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

 

To sign up to comment in person or online, please scroll down.

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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WCSB
I’m writing in support of reinstating WCSB as a public station with the former staff to retain their positions. This radio station is our young people’s voices, commentary, love of music and direct connection to the people of cleveland and its surrounding suburbs. Removing it and replacing it with a generic format goes against all that makes listening a pleasure and cuts into our community at its base.
Teresa Duke
WCSB ideastream takeover
I think the way this situation has been handled is so disrespectful to the CSU students, alumni, supporters and the Cleveland community. CSU student run WCSB was a beacon of the Cleveland community. Being able to tune in and listen to actual people that live here, playing music by people that live here (and much more) for the people that live here is so important in a time where most music platforms are dominated by pre programmed shows and songs are selected by an AI algorithm.
Joseph Arceneaux
WCSB
WCSB was a vital community resource and a huge part of my everyday life. Ideastream's callous takeover of the FM signal was a crime. The things that make this city beautiful and worth living in need to be protected and when they are threatened we have to fight back in any way we can.
Solomon St Clair
WCSB radio station takeover
I have been enjoying WCSB for decades, it is an important part of our cultural landscape.
WCSB showcases diverse views and tastes. It will be a tragic loss and waste of a wonderful, unique local resource to hand it over to the bland entity IdeaStream, which is already widely available. We have so much to lose on this sudden move and very little to gain. PLEASE, do not allow Cleveland to suffer this loss.
Thank you.
Merrit Keeper
Merrit Keeper
WCSB emergency resolution
The CSB we as all know and love is a community, and a true voice for all people, not just an elite few. This community brings together an enormous group of people from all backgrounds, tastes, etc, and is an integral part of what makes Cleveland so very special. I urge all council members to make a difference and bring WCSB back where it belongs: 89.3FM. Let's also work together to figure out how this takeover happened as it clearly does not represent the people of Cleveland, nor the community at-large that spans listeners around the globe.
Additionally, a podcast (as the administration had suggested) is not an FCC regulated station and would not provide the same learning experience for students who have successfully ran the station for what would have been half a century this coming May. Thank you for your consideration.
Marie
WCSB
I am writing to voice my dissatisfaction at CSU’s decision to end broadcasting of WCSB which was the one truly great radio station in Cleveland to replace it with a jazz station associated with Ideastream. This is a great loss and a tragedy. I am in support of returning WCSB to the air.
Max Tomassoni
WCSB
As a young person growing up in the suburbs, I happened up on the left end of the radio dial and discovered WCSB- and it arguably changed the course of my life. It was certainly a factor that drew me to the City following high school, where I have now lived for thirty years. WCSB has been an incredible influence on generations of Northeast Ohio residents for close to fifty years, providing much needed space for programming not found anywhere else. It was one of the many things that make Cleveland unique. A part of our rich cultural tapestry. Please support this resolution to undo the theft of our FM-based "Public Square".
John Neely
WCSB and the future of this radio station
My name is Tom Sarago, and I am 48 years old loving in Lakewood Ohio.

I have been listening to WCSB since I was 13 years old. I wouldn't say I grew up with a terrible amount of culture in my community of Brook Park. When I discovered the left of the dial, it took me to a place that literally transformed me from white working class Brook Park to cultures I didn't even knew existed. Plseseing punk rock from the UK, NYC, Los Angeles, to music from Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Europ, and all the way to the Middle East.

I relentlessly tape recorded so many shows, and would dissect these tapes each evening, saving up money to purchase recordings all over the city. I did this until I started working in the record stores themselves.

I can't even begin counting the number of friends I have made who essentially did the same exact things I did. The path that this station was responsible lead me to working for nonprofit organizations, particularly those in tune with social services and the arts.

Today, I serve the community as Director of Marketing and Community Engagement. I love a nice life, with my partner and our two daughters. I frequently take both of our daughters to culture centers of Cleveland.

Simply put, had I not discovered WCSB I am 100% certain my life would have turned out differently. The culture I was a part of through the WCSB community most likely wasn't going to present itself elsewhere.

I know so many people share this similar sentiment. Please do the right thing and reverse this terrible decision and bring these programs back to our community.

Thank you.

Tom Sarago
Lakewood, Ohio
Tom Sarago
The hijacking of WCSB

I’d like to thank Councilperson Kris Harsh for getting behind WCSB and its unfortunate takeover by Ideastream and Cleveland State University.

For CSU and Ideastream to collaborate on hijacking the station on national College Radio Day was cruel enough, not to mention the manner in which they did it - closed door meetings, NDAs, $1M donated from wealthy jazz fans directly to Ideastream, and a 15 minute Zoom call to let the station staff know that the station signal and studio locks were actively in the process of being changed over.

Cleveland has always been known for having great college radio, and ‘CSB was such a big part of that. For it to be stripped away in such an unceremonious manner makes Cleveland a whole lot less cool! 49 years of culture - GONE - in the interest of jazz. And, while subjective, I have to say it’s not even GOOD jazz like the stuff you could hear on the real 89.3!

My hope is that Cleveland City Council will pass resolution 1324-2025 and shed some light on this situation. Perhaps it will compel CSU and Ideastream to do the right thing and return this resource to the people who made it amazing for 49 years.

Thank you,
Adam LaSota
Adam LaSota
WCSB Takeover
Student run radio programming for 49 yrs, now gone without warning. This takeover by CSU and Ideastream to play jazz 24/7 is unacceptable. Please return student led programming.
Jessica Reddick