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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Interconnection
I'm writing because I have a comment about ordinance 621-2026 regarding interconnection agreements, which is being sponsored by Council President Griffin.
The ordinance states that when evaluating interconnection requests, consideration will be given to whether the request benefits CPP customers. I strongly hope and recommend that evaluation of benefits includes air quality and heat stress. Interconnection agreements with large industrial customers who utilize batteries, solar, wind and other renewables are certainly beneficial for Clevelanders. Agreements with customers who use gas turbines or diesel generators will be detrimental to CPP customers because they will increase air pollution and exacerbate climate change, affecting the most vulnerable Cleveland residents (the very young, very old and impoverished) disproportionately.
I certainly hope the President and the council in general will consider this.
Thank you,
Chelsie Colvin
The ordinance states that when evaluating interconnection requests, consideration will be given to whether the request benefits CPP customers. I strongly hope and recommend that evaluation of benefits includes air quality and heat stress. Interconnection agreements with large industrial customers who utilize batteries, solar, wind and other renewables are certainly beneficial for Clevelanders. Agreements with customers who use gas turbines or diesel generators will be detrimental to CPP customers because they will increase air pollution and exacerbate climate change, affecting the most vulnerable Cleveland residents (the very young, very old and impoverished) disproportionately.
I certainly hope the President and the council in general will consider this.
Thank you,
Chelsie Colvin
Chelsie Colvin
The Historical (and Federally Protected) Shaker Lakes Parklands
The Shaker Parklands are not a collection of separate features or infrastructure components. They are a connected historic landscape — one that this community fought to protect and that was formally recognized and protected at the federal level by the National Park Service in 1974.
That designation matters. It reflects the understanding that these parklands, defined by the lakes, must be treated as one system.
What is happening now -reducing it to individual dams, isolated maintenance decisions, or segmented project components is not allowed. That is not how this landscape was protected, and it is not how it should be managed today.
Decisions affecting Horseshoe Lake, Lower Lake, Doan Brook, and the surrounding parklands affect the integrity of the whole. They cannot be evaluated or altered in pieces.
As the owner of these lands, the City has a responsibility to act deliberately and transparently -especially when considering easements, land use, and permanent changes to a federally recognized historic landscape.
The community has protected these parklands before. That responsibility now sits with you as this will tear the fabric that combines areas of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and Shaker Heights in ways that are connected, safe and trust building.
Please prioritize preservation of the historic landscape and ensure that no irreversible actions move forward without full transparency and a complete, lawful review.
That designation matters. It reflects the understanding that these parklands, defined by the lakes, must be treated as one system.
What is happening now -reducing it to individual dams, isolated maintenance decisions, or segmented project components is not allowed. That is not how this landscape was protected, and it is not how it should be managed today.
Decisions affecting Horseshoe Lake, Lower Lake, Doan Brook, and the surrounding parklands affect the integrity of the whole. They cannot be evaluated or altered in pieces.
As the owner of these lands, the City has a responsibility to act deliberately and transparently -especially when considering easements, land use, and permanent changes to a federally recognized historic landscape.
The community has protected these parklands before. That responsibility now sits with you as this will tear the fabric that combines areas of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and Shaker Heights in ways that are connected, safe and trust building.
Please prioritize preservation of the historic landscape and ensure that no irreversible actions move forward without full transparency and a complete, lawful review.
Amy Weinfurtner
Ordinance 721-2025: Shaker Parklands Easements; Horseshoe Lake; Lower Shaker Lake; Doan Brook Restoration
These comments address the following Cleveland Council Committees:
- Municipal Services and Properties Committee
- Finance, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
- Full Cleveland City Council Meeting
To: Cleveland City Council Members/Committees
I am asking Cleveland City Council to proceed cautiously with any additional easements, authorizations, or operational actions affecting the Shaker Parklands while federal litigation and federal review remain active.
The essential issue regarding the Shaker Lakes Parklands is whether irreversible alteration of a federally recognized historic public landscape is being advanced through a lawful and fully completed review process.
Before any further irreversible steps are taken in the Shaker Lakes Parklands project, there are still critical questions that have not been answered. Residents have repeatedly asked for an independent evaluation of potential alternatives that would preserve the Shaker Lakes Parklands, and that has not been done.
The public has never been given a real choice. One plan is not a choice. Yet, public funds are being used for a project that fundamentally changes an historic landscape without clear public consent.
The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) mandates that public input must be an integral part of federal project decision-making when the historic integrity of a National Register property may be harmed.
The Shaker Lakes Parklands are not owned by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). Cleveland remains the landowner, and the public deserves full transparency regarding easements, project scope, implementation plans, and the status of any ongoing negotiations or approvals.
Please ensure that all actions affecting Horseshoe Lake, Lower Shaker Lake, the Nature Center corridor, and surrounding parklands are managed openly, carefully, and only after complete public disclosure and lawful review.
Sincerely,
Christine Heggie
- Municipal Services and Properties Committee
- Finance, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
- Full Cleveland City Council Meeting
To: Cleveland City Council Members/Committees
I am asking Cleveland City Council to proceed cautiously with any additional easements, authorizations, or operational actions affecting the Shaker Parklands while federal litigation and federal review remain active.
The essential issue regarding the Shaker Lakes Parklands is whether irreversible alteration of a federally recognized historic public landscape is being advanced through a lawful and fully completed review process.
Before any further irreversible steps are taken in the Shaker Lakes Parklands project, there are still critical questions that have not been answered. Residents have repeatedly asked for an independent evaluation of potential alternatives that would preserve the Shaker Lakes Parklands, and that has not been done.
The public has never been given a real choice. One plan is not a choice. Yet, public funds are being used for a project that fundamentally changes an historic landscape without clear public consent.
The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) mandates that public input must be an integral part of federal project decision-making when the historic integrity of a National Register property may be harmed.
The Shaker Lakes Parklands are not owned by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). Cleveland remains the landowner, and the public deserves full transparency regarding easements, project scope, implementation plans, and the status of any ongoing negotiations or approvals.
Please ensure that all actions affecting Horseshoe Lake, Lower Shaker Lake, the Nature Center corridor, and surrounding parklands are managed openly, carefully, and only after complete public disclosure and lawful review.
Sincerely,
Christine Heggie
Christine Heggie
Shaker Lakes
I submit this comment to Cleveland City Council out of great concern for currently ongoing and proposed future actions by NEORSD in the Shaker Parklands.
The Shaker Parklands are more than isolated “features” or infrastructure components. They are an interconnected historic landscape recognized at the federal level, on the National Register of Historic Places, for their historical, cultural, environmental, and recreational significance.
I urge Cleveland to avoid reducing this discussion to individual dams, isolated maintenance activities, or segmented project components. Decisions affecting Horseshoe Lake, Lower Lake, Doan Brook, and the surrounding parklands affect the integrity of the entire landscape.
As the owner of these lands, Cleveland has an obligation to act deliberately and transparently regarding easements, land-use decisions, and long-term transformation of the parklands.
NEORSD already breached the Horseshoe Lake dam, damaging a protected historic landscape, without any review process being undertaken. They went on to make complete plans for radically altering this historic landscape and got approval from Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights governments before going through the necessary permitting process. Allowing this plan to go forward without a thorough, transparent review would be a betrayal of the public trust and the city of Cleveland should ensure no such actions take place on this valuable land the city owns.
Please prioritize preservation of the historic landscape and ensure that no irreversible actions move forward without complete public transparency and lawful review.
The Shaker Parklands are more than isolated “features” or infrastructure components. They are an interconnected historic landscape recognized at the federal level, on the National Register of Historic Places, for their historical, cultural, environmental, and recreational significance.
I urge Cleveland to avoid reducing this discussion to individual dams, isolated maintenance activities, or segmented project components. Decisions affecting Horseshoe Lake, Lower Lake, Doan Brook, and the surrounding parklands affect the integrity of the entire landscape.
As the owner of these lands, Cleveland has an obligation to act deliberately and transparently regarding easements, land-use decisions, and long-term transformation of the parklands.
NEORSD already breached the Horseshoe Lake dam, damaging a protected historic landscape, without any review process being undertaken. They went on to make complete plans for radically altering this historic landscape and got approval from Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights governments before going through the necessary permitting process. Allowing this plan to go forward without a thorough, transparent review would be a betrayal of the public trust and the city of Cleveland should ensure no such actions take place on this valuable land the city owns.
Please prioritize preservation of the historic landscape and ensure that no irreversible actions move forward without complete public transparency and lawful review.
Jeff McManus
Downtown
Hard/no parking
Had restaurant 20 years ago in old arcade, went belly up...no place to park. Recently out of town guest wanted to eat downtown,,, no parking....
City don't seem to take it serious,
Believe me it's a serious problem
Your delusional if you dont...
Had restaurant 20 years ago in old arcade, went belly up...no place to park. Recently out of town guest wanted to eat downtown,,, no parking....
City don't seem to take it serious,
Believe me it's a serious problem
Your delusional if you dont...
Walter Tresville
Ordinance 721-2025; Shaker Parklands Easements; Horseshoe Lake; Lower Lake; Doan Brook Restoration
To the Cleveland City Council.
I offer this comment with deep respect for the role of Cleveland City Council and the difficult decisions you are asked to make on behalf of our communities. As the City of Cleveland is the owner of the Shaker Parklands, not NEORSD or Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights, I ask you to use your authority to safeguard both the public trust and ensure lawful review of the proposed alterations to the irreplaceable Parklands landscape — ones that will impact future generations.
The Shaker Parklands are part of our region’s history, ecology, and community. Any action that could permanently alter them demands clear answers and complete public disclosure.
Right now, key questions remain unanswered, including:
• What analysis justifies this proposed transformation of the Shaker Parklands?
• What alternatives, if any, were evaluated?
• What assumptions and modeling are driving these decisions?
• What additional easements or authorizations are still under consideration, and on what timeline?
Moving ahead without clear, public answers to these questions is not acceptable. Public outreach and construction planning are not substitutes for transparency, or lawful review.
I respectfully ask Cleveland City Council to ensure that all agreements, easements, timelines, and implementation plans related to the Shaker Parklands are fully disclosed, made easily accessible, and publicly discussed before any irreversible alteration proceeds further. Once this landscape is altered, the damage cannot be undone. The public is entitled to clarity, accountability, lawful review and a real voice in the future of the Shaker Parklands.
Thank you.
I offer this comment with deep respect for the role of Cleveland City Council and the difficult decisions you are asked to make on behalf of our communities. As the City of Cleveland is the owner of the Shaker Parklands, not NEORSD or Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights, I ask you to use your authority to safeguard both the public trust and ensure lawful review of the proposed alterations to the irreplaceable Parklands landscape — ones that will impact future generations.
The Shaker Parklands are part of our region’s history, ecology, and community. Any action that could permanently alter them demands clear answers and complete public disclosure.
Right now, key questions remain unanswered, including:
• What analysis justifies this proposed transformation of the Shaker Parklands?
• What alternatives, if any, were evaluated?
• What assumptions and modeling are driving these decisions?
• What additional easements or authorizations are still under consideration, and on what timeline?
Moving ahead without clear, public answers to these questions is not acceptable. Public outreach and construction planning are not substitutes for transparency, or lawful review.
I respectfully ask Cleveland City Council to ensure that all agreements, easements, timelines, and implementation plans related to the Shaker Parklands are fully disclosed, made easily accessible, and publicly discussed before any irreversible alteration proceeds further. Once this landscape is altered, the damage cannot be undone. The public is entitled to clarity, accountability, lawful review and a real voice in the future of the Shaker Parklands.
Thank you.
K Herman
Ordinance 721-2025; Shaker Parklands easements; Horseshoe Lake; Lower Lake; Doan Brook Restoration.
I submit this comment as a resident, attorney, and active participant in the ongoing federal review and litigation concerning the Shaker Parklands landscape.
The central issue before Cleveland is not simply whether someone supports or opposes “dam removal.” The issue is whether irreversible alteration of a federally recognized historic public landscape is being advanced through a lawful, transparent, and fully supported process.
Cleveland is not a passive observer here. Cleveland owns the underlying Shaker Parklands property and has authorized easements and related land-use actions through Ordinance 721-2025. Accordingly, Cleveland remains directly tied to ongoing questions concerning authority, scope, implementation, historic-landscape impacts, and public accountability.
I respectfully request that Cleveland publicly disclose:
the current status and scope of all easements relating to Horseshoe Lake, Lower Lake, Doan Brook, and associated parklands;
any amendments, expansions, negotiations, or pending implementation actions connected to Ordinance 721-2025;
the underlying engineering, hydrologic, alternatives, and historic-effects analyses supporting ongoing operational decisions;
and the present status of the independent due-diligence review for which the Cities retained outside counsel and consulting experts in December 2025.
Residents have repeatedly been told that independent review and evaluation are occurring, yet the public has received very little substantive information regarding the scope, findings, assumptions, recommendations, or conclusions of that work.
I also urge Cleveland officials to exercise caution regarding public statements suggesting that project outcomes are already final or inevitable while federal litigation and federal review remain active.
The Shaker Parklands are not NEORSD’s presumed possession. They are a historic public landscape held for public use and relied upon daily by residents throughout Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Cleveland, and the broader region.
At minimum, the public deserves full transparency before additional irreversible alteration proceeds.
The central issue before Cleveland is not simply whether someone supports or opposes “dam removal.” The issue is whether irreversible alteration of a federally recognized historic public landscape is being advanced through a lawful, transparent, and fully supported process.
Cleveland is not a passive observer here. Cleveland owns the underlying Shaker Parklands property and has authorized easements and related land-use actions through Ordinance 721-2025. Accordingly, Cleveland remains directly tied to ongoing questions concerning authority, scope, implementation, historic-landscape impacts, and public accountability.
I respectfully request that Cleveland publicly disclose:
the current status and scope of all easements relating to Horseshoe Lake, Lower Lake, Doan Brook, and associated parklands;
any amendments, expansions, negotiations, or pending implementation actions connected to Ordinance 721-2025;
the underlying engineering, hydrologic, alternatives, and historic-effects analyses supporting ongoing operational decisions;
and the present status of the independent due-diligence review for which the Cities retained outside counsel and consulting experts in December 2025.
Residents have repeatedly been told that independent review and evaluation are occurring, yet the public has received very little substantive information regarding the scope, findings, assumptions, recommendations, or conclusions of that work.
I also urge Cleveland officials to exercise caution regarding public statements suggesting that project outcomes are already final or inevitable while federal litigation and federal review remain active.
The Shaker Parklands are not NEORSD’s presumed possession. They are a historic public landscape held for public use and relied upon daily by residents throughout Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Cleveland, and the broader region.
At minimum, the public deserves full transparency before additional irreversible alteration proceeds.
Erin Flanagan
Short term rental legislation
My name is Erika McLaughlin, and I am a 16-year resident of Ohio City. My family, which includes myself, my husband, and two children ages 7 and 10 live on West 48th Street. Over the last few years, the popularity of our neighborhood has grown at a rapid rate, attracting the increase in short term rentals.
From the outside, it can seem that this could be a great way for a Clevelander to make some extra money on their home in a popular neighborhood, and I do not besmirch that. However, the rise of out of town, or irresponsible short term rental owners has increased, and more and more houses are being bought in our neighborhood for the purpose of being a short-term rental. At last count, on my block alone (between Bridge and Franklin), there were 10 short term rentals, including one across the street from us, which is currently for sale and being promoted as a short-term rental.
The headlines and social media videos don’t lie. These short-term rentals invite trouble. From out-of-control parties including several in Ohio City last year with hundreds of juveniles taking over streets to garbage, noise, guns, and overall an air of disrespect for people who actually live here. How can we build a community with people who have no investment in living here? When every few days there are new people staying at these rentals, they have no investment in this place or knowing neighbors or being involved. We are forced to live next to and near houses and individuals that do not care about my family, my children’s safety, or the safety of those around them.
One thing I have learned in my years of being a Clevelander, is that far too often our city places more importance on the attractions and visitors to our city. While I value the impact that visitors and tourism have on our city, what about the homeowners and long term renters who call Cleveland home? What about those of us who work to keep our community a safe place? Why aren’t we prioritizing the needs and wants of Clevelanders FIRST before anyone else?
Short term rentals are an issue in cities across the country, and cities have taken steps to crack down on them. What is this council willing to do? And how will it be enforced? Passing legislation isn’t enough. Residents deserve reassurance that our streets belong to us, and not to short term renters who have no vested interest in our city thriving.
Thank you.
From the outside, it can seem that this could be a great way for a Clevelander to make some extra money on their home in a popular neighborhood, and I do not besmirch that. However, the rise of out of town, or irresponsible short term rental owners has increased, and more and more houses are being bought in our neighborhood for the purpose of being a short-term rental. At last count, on my block alone (between Bridge and Franklin), there were 10 short term rentals, including one across the street from us, which is currently for sale and being promoted as a short-term rental.
The headlines and social media videos don’t lie. These short-term rentals invite trouble. From out-of-control parties including several in Ohio City last year with hundreds of juveniles taking over streets to garbage, noise, guns, and overall an air of disrespect for people who actually live here. How can we build a community with people who have no investment in living here? When every few days there are new people staying at these rentals, they have no investment in this place or knowing neighbors or being involved. We are forced to live next to and near houses and individuals that do not care about my family, my children’s safety, or the safety of those around them.
One thing I have learned in my years of being a Clevelander, is that far too often our city places more importance on the attractions and visitors to our city. While I value the impact that visitors and tourism have on our city, what about the homeowners and long term renters who call Cleveland home? What about those of us who work to keep our community a safe place? Why aren’t we prioritizing the needs and wants of Clevelanders FIRST before anyone else?
Short term rentals are an issue in cities across the country, and cities have taken steps to crack down on them. What is this council willing to do? And how will it be enforced? Passing legislation isn’t enough. Residents deserve reassurance that our streets belong to us, and not to short term renters who have no vested interest in our city thriving.
Thank you.
Erika McLaughlin
The Cleveland Browns
Hello, I fear the decision to move to Brookpark. I like Brooklyn Heights. Here's why. Toooo far to the west leaves the east emotionally bad. With Brooklyn Heights they are even distance east even distant west and can Win for the city. With Brookpark, bio-emotionally upset east siders ripped off by the locale. I think the east side will get mad, shafted, jealous, left out and then heart ghetto. Please look at the fan receptors sense of fairness east side and west side. So, in conclusion I greatly fear Brookpark is wrong because of no team to possess, feeling loyal and not represented become, They cant feel a part of the Browns they'll be too far away. In Brooklyn Heights EVERY Clevelander in the WHOLE metropolitian region would have equidistant opportunity to become a Brownie and succeed with the Team. GREAT fear and consider it a loss because it will bio-behaviorilly backfire as a good idea and think it will crime the east side, fears me. Even fighting I would guess would arise from unhappy east siders. Hurt morale, you know and deep seat unfairness. Well, please study fan feedback and happiness and see even in the center fairness to each person. I am a The American University Graduate '91 and fellow Clevelander all my life and hope the best for Us, Thank you for your time, Dave Cygan
David Cygan
The street take overs in Cleveland on bikes and fourweekers
If the cops cannot safely pull these people over then they need to purchase some type of vehicles that can do it safely like dirt bikes, and four wheelers for the police so when this happens, they have them on hand to start chasing these people and getting them off the street before somebody gets hurt
Sherry metzgar
Submissions are accepted up to 5 hours before a hearing if time slots are available