3/3/2011 2:00:00 PMCollective-bargaining law takes center stage during Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's State of the City Address
Thursday, March 03, 2011, 1:48 PM
By Mark Gillispie, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson returned to familiar themes about a city in transition during his annual State of the City address Thursday, but the furor in Columbus over proposed changes to collective-bargaining laws ended up taking center stage at Public Auditorium.
Gov. John Kasich, the conservative governor who wants to reduce the rights of public-employee unions, sat in the audience for Jackson's address while more than 100 union protesters gathered outside chanting, "Kill the bill."
Those protesters were decrying Senate Bill 5, a measure approved Wednesday by the Ohio Senate that would take away public workers' right to bargain for health care benefits, pension contributions and work rules.
Meryl Johnson, a Cleveland teacher and union activist, asked about the bill during the traditional question-and-answer session after Jackson's speech, declaring that it would kill jobs in Ohio.
Jackson, a Democrat, responded by saying that he recognizes governments are in "fiscal stress."
While Senate Bill 5 is an effort by Kasich to trim a projected $8 billion budget gap for the next two years, Jackson's administration is currently negotiating union contracts and is seeking agreements that he has said are needed to prevent layoffs or cuts in services.
The mayor called his dealings with the unions "cooperative."
"I fully recognize the need for change," Jackson told the audience. "And I fully recognize that a weak collective-bargaining unit that does not protect workers' rights is just a facade. It doesn't mean anything."
After the speech, Kasich spoke in general terms about Senate Bill 5. He said that teachers, firefighters and police officers -- some of the most vocal opponents of the bill -- are important
"Frankly, I'd like to have them all paid more pay, but we have to operate within the confines with what works with taxpayers," Kasich said. "I think the bill is very fair and very balanced, and I think it is entirely appropriate for workers to be able to negotiate on wages and work rules."
Kasich complimented Jackson's address.
"I think the mayor did a great job," Kasich said. "He talked about the challenge of education and talked about the challenge of investment and need to make government more effective and efficient. I like the mayor. With the mayor, he and I look for areas to agree on."
Unlike some of his previous State of the City speeches, Jackson did not introduce any new initiatives in this year's version. Instead, he highlighted how his administration continues to restructure city government to make it leaner and more efficient during troubled economic times.
He also spent much of the speech talking about the efforts by both the public and private sectors to promote big-ticket projects throughout Cleveland that are expected to provide the city and the regional economy with a much-needed boost.
"These are investments that are being made in an economic environment where other cities are retreating," Jackson told the City Club audience that filled the floor of Public Auditorium's great hall.
Jackson's address did touch on two of the biggest challenges that face his administration -- the Division of Water and the city's public schools.
The mayor said he hoped the recent decision to hire a "turnaround" firm to restructure the Water Division will result in much-needed reforms. The Water Division has been pilloried in recent years for its inability to send out accurate and timely bills and for its poor customer service.
By comparison, fixing the Cleveland schools is a much more daunting task. Jackson has begun the process of hiring a new chief executive officer who he hopes will fix the district's chronic problems of low test scores and high dropout rates.
As he has said in the past, Cleveland school students must be able to compete against their peers not only in the region, but also in the world.
The community at large must show the same commitment to the Cleveland schools as it has for reforming Cuyahoga County government and the economy, Jackson said.
"The time to do it is now, in this climate of rapid change," he said. "Otherwise, all of what I talked about today will mean nothing. Cleveland and the region will be left behind, making the same mistakes over and over again in a world that no longer exists."
Plain Dealer reporter Mark Naymik contributed to this story.