Despite the constant coverage of alleged corruption and graft, Peter Lawson Jones told a sell-out crowd at the City Club of Cleveland that Cuyahoga County is in far better condition than it might appear.
Jones praised staff that engineered a nearly balanced budget, and he thanked voters for last week's passage of the Health and Human Services levy, calling those high marks for the year.
He spoke glowingly of progress being made toward groundbreaking for a Medical Mart and Convention Center in downtown Cleveland, including deals to buy the final parcels from landowners, and guarantees that many local people will win jobs in both construction and operation of the facility.
Furthermore, Jones says fears that Cleveland won't be the first city to complete that task - are unfounded.
PETER LAWSON JONES:
"We will beat Nashville and New York to market, because we have two critical elements that they still don't have: our funding is in place, and we have, in MMPI, the best conceivable partner when it comes to running marts."
Jones' fourth point of focus dealt with the transition which will cost him his own job - the introduction of an executive and 11-member council to oversee Cuyahoga County.
His called the change good - and - partly because of the taint of corruption - a chance to start fresh. But he cast doubt as to whether those who campaigned for change can fulfill their promise to vastly reduce county expenses.
JONES:
"That's going to be an extremely difficult goal to achieve. Why? Because we've already reduced our budget, we've already reduced our F-T-E count by 2,500... (Rick - FTE's being 'full time employees') ...it's going to be extremely difficult to harvest anywhere near $50 million annually."
Jones also warned against new leadership slipping into the habits of the past.
JONES:
"Although you are elected from districts, please understand that your ultimate responsibility is to ALL of the citizens of Cuyahoga County, and please do not allow county council to devolve into strife, one fiefdom versus another."
As to whether HE wants to run for the executive slot - Jones hedged, admitting he wants to stay in public service, but may have his eye on working with a National Commission on Fatherhood, which he and others have been lobbying President Obama to authorize.
It would be based largely on the model in Cuyahoga County, which Jones helped create. Without knowing his part in that, he would not confirm if he'll enter the race for the County exec spot.
Rick Jackson, 90.3
