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Committee holds ordinance to prioritize municipalities and townships in CDSG scoring for further review
Summary
Committee discussed and held an ordinance proposing changes to Cuyahoga County code (section 714.02e) to prioritize municipal corporations, townships and CDCs in Community Development Supplemental Grant scoring; members requested additional drafting to clarify CDC vs. nonprofit treatment and to codify requirement for letters of support from local elected officials.
The committee discussed an ordinance (cited in the transcript as 'Ordinance 20,250,001') to amend section 714.02e of the Cuyahoga County code to prioritize municipal corporations and townships when evaluating applications to the Community Development Supplemental Grant (CDSG) program. Councilwoman (identified in the transcript as Speaker 7) provided the ordinance's background, saying the CDSG program was intended to help municipalities and CDCs access funding for projects that do not meet federal CDBG guidelines.
Councilwoman 7 said recent rounds produced community pushback when some municipalities believed CDCs or cities were passed over in favor of other nonprofits. She said the ordinance aims to restore priority to cities and CDCs and, where appropriate, require a letter of support from the highest elected official in the jurisdiction to acknowledge local support for an application. Sarah Parks Jackson (Department of Housing and Community Development) confirmed that, as a matter of practice, staff requires a letter of support from the highest elected official for CDSG applications and said all 59 cities within the county are eligible to apply.
Committee members asked for clarifications about how CDCs differ from other nonprofits and whether the ordinance should formally codify the letter-of-support requirement. Chair indicated the ordinance would be held in committee to allow further refinement and offline discussion.
Next steps: The committee will hold the ordinance and staff and members will work to clarify language distinguishing CDCs from other nonprofits and to consider codifying administrative practices such as the letter-of-support requirement.
