A Lead Czar for the Mayor's Office

CLASH Reps and Lead Czar Karen Dettmer are scheduled to testify at the City Council Committee on Health, Human Services and The Arts early next month. For more details sign up for CLASH Stay in Touch e-Newsletter. 

May 25, 2022 Meeting: CLASH and Karen Dettmer.

• Request #1: Bring the Lead Safe Advisory Board (LSAB) under the control of the Director of B&H, provide public notices of upcoming meetings and post all relevant info--videos and transcripts on the City of Cleveland website. 

  • Notices of the meetings of the LSAB should be posted at least one week before the meeting and meetings should be open to public view. Let's have the transparency that Mayor Bibb has announced as a priority of his administration.

  • CLASH recommends that Dr. Chantal Dothey be appointed by Mayor Bibb to fill the unexpired term of Dr. Aparna Boles on the LSAB.

• Request #2:  Bring the Lead Screening and Testing Commission and the Lead Safe Housing Action Board into the codified ordinances and appoint representatives as defined in the law. 

  • Both of these boards were established by Ordinance 747-19, but neither is documented in the Codified Ordinances of the City of Cleveland. An open records request to the City of Cleveland reveals that neither Cleveland Department of Building and Housing nor Cleveland Department of Public Health have any records pertaining to these two citizen advisory groups.

  • These two citizen advisory groups should be under the jurisdiction of the City of Cleveland and in compliance with the Open Meetings Act.

• Request #3: Convene a working group of representatives of the Law Department, Department of Public Health, Department of Building and Housing, and the Housing Court to identify and remove the bottlenecks that prevent effective code enforcement, specifically addressing outstanding Lead Hazard Control Orders and Lead Safe Certificate scofflaws.

  • The issues of Code Enforcement was raised repeatedly by Council members during Budget Hearings this spring.

  • As of this week, there are 385 outstanding Lead Hazard Control Orders (LHCO) which have never been taken to housing court.

  • CLASH recommends that a citizen representative be a party to the discussions among the departments to assure transparency. 

• Request #4: Coordinate citizen complaint process between B&H and CDPH Departments. 

  • Right now each department says the other department is responsible for lead issues. 

  • Citizens have no where to turn to report lead hazards from chipping, peeling and deteriorated paint, elevated blood lead levels, faulty demolition of vacant structures, and results of DIY testing in/around their homes.