Outgoing Cleveland City Council member Jenny Spencer served with love: Leslie Kouba

CLEVELAND, Ohio – I've known Jenny Spencer for about 12 years. We met through our work supporting economic development in Northeast Ohio – she with TeamNEO, and me with Geauga Growth Partnership. As women, we were in the minority when the region's development organizations gathered quarterly.

Our paths continued to cross as our professional and personal lives progressed. No matter how long it had been, meeting for coffee led to laughter and the exchange of insights and encouragement.

When Jenny joined Cleveland City Council four years ago, I was writing summaries of public meetings for Cleveland Documenters. As I watched the city's 2021 budget meetings, I saw Jenny's eyes widen. Being new in any organization demands we submit to a steep learning curve and I could tell, she was in it.

Personal experience says municipal budgetary processes are the deepest end of the pool of council responsibilities. It can be overwhelming. But Jenny was right there, asking questions, following up, learning as she went.

As time went on, Jenny continued in forthrightness and honest vulnerability, never shying away from getting more information as she sought clarification and understanding in order to make the best decisions possible. She became one of the most prepared and dependable council members.

About her first year in office or so, I called her and asked how she was doing. Her response brought to mind the image of a person using a straw to breathe while looking at the underside of lilypads. We both knew the waters would recede but she'd never be on dry land again.

Last week, I attended a special event Spencer hosted at XYZ Tavern in her Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. In front of a livestream camera and a group of about 50 constituents, staff and admirers, she announced she would not be seeking another term next year. There was no audible gasp, just serious silence.

She followed that with departing remarks that highlighted her values, accomplishments and hopes. She called her time on council the honor of a lifetime. She spoke of proud accomplishments, what she'll push for during her last 14 months on council, and what it took to do the job she felt so honored to carry. It took a lot.

Some of her message will stick with me for a long time, partly because it's not often a public servant shares such thoughts and partly because I needed to hear these thoughts in this raw time after the election.

Her decision took weeks of wrestling and was made months ago. Once made, she waited to go public. She explained, "I wanted to be 'all in' on talking about the importance of the general election, and how government and policy at all levels impact my constituents' lives."

When she walks away from office at the end of December 2025, Jenny will leave behind a legacy of impactful accomplishments that will continue to serve Clevelanders into the future.

She worked to enshrine a public comment period at council meetings and reform tax abatement policy to slow gentrification. Her focus on affordable housing produced 60 new lease/purchase homes in the Cudell and Detroit-Shoreway neighborhoods, and 50 new Habitat for Humanity homes throughout Cleveland, including 10 in Ward 15.

With the collaboration of county, city and state resources, Jenny led ARPA funding of the Karam Senior Living project, which will provide 51 affordable housing units atop and adjacent to the coming Walz Branch of Cleveland Public Library. The corner of West 80th Street and Detroit Avenue will become a community center for everyone in the neighborhood.

After pushing for tree canopy restoration, Jenny sponsored legislation to establish a Division of Urban Forestry.

While trees help calm traffic, Jenny was right there when the city established a residential traffic-calming pilot program, to get speed tables installed along neighborhood streets.

Jenny said the program was so successful that Mayor Justin Bibb's administration will be installing speed tables on at least three residential streets in each ward, EACH year. Mitigating the dangers of speeding vehicles on neighborhood streets is near and dear to me. Bravo!

Since Jenny joined City Council in 2020, she and her team have responded to more than 5,500 constituent concerns, using a spreadsheet to keep track of all the inquiries. That's proof of a public servant who is dedicated and works from the heart outward. And she defined it well in her remarks last week:

"Public service springs from love - it's like a feeling that starts inside of you and keeps expanding, almost limitless at times. We should always be wary of any leader who fails to do this work out of love and service to the people - across differences and across lived experiences."

Wary, indeed, Jenny.

When someone honors public service and decides to leave for personal reasons, it can feel selfish. That's how I first felt when I walked away. Hopefully, Jenny knows in her deepest core her decision is right and good and honorable because she has given beyond measure. She's earned a different lilypad pond of her choice.

So, I wish her safe travels, good family times and an exciting future.

It will be a future of giving because when a person loves others enough to serve them from their heart, they can't really stop helping. Jenny will be back. Somehow. Some way. Somewhere. Some day.

And I bet we'll have coffee to talk about it.