CLEVELAND, Ohio – Mayor Frank Jackson is taking his message directly to the people.
In an email sent Thursday, the administration invited people to sign up for regular briefings from the mayor outlining happenings at City Hall.
“I am the CEO of a major municipal corporation with a budget of more than $1.8 billion and over 8,100 employees whose primary purpose is to deliver services and facilitate economic growth,” Jackson said in the email. “To keep you updated, in the next few weeks I am launching regular briefings that provide information and insight on the work we are doing at City Hall as well as other issues that impact our city,” Jackson said.
The effort comes just as City Council begins hearings on Jackson’s proposed budget for 2019.
On Tuesday, the mayor will answer questions about his plans as council opens those hearings.
This isn’t the first time Jackson has taken his message directly to the people.
In October, the mayor delivered his state-of-the-city address in the evening at Public Auditorium, citing the need to better reach constituents.
Jackson's previous state-of-the-city speeches were put on by the City Club of Cleveland and held during the lunch hour. That audience was dominated by downtown business and community figures.
“What I found with this format was ... in particularly talking to the average person who came ... was that even though I was talking about many of the things that I’ve talked about in the past, many of them had never heard ... about it,” Jackson said in an interview with cleveland.com after the speech.
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