CLEVELAND — Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson laid out his goals for the coming year as he gave his 2020 Virtual State of the City address on Thursday evening.
Jackson is the longest-serving mayor in the history of Cleveland after having been elected in 2005. His 15th state of the city address was different from any he has given in the past due to a year that has seen everything from the COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest that led to riots and a city-wide curfew in late May. Those two topics dominated much of Jackson's speech.
“Without substantive and sustainable institutional changes, we will never become a great city. We will never create communities where all people can thrive and share in quality of life and prosperity.” Jackson said in his address. “The question is do we have the will and courage - The will and courage to become a great city?”
Meanwhile, poverty in Cleveland has reached a new level. Reports surfaced last month that Cleveland is now considered the poorest large city in the country, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
“Poverty is an ongoing situation," Jackson said when 3News' Brandon Simmons asked for his response to the new data. "I could imagine if you talked about this 100 years ago or 200 years ago, you’d be asking the same question around poverty."
Violence in the city continues to be a focus of Jackson's administration. In one weekend in July, 20 people were shot in the city, including an 8-year-old girl, who was shot in the arm. Despite nationwide calls to defund the police, Jackson and several city council members have expressed that more, not fewer, police officers are needed.
The Trump Administration's "Operation Legend" has brought hundreds of federal officers to Cleveland and other cities via the U.S. Department of Justice to help local law enforcement combat violent crime.
Jackson will hold a news conference to talk more about his State of the City address on Friday morning at 10 a.m.
You can watch Jackson's entire address in the player below: