Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb didn’t make time to talk to Signal Cleveland Government Reporter Nick Castele earlier this year when Castele wanted to question him about his evolving stance on Issue 24, a voter-approved charter amendment Bibb backed in 2021. Issue 24 put final authority over police discipline in the hands of a citizen board called the Community Police Commission. In the years since, Bibb’s administration has battled with the commission and the mayor has floated making changes to the amendment.
On Wednesday, in a City Club conversation sponsored by the Cleveland Press Club, Bibb had no choice but to talk about it. That’s when the moderator, WKYC Channel 3’s managing editor and anchor, Russ Mitchell, asked Bibb if he’s walking away from Issue 24.
“Absolutely not,” Bibb said, before parsing his support for it. “I believe in the intent and the spirit of what Issue 24 wanted to become. Some of the language has been hard to execute, and we have seen manifestations of that since I took office.”
Specifically about the police commission (its own internal dysfunction has been well reported and, many say, contributed to its slow start), Bibb said: “I think the latest crop of commissioners have restored some common sense pragmatism to that board. They still have a lot more work to do.”
Cleveland not entirely closed to data centers
Mitchell also asked about Bibb’s decision to block a large data center in Slavic Village, a plan that snuck up on him and Cleveland City Council, which had already proposed a one-year moratorium on such facilities. In short, Bibb said that he opposes big centers in neighborhoods but that there is room for small “cloud” facilities for hospitals and companies.
Bibb had the chance – but didn’t take it – to criticize the Greater Cleveland Partnership, which represents the region’s businesses and recently criticized the city’s approach to data centers as unwelcoming to jobs.
Cleveland leaders should have closed schools sooner, mayor says
Bibb also offered comments on the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, which he oversees, and the district’s plan to close schools and lay off teachers. He pointed to the obvious student population declines and the loss of one-time federal money as an inescapable reality. But he acknowledged an uncomfortable truth: Previous city and school leaders should have done this sooner.
“There was a plan in place to close schools, to right-size the district, and we passed the buck,” Bibb said.
The conversation was billed as a discussion on press relations, but talking about key headlines better represented the point. The event also proved to be more interesting than previously tightly scripted State of the City mayoral speeches and conversations.
You can watch the event here. To make viewing even more interesting, make a drinking game out of it, taking a shot (of espresso, bourbon or your preferred poison), every time the mayor says the word “nuance,” which he threw around like a politician’s handshake.
Police commission members missing in action
Speaking of the Community Police Commission, it is asking Bibb to remove one of its members for failing to show up at meetings.
Commissioner Audrianna Rodriguez has missed four of the last five full commission meetings and three consecutive committee meetings without explanation, commission Co-Chair John Adams said at a recent meeting. The commission’s rules require the co-chairs to “initiate the removal process” after repeated, unexcused absences. That process is spelled out in the city charter.
Rodriguez is one of six remaining commissioners from the first round of appointments triggered by the passage of Issue 24. In January, she resigned from the commission effective immediately, then postponed her resignation and then rescinded it all together, according to emails obtained by Signal Cleveland through a records request. The emails did not state a reason for her changing status. Rodriguez has declined Signal Cleveland’s requests for comments, both in January and this week.
The commission is already short one member. Luther Roddy, a Cleveland police officer assigned to The Black Shield Police Association, which advocates for minority officers, was appointed to the commission last summer. But he has yet to formally participate in a meeting. At the December meeting, Adams explained that Roddy is on restricted duty as an officer, which, under the union’s collective bargaining agreement with the city, prohibits him from holding a second paid position, including as a member of a commission. (The police commission pays a modest stipend.)
The last time the commission asked Bibb to remove a member, in 2024, he opted instead to let the member’s term expire.
Audrianna Rodriguez was incorrectly identified in Saturday’s Weekly Chatter newsletter as Julianna Rodriguez.
