Days before Donald Trump returned to the White House, the mayor of Cleveland took on a presidency of his own. On inauguration weekend, Mayor Justin Bibb traveled to Washington, D.C., and was named president of the Democratic Mayors Association.
The job will give Bibb a national vantage point as Democrats figure out who they are and what they want in a second Trump era. During his trip, Bibb made an appearance on MSNBC’s The Saturday Show with Jonathan Capehart. Sure enough, the mayor fielded questions about working with Trump.
Bibb turned that phrasing around. He told Capehart that Trump should work with mayors on such issues as housing and public safety. He also had a chance to reprise his answer about Trump’s deportation plans.
While discussing immigration in an interview with Signal Cleveland recently, the Democratic mayor said that “illegals” who committed crimes should be held accountable. Several people on social media took issue with the mayor’s phrasing.
The word, while in use among Republicans, has fallen out of favor with Democrats after a years-long campaign by immigration advocates to abandon terms with a pejorative edge.
On MSNBC, Bibb used softer language when asked about deportations.
“If there’s an undocumented immigrant who has committed a violent crime, if they’re a threat to public safety, absolutely, we are a country of rules and laws,” Bibb said. “But we need to fix our broken immigration system, and I’m willing to bet that the American people want to see a bipartisan solution to this issue.”
He said Americans voted for “change when it comes to immigration” in last year’s election — seemingly a nod to voters’ support for Trump. The mayor added that immigrants also play an important role in U.S. cities and the country’s economy.
As Signal Statewide’s Andrew Tobias noted last year, some Ohio Democrats have been trying out a harsher tone when talking about immigration. U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who won her race in November, ran an ad that initially used the words “penalties for hiring illegals.” The ad was later updated to say “penalties for illegal hiring.”
Cleveland seeks coach for 311 call takers
Last year, Cleveland launched a new, online portal for residents’ 311 complaints about potholes, roadkill, illegal dumping and anything else that needs the attention of city workers.
Now City Hall wants to hire a coach for its team of in-house call takers who field those complaints. The city is seeking a consultant with call center expertise who would spend the year with Cleveland’s 311 staff. The consultant would help hire and train new employees. Plus, City Hall wants the consultant to kick the tires on the technology Cleveland uses to handle 311 reports.
Souping up Cleveland’s 311 system was a signature Bibb campaign promise. As a candidate in 2021, Bibb pitched voters on the idea of being able to track their service complaints like Amazon packages.
Of course, giving residents a way to track a complaint is only half of the equation. Promptly filling the potholes, scooping up the roadkill and cleaning the illegal dump sites arguably matters more.
Consultants interested in the job have until Feb. 11 to submit proposals. The contract would last through December 2025.
According to data published by City Hall, the 311 line has received more than 43,000 complaints in the last 11 months and closed out 93% of them.
The No. 1 category of complaint has to do with a precious commodity in Cleveland: requesting new trash and recycling bins.
