Plain Press

  • November 4th General Election voting and ballot information

       (Plain Press October 2025) In the November 4th General Election, registered voters in Cleveland will have a chance to weigh in on four races for Municipal Court Judges, the mayoral contest and in City Council races. Residents in Ward 7, Precinct I, in Ward 12, Precinct G, and Ward 13, Precinct Q, will also…

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  • Dismal voter turnout results in predictable outcome

    by Bruce Checefsky    (Plain Press October 2025) Cleveland city-wide voter turnout was 7.1% among registered voters in the wards holding elections, but despite low numbers, incumbents were the big winners in the September primary election. Some city wards reported less than a 3.5% turnout.    In Ward 3, with a population of 23,779, incumbent…

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  • Working Families Party hosts Our City, Our Future Forum

    PHOTO BY BRUCE CHECEFSKY Sunday, August 10, 2025; Working Families Party and Allies Cleveland Policy Forum, Artfully Phi Gallery in downtown Cleveland, 740 W Superior Ave # 101: Cleveland City Council Candidates (L to R) Rebecca Maurer, Ward 5; Mohammad Faraj, Ward 7; Nikki Hudson, Ward 11; Alana Belle, Ward 9; and Tanmay Shah, Ward 12. by Bruce Checefsky…

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  • Cleveland Co-Op Circles hosts candidate forum

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Thursday, July 31, 2025; Cleveland Co-Op Circles Economic Policy Candidate Forum, Pilgrim Church, 2592 W. 14th Street: Ward 4 City Council candidate Kris Harsh says residents want better City services. PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Thursday, July 31, 2025; Cleveland Co-Op Circles Economic Policy Candidate Forum, Pilgrim Church, 2592 W. 14th Street:…

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  • Ward 12 Meet the Candidates Forum offers look at candidates’ backgrounds and legislative priorities

    Danny Kelly Andrew DeFratis Tanmay Shah by Chuck Hoven    (Plain Press August 2025) On July 10th at Story Church at 99th and Madison, the Clifton-Baltic Neighbors Block Club hosted a Meet the Candidates Forum for City Council candidates seeking to be the City Council representative for the new Ward 12.  Three candidates participated in…

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  • Dedication of memorial stone marks beginning of promised improvements at Harmody Park

    PHOTO BY GREG CZNADEL Thursday, May 22, 2025; dedication of Harmody Park memorial stone, on Plymouth Road between Mayview Avenue & South Hills Drive in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood: (L-R): Ellen, daughter of Councilman Harmody (to whom park is dedicated) with Alexandria (Alex) Nichols, new Director of Cleveland Parks and Recreation (2024); and Ward 12 Cleveland…

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  • City Record offers descriptions of new Cleveland City Council wards

    GRAPHIC COURTESY OF CLEVELAND CITY COUNCIL At its January 6, 2025, meeting, Cleveland City Council voted 14-2 to adopt a new Cleveland Ward Plan represented in this map. As required by Cleveland’s City Charter, because of reduced population count in the 2020 census, City Council reduced the number of wards from 17 to 15. The…

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  • Michael McDonald retires from his position as Community Relations Second District Representative

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Wednesday, February 5, 2025; Retirement party for Community Relations Second District Representative Michael McDonald, Sachsenheim Hall, 7001 Denison Avenue: (L-R) Ward 13 Council Member Kris Harsh, Lynn Scheerhorn, Michael McDonald, Ward 12 Council Member Rebecca Maurer, and Ward 16 Council Member Brian Kazy.      (Plain Press March 2025) Friends, family, and…

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  • Residents protest City Council’s new ward maps

    PHOTO BY BRUCE CHECEFSKY Monday, December 30, 2024; Fix the Map Citizen Rally at Shaker Square: Theodore Wadell and Diab Dar-issa protest the proposed new City Council Ward maps that would radically change the ward boundaries in their Ward 15 and Ward 11 neighborhoods. PHOTO BY BRUCE CHECEFSKY Monday, December 30, 2024; Fix the Map…

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  • City Council set to vote on proposed 15-ward map

    WARD MAP COURTESY OF CLEVELAND CITY COUNCIL Cleveland City Council posted this map on its website that includes lines for the current City Council Wards as well as multicolored images of the proposed new City Council Wards. Due to a drop in population, Cleveland City Council must reduce the number of Council Wards from seventeen…

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