Meet the women serving on Cleveland City Council

• Only 45 women have held the office since 1924, when Helen Green and Marie Wing became the first.

By the numbers: Five women currently serve on the 17-member council, the highest proportion of female representation the city has ever seen.

• Reality check: Six women served together briefly in 2006 — including Nina Turner and current council clerk Pat Britt — but council had 21 members at that time.

Let's meet them, moving west to east across Cleveland:

Councilwoman Jenny Spencer

Where she represents: Ward 15 (Detroit-Shoreway, Edgewater, Cudell)

Zoom in: Spencer was the former managing director of the Detroit-Shoreway Community Development Organization, and was appointed to her seat by councilman Matt Zone upon his resignation in 2020.

• Spencer was elected to a four-year term in 2021.

🏡 What she's saying: "Affordable housing is my north star," Spencer tells Axios.

• Spencer says among her proudest moments were securing pandemic aid for Habitat for Humanity homes in Ward 15 and shepherding community engagement for the former Watterson-Lake school site, which will be converted to affordable housing.

🌳What's next: Spencer is city council's representative on the Urban Forestry Commission and says in 2024 she wants to advocate for policies that preserve and grow the city's tree canopy.

• "Outside of my official council duties," she says, "I'll be focusing on this year's consequential elections. We're at a defining moment in our democracy, and I want to raise voter participation and awareness."

Councilwoman Jasmin Santana

Where she represents: Ward 14 (Clark-Fulton, Stockyards, Brooklyn Centre)

Zoom in: Santana is the first Latina to serve on Cleveland City Council. She narrowly defeated incumbent Brian Cummins in 2017 and retained her seat in 2021.

• She now serves as council's majority whip.

🇵🇷 What they're saying: Santana tells Axios that everything she does on council is informed by her lived experiences as a resident of Ward 14, a product of displacement and a Latina.

• She says one of the things she's proudest of is advocating for broader language access citywide, to ensure that job postings, signage, COVID alerts, and health resources are available in Spanish and other languages.
• Santana also led the charge to provide menstrual products for free at city rec centers and Cleveland City Hall.

👷🏻‍♀️ What's next: Santana chairs the council's workforce committee and says she'll continue to prioritize equitable access to high-quality jobs.

• In Ward 14, she says community engagement will be key as she works to improve homeownership, educational opportunities, and cultural amenities at parks and recreation centers.
• "When the community is engaged, we're able to accomplish our goals together," she says.

Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer

Where she represents: Ward 12 (Slavic Village, Old Brooklyn)

Zoom in: Maurer, a lawyer by trade, came to local attention for her blog on the "Serial" podcast in 2018 and for her work with Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH).

• She narrowly defeated Ward 12 incumbent Anthony Brancatelli in 2021.

♻️ What they're saying: Maurer tells Axios that she's proudest of the "constituent services report" that her office produced in 2022.

• "It kicked off a citywide debate about basic city services, 311 and the role of the council office," she says.

The latest: Maurer, council's lone Jewish member, was the only councilperson to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

📈 What's next: In 2024, Maurer says she'll be focused on ensuring that Ward 12 neighborhoods each have a master plan in place and on investing in the ward's historic commercial corridors.

• Maurer says she also wants to "realize the dream" of both the 2019 lead law that she helped spur with her work at CLASH and the 2023 Residents First bill.

• "We want to translate these laws to the streets and make sure residents know that the city is taking the idea of safe, healthy housing seriously," she says.

Councilwoman Stephanie Howse-Jones

Where she represents: Ward 7 (Hough, St. Clair-Superior, Asiatown)

Zoom in: Howse-Jones served briefly served on City Council as an appointed replacement to Fannie Lewis in 2008, but most recently served in the Ohio Statehouse.

• In 2021, she defeated T.J. Dow in an open race, after her predecessor Basheer Jones ran unsuccessfully for mayor.

👧🏾 What they're saying: Howse-Jones has been a vocal advocate for criminal justice and housing, but says her proudest moment was the formation of the Commission on Black Women and Girls.

• Howse-Jones will be city council's representative on the commission.

🚮 What's next: In 2024, Howse-Jones tells Axios that she'd like to create a "community small grants program," where residents apply for, and vote on, funding for ward-based projects.

• She's also working to pass a bill that will assess fees on businesses that generate a high concentration of litter, to create revenue for beautifying the city and its waterways.

Councilwoman Deborah Gray

Where she represents: Ward 4 (Woodland Hills, Buckeye, Mount Pleasant)

Zoom in: Gray won her seat in 2021 in an open race, after the ignominious departure of Ken Johnson.

One fun thing: Gray's twin sister, Delores, briefly served as the appointed replacement of Phyllis Cleveland in Ward 5, but lost that seat in 2021 to Richard Starr.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 What they're saying: Gray tells Axios that she's worked hard to get residents of her ward more engaged in decisions that affect amenities and quality of life.

• "When I started, there had been little to no outreach to most of the neighbors," she says.

🏚️ What's next: Gray says housing issues are among her residents' greatest concerns.

• "They are eagerly awaiting rehab money for homes and want to see demolition of blighted properties and new homes erected on empty lots."

Flashback: Last year, Gray traveled to New York City to confront the predatory owners of an apartment complex on Shaker Boulevard.

• The owners later met with tenants and vowed to make improvements.