Meet Cleveland's Newest – And First Latina – Council Member

CLEVELAND, OH – It’s a Sunday morning at the Clark McDonalds on the city’s Near West Side, and the regulars greet newly elected Councilwoman Jasmin Santana with high fives and congratulatory wishes. On Nov. 7, Santana became the city’s first Latina on city council, with her victory over incumbent Brian Cummins.

“I still can’t believe it,” Santana says over coffee. “It’s been five days, but I still can’t believe I won. I worked hard, I know, but it’s still hard to believe.

“During my campaign, I was very surprised at the division in the ward,” Santana says. “I wanted to meet as many residents as I could face-to-face and tell them who I am and what I represent.”

Santana, 38, has worked for the Hispanic Alliance, and before that, she worked at MetroHealth Medical Center in community outreach. She and her husband, Noel, have a 13-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter.

Santana sees her priority on council as the unification of the residents. She wants to encourage block clubs to help people with feeling safe in their home. She also wants to address lead paint abatement in the ward’s aging housing stock.

Abandoned houses remains a big problem in the ward, as it has been for years. Santana said there are 350 houses that are vacant and/or abandoned. Demolition could take years, and then what do you do with the empty lot.

“I want to save the houses if they can be saved,” Santana says. “I would work with developers and then with the families to make them affordable to purchase.

“My husband and I own our home,” she explains, “and when you own your home, you take pride in it and feel a sense of community. That’s what I want to do for other people in the ward.”

According to city statistics, Ward 14 is approximately 42 percent Hispanic, and Santana wants to create the “sense of place” that has been missing in the ward.

Ward 14 also had the worst voter turnout numbers in the city, and Santana looks to Puerto Rico as a way of encouraging voter turnout in future elections.

“Election Day in Puerto Rico is a big thing,” Santana says. “Everyone who is eligible votes. It’s an honor. We have to bring that feeling back to this ward.”

One of the hot topics, according to Santana, is whether or not she will fund the Metro-West Community Development Corporation, which is part of Detroit-Shoreway Community Development.

“We’re working on an action plan,” Santana says, “and we will look at what our needs are and what the residents are looking for. I’ll meet with the non-profit organizations in the ward and all of the businesses. Then we’ll go back to the CDC and make a decision. We want to hit the ground running in 2018.”

Photo courtesy of Jasmin Santana