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 RADIO
Please help get the station back to the staff and students at WCSB!!!!! Jazzneo is boring and nobody asked for this or wants this station in cleveland!!

Have you tried finding a halfway decent song on the radio since they stole the station? it’s like endless doom scrolling hearing the same stations play the same songs over and over and over and over and over again.

The WCSB DJs deserve to have their station back, and the community deserves to hear underground music of any and all genres at any and all times of day!

tyyyyyyyyy :)
raine patterson
WCSB Cleveland
We in the Cleveland and greater Cleveland area are picking up the pieces after a big hit to our community, the takeover of WCSB Cleveland. The greater good of the community and students was not prioritized here. It was completely self serving for the president who was awarded an Ideastream board seat in the transaction, and for a wealthy donor who made the Ideastream purchase happen. Bring back Community, bring back WCSB!
Anthony C
The resolution calling on Ideastream and Cleveland State University to restore the 49-year-old student-run college radio station WCSB 89.3 FM
The student-run, listener-supported, free-form community radio station WCSB 89.3 FM, which has a distinguished 49-year history in Cleveland, was an irreplaceable cultural resource that allowed for the dissemination over the public airwaves of diverse musical genres, cultures, and viewpoints, which was widely considered to be one of the best radio stations of its type in Ohio (or even the U.S. as a whole). Indeed, it was an important part of what makes Cleveland Cleveland. Here is a list of the 90+ weekly programs that were lost in Ideastream's sudden, unannounced takeover of this station on October 3, 2025:
https://web.archive.org/web/20250904141048/https://www.wcsb.org/programs/

Please consider showing your support for this essential community asset by voting "Yes" on the resolution calling on Ideastream and Cleveland State University to reverse their ill-considered, unethical takeover of WCSB (replacing its signature multi-genre format with an all-jazz format) and restore it to its former state, as a multi-genre student-run station, which will be voted on at the Cleveland City Council meeting on Monday, October 20, 2025.
David Badagnani
The hostile takeover of WCSB
I'd like to thank the Council for considering this measure and to those who created the resolution. I was an associate producer at WCSB from November 2004 to the day of the takeover. I spent 6 years at Cleveland State earning a BA and close to 21 years (almost half my life) as part of the station, hosting Hot Trash, Music for Gracious Living, and Drinking Electricity before joining the Friday Night Rock Rotation. All that to say that my allegiance lies with what is now XCSB. I spent almost 15 years working for higher ed administration, and this is by far the most disgusting thing I've seen happen (and I've seen some things). Please vote to give the station back to our family of music-loving oddballs. Thank you.
Beth Cieslik
WCSB Resolution
I have been listening to WCSB for over half my life (24 or so years) and have been made quite upset by Ideastream’s cold-hearted theft of a 50 year old institution in Northeast Ohio.

The fact that it was paid for by a couple of fracking millionaires? Bitter icing on an already terrible cake.

With Ohio and Cleveland hemorrhaging population, I don’t think it’s in anyone’s best interest to further nudge people out by removing culture- and community-building radio such as WCSB was AND WILL BE AGAIN, if city council does the right and just thing and saves WCSB!!!
Alex W. Kellar
WCSB
I just heard about the emergency meeting regarding the resolution to return WCSB back to the students and community programmers and am filled with hope. Cleveland lost a vibrant, inclusive and important community when CSU decided to hand the reigns over to Ideastream for nationally syndicated jazz only programming. WCSB supported its community through playing local artists, talking about upcoming shows at local venues and providing a platform for the various ethnic programs. We, the city of Cleveland, and all those that listen worldwide, need WCSB back in the hands of the community.
Bill Hrabnicky
The hostile takeover of wcsb by ideastream
WCSB has been a community asset for nearly 50 years. We need these voices. Representation matters. The station needs to be returned to the students!
Erin Ryan
WCSB takeover by Ideastream
I’ve been informed that council members have been called to an emergency meeting on Monday regarding the recent WCSB Ideastream takeover.

As an alumnus of Cleveland State University and a long-time WCSB listener, I wanted to share how deeply this station has impacted my life and the broader Cleveland community. WCSB introduced me to Cleveland’s vibrant local music scene, something that has become one of the most meaningful parts of my life. The station kept me informed about local events and concerts, and through its free events and ticket giveaways, made it possible for me to stay connected to the community even during times of financial hardship.

Cleveland deserves an outlet that allows its residents to explore music and the creative communities that surround it. Music is healing and powerful, and WCSB’s accessible, community-driven programming has long served as a cornerstone of Cleveland’s cultural and economic vitality.

The recent takeover, and CSU’s decision to dismantle such a culturally significant and diverse institution, is devastating. WCSB has always been one of the things that makes Cleveland truly great.
Leann Pena Garcia
WCSB
Ideastream. You should be ashamed of yourself. Bring back WCSB. And then take your jazz somewhere else, far, far away from us!
Jane Drahos
In Support of the WCSB Resolution
My name is Rachel Goforth, and I’m a resident of North Collinwood (Ward 8). My family are longtime supporters of WCSB 89.3.

I want to thank Councilman Polensek, Councilman Harsh, and the other members of City Council for bringing forward this emergency resolution in support of the students and community members fighting to save WCSB. Your leadership matters deeply in this moment.

For nearly 50 years, WCSB has been more than just a student radio station. It has been a vital part of Cleveland’s cultural fabric — amplifying diverse voices, uplifting local artists, and connecting communities that are too often left out of mainstream media. It has been a training ground for students, a platform for free expression, and a rare space for creativity and community that truly belongs to the people of this city.

What happened at Cleveland State University and Ideastream Public Media is not just a poor administrative decision, but a betrayal of public trust. With no transparency, no accountability, and no respect for the students or the community, Laura Bloomberg and Kevin Martin unilaterally dismantled a beloved public asset for the benefit of themselves and a small group of wealthy donors.

This is not how public institutions should behave. Public universities and public media exist to serve the people, not to silence them. These institutions are critical to our community and should be cherished, but that does not mean that their leadership is infallible.

I want to commend City Council for recognizing that this is not just about a radio station. It’s about who gets to have a voice in Cleveland’s future. It’s about whether our public institutions remain accountable to the communities they serve, or to private interests and closed-door deals.

Passing this resolution is an important first step. I urge you to vote yes, and to continue standing with the students, volunteers, and listeners who built WCSB and made it the weird, wonderful, and irreplaceable space it is.

Returning WCSB to the students and community is the right thing to do and an affirmation that Cleveland stands for transparency, creativity, and the power of community voice.

Thank you.
Rachel Goforth