Committee adopts substitute to prioritize municipal applicants in community development supplemental grant scoring

The Community Development and Housing Committee on June 2 voted to accept a substitute ordinance that amends Section 7.14.02(e) of the Cuyahoga County Code to prioritize municipal corporations and townships when evaluating applications to the county’s Community Development Supplemental Grant (CDSG) program.

The substitute adds two main changes: it makes an obligation that a non‑municipal applicant obtain a letter of support from the chief executive officer of the host municipal corporation or township (or that officer’s designee), and it directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to prioritize municipal and township applications ahead of nonprofit community development corporations in the event of a tie score. Program staff and council legal staff said prior practice frequently sought letters of municipal support but that the requirement had not been codified; under the substitute the requirement becomes explicit.

Sarah Parks Jackson, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, said the city‑support letter has been used in the application process and that, for the city of Cleveland specifically, the department has accepted a letter from the city’s community development director when mayoral signatures were difficult to obtain. “As a part of the application process, it is a requirement,” Parks Jackson said, describing the department’s operational approach.

Committee members debated broader fairness and administrative consequences. Several council members warned the change could disadvantage community development corporations (CDCs) that apply on behalf of Cleveland neighborhoods; others said the county’s intent is to ensure scarce flexible dollars flow to municipal governments that often lack fundraising flexibility available to nonprofits. Council staff suggested adding “or his or her designee” to the letter‑of‑support language to allow municipal staff to sign for chief executives when necessary; the committee adopted that technical amendment and then accepted the substitute with the change.

A final motion moved the ordinance out of committee to the full council under second‑reading suspension. The roll call recorded in committee for that motion was 3 ayes and 1 nay: Kelly — yes; Schlepper — yes; Simon — yes; Jones — no. The substitute language will be incorporated into the ordinance text and returned to council for final consideration.