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Resident calls for halt to police-oversight appointments, cites alleged charter violations and lack of transparency
Summary
A Cleveland resident urged the council to stop recent appointments to the Civilian Police Review Board, alleging charter violations, insufficient vetting and lack of representation for immigrant communities, and threatened litigation if the city did not respond to records requests.
Terry Wong, who identified herself as an immigrant, former community police commissioner and Cleveland neighbor, urged City Council to halt recent appointments to the city's Civilian Police Review Board and to reopen the selection process, saying the current process excluded immigrant and limited-English communities.
"Charter 1 15 5 promises a commission reflecting all of us," Wong said. She accused the administration of repeatedly appointing nominees without adequate vetting and of shielding appointees from removal. She named specific past and recent appointees she said were problematic: Kate Kennedy "a mayoral nominee lacking legal qualifications," Commissioner James Chura "a police union representative" she said served despite a disciplinary record, and three 2024 nominees she identified as Quentin Jordan, Richard Jackson and Sheila Mason. Wong said she and another Asian American applicant were denied interviews and that the city had paid about $9,000 for a retreat for prospective commissioners before council had approved nominees.
Wong also said she would send a taxpayer demand letter to Law Director Mark Griffin with three demands: halt the appointments, remove charter violators, and produce records showing the selection process. She warned that if the city did not act, litigation would follow. "If the city fails to act, litigation will burden the very taxpayers this commission should protect," she told the council. Wong cited a recent year in which the city paid "about $40,000,000" in lawsuits related to police misconduct.
Wong urged the council to ensure the commission includes members with legal qualifications and lived experience representing immigrants, refugees and survivors of injustice; the transcript records no formal council action, vote or staff direction taken in response during the meeting. Council members Polencic and Casey were thanked by Wong for voting against two reappointments (Chandra Benito and Sharina Zayed); the transcript records those votes but does not show further committee action in this meeting.
The transcript contains the phrases and names as spoken by Wong; council or administration responses to her specific demands do not appear in the meeting record provided.
