After less than a full day of operations, officials announced that Cleveland City Hall would again be closed to the public following an unspecified cyber threat, leaving residents in need of city services in the lurch for nearly a full week.
The threat, of which the city has yet to provide further details, shuttered the government building on Monday and Tuesday before reopening to the public with a delayed start of 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
Less than two hours later, the city said in a social media post that the Department of Building and Housing was unable to accept payment or process permits, rental registries or other applications.
Late Wednesday, a press release announced that public services would again be cut off for the rest of the week following "expected challenges" after reopening City Hall. The building will remain open for employees.
On Tuesday, Ideastream spoke to many residents waiting to enter the locked building, who said being unable to obtain documents like birth certificates and building permits could cost them housing, jobs or custody.
The city, which remains tight-lipped about the nature of what they’re calling a “cyber event” amid an ongoing investigation, advised the public to use online services or contact 311.
"We ask for the public’s patience as the city continues its effort to restore system access and broadly recover from the incident in a safe and strategic manner," the release said.
