CLEVELAND — Cleveland is a city that’s made a lot of progress, but still faces many challenges, and things got a little testy at times when the candidates to be Cleveland’s next mayor met in the same room.
What You Need To Know
- With Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson retiring, voters will elect a new mayor for the first time since 2005
- Seven candidates are vying to be Cleveland’s new mayor
- Those candidates met for a debate hosted by the City Club of Cleveland and Ideastream Public Media
Council President Kevin Kelley and former mayor Dennis Kucinich debated each other’s records, but they also had to answer to those living in Cleveland.
“Why do you think for cops is the answer?” asked one resident.
“I’ve talked to police, they’re stretched right now,” said Kucinich. “We need more people who can be involved, but they need to be better trained.”
Crime, mental health and police reform were some of the topics. State Sen. Sandra Williams and Councilman Basheer Jones pitched their plans and talked about using the city’s budget more wisely.
“We see that we have a general budget of $335 million and we have added money to this every single year,” said Jones. “But yet and still the city of Cleveland has three times the national crime statistics. So more money is not going to be the solution. Community policing, working with the police.”
Williams said a focus on mental health is needed.
“I believe that we should have a dual approach. Law enforcement should be in the background and the experts that handle mental health issues should be the ones addressing that issue,” said Williams. “That will stop so many people from being arrested needlessly because they have a mental health condition.”
Two candidates, Justin Bibb and Ross Dibello, are political outsiders and tried to leverage that to bring fresh ideas to the city on issues like transparency, combatting poverty and development.
“People don’t trust government,” said Bibb. “Because career politicians think they have the answer, the residents have the answer. And that’s the kind of leadership we need to bring moving forward in this city.”
DiBello wants campaign reform.
“We’re going to bring the campaign finance limits way down, $250 per PAC, $750 per person. That dictates policy, high rises, what gets developed where,” said DiBello.
Two candidates with years of history on city council, Kelley and Zack Reed, believe their experience qualifies them to lead.
“Who knows how to make change? Who knows how to collaborate? Who knows how to build coalitions? And who knows how to get the job done? That’s what I’m going to bring to the mayor’s office, competent, responsible, experienced government on day one,” said Kelley.
Reed boasted his council election background.
“The people in Mount Pleasant, and Union-Miles and Mill Creek, they’ve spoken on four occasions and said the best person to be the councilperson in this ward is Zack Reed and that’s what it’s all about. It’s about transparency and being out there on the front lines with the people and the citizens of the city of Cleveland,” said Reed.
This was the first of two debates. The next one takes place next Tuesday.
