrounding Norma Herr Women’s Center and St. Paul’s Community Church, in hospital waiting rooms, on sidewalks, in shelters stretched beyond capacity, and in families trying to survive systems that are being dismantled around them.
When funding is reduced:
Shelter access shrinks
Case management disappears
Mental health crises escalate
Outreach stops before people stabilize
People are pushed back into unsafe conditions
This does not reduce costs.
It moves suffering into public view and shifts the burden onto emergency responders, hospitals, faith institutions, and neighborhoods.
We are already living with the fallout.
To the Councilmembers Representing These Wards & To the Governing Boards and Leadership of These Organizations
You represent areas where the impact is immediate and unavoidable.
Norma Herr exists because women need a place to go when systems fail.
St. Paul’s exists because faith institutions are forced to fill gaps left by policy decisions.
When you approve or remain silent on cuts that affect these places, you are not making neutral choices. You are deciding who bears harm and who does not.
And right now, that harm is being placed squarely on the backs of people with the least power to absorb it.
Your missions are supposed to be rooted in service, dignity, and protection of human life.
Yet the communities you serve are being destabilized by decisions made without our voices at the table — decisions that assume someone else will pick up the pieces when funding disappears.
We are asking you to do more than manage a decline.
We are asking you to advocate publicly, to challenge policies that undermine your missions, and to stand with the people whose lives give meaning to your work.
What We Are Asking — Directly and Clearly
We are not asking for sympathy.
We are asking for accountability.
We are asking you to:
Acknowledge publicly that these reductions disproportionately harm people who already live on the margins
Engage directly with impacted residents before further cuts are implemented
Advocate for restoration, reprogramming, or pilot funding rather than passive acceptance
Support community-based stabilization models that prevent crisis instead of reacting to it
Stop making decisions about us without us
This Truth Must Be Said
Policies made at a distance feel clean.
Their consequences are not.
We are the ones who live with the aftermath — every day, every night, in every season. If these decisions truly made communities safer, healthier, and more stable, we would not be here pleading to be heard. But the opposite is happening, and it is happening in the Wards you are responsible for & obviously don’t reside in.
In closing, Leadership is not measured by how well budgets balance on paper.
It is measured by who is protected when systems are strained. Right now, the people absorbing the cost of these decisions are not the people making them.
We are asking you — as elected officials, board members, and community leaders — to step closer to the reality you govern, to listen to those of us who live it, and to choose solutions that do not sacrifice human stability for short-term accounting.
We are here.
We are affected.
And we expect to be part of the decisions that shape our lives.
Respectfully,
Ericka H.
Directly Impacted Community Member / Resident / Service User /Tax Payer
Wards 7/8 & Ward 3 Communities
My name is Ericka H.
I am speaking today as someone who is directly impacted by the decisions you have made — or allowed to stand — regarding the reduction of funding for homeless assistance and nonprofit services in Cuyahoga County.
I am not speaking in theory.
I am speaking from first-hand experience.
The programs being reduced or destabilized are not abstract line items to me. They are the difference between safety and danger, stability and chaos, survival and crisis — not only for me, but for the people who live, sleep, worship, and seek help in the wards you represent.
The Reality You Do Not Have to Live With
You return to stable housing after these meetings. You do not have to figure out where to sleep when services disappear. You do not have to navigate trauma, illness, hunger, or fear without support.
But we do.
The people making these decisions are not the ones who absorb the consequences. The consequences land on us — in the neighborhoods surrounding Norma Herr Women’s Center and St. Paul’s Community Church, in hospital waiting rooms, on sidewalks, in shelters stretched beyond capacity, and in families trying to survive systems that are being dismantled around them.
When funding is reduced:
Shelter access shrinks
Case management disappears
Mental health crises escalate
Outreach stops before people stabilize
People are pushed back into unsafe conditions
This does not reduce costs.
It moves suffering into public view and shifts the burden onto emergency responders, hospitals, faith institutions, and neighborhoods.
We are already living with the fallout.
To the Councilmembers Representing These Wards & To the Governing Boards and Leadership of These Organizations
You represent areas where the impact is immediate and unavoidable.
Norma Herr exists because women need a place to go when systems fail.
St. Paul’s exists because faith institutions are forced to fill gaps left by policy decisions.
When you approve or remain silent on cuts that affect these places, you are not making neutral choices. You are deciding who bears harm and who does not.
And right now, that harm is being placed squarely on the backs of people with the least power to absorb it.
Your missions are supposed to be rooted in service, dignity, and protection of human life.
Yet the communities you serve are being destabilized by decisions made without our voices at the table — decisions that assume someone else will pick up the pieces when funding disappears.
We are asking you to do more than manage a decline.
We are asking you to advocate publicly, to challenge policies that undermine your missions, and to stand with the people whose lives give meaning to your work.
What We Are Asking — Directly and Clearly
We are not asking for sympathy.
We are asking for accountability.
We are asking you to:
Acknowledge publicly that these reductions disproportionately harm people who already live on the margins
Engage directly with impacted residents before further cuts are implemented
Advocate for restoration, reprogramming, or pilot funding rather than passive acceptance
Support community-based stabilization models that prevent crisis instead of reacting to it
Stop making decisions about us without us
This Truth Must Be Said
Policies made at a distance feel clean.
Their consequences are not.
We are the ones who live with the aftermath — every day, every night, in every season. If these decisions truly made communities safer, healthier, and more stable, we would not be here pleading to be heard. But the opposite is happening, and it is happening in the Wards you are responsible for & obviously don’t reside in.
In closing, Leadership is not measured by how well budgets balance on paper.
It is measured by who is protected when systems are strained. Right now, the people absorbing the cost of these decisions are not the people making them.
We are asking you — as elected officials, board members, and community leaders — to step closer to the reality you govern, to listen to those of us who live it, and to choose solutions that do not sacrifice human stability for short-term accounting.
We are here.
We are affected.
And we expect to be part of the decisions that shape our lives.
Respectfully,
Ericka H.
Directly Impacted Community Member / Resident / Service User /Tax Payer
Wards 7/8 & Ward 3 Communities
Ericka Hamilton
Flock Contracts and Security Concerns
I would like to echo the comments made by Donna Payravi about Flock not making the city feel safer. You do not have to be a criminal to have a profile created with your information in their database; we’ve been living in a surveillance state for years, but this is truly “thought police” levels of monitoring. Flock uses AI for facial recognition and license plate recognition. Likewise, Louis Rossman and Benn Jordan have exposed these cameras for having awfully poor security settings, allowing essentially anyone to tune into live feeds. Furthermore, I understand that in other cities, Flock cameras have been removed because they failed to provide correct permits. I request that the permits for all flock cameras in Cleveland are shared with the public and if the city council fails to do so, the corresponding cameras should be removed promptly.
Logan W
No War on Venezuela!! Pass an anti-war resolution!
As is well understood by the public, as well as city council and the mayor, Cleveland has the policy characteristics of a Sanctuary City: These are positive characteristics that make our city great. Because of this fundamental policy choice, Cleveland has a vested interest in global events that will inevitably lead to refugee crises. Therefore, it is in the material interest of Cleveland to join a growing chorus of anti-war voices and say NO to war on Venezuela. While Cleveland accepts all people who come to our city with open arms, we Clevelanders prefer peace, and for people in our hemisphere to not be forced to flee their homes as their countries are destabilized by foreign invasion.
As of Fall of 2025, the Trump administration has escalated military aggression and lethal strikes on Venezuela and on peoples of the Caribbean. Our secretary of war has defended actions that amount to violations of the Geneva conventions and the UN charter. We people of good conscious recognize these war crimes for what they are, and we know that we will be the ones to sacrifice materially to help our fellow humans from the resulting fallout of war. We therefore reject this war. Cleveland city council should be of accord with this position. I implore council to adopt a Resolution that says No War on Venezuela, to share the passed resolution with state and federal parties interested, and to encourage surrounding cities and municipalities to take similar positions. The working people of the United States do not and will not support a destructive war in Latin America.
As of Fall of 2025, the Trump administration has escalated military aggression and lethal strikes on Venezuela and on peoples of the Caribbean. Our secretary of war has defended actions that amount to violations of the Geneva conventions and the UN charter. We people of good conscious recognize these war crimes for what they are, and we know that we will be the ones to sacrifice materially to help our fellow humans from the resulting fallout of war. We therefore reject this war. Cleveland city council should be of accord with this position. I implore council to adopt a Resolution that says No War on Venezuela, to share the passed resolution with state and federal parties interested, and to encourage surrounding cities and municipalities to take similar positions. The working people of the United States do not and will not support a destructive war in Latin America.
Heather
Flock contract
As a frequent visitor to Cleveland, the surveillance infrastructure being built and paid for by Cleveland does not make me feel safer. Countless cities have been living testament to the harm Flock has caused - including security leaks revealing private citizens' data, providing data to ICE, inaccuracy leading to threatened livelihoods and imprisonment, misuse by local law enforcement (particularly a risk with our CPD having a history of "bad apples"), and anti-union action through partnering with private companies (https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/flock-roundup). I would highly recommend that city councilpeople review the information centralized through the ACLU, individuals like Louis Rossman and Benn Jordan, and other cities such as Denver and Columbine Valley. I strongly oppose this contract and will be working alongside several human rights groups in Cleveland to ensure that it is either prevented or broken entirely. This issue is intersectional and will affect every individual and group who visits Cleveland, including law-abiding citizens.
Donna Payravi
Cleveland Public Power Outages in Old Brooklyn
Cleveland Puclic Power outages occur regularly. This has been happening for years. It is past the point of minor inconvenience. As residents of Old Brooklyn, most of us have no choice but to use CPP. Their service is unacceptable. Something needs to done. If aging infrastructure is the problem, then it needs to be fixed!
Tami Vandrasik
Cleveland Public Power
My electricity was turned off during Mayor Bibbs utility shutoff moratorium. When I called, I informed them that I had just paid $300. They told me to call back in 2 days before we could come up with a payment arrangement. When I called back, the lady said the $300 could be used for a down-payment for my electricity getting turned back on but it would take 2 days (I called on Thursday. ) I informed the lady I have 4 children at home so I need it back on ASAP. It is now Saturday and my electricity is still off and its freezing cold outside and in.
Arielle Reynolds
Submissions are accepted up to 5 hours before a hearing if time slots are available