Cleveland City Council votes to censure Councilman Joseph T. Jones over workplace conduct

Cleveland City Council voted to censure Councilman Joseph T. Jones on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, after an outside investigation found incidents that the council said likely violated its workplace violence policy and standards-of-conduct policy.

Council President Mark Griffin read the censure resolution in full before members debated and voted. The resolution says Jones threatened a staff person three times during a May 19 interaction and sat beside a staff member he had been directed not to contact, conduct the council said likely violated its policies and “created a hostile work environment.” The council adopted the censure by a recorded tally of 14 yeas and 2 nays.

The censure matters because the council framed the vote as enforcement of rules intended to protect staff safety and workplace integrity. “This vote is not about personal animosity or political difference. It is about accountability,” Council President Mark Griffin said while introducing the resolution. The motion notes prior discipline last year after an outside investigation deemed six complaints against Jones credible and describes progressive-discipline steps the council…