19 Troubleshooter reveals no money in East Cleveland budget to cut vacant properties’ grass

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A woman fears for her safety every time she walks to her car, all because the grass next door to her is so high.

Sick of getting ignored by the city, she called the 19 Troubleshooters.

“My gun is in my hand locked and loaded, yes it is,” said Marcia Jones, a resident in East Cleveland on Dover Avenue. “I turn, I walk, just like this.”

Marcia Jones takes every safety precaution she can when she walks to her car.

Especially when it’s dark, all because of the vacant property next to her East Cleveland home. The lot on Dover Avenue is filled with high grass.

“You have deers, you have rodents, you have cats,” she said. “And then it’s so high to where someone could be hiding in the grass, not knowing who’s watching you every day.”

Jones says the grass hasn’t been cut since before April, when she moved in.

And when she started reporting the problem to city hall, council members told her nothing could be done.

The city can’t afford to cut vacant lots like this one.

“He did not implement any money in the city’s financial for the grass to be cut,” said Jones. “That’s what I was told.”

Jones says she hasn’t been able to get any help with this grass, so she called the 19 Troubleshooters.

We went straight to city hall.

No one was even in the mayor’s office to answer our questions.

But we ran into the clerk of East Cleveland City Council outside, who confirmed Mayor Brandon King moved money away from services addressing vacant properties.

“There’s block grant money the mayor choose not to apply to resident services and asked council to reallocate money away from resident services to a street resurfacing and sewer project,” he said.

Clerk Eric Brewer says now that the budget is set, council’s hands are tied.

As for residents like Jones, they’ll have to continue waiting until policy is changed.

In the mean time, Jones has a message for the mayor: “You need to do your job.”

Copyright 2023 WOIO. All rights reserved.