Jackson provided no definitive answers on his intentions but confirmed that seeking office again was certainly a possibility. The 74-year-old Jackson, who first became councilman in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood in 1990, has been Mayor since 2006. He’s been in the role for so long that he now considers the job his to keep or bequeath — a Richard J. Daley dynamic.
Jackson said that in 2017 and in years past, candidates who challenged him haven’t had Cleveland’s best interests at heart. He believes he does. And he views the work he undertakes in his current position as an evolved form of the advocacy he did as an organizer and councilman. It’s just that now, he works within a system that he has taken to calling “the beast,” a system of power that has resulted in systemic racism and inequity.
Though he wouldn’t endorse other potential candidates by name, Jackson did acknowledge that if he had not run in 2017, “qualified” candidates with track records of competence would have stepped forward. He said he believed the same situation would occur in 2021. But in general, Jackson adheres to the George Forbes theory of power: It’s not given, it’s snatched.
In his customary fashion, Jackson responded to questions about recent Cleveland events with absolute certitude in his performance. He would do nothing differently, he told Mitchell, with respect to his actions on the day of citywide protests on May 30 and the imposition of a downtown curfew in the days that followed.
He also said he had no regrets about his “butthole of the world” remark in a recent national interview and no regrets about promoting Michael McGrath from police chief to safety director in 2014, even after the police chase that resulted in the shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, (#137shots). He repeated the line that but for McGrath, there would have been no accountability at all in the Cleveland Division of Police.
Jackson spoke candidly and informally — his biggest challenge over the past couple of months has been “handling bullshit,” he said — and declined to provide introspection on his legacy. He suggested doing so would be preemptive. He did provide a brief exegesis on one of his infamous quotes: “It is what it is.”
The Mayor said that he’s gotten flak for the remark over the years, but that it has been gravely misinterpreted.
“Most people believe what I mean is that there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “It is what it is, you have to just accept your fate. That’s not what I mean. What I mean is that I have to accept reality no matter how painful it is. If I reject that reality and choose to live an illusion, than my decision making will be based on an illusion.”
Only once you’ve accepted the painful reality, Jackson said, can you begin to change it.
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This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2020.
It’s time to recall Taxin Jackson out of office now!!! We certainly don’t need another four years of this crook!!!
And while we’re at it, thief Budish needs to be recalled out of office and sent right to jail for his constant and blatant corruption in this dump of a city and county!!!
As pathetic as it is, this city hasn’t produced anyone better than Jackson for mayor. There is a few conservatives here that could set the city on a path of success but scene would be telling their antifa terror cells to go burn their homes down if they gained any public support.
Will he press his new safety director to solve that infamous Clark Ave massacre and find the thief that stole his grandson’s car and used it to commit that heinous crrime?
Sorry Basheer…back to the Homeless Shelter with your broke ass.
Sorry Clevelanders, there are bigger problems in town than Police dispatching viable threats to the safety of themselves and the community.
Maybe Frank could grant us a “Purge Day” where we go round up all the local antifa communists and their enablers. If he wants to get reelected he should probably run on that.
I read the words “Mayor Jackson” and “Fifth Term” and I threw up a little bit in my mouth
Sharpe James was mayor of Newark from 1986 to 2006. He served five terms and presided over 20 years of stagnation and wasted opportunities. Cory Booker finally broke open Newark politics and the city has been on a roll since. (There is a great movie about the Booker campaign called “Street Fight.” It is must see TV for anyone who wants to get rid of Frank.) Ras Baraka, the current mayor, has beaucoup street cred .(His Dad, Amiri was almost beaten to death by Newark cops in 1967.)
As a result, Newark didn’t burn this time. Folks are moving there in droves. And they still have the best Jazz station in the entire United States. (WBGO!)
So who is our Cory Booker? Blaine Griffin? Basheer Jones? Jesus, now I’m depressed again.
You’re always depressed Walt, and you deserve nothing less for poisoning the minds of Clevelands youth.
You, as much as Frank Jackson, are in large part why Cleveland is still a shithole full of dumb mother fuckers.
Hey”Night Stick.” Gotta name? Or are you scared to come out and play?
Surprised Aam Allard isn’t furious with Jackson and the entire city for having the nerve to grant Sherwin Williams some tax incentives. OUTRAGEOUS in the eyes of Sam. Great move according to Mayor Jackson and everyone else. Not our Sam.
Jackson is a Democrat mayor where unemployment crime bad schools horrible water bills and yet everyone must live home cause they keep voting for him even when his grandson beat up his girlfriend and did more and got off easy unlike you and me!!! Wake up voters!!!
Who’s “we”, Guaranteed Landslide? YOU? And the anti-communist “army” that only exists in your head? You’re still and always an Army of One, Wingnut, and if you come around and try to “purge” ME, you will get a big, fat, fucking surprise that you will neitheer want nor like. You will never get off my porch alive. Can somebody please tell me what’s the best way to get bloodsttains out of concrete steps?
Who is the moron here that thinks Antifa is a real, organized thing.
It’s a bunch of your people that hate fascists, like you.
It’s just time for him to go!
I don’t want to sound insensitive but I feel when we use that term systemic racism it allows for leaders to avoid taking accountability as well a responsibility and we are seeing that now with Frank Jackson. Systemic racism can not be a system that creates itself. Its a system that would have had to have been created and allowed or ignored by leaders for it to continue. If we aren’t careful leaders like Jackson will politicize this term and use it as a way to deflect blame on them. Jackson runs the city and so do these other city council members. If systemic racism was the main reason why people in our city,especially African Americans like myself are struggling then why have they not done something to address this issue. Thats their job as city leaders to create equity and prosperity for all your people regardless of race or gender. I’m not saying that systemic racism isnt real but I think we have to start holding our eaders accountable for allowing this system to affect our people. We need our voters to understand that if we continue to reelect this man their will never be positive change in our city and he will continue to fool voters by pointing the finger at other things instead of working to make change. And city council hasnt been any better cuz they are allowing him to be inept and treating it as if it isnt an issue.
Hey Shiwaku Seven you’re already living in a fantasy world if you think the Mayor, Chief of Police, or CLE “Safety” Director have more than a passing influence on the City’s Safety Forces.
Police, Fire and EMS UNIONS along with “Big Business” have more control over How Their Safety Services Are, or Are Not delivered to City Residents and Visitors who pay their salaries, health care, and pensions, than any elected official, oversight commission, or court-ordered consent decree.
If and Until that situation is ever rectified, We are all at the Mercy of a bunch of Alpha-Jerks who get-off pushing their weight, (literally and figurativley) around, lording over anyone who fails to cower in their presence, (And, I make that obsrvation from my objectivly real position as a legally educated senior white male of equal weight, (literally and figurativley) !
Hey Tibor, I guess we need more feminina libmales like you joining the police force.
He’s enjoyed a succession of unworthy opponents, so why not run and keep this juicy job? Most of his staff couldn’t get the same jobs under any circumstance. I think he’s a good guy who doesn’t want to abandon his buddies or family. This is the perfect opportunity for a significant opponent to start something new.
Unions seem to be the big problem for a lot of folks. You may be correct. Let’s get rid of all unions representing all city workers. Require each employee to pass a competency exam yearly for the position they hold.
Don’t just pick police, fire, and EMS.
Let’s see just how competent all employees are, and fire all the incompetent employees. We will have a lot of job openings.
Then you have the issue of the non union appointed employee, they should also be required to compete for their jobs. Some, like Darnell Brown, fail at each position the mayor shifts him to yet he remains employed. What do we do with those like him?
Painting “black lives matter” on the street should help things.
Jesus Christ what does it take for this to end? It takes city residents registering to vote, and then voting. In the last election, three of eight candidates were effectively disqualified because they hadn’t bothered to vote in a primary election. The solution isn’t a certain Westlake resident whose last name starts with a G, trying to upend city government. The solution is Cleveland residents registering to vote, learning about issues and candidates, and voting. Voting is inconvenient? You’re automatically registered at the BMV. Heard of 443 Vote? Type it in a search engine–log in and you get the Board of Elections. You can find your ward and your precinct. You can apply for an absentee ballot, and that gives you nearly a month to sit at home, take as long as you want to fill out the ballot, and you can get drunk or high as you do it. You can watch porn as you pick a council or mayoral candidate. Nobody has to know. You do you.
Ever wonder why Burke is still open, even though there’s not enough traffic to justify it? (It’s at 25% capacity, and Hopkins was at well under 50% before ‘Rona.) The FAA views Burke as a reliever for Hopkins (must be all the flying pigs on the runway), but the single biggest reason Burke is still open is because Frank Jackson wants it. We don’t need it, and it only breaks even as a result of creative bookkeeping, and most people don’t want it. This is just one example of a different vision of this city than the utter detached mediocrity of this mayor. For those of you who insist that all of Cleveland’s ills are down to Democratic control, here’s a simple civics test. Which mayor said that Clevelanders shouldn’t rely on government for change? Was it a Republican like Ralph Perk or George Voinovich? No, that was Frank Jackson. This isn’t macroeconomics. Poorly run cities require ruinously high taxes to provide abysmal services. There is a process in place. Stop putting up with a mayor for whom dialing it in would be a massive improvement. Register. Vote. Run for office. We as a city get poor governance when we don’t make the effort to demand better.