In a tongue-in-cheek move, Cleveland’s city council has claimed a slice of the Great Lakes renaming action. A resolution to rename part of Lake Erie the “Gulf of Cleveland” passed in a 13-1 vote on Monday, NBC News reports. The symbolic resolution, which carries no legal force, applies to a 2-mile stretch of water from the city’s shoreline, reports the Hill. Kris Harsh, the council member who spearheaded the resolution, acknowledged that Lake Erie is not a gulf. “And I say, ‘Who cares?'” he said. “Listen to me very carefully and jot this down: Words don’t matter.”
Harsh said he had been “emboldened” by President Trump’s orders to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario. The president’s “orders to assign new names without reference to history, tradition, and other acts of Congress have opened the door for United States officials to rename other geography,” Harsh said. “Thanks to him, this is a man who clearly isn’t afraid to say what no one is thinking.” He also noted that a Pennsylvania lawmaker is pushing to rename Lake Erie “Lake Pennsylvania,” reports NBC. “We cannot, as Ohioans, let the Pennsylvanians get a jump on us. It’s our lake,” he said.
He also mocked tech giants, urging Apple and Google to update their maps to reflect Cleveland’s “sovereignty.” Harsh said the council is working on much more important issues, Cleveland19 reports. “There’s lots of work for us to do. But I think that at the end of the day, we live in a big country with a lot going on,” he said. “And sometimes things are so ridiculous, you’ve got to just poke a little bit of fun. And again, this took 15 minutes, cost $0.”