Residents thank officials for Pride Fest event

by Dan Holland

June 17 city council meeting

A number of residents at the June 17 city council meeting thanked the mayor and some members of city council for the city’s hosting of Pride Fest on June 8 at the city amphitheater.

The event was sponsored by BBH Pride and Metro Health with support from the Cleveland Guardians and Sherwin Williams. The city co-sponsored the event.

Deena Koludrovich, a member of the BBH Pride Task Force, told councilmembers that she and her husband volunteered to work at the event.

“We are thrilled that BBH Pride is here and that the city hosted such an important and joyful event,” she said. “BBH Pride presented an allyship award to Mayor Alai, and again tonight, we say a tremendous thank you to him and to other councilmembers who supported Pride Fest: Jennifer Mahnic, Brian Wolf and Bob Boldt.”

Resident Linda Crouch said she was impressed that U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and his wife, Connie Schultz, attended the event, with whom she had an opportunity to speak with.

“It says a lot that they took the time to come and to be supportive,” she said. “It was great to see all the smiles and the happy people of all ages and all backgrounds and all happy.”

Jason Fogarty, chair of civic engagement for BBH Pride, also thanked Alai, Mahnic, Wolf as well as the city’s police and fire personnel for keeping the event a “fun and a safe space for kids and families.”

Fogarty said he opposes comments made by Councilperson Glenn Goodwin during a May 13 council work session during which Goodwin, in expressing concerns over safety at the event, wondered what might happen if outside opposition groups came into Pride Fest. Fogarty reiterated Goodwin’s May 13 statement saying that “the Proud Boys should be entitled to that same venue also.”

During the May 13 meeting, Goodwin stated, “I don’t want to see conflict in [the city], so somehow this has to be addressed so that we don’t turn this into our nightmare.” 

“Given the comments Mr. Goodwin has made in fierce opposition to BBH Pride and Pride Fest, citing his own religious beliefs at times, as well as aligning himself with the religious and misinformed opposition, there is no way he can convey genuine intentions for the safety of the people,” Fogarty continued.

Fogarty, speaking on behalf of BBH Pride, said the group is asking Goodwin to issue a public apology for his comments and to “engage in meaningful dialogue with the LGBTQ+ community.” He also called on city council to “pursue inclusivity training.”

In other business, council approved:

• A resolution adopting a revised zone map in the city. The new map is in accordance with the city engineer having prepared a revised zone map taking into account all rezonings from Dec. 1993 to April 2024.
• An agreement with Glenn D. Ramage, Inc. for architectural design services for a proposed service department storage building on city campus. The proposal is for an 8,000 square-foot, one-story slab-on-grade building to be used for storage of lawn maintenance equipment, tools and supplies. Estimated construction costs for the building is $450,000.

An agreement with The K Company, Inc. for HVAC work to be done at Fire Station 1 and the city service garage at a total cost of $24,200. ∞