By Max Baldridge ’18
Editor’s Note: Mayor Frank Jackson recently visited University School on Thursday, April 7th. You can read an overview of that event here.
Frank Jackson has been the mayor of Cleveland for ten years. In fact, he is contemplating a fourth term, and the consensus has him winning big should he decide to run. Jackson has an interesting background, a background that resonates with many of Cleveland’s residents.
Born in 1946 to an interracial family in the city, Jackson was educated in the Cleveland Public Schools system. After serving in the Vietnam War, Jackson earned an associates degree from Cuyahoga Community College. He then furthered his education with bachelor, masters and law degrees from Cleveland State University. Jackson began his public service career as an Assistant City Prosecutor in the Cleveland Municipal Court Clerk’s Office. Beginning in 1990, he represented Cleveland’s 5th Ward on Cleveland’s City Council, and was President of the Council from 2002 through 2005. Running as a Democrat, he won the mayoral race in November of 2005 and then took office as the Mayor of Cleveland on January 2, 2006.
In Jackson’s first term as Mayor, his driving emphasis was to ensure that Cleveland would provide an excellent quality of life for every resident. Mayor Jackson’s first term was negatively impacted by the passage of two state laws that contradicted existing city laws that he firmly supported. The first law ended Cleveland’s requirement that city employees reside within the city, and the second overrode the city’s gun control laws. The Ohio Supreme Court sided with the state defying both of Jackson’s positions.
Furthermore, in Jackson’s first term, Cleveland was one of the most severe examples of the national foreclosure crisis. Cleveland’s Slavic Village had the highest foreclosure rate in the United States and Cuyahoga County was 10th in the nation. The real estate tax shortfalls greatly impacted the city, and Cleveland succumbed to an enormous recession in late 2008. Through Jackson’s leadership, however, Cleveland dodged employee layoff and reductions in city services. Jackson was then re-elected in both 2009 and 2013 winning 77% of the vote in the 2009 election and 66% in the 2013 election.
Throughout Jackson’s tenure as mayor, he continues to focus on a better life for Cleveland’s residents. Since 2007, more than $265 million dollars has been invested in Cleveland neighborhoods, and working with private developers and investors, Jackson encouraged more than $7 billion dollars in private development throughout Cleveland. Mayor Jackson is truly a loyal Mayor, always standing with his Cleveland residents in every decision of his elected office.
