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Cleveland City Council
City council of Cleveland, Ohio
City council of Cleveland, Ohio
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Cleveland City Council |
| coa_pic | Cleveland City Council seal.png |
| house_type | Unicameral |
| leader1_type | President |
| leader1 | Blaine Griffin |
| leader2_type | Majority Leader |
| leader2 | Jasmin Santana |
| leader3_type | Majority Whip |
| party1 | Democratic |
| election1 | January 2022 |
| party2 | Democratic |
| election2 | January 2022 |
| party3 | Democratic |
| election3 | May 2021 |
| structure1 | Cleveland City Council partisanship 2019.svg |
| structure1_res | 200px |
| members | Total seats: 15 |
| political_groups1 | Democratic (15) |
| voting_system1 | Single-member districts |
| last_election1 | November 2025 |
| next_election1 | November 2029 |
| session_room | Cleveland City Hall.jpg |
| session_res | 200px |
| meeting_place | Cleveland City Hall |
| 601 Lakeside Avenue, Room 220 | |
| Cleveland, OH 44114 | |
| website | Cleveland City Council Website |
601 Lakeside Avenue, Room 220 Cleveland, OH 44114
Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of government for the City of Cleveland, Ohio. Its chambers are located at Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue, across the street from Public Auditorium in Downtown Cleveland. Cleveland City Council members are elected from 17 wards to four-year terms. In Cleveland's mayor–council (strong mayor) form of government, council acts as a check against the power of the city executive, the mayor. Its responsibilities include "monitoring city departments, approving budgets, and enacting legislation to improve the quality of life [for the citizens of the city]."
The current President of Council is Blaine Griffin. Following Councilman Kerry McCormack's resgination on October 3, Councilwoman Jasmin Santana became Majority Leader. Patricia Britt serves as the Clerk of Council.
History
The structure and membership of city council have fluctuated throughout Cleveland's history. Established in 1802, it initially included three trustees, and when Cleveland was incorporated as a city in 1836, it had three aldermen. After the annexation of Ohio City in 1854, "the revised city council expanded to 11 wards, with 2 trustees elected from each," or 22 representatives in total. By 1885, the city's legislature had grown to 50 representatives. Cleveland's 1892 Federal Plan, which strengthened the powers of the mayor, reduced the size of council to 20 members, but after the plan was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1902, council membership grew again to 32.
After gaining municipal home rule from the state in 1912, Cleveland's city government, led by Mayor Newton D. Baker, drafted a new municipal charter. In developing the charter, the size of council proved to be the most contentious issue. According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, "those advocating a small council elected at large maintained that it would be more efficient, less expensive and would eliminate local machine corruption. Those who favored a large council elected by ward considered it more democratic, since it made councilmen answerable to their constituents."
The final charter adopted in 1913 introduced a system with 26 wards each represented by a single council member. Due to the city's continued expansion, council grew to 33 members by 1923, making it "second in size only to Chicago's 50-member council." In the 1920s, during the brief council–manager experiment, the number of council members was reduced to 25. When the mayor–council system was restored in 1931, the city had 33 council members again.
In November 1981, as part of Mayor George Voinovich's effort to streamline city government, Cleveland voters approved reducing council to 21 members. In November 2008, during the tenure of Mayor Frank G. Jackson, Cleveland voters passed a charter amendment linking the size of City Council to the city's population. City Council approved a redistricting plan in March 2009, reducing the number of wards to 19 at the start of the 2010–2013 term. Thereafter, the number of wards was tied to the population identified in the decennial United States Census.
Population decreases identified in the 2010 Census resulted in the elimination of two wards, reducing the number of members to 17. In March 2013, City Council approved new ward boundaries that went into effect in January 2014. Council voted to amend the boundaries on April 17, 2013.
Current council
The members of Cleveland City Council - all from the Democratic Party - are listed below in the order of the ward they serve.
| Ward | Neighborhoods | Council Member | In office since | Ward Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee–Miles (Lee–Harvard and Lee–Seville), parts of Mount Pleasant and Union–Miles | 2017 | ||
| 2 | Union–Miles, parts of Mount Pleasant | 2017 | ||
| 3 | Downtown, Ohio City, north Tremont, north Cuyahoga Valley, part of Stockyards | |||
| Majority Leader | 2016 | |||
| 4 | Buckeye–Shaker and Mount Pleasant | 2022 | ||
| 5 | Central, Kinsman, parts of Broadway–Slavic Village | 2022 | ||
| 6 | Fairfax, University Circle, Buckeye–Woodhill, parts of Broadway–Slavic Village and Union–Miles | |||
| President | 2017 | |||
| 7 | Hough, St. Clair–Superior, Goodrich–Kirtland Park (Asiatown) | 2022 | ||
| 8 | North Collinwood, parts of Glenville and South Collinwood | 1977 | ||
| 9 | Glenville, part of University Circle | 2001 | ||
| 10 | South Collinwood, Euclid–Green, parts of Glenville and St. Clair–Superior | 2017 | ||
| 11 | West Boulevard, parts of Edgewater, Cudell, and Jefferson | 2023 | ||
| 12 | Broadway–Slavic Village, south Tremont, south Cuyahoga Valley, parts of Brooklyn Centre and Old Brooklyn | 2022 | ||
| 13 | Old Brooklyn, part of Stockyards | 2022 | ||
| 14 | Clark–Fulton, parts of Brooklyn Centre, Stockyards, and West Boulevard | |||
| Majority Whip | 2017 | |||
| 15 | Edgewater, Detroit–Shoreway, Whiskey Island, part of Cudell | 2020 | ||
| 16 | West Park (Jefferson and Bellaire–Puritas) | 2015 | ||
| 17 | West Park (Kamm's Corners and Hopkins) | 2019 |
Committees
As of , City Council has 11 standing committees.
| Committee | Chair | Vice Chair |
|---|---|---|
| Development, Planning & Sustainability | Anthony Hairston | Jasmin Santana |
| Finance, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | Blaine Griffin | Kerry McCormack |
| Health, Human Services & the Arts | Kevin Conwell | Rebecca Maurer |
| Mayor’s Appointments | Joe Jones | |
| Municipal Services & Properties | Kevin Bishop | Richard Starr |
| Operations | Kerry McCormack | |
| Rules | Blaine Griffin | |
| Safety | Michael Polensek | Joe Jones |
| Transportation & Mobility | Kerry McCormack | Charles Slife |
| Utilities | Brian Kazy | Jenny Spencer |
| Workforce, Education, Training & Youth Development | Jasmin Santana | Stephanie Howse |
References
References
- Vandenberge, Jordan. (November 5, 2021). "Pledging change and transparency, Councilman Griffin named new president of Cleveland City Council". [[WEWS-TV]].
- Castele, Nick. (January 3, 2022). "New Cleveland City Council takes oaths as political leadership turns over". WVIZ.
- Higgs, Robert. (May 19, 2021). "Cleveland City Councilwoman Jasmin Santana, the city's first Latina councilwoman, named to leadership position". [[The Plain Dealer]].
- (11 November 2020). "Cleveland City Council". [[Case Western Reserve University]].
- "About City Council". Cleveland City Council.
- "Press Releases".
- "Clerk of Council". Cleveland City Council.
- Gomez, Henry J.. (2008-11-04). "Cleveland City Council reduction close to approval". [[The Plain Dealer]].
- Gomez, Henry J.. (2009-03-23). "Cleveland Council adopts new ward boundaries". [[The Plain Dealer]].
- "Find My Ward". Cleveland City Council.
- Atassi, Leila. (March 26, 2013). "Proposed Cleveland City Council ward map approved; Cimperman, Polensek vote 'No'". [[The Plain Dealer]].
- Atassi, Leila. (April 17, 2013). "Cleveland City Council approves another set of ward boundaries, map passes in 14 to 4 vote". The Plain Dealer.
- "Council Members". Cleveland City Council.
- [https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/politics/elections/cleveland-city-council-2021-guide/95-b1c99959-1cb6-4843-811b-c9248973e6f4 5 new members elected to Cleveland City Council - WKYC.com]
- "Committees". Cleveland City Council.
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