Mayoral Candidates Bibb and Kelley face off in debate hosted by Ideastream and The City Club

Last night, the two candidates running for mayor of Cleveland met up at the Westfield Studio Theatre here at the Idea Center in Playhouse Square for a debate coordinated by Ideastream Pubilc Media and The City Club of Cleveland.

Non-profit executive Justin Bibb and Cleveland city council President Kevin Kelley answered questions from Ideastream Senior Reporter Nick Castele, who also moderated the debate, from Lawrence Daniel Caswell, field coordinator at Cleveland Documenters, and Elizabeth McIntyre, executive editor at Crain's Cleveland Business. 

Topics for last night's debate were crime and safety, equity and inclusion, economic development, public health, infrastructure and making government work.

Community voices were included in the debate as interviews with residents kicked off each topic area.

The candidates hewed closely to the themes they've been touting throughout the campaigns: Kelley highlighting his experience and ability to make government to work to deal with complex challenges and Bibb pointing to a stagnant and unresponsive City Hall that needs an outsider's influence.

The debate started with a spirited disagreement over Issue 24, a ballot measure that would create civilian oversight of the division of police in Cleveland. Bibb supports it. Kelley does not. The candidates also sparred over the federal funds coming from the American Rescue Plan Act. 

On the "Sound of Ideas" we start this hour by digging into the debate. Later in the show, we'll hear what its like for doctors, nurses and other frontline workers across the state who are dealing with burnout due to hospital capacity issues.  And, a new study from Ohio State looks specifically at how nurses are faring during the pandemic. We'll talk to the university's dean of the college of nursing about how the pandemic is affecting the mental and physical health of nurses and what to do about it. 
 

-Richard Andrews, Editor & Publisher, The Real Deal Press

-Nick Castele, Senior Reporter, Ideastream Public Media 

-Cait Kennedy, PhD Candidate, Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University & Executive Director & Co-Founder, unBail

-Jo Ingles, Statehouse News Bureau, Ohio Public Radio 

-Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, Chief Wellness Officer & Dean and Professor, College of Nursing, The Ohio State University

-Amanda Rabinowitz, Host, Shuffle, WKSU