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 15 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. As a result of the 2020 Census, two additional wards were eliminated in November 2025, bringing the total number of wards to 15.
Current council The current members of Cleveland City Council—all from the Democratic Party—are listed below in the order of the ward they serve.5 new members elected to Cleveland City Council - WKYC.com
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 Broadway–Slavic Village 2017 3 Mount Pleasant, Buckeye–Shaker, Broadway–Slavic Village Deborah Gray 2022 4 Old Brooklyn Kris Harsh 2022 5 Central, Kinsman, parts of Downtown and Cuyahoga Valley 2022 6 Fairfax, University Circle, Buckeye–Woodhill, Little Italy President 2017 7 Downtown, Ohio City, north Tremont, north Cuyahoga Valley (The Flats and Whiskey Island), parts of Detroit–Shoreway 2026 8 Goodrich–Kirtland Park, Asiatown, Hough, St. Clair–Superior, parts of Downtown, Glenville, and Midtown 2022 9 Glenville, Forest Hills, part of University Circle 2001 10 Collinwood, Euclid–Green 1977 11 Detroit–Shoreway, parts of Edgewater, Cudell, West Boulevard, Brookside–Old Brooklyn 2026 12 Edgewater, Cudell, West Boulevard, parts of Jefferson 2026 13 West Park (Jefferson and Bellaire–Puritas) 2015 14 Clark–Fulton, Brooklyn Centre, Stockyards, south Tremont Majority Whip 2017 15 West Park (Kamm's Corners and Hopkins) 2019
Committees As of , City Council has 11 standing committees.
+CommitteeChairVice ChairDevelopment, Planning & SustainabilityJasmin SantanaKris HarshFinance, Diversity, Equity & InclusionBlaine GriffinJasmin SantanaHealth, Human Services & the ArtsKevin ConwellAustin DavisMayor’s AppointmentsStephanie Howse-JonesMunicipal Services & PropertiesKevin BishopKris HarshOperationsKris HarshRulesBlaine GriffinSafetyMichael PolensekRichard StarrTransportation & MobilityCharles SlifeJoe JonesUtilitiesBrian KazyDeborah GrayWorkforce, Education, Training & Youth DevelopmentJasmin SantanaStephanie Howse-Jones
See also Mayor of Cleveland Cuyahoga County Council
References
External links Cleveland City Council (official website) Community Fact Sheets: Cleveland Neighborhoods and Wards, The Center for Community Solutions, Cleveland Current Cleveland City Ward Maps, Northern Ohio Data and Information Service (NODIS), Levin College of Urban Affairs (Cleveland State University) Mary Ellen Kollar, Cleveland City Government, with historical ward maps of Cleveland, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (Case Western Reserve University)