Cleveland mayoral race

[mbowes80]

So ... I guess Horsehead won't be moving to Cleveland today. Bummer.

[ohioaninsc]

We'll see but I can see less trips into the city for me...already been seeing increased crime in and around downtown...if we see massive retirements off the Cleveland Police dept that will be enough for me to stay out in Shaker Hts and Beachwood and University Circle where they have their own force.

[MPK21]

Originally Posted by MPK21

So, Friday night into early a.m. Saturday friends in town for Rock Hall induction ceremonies; standing outside at E 4/Prospect...several gunshots coming from the E 9/Prospect area...cop cars racing by...then an NFL player from the Ravens is in town on Saturday night-into early a.m. Sunday hours and is shot in the leg in the E 9/Rockwell area....

Cleveland best not go anywhere near this Issue 24 idiocy.

Cleveland needs to really consider the potential ramifications of a Bibb administration. Bibb has indeed bounced around from job to job in his long resume and short experience doing anything; this board, that board, here a job, there a job...all sounds really impressive until you look at actual accomplishments. I'm sorry but ''introducing or ''connecting'' this person to that person'' etc kinda thing doesn't make one able to lead and run a city on the cusp of an actual turn around despite its highest ''big city'' U.S. poverty rate.

Bibb was also a co-sponsor behind that Cleveland Rising Summit nonsense a few years ago as he worked as a VP at KeyBank..another short-term gig. Considered a disaster, Bibb was the KeyBank rep-sponsor for this grade school level event, which saw its attendance dwindle as attendees realized it was just a paid-for showcase-platform for the Case Business School ''progressive'' and nonsensical Appreciative Inquiry (yes, that's the name of it) business theory that Bibb is indoctrinated into. Really? A VP at KeyBank for about 17 months....?

This guy has never held a job for more than 2 years and his attendance record at meeting related to his board appointments at, for example, RTA is real spotty. Bibb explains his ''less than 2 years'' stint at any ''job'' as being a generational thing...huh?

Among other boards and other feathers in his cap, Bibb is now some CEO or whatever for this UrbanNova what-ever-it-is company in Spokane WA specializing in urban ''smart parks''...when ''sensors'' know to turn the lights down due to a lack of people in the park kinda thing...not sure exactly how Spokane WA translates to Cleveland...geez, I bet CLE gets at least a couple of ''smart parks'' in a Bibb administration.

Bibb is just too packaged, saying the right things, cloning Obama...that hand-chopping while speaking, that 2000 watt smile, and those glasses....lol...please pass over this guy. Being the Mayor of Cleveland will be just another feather in his cap title...

Maybe someone should remind Bibb that being the Mayor of Cleveland is 4 years.

For Cleveland's future sake:

No on Issue 24
No on Bibb

Is Cleveland, the poorest big city, ready for the Appreciate Inquiry business model (theory)?...consider the what went on at and results of that Cleveland Rising Summit...what happened to the Cleveland Rising organization?

What Cleveland needs is someone who can attract some of the relocating business production that is being considered post-pandemic as businesses realize that the cost of relocating at least some production domestically is worth it given the supply and transportation constraints we've been experiencing since March 2020.

So, for Cleveland's future sake it's:

YES on Issue 24
YES on Bibb

LOL...get the popcorn out.

Maybe Bibb can at least address and remedy the real reason the West Side Market was allowed to deteriorate.

[SlideRules99]

I wish Bibb well, and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt as it pertains to crime and safety. Thus far he is publicly playing both sides…with an “I’ll have your back” message to both police and citizens.

I have major concerns about police staffing trends, the projected 300-400 officer shortage (if retirement eligible officers leave in the midst of an anti-police climate), and what that means for crime and safety.

https://fox8.com/news/cleveland-vote...-for-the-city/

The real test will play out next summer, IMO.

Personally I’m baffled by Cleveland’s willingness to potentially exacerbate an existential threat (crime), when the multi-year police reforms appeared to be working. This is an unforced error IMO.

Other cities, from Minneapolis to Seattle, have already reined in the anti-police initiatives and candidates in the midst of exploding crime resulting from said efforts in the past 12-18 months.

Cleveland is shooting behind the duck, and playing with fire.

Meantime, in my old neighborhood, the mayor is pleading for police help and now proposing $25k signing bonuses to counter-act police staffing shortfalls in a town that is looking more lawless by the hour. This a mere 12 months after partially defunding police and introducing citizen committees to oversee police discipline. Read this to get citizen perspective.

https://www.koin.com/is-portland-ove...angs-and-guns/

To be sure, it is not identical to Cleveland’s situation, but the similarities are concerning.

I hope Bibb does his homework and manages this situation rationally. As I said, he gets benefit of the doubt, and I congratulate him and wish him the best.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by SlideRules99

I wish Bibb well, and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt as it pertains to crime and safety. Thus far he is publicly playing both sides…with an “I’ll have your back” message to both police and citizens.

I have major concerns about police staffing trends, the projected 300-400 officer shortage (if retirement eligible officers leave in the midst of an anti-police climate), and what that means for crime and safety.

https://fox8.com/news/cleveland-vote...-for-the-city/

The real test will play out next summer, IMO.

Personally I’m baffled by Cleveland’s willingness to potentially exacerbate an existential threat (crime), when the multi-year police reforms appeared to be working. This is an unforced error IMO.

Other cities, from Minneapolis to Seattle, have already reined in the anti-police initiatives and candidates in the midst of exploding crime resulting from said efforts in the past 12-18 months.

Cleveland is shooting behind the duck, and playing with fire.

Meantime, in my old neighborhood, the mayor is pleading for police help and now proposing $25k signing bonuses to counter-act police staffing shortfalls in a town that is looking more lawless by the hour. This a mere 12 months after partially defunding police and introducing citizen committees to oversee police discipline. Read this to get citizen perspective.

https://www.koin.com/is-portland-ove...angs-and-guns/

To be sure, it is not identical to Cleveland’s situation, but the similarities are concerning.

I hope Bibb does his homework and manages this situation rationally. As I said, he gets benefit of the doubt, and I congratulate him and wish him the best.

Great post that hopefully doesn't foreshadow Cleveland's future.

One fact about Portland in the article you linked surprised me.

<<96% say the city should mandate police body cameras, something city leaders have failed to act on for years.>>

https://www.koin.com/is-portland-ove...angs-and-guns/

Not using police cameras indicates an unwillingness to me to hold police officers accountable. It perhaps suggests why the situation in Portland became so extreme. As I mentioned in post 41, Cleveland police, to my surprise, have used body cameras since 2015, and apparently citizen complaints had plummeted.

It appears that Issue 24 was passed in reaction to past problems, which were severe. Now, Cleveland is going overboard and I heard that Justin Bibb wants to replace Cleveland's current African American police chief Calvin Williams, presumably because he was critical of Issue 24. What police chief will want to take the job with Issue 24 looming in the future, and how will the new chief gain the support of the rank-and-file?

I'm not optimistic that Bibb can successfully implement these reforms, especially as part of the problem is the extremely lax gun laws that Ohio Republicans have imposed on Cleveland and Ohio's other economically distressed urban areas. Who would want to be a police officer in Cleveland, especially if pay is less than in several suburbs? Not only is the danger much higher, but likely the police will be at the mercy of an inexperienced commission lacking in a police and public safety training, and with members whose attitudes were formed in decades past before recent police department reforms.

Bibb, if he were smart, would immediately work with police and his supporters, to improve the provisions of Issue 24. He needs to be extremely cognizant of his appointees and their attitudes toward the police. He also must face the fact that much more money is needed to fully staff the police department and provide adequate training.

Finally, Bibb must go to war, hopefully with other Ohio urban leaders, on the pro-gun, Republican gun legislators and their lobbyists in order to return home rule gun enforcement to Ohio cities. Perhaps they could offer an olive branch by allowing concealed hand gun carry rights to residents of other counties who NEVER have been convicted of a gun misdemeanor or felony and who have adequate training. Nobody IMO should be allowed to carry long guns in Ohio to demonstrations let alone in public buildings or outside the homes of public officials.

Bibb caught his tiger by running on Issue 24 and attaining its passage. Now he has to live with his tiger.

[SlideRules99]

Originally Posted by WRnative

Great post that hopefully doesn't foreshadow Cleveland's future.

One fact about Portland in the article you linked surprised me.

<<96% say the city should mandate police body cameras, something city leaders have failed to act on for years.>>

https://www.koin.com/is-portland-ove...angs-and-guns/

Not using police cameras indicates an unwillingness to me to hold police officers accountable. It perhaps suggests why the situation in Portland became so extreme. As I mentioned in post 41, Cleveland police, to my surprise, have used body cameras since 2015, and apparently citizen complaints had plummeted..

The Portland Police Bureau fully supported the effort to install body cameras. It was the city council that voted to defund that program.

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/78485

The most vocal anti-police city council member firmly opposed the use of body cameras for police. Here is her statement.

“We often hear that body cameras will provide police accountability, but I disagree. I believe they are an expensive, false solution. Many studies have shown that there is no correlation between body cameras and police behavior.”

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/ver...4-34a8d0113ff1

This lunacy is why I’m hoping Cleveland will run a different play book than Portland and other cities who have mis-handled these types of initiatives. It’s also a contributing factor as to why I got the heck out of Portland.

I’m really, really hoping Cleveland doesn’t mess this up. I’ve called this an existential threat, and I’m not exaggerating, as (hopefully) my links demonstrate.