Since the passage of Issue 24 in 2021, Clevelanders voted to give residents more oversight on police discipline and policies. Changes to the city charter shifted that power from the police to two groups - the Cleveland Community Police Commission, and the Civilian Police Review Board - who previously could only make recommendations to police leadership.
But infighting has plagued the Community Police Commission for the past two years. And both oversight bodies are involved in recent lawsuits against the City of Cleveland that make some wonder how the effort to create lasting police reform in the city is being impacted.
On Wednesday's "Sound of Ideas, we'll discuss these lawsuits and more with Ideastream's Criminal Justice Reporter, Matt Richmond.
Later in this hour, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio recently announced that it would be closing nearly half of its after-school programs to offset funding losses, including the loss of federal pandemic-relief funds administered by school districts.
Last year the organization ran 49 after-school programs serving about 12,000 young people, but said last week, it would have to reduce that number to about 27, and clubs in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties would be the ones most affected by the cutbacks.
But there is some room for hope, as since the announcement, community partners have started to reach out with more financial support, which may mean some of these programs could be saved. We'll discuss with representatives of the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Ohio.
And later in this hour, host Jenny Hamel sat down with celebrity chef and restauranteur, Lidia Bastianich.
Guests:
-Matt Richmond, Criminal Justice Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Allen Smith, CEO, Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Ohio
-Courtney Horne, Director of Programs, Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Ohio
-Lidia Bastianich, Chef & Restauranter
