This was a busy week for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. He rolled out the city’s operating budget for 2017, the first since voters agreed to an income tax increase that will bring in more than $80 million of new revenue. He began digesting Gov. Kasich’s biennial budget proposal which asks for more changes in how the state shares revenues with local governments around Ohio. And on Tuesday, after a meeting with longtime political allies and supporters, he announced that he will seek an unprecedented fourth four-year term as Cleveland’s chief executive -- a contest that could attract dozen or more challengers.
On Thursday, the mayor sat down in his ornate City Hall office to talk with Ideas Host Rick Jackson. Mayor Jackson said he “likes to have conversations. I don’t like soundbites.”
True to form, Mayor Jackson and Rick spoke more than half an hour, covering a wide range of topics: city and state budget issues, the decision to run for a fourth term, his vision for a city that cares for “the least among us,” implementation of the police consent decree and his determination to push ahead with plans for a dirt bike park in the city despite opposition from even some traditional allies on City Council.
Frank Jackson, Mayor of Cleveland