海角破解版

A newly released report from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb offers a detailed look at the new administration鈥檚 early priorities.

From creating a standalone, cabinet-level parks department to upgrading city technology, the report spells out the recommendations made by 10 committees during Bibb鈥檚 transition.

鈥淭his will be the Bible for my leadership team, my cabinet, all our directors and chiefs to ensure that we are executing on the vision and the mandate that we won on Nov. 2,鈥� Bibb told 海角破解版 in an interview last week.

Accompanying the report is in carrying out key recommendations. City Hall released the document midday on Monday.

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The report is divided into 10 sections, one for each of the transition committees: economic development, education, environment, equity in action, health, modernizing city hall, neighborhoods, open government, public safety and talent.

Some recommendations mirror Bibb campaign promises, such as hiring a lead czar or creating a special cabinet focused on the well being of children and young adults. Some are aimed at specific city functions, like reforming the permitting process. Others 鈥� like ensuring citywide broadband access or exploring free transit 鈥� are broad in scope.

Although the report was conceived as a road map for Bibb鈥檚 first 100 days, it includes projects that will doubtless take longer. The mayor described the report as a framework for his full term in office.  

For instance, the modern city hall committee submitted a diagram streamlining the process for responding to resident complaints. The diagram envisions an 鈥渁ction line app鈥� that routes complaints to specific city departments and allows users to see when the work is done.

鈥淲hat we clearly found out on the first couple of days in office is the way that we've historically structured constituent services in the city is outdated,鈥� Bibb said. 鈥淵ou see this being a major pain point for many of our council members, where they are so overwhelmed and burdened with constituent calls and resident complaints, they can鈥檛 do the job of policymaking.鈥�

Cleveland maintains two lines for constituent service complaints: 311 and the Mayor鈥檚 Action Center. Bibb would like to combine them.

鈥淥ver the next couple of months, we are going to do a dramatic overhaul of all of those systems to make sure we have a one-stop shop for constituent calls,鈥� the mayor said.

The committee also suggested hiring 鈥渄irectors of constituent experience鈥� to come up with better ways to interact with businesses, residents, visitors and city employees.

Bibb said a standalone parks department 鈥� one of the environment committee鈥檚 recommendations 鈥� was 鈥渃ritical鈥� to ensuring that all residents can find a park nearby. Currently, the city鈥檚 park and recreation services are housed in the public works department.

The mayor said setting up an office of economic recovery was a timely goal for his administration. The office 鈥� a campaign pledge and economic development committee recommendation 鈥� would lead the city鈥檚 advocacy for federal money. The second half of the city鈥檚 $511 million American Rescue Plan allocation is expected later this year.

Although it isn鈥檛 spelled out in the report, Bibb said he wants to get moving on a plan to invest $5 billion over the next decade in Cleveland鈥檚 Southeast Side. Big projects like that go hand-in-hand with more workaday concerns, like making permits easier to acquire, Bibb said.

鈥淲e can't turn around the Southeast Side if it takes months and months and months to get a permit to build a new business in Cleveland, or to start a new business in Cleveland,鈥� Bibb said.

The transition鈥檚 safety committee recommended holding long-term community listening sessions and viewing public safety as a matter of public health. The committee also proposed sharing data more widely, reexamining the city鈥檚 community policing strategy and reviewing leadership throughout the safety department.

Also among the safety committee鈥檚 action items: reviewing EMS billing practices, taking a second look at fire department shift times, reevaluating the academy process and developing a recruitment campaign in which first responders tell their own stories.

But the report鈥檚 safety section did not go into more detail on one early policing challenge facing the administration: building up the force to its budgeted staff of 1,640 uniformed officers and brass. According to Bibb鈥檚 budget proposal, the force was at a strength of 1,402 last year.

Bibb has said he would like to increase police pay in order to retain officers. The police union contract is one of 30 collective bargaining agreements up for renegotiation this year, the mayor said.

鈥淧olice reform and police accountability is just as important as hiring more officers who can do the hard work of keeping our streets safe,鈥� Bibb said, 鈥渁nd working with our police union to meet that goal is something I intend to prioritize.鈥�

The transition鈥檚 equity committee proposed City Hall liaisons for LGBT Clevelanders, a Black women鈥檚 equity office, an office of immigrant affairs, an office of Asian outreach and a Hispanic advisory council. The committee also recommended two cabinet positions, a chief equity office and a director of diversity, equity and inclusion.

The online tracking tool won鈥檛 include all of the report鈥檚 recommendations. Instead, it focuses on a subset of 100-day items, according to Chief Strategy Officer Bradford Davy. The web page notes whether the items are finished or still in progress.

Davy acknowledged that City Hall鈥檚 plans may change with events 鈥� such as the paralyzing snowfall that led the administration to release an online snowplow tracker and promise to expand the plow fleet.

Events on Monday drove that point home. Just as the Bibb administration readied to release its report, city officials faced questions from frustrated Cleveland City Council members over the city鈥檚 snow removal over the weekend.

鈥淲e aren't foolish enough to think that priorities don't change, and that, you know, demands in the moment require us to shift our thinking,鈥� Davy said. 鈥淏ut we want to be able to have one, central place to say, 鈥楬ere's what we said we're going to do, and here's why we either have or have not done it, and here's our progress so far.鈥欌��