CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mayor Father Time Frank Jackson gave is 16th and final State of the City address Thursday evening in the cavernous Cleveland Public Auditorium with room to pass along the giant hourglass marking his 4 terms as Mayor of Cleveland and decades of public service to it.
Left in the packed hourglass to be handed to his successor are a budget carryover of $100 million plus, rainy day fund of $45 million and plans for millions in federal covid relief funds to be spent on investments in broadband, public safety, small business and development.
Either Justin Bibb or Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley will emerge from the November election as the next Mayor of Cleveland. For Clevelanders and all Northeast Ohioans, may the winner also merit four terms as Mayor like Frank Jackson did.
Preceding his tenure as Cleveland’s longest serving Mayor, Jackson served as an assistant city prosecutor, then in 1989, he was elected Ward 5 councilman. In 2001 Jackson was chosen as City Council President. All along, he was a strong champion and advocate for Cleveland’s neighborhoods, not just downtown.
“It is what it is " is Mayor Jackson’s trademark line. What it is and what it was is an historic tenure of public service to the city to be applauded and saluted.