Mayor Justin Bibb visited New York City last week to talk about climate change and the political environment at Capitol Square in Columbus. 

Cleveland’s mayor was in town for Climate Week NYC, which bills itself as “the world’s largest climate gathering” outside of the United Nations Climate Conference known as COP. He spoke on a panel at the Forbes Sustainability Leaders Summit alongside former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. 

Bibb, the head of the Democratic Mayors Association, said President Donald Trump’s spending cuts had deprived the Cleveland area of grant money for residential solar panels. 

He criticized state Republican leaders who he said were preempting local control. On the other hand, he credited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine with helping him install an electric vehicle charging station. 

“The problem we have in states like Ohio is not an R or D issue. It’s an urban-vs.-rural divide,” Bibb said, in comments that Forbes shared on Facebook. “And when we fix that chasm in America, I think we’d be a lot better off as a country.” 

Another chasm — the rift between Bibb’s office and Council President Blaine Griffin — awaited him back home on the second floor of City Hall. 

The mayor’s office said last week that it would hire a law firm to investigate a City Council staffer it said downloaded thousands of files from the city’s public records system. Griffin defended his man and said the mayor’s administration treated City Council with disdain. 

“All politics is local, folks, it’s local,” Bibb told the Forbes audience. “We got to step up and support leadership at the local level.” 

Back in Cleveland Friday, there was a sign of detente among local leaders. The Academy Tavern posted a photo on Instagram of Bibb and Griffin sharing a table together on the Larchmere bar’s patio.

Campaign chatter

Endorsement check: Two groups that represent women in local politics — the Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus and the Black Women’s Political Action Committee — have come out with their candidate slates in the races for Cleveland City Council, a historically male-dominated institution.

A trio of women running for council seats won both endorsements: Juanita Brent in Ward 1, Deborah Gray in Ward 3 and Nikki Hudson in Ward 11. 

There were some differences, too. The Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus backed Rebecca Maurer in Ward 5, Austin Davis in Ward 7 and Michael Polensek in Ward 10. The Black Women’s PAC is supporting Richard Starr, Mohammad Faraj and Anthony Hairston in those wards. 

Smooth sailing in Ward 11: As Signal Cleveland reported last week, Hudson is now the presumptive winner in Ward 11 after her opponent left the race to take a job at KeyBank. 

Goodbye City Hall, hello City Hall? We have a correction to make from the Sept. 20 column. We told you that Ward 7 candidate Davis was on leave from his job as an advisor to Mayor Bibb. While he previously was on leave, he told Weekly Chatter that he resigned the job in August.