Council President Blaine Griffin announces two ordinances related to the city's community benefit agreement on Monday.vowed to codify the city's 13-year-old community benefit agreement memoThe two ordinances, 297-2023 and 298-2023, would form what Griffin is calling a"legally enforceable agreement" between Cleveland and the contractors involved with projects with city buy-ins over $250,000. Such a deal comes with financial perks for developers, but upside for the city as well.
"I believe this is one of the most important ordinances, as we outline diversity, equity and inclusion as a priority for this council," he said from the president's lectern Monday."Now we have an ordinance in place to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion on the front end of smallSuch a movement, Griffin added, is"a defining piece of our four years in council."
Of developer hires, the memo suggested, at least 15 percent should be minorities, seven percent female, and eight percent small businesses. As for city projects, 20 percent of the workforce should be Clevelanders. And in April 2019, the Gateway Economic Development Corporation announced that Whiting-Turner's 1,600 workers on the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse transformation exceeded the city's CBA, with 4 percent more Cleveland hires and nine percent more minority hires than suggested.