Development, Planning and Sustainability Committee: Community Development Block Grant Hearings, Day 1, Afternoon Session

601 Lakeside Ave Cleveland, OH 44114 (Directions)

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

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

On this day, Cleveland City Council will hold day 1 of the 2024 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) budget hearings.

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.

More resources and details about CDBG hearings are below. But first, some important assignment things to know:

NOTE: This assignment is for the afternoon session of day 1 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) budget hearings. This assignment is scheduled from 1 p.m. (the estimated return of council from lunch) until approximately 5 p.m. Council may return from lunch and begin the afternoon session earlier or later than 1 p.m. The Cleveland Documenters team will be monitoring the hearing, and will let you know when the afternoon session is expected to begin. However, you may still need to monitor the YouTube feed at least 15 minutes before the afternoon session is scheduled to begin.

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

Pay: For budget assignments, we treat each session (AM or PM) as 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 or live-tweet thread.

Live tweeters: Because we are trying to make information from these budget hearings available for residents as quickly as possible, please only accept this assignment if you can live tweet this meeting WHILE the meeting is ongoing.

Notetakers: 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).

Watching remotely?

The meetings are streamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClevelandCityCouncil/streams

You can also catch livestreams on TV2O’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ClevelandTV20/live_videos

Also TV20’s website: http://www.tv20cleveland.com/watch-now/

Attending in person? Documenters: Be sure to bring your photo ID.

Who’s who?

Expect to see members of the council committee:

• Anthony Hairston, chair
• Jasmin Santana, vice chair
• Stephanie Howse-Jones
• Kris Harsh
• Joe Jones
• Kerry McCormack
• Jenny Spencer

Other members of council may also attend.

On the mayor’s administration side, Director of Community Development Alyssa Hernandez and Assistant Director Michiel Wackers will likely attend. Other administration officials may join them.

Sections of the CDBG budget book set for this meeting (more on this below):

• Introduction and Opening Statements (Chapter 1)
• Budget Overiew (Chapter 2)
• Residential Improvement (Home Repair Program – Chapter 3)
• Housing Development (Chapter 4)

Note: Council may not get through all of these sections in your session. This committee is set to review one other piece of legislation on this day in addition to diving into the CDBG budget.

Some CDBG background

Separate from the General Fund budget hearings held in February, the annual CDBG budget hearings hone in on federal grants the city can receive from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The grants are part of a federal assistance program that aims to build stronger and more resilient communities by providing additional money to local governments for community and economic development work. They often focus on improving housing and economic opportunities for low-income residents. Being federal money, the funds have specific requirements for how the city can use them. City Council uses these hearings to learn how the mayor’s administration plans to allocate the funds and potentially legislate changes.

This year, the total available to Cleveland in these federal grants is an estimated $28,285,095. The mayor’s administration projects the money would come from the following federal programs:

• CDBG: $19,883,456
• Federal HOME Investment Partnerships Act: $4,200,829
• Emergency Solutions Grant: $1,826,276
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS: $2,374,534

Additional resources:

Here are some additional resources that might be useful. We’ll keep our eyes out for others; feel free to do the same!

• The CDBG “budget book” (ignore the schedule on page 5; the hearings were delayed because of the federal budget process)
• The full City Council legislation
• A document describing the city programs Cleveland intends to fund with this money
• Documenters coverage of past CDBG hearings
• A Signal Cleveland recap of Documenters 2023 coverage
• Some CDBG FAQ and history

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out! And remember: Lead with your curiosity and feel free to note in your coverage if something doesn’t make sense.

Check the source website for additional information