Mayor Bibb brags about 2023 successes
Mayor Justin Bibb is wrapping up 2023 by putting his own spin on the year. (Don’t we all?) In a foldout mailer sent from City Hall to residents, Bibb says Cleveland is building momentum.
He’s cited a mix of accomplishments that includes completing 60% of the lakefront masterplan, handing off the West Side Market to a nonprofit to manage, hiring new Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Warren Morgan, creating a $15 million development fund for the city’s Southeast Side, paying police officers more money, setting aside funds for anti-violence programs and kicking off the $60 million Irishtown Bend redevelopment.
Of course, there’s a lot left unsaid, particularly the ever-declining number of police officers, the looming potential cost of renovating a new football stadium and the years it takes to truly address root causes of violence.
The mayor, who is featured wearing a polo shirt with a police badge insignia, also previewed a couple of goals for 2024. Among them: completing his climate action plan and launching a new 311 call center, which has long been unresponsive and a source of frustration for residents trying to find relief from their frustrations with city services.
Cleveland gives Hoopples the cold shoulder
Norm Plonski Jr., owner of Major Hoopples, a legendary working-class bar on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River, is no licensed weather forecaster. But he correctly predicted the impact of the season’s first real snowstorm in late November. He complained to me weeks ago that the city would likely ignore the small portion of Franklin Avenue that bottoms out at his bar’s doorstep, since the road was closed recently to make way for Irishtown Bend’s massive makeover.
Plonski’s regulars – which include prosecutors, public officials and plumbers – have long enjoyed free parking along the road. He said that his snow-related prediction proved accurate as his customers were met by an unplowed slippery slope when the first storm landed. He told me he understands why the city ignored the street but that he complained to Council Member Kerry McCormack and anyone else in his contact list. (Plonski is still salty after the city eliminated a dozen or so spots on the street several years ago to make way for a bike path connecting the Red Line Greenway to the Centennial Lake Link Trail.)
“I just wish the city wouldn’t forget about the small businesses down here and that they would plow a little of the street by Hoopples,” he said, noting that the several businesses have been the target of recent break-ins in the Flats. “Don’t forget about us as you make way for all this new development.”
Cuyahoga County corruption files out, media in
Visitors who take the skywalk into the Cuyahoga County administration building on East Ninth Street might notice a room set aside for news reporters right next to the metal detectors. The press room has been a part of the building since the new headquarters opened in 2014.
But for a time, county staff say, it was unavailable because it was being used to store a peculiar set of county records: files seized by the FBI in its sprawling corruption investigation that ensnared Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo.
Once the case wrapped up, the federal government returned the boxes of documents to the county, which eventually stowed them away in the media room. It’s not clear how long the records stayed there before the county moved them again.
Earlier this year, County Executive Chris Ronayne’s administration reopened the press room after lobbying from Cleveland.com reporter Kaitlin Durbin. Russo, the former county auditor who admitted to taking $1 million in bribes, died in April 2022. Dimora, an ex-county commissioner, was released this year after serving 12 years in prison.
Internship incentive
Cleveland leaders are trying to entice current college students to stick around. More than 60 employers — including the Cleveland Clinic, NASA, and Lazorpoint — will be hiring for summer internships and jobs at a career fair this Monday at Cleveland State University’s student center. Offerings also include a keynote speech by the Cuyahoga County executive, panels on topics such as networking and interviewing, as well as a chance to get a professional headshot photo.
Attendees must register and pay $25. The Cleveland Leadership Center, which is sponsoring the event with the Cleveland Talent Alliance, says those funds cover the day’s costs, including lunch. Students interested in applying for a scholarship to attend can contact CLC’s Nicole Canitano at [email protected].
Take note
Among the many Signal Cleveland stories this week worth checking out are two that highlight subjects overlooked by other media. Economics Reporter Olivera Perkins details factors that contribute to low Black business ownership rates. The story also examines the Urban League entrepreneurship programs designed to address the issue and how the programs helped Flava Catering.
Health Reporter Candice Wilder visited Slavic Village to learn more about how the nonprofit University Settlement is trying to curb the opioid crisis in the neighborhood.
