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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Dog Owners Responsibilities
Can You Please Print out and send to the Residents that Live in Our Ward and Remind Dog Owners it is the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PET OWNERS TO PICKUP THE WASTE THAT THEY LET THEIR DOG LEAVE LAYING ON OUR STREETS , YARDS ANY WHERE THEY CHOSE !!
Paul Hicks
Flock Safety
I am writing as a concerned resident to urge you to reject any contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras in our community.
Flock Safety markets itself as a public safety tool, but the evidence tells a more complicated story. The ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation have extensively documented how this system enables warrantless tracking of ordinary drivers across thousands of agencies with a single database query. While Flock promotes the technology as a crime-fighting resource, it functions as a nationwide surveillance network that local governments do not fully control once they opt in.
The consequences are not hypothetical. Here in our own region, activists uncovered hundreds of immigration-related queries run through Shaker Heights' Flock database, with law enforcement agencies logging 273 searches listing "immigration" as the reason, 187 of those in January alone. When a community using Flock works directly with ICE, every other community in the network is also sharing data with ICE, whether they want to or not. Closer to home, Cleveland audit logs revealed more than a million searches each month by police nationwide, including federal agencies, and the city itself was compelled to ban immigration searches and implement a reproductive care filter after discovering how the data was being used. In Texas, a Flock-connected officer searched 83,000 cameras nationwide to track a woman suspected of self-administering an abortion.
The Fourth Amendment questions remain actively contested. A lower court in Virginia initially ruled that Flock's pervasive surveillance constitutes an unconstitutional warrantless search, though that ruling was later reversed on appeal. The underlying legal debate is far from settled, and any city adopting Flock today is assuming real legal and constitutional risk on behalf of its residents. The hardware itself poses independent security concerns. Researchers demonstrated that by pressing a button on the back of a Flock camera in a specific sequence, a Wi-Fi access point is created that grants full access to the device. The cameras store hard-coded Wi-Fi credentials transmitted in unencrypted plaintext, and they run on a version of Android that was discontinued in 2021 and carries hundreds of known vulnerabilities. Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi have called on the FTC to investigate Flock Safety for negligently exposing Americans' personal data, noting that Flock does not require its law enforcement customers to use multi-factor authentication. No matter what assurances the company provides, once cameras are installed, the city does not truly control the data they generate.
Studies have also shown that these cameras are disproportionately concentrated in Black and low-income neighborhoods, subjecting residents to surveillance at rates far exceeding those in predominantly white areas. Black community members and leaders and the officials who represent them, should be especially alert to this pattern, not reassured by it.
At least 30 localities have either deactivated their Flock cameras or canceled their contracts since the beginning of 2025, including Cambridge, Eugene, Santa Cruz, and Flagstaff, and that number has continued to grow. In Staunton, Virginia, the city terminated its contract after Flock's own CEO referred to critics as being part of a "coordinated attack" seeking to "defund the police" and "normalize lawlessness" - a statement that reveals a great deal about how the company views the communities it serves. It is also worth noting who funds this company. Flock Safety's most recent funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and included Founders Fund, two venture firms that have been vocal supporters of the current federal administration and whose politics are well documented. Inviting a corporation with those financial ties into your public safety infrastructure is a decision that deserves serious scrutiny.
Cameras do not prevent crime, and the AI systems built on top of this footage introduce their own risks, including the possibility of manipulated or misidentified images being used as evidence. This technology should not be treated as a neutral public safety upgrade.
I respectfully urge you to prioritize transparency, civil liberties, and genuine community input before committing public funds and public trust to a surveillance system our city cannot truly control.
Flock Safety markets itself as a public safety tool, but the evidence tells a more complicated story. The ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation have extensively documented how this system enables warrantless tracking of ordinary drivers across thousands of agencies with a single database query. While Flock promotes the technology as a crime-fighting resource, it functions as a nationwide surveillance network that local governments do not fully control once they opt in.
The consequences are not hypothetical. Here in our own region, activists uncovered hundreds of immigration-related queries run through Shaker Heights' Flock database, with law enforcement agencies logging 273 searches listing "immigration" as the reason, 187 of those in January alone. When a community using Flock works directly with ICE, every other community in the network is also sharing data with ICE, whether they want to or not. Closer to home, Cleveland audit logs revealed more than a million searches each month by police nationwide, including federal agencies, and the city itself was compelled to ban immigration searches and implement a reproductive care filter after discovering how the data was being used. In Texas, a Flock-connected officer searched 83,000 cameras nationwide to track a woman suspected of self-administering an abortion.
The Fourth Amendment questions remain actively contested. A lower court in Virginia initially ruled that Flock's pervasive surveillance constitutes an unconstitutional warrantless search, though that ruling was later reversed on appeal. The underlying legal debate is far from settled, and any city adopting Flock today is assuming real legal and constitutional risk on behalf of its residents. The hardware itself poses independent security concerns. Researchers demonstrated that by pressing a button on the back of a Flock camera in a specific sequence, a Wi-Fi access point is created that grants full access to the device. The cameras store hard-coded Wi-Fi credentials transmitted in unencrypted plaintext, and they run on a version of Android that was discontinued in 2021 and carries hundreds of known vulnerabilities. Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi have called on the FTC to investigate Flock Safety for negligently exposing Americans' personal data, noting that Flock does not require its law enforcement customers to use multi-factor authentication. No matter what assurances the company provides, once cameras are installed, the city does not truly control the data they generate.
Studies have also shown that these cameras are disproportionately concentrated in Black and low-income neighborhoods, subjecting residents to surveillance at rates far exceeding those in predominantly white areas. Black community members and leaders and the officials who represent them, should be especially alert to this pattern, not reassured by it.
At least 30 localities have either deactivated their Flock cameras or canceled their contracts since the beginning of 2025, including Cambridge, Eugene, Santa Cruz, and Flagstaff, and that number has continued to grow. In Staunton, Virginia, the city terminated its contract after Flock's own CEO referred to critics as being part of a "coordinated attack" seeking to "defund the police" and "normalize lawlessness" - a statement that reveals a great deal about how the company views the communities it serves. It is also worth noting who funds this company. Flock Safety's most recent funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and included Founders Fund, two venture firms that have been vocal supporters of the current federal administration and whose politics are well documented. Inviting a corporation with those financial ties into your public safety infrastructure is a decision that deserves serious scrutiny.
Cameras do not prevent crime, and the AI systems built on top of this footage introduce their own risks, including the possibility of manipulated or misidentified images being used as evidence. This technology should not be treated as a neutral public safety upgrade.
I respectfully urge you to prioritize transparency, civil liberties, and genuine community input before committing public funds and public trust to a surveillance system our city cannot truly control.
John Farina
Rainbow terrace apartments building explosion
Hi it’s me again, I was thinking about the white peoples in Parma who’s apartment building burned down and how quickly the city responded to them and gave them the resources they should have given the 44 block families who lost everything they owned, I can’t unsee this act of racism, redlining, and neglect.
LORENZO SANDERS SR
Rainbow Terrace Apartments Building Explosion
It’s 6/10/2026 13 days from now it will be a full year, since 6/23/2025 the day 44 families life changed, the day the City officials officially showed how much they care about African American families. We have to setup meetings and ask to speak publicly, smh, yall should be breaking your necks trying to talk to us the 44 families, I hate yall and imma make sure you never neglect a situation such as ours imma make sure yall never neglect people yall think so lowly of , that’s on my Son
LORENZO SANDERS SR
outrageous parking fees in downtown Cleveland
My husband and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner in downtown Cleveland Saturday night June 6th to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Much to our dismay we thought the restaurant had private parking and we found out that we had to use valet parking (no big deal), however, as soon as we pulled up and stepped out of our vehicle we were informed the fee would be $60. (OUTRAGEOUS). This type of robbery has to be affecting local restaurants and businesses. We had a reservation - could not go anywhere else - and felt liked we were mugged by the valet when he told us the fee was $60. To make matters worse, after our dinner we found out that our car was parked right outside the restaurant the whole time where we handed the valet our keys. This type of highway robbery will prevent us from visiting any more restaurants and venues in downtown Cleveland. You just lost our business and I am sure that more people feel the same way. Get this under control Cleveland. I won't be back.
Suzanne
The explosion that happened in Rainbow Terrace Apartments on Garden valley ave
Yep it's me again Kyanna Bell and yeah I know y'all on summer vacation but guess what me and my kids not having a good summer vacation my man my better half my kids father is not here we are not in our safe place we still crying we still hurting and again it must be nice for y'all to have y'all family together as one we are missing our King Cordale SHEFFIELD our hearts have been split apart we not have fun we having nightmares we are crying missing what we had missing our life before this shit happened to us.We was house people everything we did we did it as a family now we short but I bet y'all enjoying your life while we still trying to put our life's back together and it's hard mentally because I was so used to my man Cordale now we got to try to go on without him this shit is not fare at all but I pray none of y'all have to fill this pain this emptyness I fill my kids fill I'm so angry and you people just don't give a fuck but if it was y'all or let's say this if it was white people guess what y'all would have been found out was cause that explosion and y'all would have took better care of them we just poor black so y'all just say fuck us sad.ALL I WANT TO SAY IS THEY DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT US RIGHT WELL GOD BLESS YOU PEOPLE
Kyanna Bell
Current proposed rules on short term rentals
In addition to the rules that are being proposed and the registration of short term rentals -- these owners should be paying property tax on any new construction. Using new or rehab construction and then leasing it out with the property tax exemptions is so offensive as an owner occupied homeowner who continues to see my property values increase which is primarily related to all the new construction -- Do something to support owner occupied homeowners !!!!
M Meschket
Parking
The Irish town park project parking is a joke . The city says they want access to the water but they want people to park and pay over 300 hundred yards away on a slow day . Parking is recommended at west side market for a fee and Merwin’s warf for free . Hoopples has asked to keep the empty lot across the street for parking at the bottom of Franklin It could be used for the public and my business. Hoopples will help keep clean and safe for all . Instead they want to have 3 bike paths running parallel to each other in the size of half a football field. It doesn’t make sense since you already eliminated 80 percent of street parking on Franklin road by making it narrow.Parking will help Hoopples and people to enjoy the park. Thank you Norm Plonski
Norm Plonski Jr
Short term rental legislation
I have operated my Airbnb for 12 years without incident. I just received a copy of the proposed legislation and have multiple concerns.
Firstly, the entire "Whereas" section of the proposed legislation reads with an implied negative bias, is filled with assumptions and contains no data. It mentions "numerous complaints" but does not support or supplement the statement with any facts.
Secondly, the licensing fees and requirements are burdensome and onerous, an annual fee, dimensioned floorplans, parking plan, booking agents insurance proof, tax payment proof, certificate of occupancy proof, transient occupancy tax proof, reviews by various city departments. This is all overreach and will create a bureaucratic nightmare to administer and enforce. I need none of this to live in my house and should not need this if I decide to allow an Airbnb guest to stay in my home.
The City already has the tools to address issues. It has the address of the complaint and the county ownership record and can cite the owner for offenses. The City should start there by addressing the problematic properties' owners. Address the Actual issue, not create further issues. I liken the proposed approach to trying to kill a problematic "fly" with a "tank" instead of a "fly swatter."
Airbnb is quite effective at monitoring the problem guests and problem hosts through their platform and review process. Problem guests get banned from the platform and problem properties don't get bookings. The market is very effective.
Lastly regarding financial impacts, I think the proposed legislation will have negative unintended consequences. My guests book with me because it is more affordable than a hotel. Most would NOT come due to affordability issues if Airbnb were not available to them. They come to Cleveland for concerts, sports events, museums, weddings, funerals, medical treatments and they frequent the restaurants and bars while visiting. They support our local economy. Additionally, Airbnb collects and remits sales and occupancy tax to the city. Driving me, and possible hundreds like me, out of the Airbnb business does not support economic growth for Cleveland while adding the cost of additional unneeded administration to the mix.
Firstly, the entire "Whereas" section of the proposed legislation reads with an implied negative bias, is filled with assumptions and contains no data. It mentions "numerous complaints" but does not support or supplement the statement with any facts.
Secondly, the licensing fees and requirements are burdensome and onerous, an annual fee, dimensioned floorplans, parking plan, booking agents insurance proof, tax payment proof, certificate of occupancy proof, transient occupancy tax proof, reviews by various city departments. This is all overreach and will create a bureaucratic nightmare to administer and enforce. I need none of this to live in my house and should not need this if I decide to allow an Airbnb guest to stay in my home.
The City already has the tools to address issues. It has the address of the complaint and the county ownership record and can cite the owner for offenses. The City should start there by addressing the problematic properties' owners. Address the Actual issue, not create further issues. I liken the proposed approach to trying to kill a problematic "fly" with a "tank" instead of a "fly swatter."
Airbnb is quite effective at monitoring the problem guests and problem hosts through their platform and review process. Problem guests get banned from the platform and problem properties don't get bookings. The market is very effective.
Lastly regarding financial impacts, I think the proposed legislation will have negative unintended consequences. My guests book with me because it is more affordable than a hotel. Most would NOT come due to affordability issues if Airbnb were not available to them. They come to Cleveland for concerts, sports events, museums, weddings, funerals, medical treatments and they frequent the restaurants and bars while visiting. They support our local economy. Additionally, Airbnb collects and remits sales and occupancy tax to the city. Driving me, and possible hundreds like me, out of the Airbnb business does not support economic growth for Cleveland while adding the cost of additional unneeded administration to the mix.
Melodie Grable
Flock cameras
I definitely believe in the flock cameras I look at it this way if you have nothing to hide there is nothing to be afraid of. This is a safety camera. This will bring down the crime in Cleveland. I highly hope you keep them up. Thank you.
Sharon Cotrufo
Submissions are accepted up to 5 hours before a hearing if time slots are available