Photo Assignment: City Council [IN-PERSON ONLY]

601 Lakeside Ave Cleveland, OH 44114 (Directions)

Cleveland City Hall, Council Chambers

For this assignment, we are asking you to document this Cleveland City Council meeting with photos. We may use your photos in our summaries of Documenters’ work, or elsewhere on the Signal Cleveland site.

What you will capture in photos and video:

• Scenes of the room.
• City representatives and others presenting and answering questions.
• Council members asking questions
• The audience watching the hearings.
• Public commenters.
• Anything of note that happens when you are in the room (e.g. protests).

What you’ll submit:

• 15-20 photos of the hearing.
• Captions of your photos with the names of people in each photo (to the best of your ability).

Hours and pay:

• This is a** 2 hour assignment** that starts when the meeting begins.
• You do not need to stay longer than 2 hours. But, you are welcome to.
• Pay for this assignment is fixed at 6 hours total (2 meeting hours + 2 for prep and review + 2 hours for in-person).
• Total pay for this assignment is fixed at $108.

For this assignment:

• You will need to attend this meeting** in-person** in Council Chambers at Cleveland City Hall, 601 Lakeside Ave Cleveland, OH 44114.
• You will need to present a photo ID to enter the building.
• Parking is free on Mondays after 5 p.m. on the top level of the Willard Parking Garage, located at 601 Lakeside Ave.
• You will need a mobile phone with the ability to take high resolution photos and video, OR
• A camera with the ability to take high resolution photos and video.

How to submit: You will submit your photos, video and names document in the “Documents” section of your assignment page (linked in the “you next assignment” email):

• Click the button that says “Add document.”
• For photos, click the “Image” link in the drop down menu, and select “Choose a file” to upload an image. Do this for every image you are submitting. Enter a caption for each image that includes the names of the people in the image.
• For video, click “File” link in the drop down menu, and select “Choose a file” to upload a video. Do this for every video you are submitting.
• Don’t forget to complete your assignment checklist!

Some photo/video resources:

• Here are a few tips on taking photos and video from the Documenters Field Guide.
• How to take awesome pictures with your phone camera (WikiHow)
• How to shoot a video (WikiHow)

Some tips for taking photos and videos in a public meeting:

• Under the Ohio Open Meetings Act, you are absolutely allowed to document local government meetings with photos and video.
• In general, try to get as close to the table as you can to get shots of individuals, as well as the whole group.
• You may have an easier time shooting from the ends of the table.
• However, you may be told that you cannot record from certain positions in the room.
• If you’d like, we can provide you with a Documenters badge to identify yourself as a Cleveland Documenter.
• If asked about your presence at the meeting, feel free to use this language: I am a Greater Clevelander trained to document public meetings in the public interest. My work as a Cleveland Documenter is published in partnership with Signal Cleveland.

Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Cleveland in Ohio. In this meeting, residents may address council with public comments, and council typically introduces legislation and votes on legislation. Council does not typically discuss legislation in detail at this meeting; that happens in council’s committee meetings.

There are 17 elected Cleveland City Council members representing the 17 wards of the City of Cleveland. Each ward has approximately 25,000 residents. Council Members are elected to serve a four-year term. Council members serve two roles in their duties: to draft and enact legislation for the city of Cleveland and act as ombudspersons for their constituents.

Council members:

• Joe Jones
• Kevin Bishop
• Kerry McCormack
• Deborah Gray
• Richard Starr
• Blaine Griffin, council president
• Stephanie Howse-Jones
• Michael Polensek
• Kevin Conwell
• Anthony Hairston
• Danny Kelly
• Rebecca Maurer
• Kris Harsh
• Jasmin Santana
• Jenny Spencer
• Brian Kazy
• Charles Slife

Note: Sometimes, council is late to update its agenda for this meeting. If you hear the clerk read something interesting, but you don’t see it on the agenda, you may want to check for updated agendas for this meeting and other council meetings from earlier in the day. Check out this video for how to find those agendas.

Find past Documenters coverage of City Council meetings here: https://cleveland.documenters.org/reporting/?agency=181

For more information go to Cleveland City Council’s website: https://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org.

Attendees are encouraged to observe COVID protocols, including social distancing and wearing a face mask.

Check the source website for additional information