In a media gaggle after his State of the City Speech, Mayor Justin Bibb was asked to reflect on the good week he had been having. The jersey barriers were gone from Public Square, a large police cadet class started training and City Council passed his TIF district legislation.
The mayor made a smooth-as-butter pivot to hint about a second term.
“I’m looking forward to the next two years of my first term to continue building on the promises I made when I was running for mayor in 2021,” he said. “I inherited a long to-do list, and that list won’t be complete in four years.”
But a month later, Bibb’s toast is falling buttered-side-down. City Council members have taken notice.
First came the story, broken by News 5’s Sarah Buduson, that Bibb’s new public safety advisor, Phillip McHugh, was accused in a lawsuit of violating an elderly Black couple’s civil rights when he worked as a police officer in Washington, D.C. And what’s more, Buduson reported that McHugh was a college roommate of Bibb’s at American University.
The mayor’s office has defended the hire, saying McHugh brings a “unique set of experience, knowledge and new ideas,” and that the now-settled lawsuit did not result in a finding of liability against him.
Ward 5 Council Member Richard Starr delivered an 11-minute broadside Monday night calling on McHugh to resign – all while wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase, “Who’s getting fired.” Members Anthony Hairston and Kevin Conwell joined him.
“This administration is telling us who they are as well as who they value and respect, and we’d be fools not to believe them,” Starr said. Then, riffing on Bibb’s campaign slogan, he added, “Four years ago, we were told, ‘Cleveland Can’t Wait.’ Look at our city. We’re still waiting.”
Then there was the news that the price of Bibb’s lakefront development plan is rising. This week the administration sought approval for $260,000 in cost overruns, plus another $140,000 for new work. Lurking just beneath the surface of the conversation was the question of whether the Browns will remain on the lakefront or ditch the city for Brook Park.
Council President Blaine Griffin called in to WTAM’s David Blomquist – known on the air as Bloomdaddy – to explain why he isn’t giving Bibb the money yet. Griffin said council would not be a rubber stamp for the mayor.
“Cleveland City Council should never be surprised and we should always be in the loop,” the council president said. “And quite frankly, we just got something that we want more explanation of.”
Griffin hasn’t yet said whether he’ll run against Bibb in 2025, and it’s fairly early for a candidate to jump into the race.
But the McHugh hire and lakefront uncertainty are exactly the sorts of things Bibb can expect his future opponent – whoever that might be – to harp on a year from now.
