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82 made by tenants, from those who blame their asthma on the daily dust blowing to their balcony, Wade said he’s not “familiar with any specific claims.”

“We desire a safe, decent community,” Wade said, “for all of those that live at the end of West 25th.”

At Ohio City, Whitnye Long Jones agrees. “I don’t think CMHA wants to or is neglecting the needs of the people,” she said. “I just think there’s so much need and not enough people to handle it in a timely fashion.”

While Let’s Clear The Air is still in its phase-one, funding side of a two-year operation, it won’t be until 2025 or later when any businesses are forced to cover or wet their limestone mounds, or reroute daily truck traffic, to curb damage done to Lakeview residents’ lungs. And, other than receive official recognition from the city, Ohio City Inc. would need, Long Jones said, qualification from the EPA, the federal body that sets “the standards for the permits of the industry.”

Like Ellis and others, Harrison often thinks about leaving. Like others, he’s on subsidized rent due to disability and low-income. And like others, he deals with the rat holes in his yard, or the frequent shootings in a kind of realistic stride.

Harrison, a skinny man in a Phantom of the Opera shirt, walked down the steps of 1203, close to where, he said, rats bury themselves at night. As he talks, a truck roars by, kicking up a dense cloud of white smoke that covers the entirety of the yard as it rolls past.

“See! We’re breathing that!” Harrison said. He watches the truck roll south down Mulberry, towards the I-90 bridge, out of Lakeview. “All day, every day. Hey, you got to see it for yourself.”

– Mark Oprea

City of Cleveland Set to Offer Paid Parental Leave to Employees

Proposed legislation from Mayor Justin Bibb, introduced at Monday’s city council meeting, would give all full-time city employees paid parental leave.

Those becoming parents or guardians through birth, adoption or guardianship would receive 500 hours off at 100% of their base pay.

“I’m excited to present this new proposal coming out of Mother’s Day weekend. We want to set the standard in employee engagement by showing that we not only are listening, but taking significant steps forward by implementing what they are seeking,” said Bibb in a statement. “We hope other organizations in our region, both public and private sector, will follow our lead to support our workforce the best we can so that Cleveland can become an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.”

If the policy is passed, employees will be eligible for 20 of those hours before the arrival of the child, and the remaining 480 hours, or 12 weeks, will be available after. That leave would be available for employees to use intermittently to allow for flexibility depending on parents’ and guardians’ needs. Additionally, employees who experience miscarriages or stillbirths would be eligible for three weeks, or 60 hours, or paid leave.

It would at first be available to non-union workers, but the benefit would be added for union workers as contracts come up for collective bargaining.

“This isn’t that expensive. We’re estimating it’s about a $1.2 million impact on a $1.6 billion dollar budget and that’s not even accounting for the cost savings down the road of retaining workers,” said Ward 17 councilman Charles Slife, speaking in support of the policy at Monday’s council meeting. “We want our parents focused on childcare, not feeling pressured to come back into work and certainly we don’t want our workers exhausting their vacation and sick banks and forgoing medical care themselves to the point where we incentivize them leaving our workplace and compounding our difficulties in being fully-staffed.”

If Cleveland adopts the proposed plan, it will follow in the footsteps of cities like Cincinnati, which similarly expanded its parental leave policy in January. Proponents argue that investing in paid parental leave can save time and money by reducing employee turnover and increasing productivity. With 7,000 employees, the city is one of the largest employers in the region.

“This is not the end of all the work we need to do to support our workers, but I think by making a statement that we are going to offer our workers the same types of benefits you get for working in the federal government, other large cities, growing in the private sector, I think that that helps us attract the workers we need to get the job done for our residents,” said Slife.

– Maria Elena Scott

Cleveland’s Speed Table Pilot Program Lowered Driver Speeds by Almost 8 MPH

Since installing speed tables at 10 locations as part of a pilot program last summer, the city of Cleveland reports that speeds in those areas have decreased by 7.8 mph and that 77% of residents surveyed said they support the installation of more speed tables.

“We continue to hear from residents who are concerned about speeding in their neighborhoods and we take these concerns very seriously,” said Mayor Justin Bibb in a statement. “I am encouraged by the results of the speed table pilot, and we will continue to curtail this dangerous behavior through physical traffic calming and data-driven solutions to create safer streets.”

Last year, 45 people in Cleveland were killed in trafficrelated deaths. The speed table pilot program was announced in June 2022, just a month after 5-year-old Apolina Asumani was killed on W. 50th Street by a reckless driver. In the wake of the child’s death, urban guerillas installed speed bumps and caution signs on the road where Asumani was killed.

The program is part of Cleveland’s Vision Zero initiative, which is dedicated to eliminating deaths and serious injuries from crashes on city roads. Its 10 locations, including W. 50th Street, were chosen for their documented speeding issues and are primarily on residential streets.

Funding for further speed tables could come from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Cleveland City Council is currently reviewing Bibb’s request for $3 million of ARPA resources for additional speed table installations and other safety improvements.

“As we move into the next phase of this work, we are continually taking in resident reports of issues and concerns and collecting traffic data to inform our response,” said Cleveland’s senior strategist for Transit and Mobility Calley Mersmann in a statement. “This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. We are aligning feedback and data with proven methods to slow traffic and improve safety street by street across our neighborhoods.”

– Maria Elena Scott