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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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Tanisha's Law
Dear City Council,

I urge you to vote to pass Tanisha's Law and create a crisis response team that will bring care and not violence. Please honor her legacy and her family's wishes to ensure Clevelanders are treated with the dignity that all people deserve.
Anna Bauer
Tanisha's law
I am in support of Tanisha's law and the proposal to create a new department in the city government to support folks who are experiencing mental health concerns. Please vote in favor of Tanisha's Law to develop a Department of Community Crisis Response which will coordinate non-police responses to people having mental health crises. This is important to so many of us who have, or love those who have, mental health crises.
Hannah Rigel
Tanisha’s Law
In 2022, like Tanisha, I experienced a mental health crisis. I do not have a criminal record. I told a relative I was going to end my life, and they called 911, hoping I would receive help. Police officers showed up to my door. No medical personnel, no EMT’s, no ambulance. They forcibly removed me from my home, letting out my beloved pets in the process. This, combined with being handcuffed and pushed into the back of a police car, caused me to further panic. I begged for an ambulance, pleaded about my claustrophobia. In my panic, I slipped the handcuffs twice. I was body slammed by a large officer multiple times. He ridiculed my physical appearance and my behavior. Finally, they called for an ambulance. I was held extremely tightly against the back of the police car until that ambulance arrived. I had bruises everywhere on my body. I was not allowed to take photos of my injuries in the emergency room, and I begged to do so. I was eventually taken to a mental health facility where my phone was taken, and I again begged the staff to document the injuries. They too refused. This situation was traumatic and destabilizing. Afterward, I was approached in public about my injuries and asked by a stranger if I was safe. It could have been so much worse. Mental health crises are common. Medical personnel and social workers need to respond to these calls, not police officers. If police are involved there needs to be extensive accountability and documentation. Tanisha had her whole life ahead of her. Her life was not defined by a mental health episode. She deserved to find her peace, and instead her life was taken.
Kirsten Bull
Please Support Tanisha’s Law Backed by Her Family
I have worked in special education for 34 years, mostly with students grades K-12 who have struggled with behavioral and mental health issues. There were many times when situations could have escalated into more dangerous, if not more psychologically harmful, situations but trained professionals with an eye on trauma-informed care were able to manage things to a safe resolution. As a constituent, I implore you to involve the Cle Police Department in both training and a specialized division to assist in these situations. Not only can it save lives, it can promote/increase positive interactions with law enforcement, building public trust. Thank you!
Christine Zanoni
Tanisha Law
s a country and as a state, we must do more to protect and support people living with mental illness. I will never understand why the response so often becomes violent and aggressive. While I recognize the urgency and the dangers officers may face, the senseless killings have to stop. I support this law because it aims to change how we treat and care for individuals with mental illness—approaching them with compassion, understanding, and the dignity they deserve.
Ariel Rhea
Tanisha's Law
It is imperative that the City side's with the option that is supported by Tanisha's family that would create a new department. Mental Health department is a necessary addition to the City of Cleveland. Creating this path will allow other neighboring city's to learn and follow suite. Thank you for your time.
Lara Bobel
Tanisha's Law
I support Tanisha's law.
Brian S Hall
Tanisha’s Law
I am in support of enacting the full breadth of Tanisha’s Law to create a new department of community crisis response. People in our communities experiencing a mental health crisis should be supported and offered medical assistance rather than policing, and police officers shouldnt be asked to perform mental health services that they are unqualified for.
Emma Janssen
Tanisha's Law
Please vote for Tanisha's Law, which would create a new Department of Community Crisis Response to coordinate non-police responses to people having mental health crises. If our city had this Department when Tanisha Anderson died, she might still be alive today. The police should not be the first responders in mental health emergencies!
Martha Grevatt
YES to Bus Lanes on W. 25th
Dear City Council Members,

I'm Sara, a concerned citizen of Cleveland Heights. Thank you for your service to the city of Cleveland and all the folks of surrounding areas who are impacted by your leadership. 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.

Quick and reliable public transit is important to me because good transit brings economic and health benefits to communities, reduces road congestion, reduces gasoline usage and air pollution, and it makes Cleveland a more attractive place to live.

Young people especially prefer walkable communities over suburban sprawl, seeking to live among robust transit, shops, restaurants, libraries, parks, and a mix of housing options. Ohio City is already one of the most vibrant, walkable, livable neighborhoods in Cleveland, but it is lacking in effective, quick, and reliable transit. Filling this transit gap would not only make Cleveland a more desirable place to move to, but would make young Clevelanders more likely to stay instead of moving away in search of a more transit-rich city.

I recently moved back home to Cleveland after living in Chicago, where public transit is effective and well-funded, and it's been a grief to return to using my car to get around, waiting in so much traffic. I hope the W. 25th bus lane will be the first of an increase in funding and investment for our RTA system which serves so many and has the potential to serve so many more!

Thank you for reading my comment and hearing my perspective as a concerned Clevelander.

Sincerely,

Sara Pekar
Sara Pekar