CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne delivered his state of the county address Friday afternoon at Jacobs Pavilion in Cleveland.
The speech was originally supposed to be delivered on Wednesday but was rescheduled due to the poor air quality.
During his campaign, he prioritized strengthening the economy, ac,cess to housing resources and increasing access to waterfronts.
“I ran on a platform of health. Healthy communities that are safe, fiscally strong and prepared for growth, not decline; a healthy economy that is diverse, prepares workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow and can lift our entire region and a healthy government that is trusted, transparent, effective and efficient,” he said.
During his speech, Ronayne said he and the county have been working on those issues since he took office at the beginning of 2023, which included job resources for residents.
“For all job opportunities we must train to the opportunity through organizations like Cleveland Builds, Tri-C and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Workforce Development Board as well as nonprofit partners like Towards Employment, Y.O.U., JumpStart and early-stage workforce development partners like Seeds of Literacy, the Literacy Cooperative, Cleveland Public Library and the Cuyahoga County Public training center,” he said.
Ronayne explained some of the momentum they have built for housing resources for residents.
“We are off and running with building the most diverse portfolio of housing in the County. We closed the gap on housing starts for Hitchcock Center which will provide housing assistance for moms experiencing addiction. We just broke ground on Solon Community Housing in Solon specifically enabling adults with developmental disabilities to live independently,” he said.
One Cuyahoga County resident, Gwendolyn Garth, reacted to his speech.
“The statements he made about working for the people and I’m here to tell him I’m going to keep you accountable in that you are serving and working for the people,” she said.
Ronayne said he believes Cuyahoga County will be a healthy community if everyone works together.
