As Mayor Justin Bibb keeps his eyes trained on re-election this fall, he took a final victory lap — and addressed past and upcoming challenges — in the final State of the City address of his first term.
Bibb took aim at President Donald Trump’s administration and policy impacts on the city, while maintaining that he intends to steer the ship as potential cuts loom.
“Donald Trump has taken the White House, and Washington is not coming to save us,” he told a crowd of about 1,100 at the Public Forum on Wednesday. “We must continue to find ways to be resilient to make sure our progress is sustained over time.”
He said the day prior, he received news that the Department of Justice could potentially make cuts to millions of federal dollars toward Cleveland’s violence prevention effort. He's also heard from health care executives about potential cuts in the federal budget proposed by Republicans in Congress.
"It would decimate our health care infrastructure in Cleveland and potentially could put MetroHealth out of business," Bibb said. "If they cut SNAP benefits, a core local business like Dave's could go out of business."
Bibb was referring to the local grocery chain Dave's Markets, which has six locations in Cleveland, according to its website.
He said maintaining strong partnerships with local foundations and organizations is key to keeping city initiatives and violence prevention progress from buckling.
Bibb said under his administration, which inherited a $61 million deficit, the city has grown its largest rainy day reserve in the city’s history. Those funds can help weather some federal cuts.
“We can fight,” he said. “We need to continue to fight and mobilize our residents and make the case to our leaders… on how this is harming our cities. We also need to think smart about how we deploy our resources locally.”
‘We have bigger issues we’re focused on outside the Cleveland Browns’
Top of mind for many Cleveland sports fans and city leaders is the uncertainty surrounding a possible Browns move out of the city-owned, lakefront stadium to a new, domed complex proposed at Brook Park.
As the Statehouse mulls issuing $600 million in state-backed bonds for the Brook Park project, Bibb said his administration is committed to keeping the team in place.
“We’re going to keep fighting to keep the Browns playing good or bad football on our lakefront,” Bibb said, garnering a few laughs at the barb at the team’s poor performance record. “If they do get the money, we’re going to find a way to be resilient and keep Cleveland growing. Come hell or high water, we’re going to develop a world-class lakefront.”
Bibb told a group of reporters that the administration is “actively looking at alternative design plans” for the site, should the Browns leave. He said they’ll soon put out a request for proposals for a developer to steward the North Coast master plan.
This comes as Bibb continues work on a “two-waterfront city,” developing both the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie shorelines using billions of secured state and federal funding, as well as investment from the Cavaliers and Bedrock Development owner Dan Gilbert to build up the riverfront.
“People are choosing Cleveland,” Bibb said.
But not all eyes are on the Browns, he said. He cites tackling “predatory landlords,” violence and speed-reducing efforts.
“The residents I talk to don’t really care that much about the Cleveland Browns," he said. "They care about their jobs, they care about the schools, they’re concerned about Medicaid and Medicare.”
Bibb says his administration has moved the needle on public safety
Throughout his tenure, Bibb’s administration has boosted police pay by 34%. Incentives like that, as well as relaxing strict policies on beards and tattoos, have helped attract and retain police officers.
He also touted his Raising Investment in Safety (RISE) initiative, which leverages partnerships with state and federal agencies to crack down on violent crime and illegal gun sales.
He said through that partnership, Cleveland has solved nearly 90% of recent homicides.
Bibb also touched on progress on the city’s federally mandated consent decree handed down by the federal government a decade ago to address police use of force and other misconduct. He said the current police department is “completely different” than 10 years ago.
The city has spent over $40 million on the consent decree, which he still anticipates the city being under for another “two or three years.” He said the U.S. Department of Justice has to “stop moving the goalposts” for compliance.
Even with full compliance, Bibb said there’s still work to be done to build on resident trust in police.
Cleveland schools have ‘pockets of excellence,’ but not a ‘system of excellence’
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said he had full faith in the leadership of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District despite “choppy headwinds” ahead. The district has said it needs to make $150 million in cuts over the next three years as enrollment has slid for decades and costs have risen.
Bibb repeated something CMSD CEO Warren Morgan has consistently said: The district has “pockets of excellence” across its buildings, but not a “system of excellence.”
“The biggest challenge we have right now is too many school buildings, not enough children,” he said. “What that has meant is not being able to divert resources across the entire footprint of CMSD.”
Bibb said the school district has delayed “hard choices” around closing buildings for more than two decades. Under the last two superintendents’ tenure, however, the district has closed buildings and consolidated others: About a half dozen were shuttered in 2019, and 13 schools were closed in 2010.
The school district is currently considering consolidating buildings through a plan called “Building Brighter Futures,” although no decisions have been made yet. The district has two dozen buildings that are less than 60% occupied by students, Ideastream Public Media has reported.
Bibb looks forward to assuming a second tenure
Bibb intends to run as the incumbent in the mayoral election this November. So far, only three relatively unknown candidates have filed to challenge him, though City Council President Blaine Griffin is apparently testing the waters to run.
“My assignment ain’t finished yet,” he said. “There’s still more work to do. And being mayor of my hometown will probably be the best job I'll ever have.”
The filing deadline for the September primary, which will narrow the field to two candidates, is June 11.
Watch the full forum here.
Education reporter Conor Morris contributed to this report.
