By Doug Breehl-Pitorak

Cleveland City Council is set to take a final vote on the city’s proposed 2022 budget on March 21.

Documenter Anastazia Vanisko had a question about council members’ suggested budget cuts after they came up in a hearing she documented: “Do any of council’s recommendations for cuts focus on some of the larger parts of the budget, such as the police force?”

The short answer to Anastazia’s question is yes, but here’s some context before we get into those details.

Suggested cuts from several council members were presented to the Mayor Justin Bibb administration just before a March 7 Finance, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (FDEI) Committee meeting. Council shared a document of those requests with Cleveland Documenters.

None of those requests — which total an estimated savings of more than $24 million — were adopted into the budget.

The FDEI Committee approved on March 7 a budget with a few amendments, and council read it for the second time at its regular meeting later that night. It was published in the March 11 edition of The City Record, council’s official journal of its proceedings.

The city charter requires council to wait at least seven days after publishing before taking a final vote on the budget. It is expected to be read for the third time — as required before a final budget vote — on March 21.

These changes were made to the budget, including the $857,942 that was cut and the $24 million that was added. You can also find the full amended budget — which allocates $1.8 billion for spending in 2022 — here.

Now, back to Anastazia’s question: Council Members Stephanie Howse, Ward 7, and Jenny Spencer, Ward 15, suggested cuts to the number of police officers budgeted for, according to the document.

Spencer didn’t suggest a specific number of police positions to cut from the budget, but Howse proposed cutting 85 for an estimated savings of $5,603,462.92, the document shows.

The 85 positions are unfilled, Howse told Cleveland Documenters. Her recommendations included budgeting for 11 fewer sergeants and four fewer lieutenants. The following cuts at these positions were the remaining suggestions, according to Howse:

The suggestion to budget for 23 fewer police trainees was based on an estimated 87 percent success rate among police academy graduates, Howse said, adding that the remaining cuts would have maintained the current ratio of sergeants and lieutenants to lower-ranking officers.

 

You can learn more about that ratio from Documenter Xavier Yozwiak’s notes on a Feb. 23 budget hearing which focused on the Department of Public Safety and its nearly $380 million 2022 budget.

Council Members Brian Kazy, Rebecca Maurer, Mike Polensek, and Charles Slife also suggested cuts to the budget that were presented on March 7, according to the document.

 

Several council members said in the March 7 FDEI Committee meeting that they weren’t happy with the budget. Howse said it’s council’s job as a legislative body to make the changes it wants. Spencer said she wished they had had more time.

Council President Blaine Griffin said in the meeting he agreed with Howse and there are some things he could have done differently to help council deliberate on the budget.


There were more questions than in previous years because there are many new council members, Griffin said. But he said council needed to give the administration a chance, adding that council will be “budget hawks” and aim to start next year’s process earlier.

And in an effort to ease council members’ concerns about the budget, new Chief Financial Officer Ahmed Abonamah reiterated the commitments he made in a non-broadcast caucus meeting earlier on March 7:

Check out Anastazia’s full notes and Documenter Alicia Moreland’s Twitter thread on the March 7 FDEI meeting here for more details from the discussion.

And find all meeting notes and Twitter threads from Cleveland Documenters right here.