We reprint below Mayor Jackson's final communication to the residents of Cleveland.
Dear Clevelanders,
Thank you. I thank you for your support and belief in the success of our city. I thank you for working alongside me to leave Cleveland in a better place than we found it. For more than 30 years I have served the citizens of Cleveland, including 15 years as a member and president of City Council, then finally as your four-term mayor.
My focus has always been to help ensure that the city offers an excellent quality of life for every resident, and have built greater equity in every aspect of City operations and policy to help reach that goal.
Together, we have worked to reimagine and transform our city's schools with the Cleveland Plan and the Higher Education Compact; invested millions in Cleveland's neighborhoods on streetscapes, new recreation facilities, and other capital improvements; and worked with the public sector to encourage more private development in Cleveland. We have also built partnerships with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and community organizations to address the causes and impacts of gun and youth violence.
I tell people "it is what it is" and they think it means there's nothing we can do. It really means we have to accept reality no matter how painful it is and if we are going to change that reality, we cannot make decisions pretending it doesn't exist or based on the way it should be. If we can accept reality, then we can make an impact and change the outcome for people.
The measure of success of any city and any elected official is whether the least of us are better off because of what we have done. I encourage you to remember the least of us, do not add to the burden of the people, but work to relieve that burden.
I have run my leg of this race and I thank you for working with me. It has been my honor to serve you. Now, let's look to the future and towards an even stronger, more sustainable and equitable Cleveland.
Thank you,
Frank G. Jackson
Mayor, City of Cleveland
