But what do you really think about Lead Safety?

2026 Opinions

A Letter to the Editor from CLASH February 22, 2026

Feb. 20, 2026. Cleveland.com Cleveland’s costly failure to mount a multifront assault on lead poisoning: editorial. "But seven years after the city of Cleveland and its community partners launched a well-funded lead-safe certification program, and decades after lead-poisoned Cleveland kids were first identified as victims, it’s clear there isn’t the will in City Hall or City Council chambers to do so. That’s why others have to step in, from the city’s hospitals and community and neighborhood groups to the United Way, which under now-departed CEO Augie Napoli once took the lead after the 2019 lead-safe law passed to galvanize community support, landlord engagement, donations and streamlined access for children to be lead-tested." 

CLASH asks the Editorial Board to consider these facts:

• The fact is that private sector involvement was the plan all along. You have not understood your own reporting on this issue. Your editorial calls for involving the same “outsiders” who caused the failure in the first place.  Kevin Kelley says CLASH petition won’t change city council, coalition plans for lead-safe legislation. "Kelley said he expects City Council’s lead safe legislation to be based on the coalition’s recommendations, which are expected by May 1, and the legislation to be passed sometime after the Lead Safe Home Summit June 21 [.....] Kelley said if parts of CLASH’s legislation are similar, they could be incorporated into the legislation City Council will draft and introduce. Councilman Blaine Griffin, who heads the health and human services committee where both pieces of legislation will be referred, said he believes that the Lead Safe Cleveland coalition will come up with recommendations for legislation that will prevent lead poisoning in a sustainable and comprehensive way." Who was the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition? The very same people that the editors suggest should step up and run the program.

• The fact is that, according to the Council-LSCC Plan Cleveland is not even off schedule. Cleveland To Announce Goal To Become 'Lead Safe' By 2028. "Cleveland will announce a goal on Tuesday to bring down the rate of childhood lead poisoning and make the city 'lead safe' by 2028, Council President Kevin Kelley said in an interview Monday afternoon. By 2028, Kelley said, the city aims for no children to register blood-lead levels above five micrograms per deciliter, which experts have considered a threshold for poisoning. He called the 10-year goal 'aggressive but reasonable,' saying that the specific details of the city’s plan are still being worked out."

• The fact is that CLASH (and our predecessor Cleveland Lead Safe Network --CLSN) has been the leader in the effort to make Cleveland Lead Safe. In 2016, we called for a new approach to lead safety. We drafted the legislation and lobbied Council for a hearing on our plan. In 2016, we conducted a citizen initiative campaign to put the issue on the ballot after Council refused to give us a hearing. Since passage of the law, CLASH volunteers have campaigned to implement the law...with all it's flaws. The fact is that the successes of the past four years (adoption of Residents First to revamp code enforcement, a Lead Risk Assessment standard, and civil ticketing of landlord scofflaws) have been CLASH proposals for which we have never received credit. We have been disappointed that, in the past 6 months, both the PD editorial board and the Mayor have denied our requests to meet. We're disappointed that throughout the past 7 years we've been barred from a seat on the Lead Safe Advisory Board. But our work continues because the children are our goal and mission.

On Bibb's Governing Agenda for the Cleveland ERA January 2026

In his Substack message last week (January 22, 2026, My second-term vision for Cleveland and its people), Mayor Bibb recalls Cleveland's leadership role in the 19th and 20th century industrial revolution. He writes: "Cleveland has always known how to turn vision into power. Long before anyone ever said, “Silicon Valley,” this city was already doing the work — building systems, building wealth, and building the backbone of the modern American economy. This is where John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil showed the world what scale really meant. Not just hustle, but discipline. Not just innovation, but ownership. Cleveland understood then — as we must now — that ideas matter, but infrastructure, coordination, and control of the value chain are what change history. When the Mayor writes: "We weren’t just part of the industrial revolution; we helped engineer it. The Cleveland Era is about reclaiming that mindset.” 

Well it’s not just the mindset that needs to be reclaimed. To his credit the Mayor’s first term has been a good start towards addressing lead paint issues but CLASH knows that Cleveland needs a generational commitment so that today’s children are not burdened by developmental delay, anti-social behavior, and chronic illness as they age. 

Bibb's amendment.

Signal Cleveland reports on the meeting between Mayor Bibb and Mayor Pete. "One topic of their fireside chat: making the industrial Midwest great again. They didn’t put it that way, of course. Buttigieg said cities shouldn’t just go back to their past of Cleveland’s Standard Oil and the South Bend automaker Studebaker." Will Bibb call out Sherwin Williams? 

December 26, 2025  Inspired by a recent story about side yard lead pollution in Buffalo, NY.  CLASH's MollyG drills down on how the impact of residential racial redlining in Buffalo has affected today's poverty and health disparities. "Neighborhoods of color in Buffalo are also rife with brownfields - former industrial or commercial sites that are often abundant with toxins. In segregated communities, housing stock tends to be older, which increases the prevalence of lead paint and thus lead poisoning." 

Just imagine what would have happened if Neighborhood Progress Inc had tackled lead safety in 1980?  "Cleveland’s neighborhoods, especially those on the east side, were losing population.  Much of the existing housing stock was pre-World War II.  Many wood-frame worker houses were on small lots (40×150), with a single-car garage; the Cleveland doubles or deteriorating small multifamily buildings, all had lingering environmental issues such as lead-based paint, lead water lines and asbestos siding."   Chapter 4 Cleveland’s Community Development Ecosystem. 

Are Advocates Losing the fight for Lead Safety?

By the time that Primary Election day in September, it will have been 61/2 years since the passage of Cleveland’s Lead Safe Certificate Plan which was, by the way, a watered down version of CLASH’s 2019 ballot initiative. Lets build on what we have learned over that period of time, to make a workable plan going forward. The risk that Cleveland faces is rejection of a “failed” program. Mayor Bibb's speedy pivot from Lead Clearance Testing to Lead Risk assessment is an example of policy adapting to new information, but the risk is that the public will grow tired of failed plans. That's why speedy resolution of the certificate backlog is so important. Voters need to see steady progress towards the goal of lead safety.

July 20, 2025 -- Stay in Touch Subscriber Michelle Finn writes

"I have been watching Clash and the responses by City Hall for the past 5 years.   I find it frustrating that lead poisoning is not decreasing in children. I work as a realtor and property manager and was licensed for lead testing.

Vilifying the landlord is not working.  So I have taken it upon myself to try to help one child at a time. Just today I found the probable cause and a solution to a poisoned 2 year old.  

The rental was renovated with new LVP flooring, the interior surfaces painted and new carpeting installed within the past 5 months.  The landlord I was assisting was willing to allow the tenant to break their lease with no penalty due to the lead blood test results. They honestly wanted to help this family. I offered to stop by and assess the condition of the unit, it would have passed a visual clearance. I used a lead quick test, a fluorescent reagent with a black light to quickly search for lead. The entry door, LVP flooring, and window sills were OK, but when I sprayed the carpet it displayed green specs under the black light.  I assumed the carpet was old, due to how dirty it was. I found out later it was less than 6 months old.    The problem was the family did not own a vacuum cleaner. The carpet had never been cleaned. The carpet tested positive in the entry of the parents bedroom. Dad is a landscaper and does not take off his shoes in the home. So I left the home and searched for a vacuum cleaner at Restore and Goodwill.   I finally found an Oreck Canister Vacuum at Goodwill and ordered bags for it.  

This is not the first time I have seen horribly dirty carpets at a rental, but it was the first time I thought to ask if they had a vacuum cleaner.  Vacuums can cost a substantial amount of money,  a rag and water to clean an LVP floor is practically free.  So this Mom was attempting to keep the home clean, but ultimately failed because the family could not afford a vacuum.

So my practical action plan is to suggest that while attending community events or through emails and social media communications ask for donations of vacuum cleaners. Ask event visitors if there is carpet in their rentals/homes and ask if they have the proper tools to keep it clean and lead free. Do what I did, give them the vacuum to keep their child lead safe."

From the March 11, 2025 Stay in Touch. What is your ideas on how to remove the BackLog at Building and Housing

SC writes: "...As a retired lead professional, i interviewed for a a job reviewing the certificates but I did not want FT employment. Karen said that due to the union i couldn't do a PT position. Here i was a well qualified candidate, wanting to come into CLE to help and then i was willing to accept a fairly low wage but they could not  figure out how to repost it or talk to the union to allow me to work PT.  So they do have candidates willing to come into CLE to assist them, but they don't seem willing/able to "think outside the box". I even offered to do be a contract person. crazy thing is that i could easily have 1-2 of my old co workers who are retiring to apply for these jobs, but none of us want FT employment."

In the February 23, 2025 Edition of "Stay in Touch" CLASH asked: What practices can the city adopt to speed implementation of the city's Lead Safe Certificate Law?

Here's your responses (all anonymous)

• To make testing more effective and really prevent further child lead poisoning, Targeted Selection should be implemented.   The City already has the data analytics to implement.    Using the 2022 city wide building condition audit and GIS data, first select ALL homes described as in poor condition, collate this with children under 6 years old.   Test all these home whether rentals or owner occupied.    Next Target homes in Fair condition.  My experience with testing makes me believe a large number of home being tested are occupied by only adults.  

• Hire retired lead risk assessors to clear out the backlog of cases at Building and Housing and put the new staff to work bringing more landlords into the system. Speed up the reimbursement of landlords who claim the grant from the Lead Safe Resource Center when their Certificate is approved.

The more EBLL cases you find, the better the outcome
CLASH told the funders: "There will be an increase in the number of children with elevated blood lead levels who live in CMHA properties. This seems counter intuitive for lead safe advocates to cite as an outcome, but the reality is that, for too long, children with elevated blood lead levels have not been identified at a time when they are most easily treated by removing the lead hazard and the stigma of treatment. One of the barriers to the accomplishment of lead safety is the fact that there are no good baseline statistics. For now we may have to rely on anecdotal reports to create a baseline for evaluations."