What to Expect from Frank Jackson's Fourth Term
As written by Cleveland Crain's reporter, Jay Miller
Frank Jackson says campaigning for his fourth term as mayor of Cleveland this fall convinced him that he made the right decision to run again."
Frank Jackson says campaigning for his fourth term as mayor of Cleveland this fall convinced him that he made the right decision to run again.
While Jackson believes there are capable people waiting in the wings, he said he needed to continue in the job to instill a sense of urgency in city government so that several key goals he has set for the city can be achieved.
"One learning experience of the campaign (was that) it affirmed that we are moving in the right direction and that we have identified the right priorities," he said as campaign workers were moving out of campaign headquarters on Prospect Avenue last Wednesday, Nov. 8, the day after voters gave him a 60%-40% victory over councilman Zack Reed.
"It also points out that the bureaucratic sense of urgency doesn't match the public's sense of urgency," Jackson said. "Part of being successful is getting closer to the sense of urgency the general public has."
And while Jackson believes there are people who could serve well as mayor, he doesn't see it as his job to groom a successor. He remained expressionless as a reporter ticked off names of possible successors raised by civic and business leaders in the months leading up to the election.
"There are people out there and they will do a good job," was all Jackson would say. "As to who that person is, it can't be a person handpicked by me. People need to emerge, and there are enough qualified people out there."
At the top of his to-do list for the next four years are:
• Moving the Say Yes to Education program forward. The city has gathered business, education and civic leaders to create a program to get more Cleveland kids to finish school and go on to college. A key incentive would be scholarships to cover the cost of college. Say Yes is a New York-based program designed to help poor kids advance to college.
• Pressing for the creation of jobs and new development in the neighborhoods — especially along the Opportunity Corridor — in addition to an already bustling downtown. In May, Jackson announced a $65 million program to boost both housing and commercial development in targeted city neighborhoods.
• Improving public safety by hiring additional police officers, following the recommendations the city agreed to in the consent decree between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice, and by a greater focus on teen violence.
Jackson believes that education and jobs are key to reducing crime in the city and making the city a better, more attractive place.
"We're not over the hump," he said. "It gets back to this whole notion that I want Cleveland to be better off, in a better position, than where I found it."
He acknowledged, though, that people in the business community and beyond are concerned about a post-Jackson Cleveland. But he doesn't believe a successor can be groomed, as often happens in the corporate world.
"I don't handpick. People have to earn things, and then they will emerge," he said. "And there are a lot of people out there, believe me."
Among those whose names have surfaced recently are the following:
• Joe Cimperman: A former Catholic services worker, Cimperman represented downtown and East Side neighborhoods in council from his first election in 1997 until 2016, when he was named president of Global Cleveland, the immigrant outreach nonprofit. In 2008, Cimperman ran unsuccessfully for Congress, losing in the primary to the incumbent, former Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich.
• Councilman Blaine Griffin: Griffin won his first election to Cleveland City Council on Nov. 7. He was appointed in May of this year to fill out the term of retiring councilwoman Mamie Mitchell. Griffin was a close confidant of Jackson. For 11 years before his appointment, he served as executive director of the city's Community Relations Board under Jackson.
• City Council president Kevin Kelley: A lawyer, Kelley was appointed to council in 2005, succeeding Michael O'Malley, who resigned to become assistant director of the city's utility department. Kelley became council president in 2013, after council president Martin Sweeney stepped down from the president's job to run for the Ohio House of Representatives. Kelley is a member of the law firm Porter Wright Morris & Arthur.
• State Rep. Bill Patmon: Patmon has tried twice to defeat Jackson for the mayor's job. He didn't survive this year's primary runoff for mayor, and he lost the contest against Jackson in 2009. But he's still mentioned as a candidate for mayor four years from now. Patmon served in city council for 12 years, beginning in 1990 until he lost his seat to Sabra Pierce Scott in 2001. He has represented Cleveland's 10th District in the Ohio House since 2011.
• Chris Ronayne: The Edgewater neighborhood resident is president of University Circle Inc. and former chief of staff to Jackson's predecessor, Jane Campbell. He also served as Campbell's planning director and chief development officer, leading the creation of the plan, currently underway, to reinvigorate the lakefront. He also is a member of the board, and past chairman, of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.
• State Rep. Martin Sweeney: The former councilman is in his first term as a state representative serving Ohio's 14th House District, which includes a large portion of Cleveland's West Side and several western suburbs. Sweeney was elected to Cleveland City Council in 1997 and served as council president from 2005 until 2013, succeeding Jackson in the president's chair after Jackson became mayor.
• State Sen. Sandra Williams: Williams has been a member of the state legislature since 2007, serving two terms in the Ohio House before winning election to the Senate in 2015. Her 21st District includes much of Cleveland's East Side and several inner-ring, eastern suburbs.
• Councilman Matt Zone: The current president of the National League of Cities, Zone has represented the West Side neighborhood he grew up in, including the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, since 2001. Zone's father and mother, Michael and Mary Zone, also served on council.
To all those names, Jackson offered only this: "If I had not run, I'm pretty sure some of those people would have been viable candidates."