CLEVELAND, OH – Ward 13 and new Ward 4 Councilman Kris Harsh has taken it upon himself to impersonate a housing inspector, threaten property owners with enforcement of criminal housing codes and is interfering with the due process rights of Cleveland home and property owners — all while reporters unfamiliar with the laws he’s violating cheer him on.
Harsh, a former nonprofit housing advocate, shared a June 25, 2025 news release explaining how he’d driven the ward he represents and inspected 8507 properties. He confessed to using the U.S. Postal Services and public funds to mail 1845 letters to property owners identifying what he claimed were minor housing code violations. In the YouTube video below, Harsh offers a verbal confession to his duty-exceeding crimes in office.
Harsh is not a certified housing inspector. The councilman currently serving on a 17-member legislative body claimed he personally identified 115 properties he flagged for major issues. In furtherance of his unauthorized scheme, the duty-exceeding council member mailed a sham legal document to property owners demanding that they submit a remediation plan within 30 days. Harsh did not identify the official who would receive and approve the “remediation plans” he requested.
Several of what Harsh’s news release described as his “cases” were referred to the Department of Building and Housing. Harsh did not confirm if housing inspectors under Mayor Justin Bibb’s management followed up on his 115 referrals.
Harsh was not appointed by Bibb to send code enforcement letters to property owners. Council members are not authorized by Cleveland’s charter or the Ohio Revised Code (R.C) to enforce property codes. Despite no law authorizing a member of council to discharge any property code enforcement duties, Harsh didn’t stop himself from threatening property owners with criminal referrals to code enforcers and demanding remediation plans.
What Harsh is doing is not “constituent service.” It’s a textbook violation of R.C. 731.05, which prohibits members of a municipal legislative authority from performing administrative duties. Cleveland’s charter mirrors that restriction. R.C. 731.05 is captioned, “Powers of the legislative authority.”
“The powers of the legislative authority of a city shall be legislative only, it shall perform no administrative duties, and it shall neither appoint nor confirm any officer or employee in the city government except those of its own body, unless otherwise provided in Title VII of the Revised Code. All contracts requiring the authority of the legislative authority for their execution shall be entered into and conducted to performance by the board or officers having charge of the matters to which they relate. After the authority to make such contracts has been given and the necessary appropriation made, the legislative authority shall take no further action thereon.”
The job of a councilman is to legislate — not to enforce laws, issue veiled threats or act as a one-man housing court.
On the surface, Harsh appears to have engaged in obstruction of official business pursuant to R.C. 2921.31, impersonation pursuant to R.C. 2921.51, and potentially harassment if the conduct is repeated or coercive. Property owners are not required to submit remediation plans to a member of city council or his designee.
Housing codes were civilly enforced until 1977 when James Rokakis was elected to a two-year term on a 33-member council. He asked his colleagues to criminalize housing and property ordinances. Dennis Kucinich was serving his one two-year term as mayor.
The criminalized property ordinances Rokakis sought were then used to strip American Negro Winston Willis of his East 105th to East 107th Street properties on Euclid Avenue. Citations went from monetary fines to criminal records, monetary fines and jail sentences.
Today, citations are adjudicated in a housing court presided over by Judge Mona Scott. The issuance of citations is governed by due process protections that Harsh is bypassing. Certified inspectors are trained to follow legal procedures. An intimidating letter from a Cleveland councilman is not a lawful housing code enforcement act. Harsh is literally threatening Ward 13 and new Ward 4 residents with criminal records and jail time if they don’t obey his unauthorized demands.
Harsh’s behavior mirrors the duty-exceeding behavior that brought down other Cleveland-area councilmen who thought the duties of the elected they were administered oaths of office to discharge were whatever they claimed them to be.
During the recent trial of recalled ex-East Cleveland Councilman Ernest Smith, Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Rogalski asked him directly:
“Do you believe the duties of a councilman are whatever you claim them to be?”
Smith’s yes answer led to his May 29, 2025 conviction for using a city vehicle and gas card — provided by convicted ex-Mayor Brandon King — to drive children to school and elderly residents to the store. Ohio Ethics Commission investigators followed Smith and learned he’d used the city vehicle for more than what he’d claimed were his council street duties.
Smith was indicted on October 10, 2024. The jury found that Smith’s actions, though framed as public service, were unauthorized and illegal.
Convicted ex-Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman pleaded guilty to 26 counts of ethics violations for voting to direct city funds to a nonprofit that employed his future wife. Like Harsh, Cimperman acted outside the scope of his legislative authority to benefit a personal agenda.
While ex-Cleveland Councilman Kenneth Johnson was convicted for falsifying expense reports and misusing block grant funds, the federal charges stemmed in part from his direct involvement in administrative activities that were not his to perform.
Equipment was purchased for Johnson and a team to cut grass. When ex-Cleveland Community Development Director Tania Menesse cut off the Buckeye Development Corporation’s funds to support the landscaping team, Johnson paid their salaries from his personal funds.
Harsh’s housing code campaign isn’t about public safety. It’s about generating positive press for his re-election. He’s using the appearance of action to curry favor with voters and reporters who don’t know the law. But in doing so, he’s exposed himself to criminal charges.
If Harsh wants property owners to receive “gentle reminders,” he should write legislation and ask his council colleagues to codify it as a duty imposed on the mayor to enforce through housing inspectors. Until then, he’s exceeding the authority of a member of a legislative branch of government to interfere with the duties imposed upon the executive branch of government to enforce Cleveland’s property ordinances.
Harsh interfered with the due process rights of former Ward 13’s property owners, exposing the city to legal liability. He’s threatening to do the same to the property owners in new Ward 4.
Cleveland doesn’t need another councilman who can’t understand the limits of their constitutional and statutory authority or how to stay in their lane.
