Finance, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee: General Fund Budget Hearing, Day 1, Morning Session

601 Lakeside Ave E Cleveland, OH 44114 (Directions)

Cleveland City Hall, Mercedes Cotner Room 217 (or watch on YouTube)

Remote Event Link

It is budget season in Cleveland! We’re going to document it!

We do not expect you to be a budget expert. Honestly, we don’t know many people who are. We want you to lead with your curiosity. Document the process as you see it. Ask questions about what you don’t understand. And of course, follow the money.

NOTE: This assignment is for the morning session of day 1 of General Fund Budget hearings. This assignment is scheduled from 9 a.m. to until council takes a lunch break. Lunch break is expected at noon, but it may come earlier or later.

When council breaks for lunch, please contact the Cleveland Documenters team to let us know at (216) 202-4383 or cledocumenters@gmail.com. That way we can give a heads up to Documenters covering the afternoon session.

Also, be sure to let us know what’s the best way to reach you while on assignment: phone call, text, or email?

Pay: For budget assignments, we treat each session (AM or PM) as at least a four-hour meeting, even if it runs shorter.

• Minimum pay if watching remotely: $108
• Minimum pay if watching in person: $144

More pay is added for sessions that run longer than 4 hrs & 15 min.

Documenters covering this should be prepared for the session to last up to four hours. If the session lasts longer than four hours and you cannot continue, let the Documenters team know and note where you leave off in your meetings notes.

We know officials cover a lot in these sessions. You’ll have 48 hours to submit budget notes rather than the typical 24 (note: You’ll still receive an automated email to submit assignments within 24 hours).

On the agenda for this meeting: During these hearings, City Council will ask questions of every city department, division, and office regarding their proposed 2025 budgets. See the link in the attachments for this hearing’s schedule.

2025 budget hearing resources:

• The 2025 Mayor’s Estimate. Council members will refer to this document in the meeting. It has all the proposed budget numbers.
• Video: 5 quick tips for navigating the Mayor’s Estimate document: https://youtu.be/TrHO1kFhfdw (this was made using the 2024 document, but tips 2-5 in the video still apply!)
• Cleveland’s budget process: How does it work? (Guide) Note: This is from a couple of years ago, but the process is the same.
• Review past Documenters’ budget hearing coverage.
• Here’s an overview of the 2025 Mayor’s Estimate from Nick Castele, Signal Cleveland’s government reporter.

Pro tip: Check out the Table of Contents page in the Mayor’s Estimate. You can click any line item on that page to jump directly to that section in the 400-plus page document.

Watching remotely?

Find live streams of this meeting:

On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClevelandCityCouncil/streams

On TV20: http://www.tv20cleveland.com/watch-now/

Attending in person? Be sure to bring a photo ID. There is paid parking connected to City Hall at the Willard Parking Garage, located at 601 Lakeside Ave.

Finance Committee members:

• Blaine Griffin, chair (Ward 6)
• Kerry McCormack, vice chair (Ward 3)
• Kevin Bishop (Ward 2)
• Kevin Conwell (Ward 9)
• Anthony Hairston (Ward 10)
• Brian Kazy (Ward 16)
• Michael Polensek (Ward 18)
• Jasmin Santana (Ward 14)
• Jenny Spencer (Ward 15)

Other council members:

• Joe Jones (Ward 1)
• Deborah Gray (Ward 4)
• Richard Starr (Ward 5)
• Stephanie Howse-Jones (Ward 7)
• Danny Kelly (Ward 11)
• Rebecca Maurer (Ward 12)
• Kris Harsh (Ward 13)
• Charles Slife (Ward 17)

Note: The relevant page numbers in the Mayor’s Estimate will have the names of some administration officials who may be present.

For more information go to Cleveland City Council’s website: https://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org.

Check the source website for additional information