According to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, "those advocating a small council elected at large maintained that it would be more efficient, less expensive and would eliminate local machine corruption.

Those who favored a large council elected by ward considered it more democratic, since it made councilmen answerable to their constituents.

"[4] The final charter adopted in 1913 introduced a system with 26 wards each represented by a single council member.

[4] In November 1981, as part of Mayor George Voinovich's effort to streamline city government, Cleveland voters approved reducing council to 21 members.

[8] City Council approved a redistricting plan in March 2009,[9] reducing the number of wards to 19 at the start of the 2010–2013 term.

[12] The members of Cleveland City Council - all from the Democratic Party - are listed below in the order of the ward they serve.