Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson delivers 15th State of the City address virtually and prioritizes the pandemic and George Floyd riots in the city, the Black mayor poised to seek a 5th term....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio
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| Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson |
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor in chief. Coleman trained for 17 years as a reporter with the Call and Post Newspaper and is an investigative and political reporter with a background in legal and scientific reporting. She is also a former 15-year public school biology teacher.
CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-Four-term Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson delivered his 15th annual State of the City address on Thursday evening from his office at City Hall with no live audience, an address delivered virtually to the community and others via Zoom, and in stark contrast to last year's address that drew over 1,000 people to Public Auditorium to hear the mayor speak.
At the onset of his address the mayor said the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact on the largely Black major American city, coupled with the racial unrest that precipitated riots in late May during and following a justice for George Floyd protest in downtown Cleveland, were his main focus.
The George Floyd riots, part of many in major cities across the nation, purportedly costs the city over $6 million.
A Democrat who sanctioned the First Presidential Debate held Sept 29 in the city, Jackson prioritized the pandemic over the racial unrest, which he dubbed "social unrest."
Jackson said that "the economic recovery will be slow and ineffective unless we effectively address the pandemic first."
The popular mayor, who has grown to be articulate over time, used his state of the city forum Thursday to almost lecture residents on the dangers of the virus and said Cleveland City Council had passed a city ordinance with civil penalties for failing to wear masks that is applicable to both people and businesses.
Individuals who violate the civil ordinance as well as businesses can be handed fines that range from $25 for individuals to $1,000 for businesses.
Black leaders and community activists, during community discussions with city council members, frowned at any criminal penalties for violating the city's safety protocols.
Such safety protocols might not pass constitutional muster if challenged in court anyway, critics says.
Ohio is one of 25 states where the pandemic is re-spiking, the state reporting 4, 983 deaths since the pandemic broke in early March and the country now with more than 212,000 confirmed deaths, a figure that could get worse in coming months.
Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, has reported some 665 deaths .
Four days ago city officials reported 36 more coronavirus deaths, bringing Cleveland's total to 5,580.
In spite of the ordinance, police are not regularly enforcing the masks' requirement, some saying why risk a conflict over a person not wearing a mask, Cleveland now a party with the U.S. Department of Justice to a consent degree for police reforms, and following a string of excessive force killings by Cleveland police since 2012, including 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014.
The mayor, whose talents include keeping Cleveland above water when similar major American cities go under, has outlined an economic recovery plan for the city in response to the deadly virus and said he could not rule out layoffs of city workers, the public schools that he also leads as mayor under state law in financial trouble too.
A city of some 385, 000 people and the second largest city in the state behind Columbus, the state capital, Cleveland is a Democratic stronghold and so is Cuyahoga County where the city sits, the 2020 presidential election between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden only weeks away
He grew up with his siblings in the impoverished Central Neighborhood of Ward 5 that he represented as a councilman until he was elected mayor in 2005, ousting Jane Campbell, a one-term mayor and the city's first female mayor.
And he still lives in the Ward 5 community where he was reared, along with his longtime wife Edwina, the Central Neighborhood of Cleveland one of the poorest communities in the country in terms of demographics.
And he still lives in the Ward 5 community where he was reared, along with his longtime wife Edwina, the Central Neighborhood of Cleveland one of the poorest communities in the country in terms of demographics.
Poised to run for a fifth- term in 2021, the mayor did not say whether he will seek reelection in 2021, the year his post is up for grabs as are the 17 seats on Cleveland City Council, a city council where all of its members are Democrats.
Jackson has said that while Cleveland is not top notch, due in part to racism and elitism, and now, of course, the coronavirus too, it is a pivotal city that is the core of the region's sustainability.
"Cleveland is a successful city but it is not a great city," said Jackson during last year's state of the city address, adding that it is the heart of Cuyahoga County and that in spite of the hype that suggest otherwise, it has better data numbers than several big cities, including New York City, though New York's population is at 8.7 million
"Cleveland is a successful city but it is not a great city," said Jackson during last year's state of the city address, adding that it is the heart of Cuyahoga County and that in spite of the hype that suggest otherwise, it has better data numbers than several big cities, including New York City, though New York's population is at 8.7 million
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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