Bibb touts big 2024 amid reelection campaign
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Sarah Rice for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Mayor Justin Bibb touted waterfront development momentum and crime reduction along with other 2024 milestones in an annual report released last week.
Why it matters: The mayor is eager to celebrate quantitative and qualitative achievements as he mounts his 2025 reelection campaign.
Zoom in: Bibb focused on progress made in public safety, housing and neighborhood development, the lakefront and technology.
The intrigue: He acknowledged the "strong political headwinds" in 2025 — a likely euphemism for the Trump administration — that could jeopardize some of these projects.
🚔 The RISE Initiative
Increased pay and incentives for Cleveland police officers led to a recruiting class (52 cadets) larger than the previous four combined.
By the numbers: The Summer Safety Plan resulted in more than 700 arrests and nearly 400 guns recovered.
- The city's homicide rate dropped by 26% last year.
The latest: There is still a deficit of more than 240 officers on the force, and Cleveland is planning a marketing campaign in 2025 to entice recruits.
🏘️ Housing and neighborhood development
The city rapidly rehoused more than 100 chronically homeless residents through the Home for Every Neighbor program and launched an affordable housing fund that it hopes will grow to $100 million toward helping developers build affordable units.
- An effort to reinvigorate the city's southeast side has allocated more than $7 million for home repairs and small businesses.
The latest: On Sunday, the city opened its first seasonal shelter for the unhoused in response to plunging temperatures.
🌊 The Lakefront
The city created a nonprofit development authority to carry out the North Coast Master Plan and won major federal resources for a pedestrian land bridge connecting downtown to Lake Erie.
- The $60 million grant will also convert the downtown portion of State Route 2 into a pedestrian-friendly boulevard.
💻 Municipal technology
Bibb unveiled the city's new online 311 system last September, which allows residents to submit and track requests for non-emergency services.
- The city also created an Open Data portal with up-to-date stats and information in a number of areas (public safety, health, housing).