Collaborative Government

As your Council member, I will always strive to build cooperative, collaborative, and positive relationships with my Council colleagues and the Mayor so together we can more effectively serve the residents of Cleveland Heights.

The City Council has many important responsibilities assigned to it by our City’s Charter and Codified Ordinances, including:

  • Creating, considering, amending, and voting on all legislation 

  • Overseeing and approving the City budget and all budget appropriations

  • Appointing members of citizen commissions, boards, and committees

  • Serving as liaisons with citizen commissions, boards, and committees

  • Chairing and serving as members of various Council committees

  • Approving key administrative hires

  • Approving City contracts, the purchase or sale of City property, and union contracts for City employees

But our responsibilities don’t end there, because we know that you have expectations of your Council members as well, such as:

  • Collaborating with the executive branch and with other Council members to get things done in a way that balances diverse viewpoints and concerns

  • Giving due consideration to legislative ideas or proposals brought forward by residents and the City’s citizen advisory committees

  • Communicating with residents about what is happening within City Council and the city

  • Being responsive to and advocating on behalf of citizens’ concerns and questions

I take all of City Council’s responsibilities seriously. For Council to do all that is rightfully expected of us, we must always strive for cooperative, collaborative, and professional relationships among one another and with our Mayor.

In addition, to fulfill our responsibilities to you, all Council members need access to all information necessary to do our jobs, and information needs to be shared freely between both our executive and legislative branches of government.

Our Council is made up of community leaders, and as leaders, we must all promote civility, dialogue and respect among ourselves. We are made up of seven people—seven very different people. We have diverse backgrounds, experiences, skill sets, perspectives, and ideas. These differences can be a source of tension, but they should be what make us stronger. As leaders, we need to model how to embrace our differences and learn how our diversity can make us stronger together, not fractured.

Of course, relationships are two-way streets, and positive relationships require everyone to come to the table with a spirit of generosity, trust, and grace. I can’t guarantee that will happen all the time. But I can promise that I will show up, every day, ready to foster the kind of collaborative, collegial, professional relationships you expect from us.

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