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  • Ronayne Reminds Us Everyone’s Welcome in Cuyahoga During Third State of the County Address – Cleveland Scene

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    There’s no denying that County Executive Chris Ronayne is the leader of the gladly received.

    New small businesses. War-torn Ukrainian refugees.

    He’s for more humane jails. Parks in the sky. Homeless mothers. Special Olympians. Natural Black hairstyles. Superman and his immortalized creators.

    “That is Cuyahoga County,” Ronayne said during his third State of the County address. “We welcome and we lead with a welcoming nature.”

    On Thursday, from a podium in the atrium of the Huntington Convention Center, Ronayne rattled off a list of county government’s reasons for praise, from big points earned on immigration, crime, courts, to police and development successes.

    But Ronayne’s inclination to welcome—a word he used 18 times in his 36-minute speech—brings up clear questions about how attractive Cuyahoga County must be to battle larger, negative narratives.

    Since 2020, the county’s lost roughly 24,000 people, the continuation of a decades-long trend.

    The state really hasn’t helped either.

    Its Senate Bill 1, which went into effect in June, has led to declining enrollment at several of Ohio’s universities, including about a 30 percent drop each at Baldwin Wallace and Cleveland State. And immigrants, mostly from Latin countries, have been abruptly locked up in detention facilities and/or deported with the help of sheriff’s offices from Geauga to Butler counties.

    Still, Ronayne kept his trademark cheer. A cheer that seemed to keep blinders on and keep the focus hyperlocal—whether that be celebrating the county’s win attracting the 2030 Special Olympics, building its new Office of Violence Prevention, soon breaking ground on its new jail, or being the first county in Ohio to ban conversion therapy.

    Ronayne shied away from topics too controversial—like massive loss of federal support—and kept his address focused on local wins. Credit: Mark Oprea

    There are roughly 380,000 people in Cuyahoga County on Medicaid and some 190,000 that get help buying food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, colloquially known as food stamps. About 28,000 of the latter, Ronayne said, will “be directly impacted” by the passing of Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill, which may eliminate such support to those tens of thousands entirely.

    A new Cuyahoga Hunger Response Team, used to combat the federal slashing of SNAP, will launch in late October, Ronayne said.

    “We’re going to have to face draconian cuts to our kids, our families and our seniors as if we were in COVID all over again,” he told the room. “And we are going to have to apply our best selves with the kindness of Cuyahogans.”

    “Together,” he said, “we are strong.”

    Although he teased briefly the forming of Cuyahoga LIVE!, the county’s planned music commission, and massive downtown development from Bedrock, Ronayne shied away from addressing anything touchy.

    There was no mention in his prepared speech of cuts at Cleveland State, of the Downtown Safety Patrol and its chase policy, of the abrupt destruction of radio station WCSB, or of the Haslam’s sure relocation to Brook Park.

    At least until those in the crowd bothered him with such questions.

    What, oh what, one asked, do you think of the Browns? Does the Haslams’ $100 million “gift” to the city make up for what’s been a pretty sour breakup?

    “I was happy to give a speech that didn’t mention the stadium,” Ronayne said, to laughter. He cited love for the Guardians, the Cavs and Cleveland’s upcoming WNBA team. “There is a lot of other work happening in the county.”

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    Mark Oprea

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  • In Second State of the County, Chris Ronayne Plays it Cool for Packed Atrium

    In Second State of the County, Chris Ronayne Plays it Cool for Packed Atrium

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    click to enlarge

    Mark Oprea

    Chris Ronayne’s State of the County speech on Thursday was compact just as it was comprehensive.

    Despite the ceaseless drumming and droning of vuvuzela horns outside the new atrium at the Huntington Convention Center, County Executive Chris Ronayne delivered his second State of the County address in a mostly cool and concise manner on Thursday.

    For a little more than 40 minutes, Ronayne rattled off a “best of” tour of county achievements, both recent and foretold, to a sold-out crowd of 800—and about a half dozen pro-Palestine protesters who repeatedly interrupted Ronayne’s boosterism as if privately on set cue.

    Despite the constant criticism for the county’s $16 million investment in Israel bonds, Ronayne kept his fatherly, friend-to-all schtick intact, whether it was lauding the creation of the Child Wellness Center, or helping to build the new Fairfax Market in Midtown, or applauding Downtown Cleveland’s own “Superman Summer.”

    Ronayne kept his tour concise just as it was comprehensive—especially when touching on sensitive matters. Both the controversial County Jail project in Garfield Heights—which has seemed to worry surrounding residents—and the possible loss of the newly-named Huntington Bank Field to Brook Park, were glossed over quickly, it seemed, as if to check off a box.

    “Cuyahoga County is leading the way,” he said, when touching on the projected $750 million correctional facility. “Our government continues to innovate, modernize and transform.”

    click to enlarge Several pro-Palestine protestors interrupted Ronayne's speech throughout. - Mark Oprea

    Mark Oprea

    Several pro-Palestine protestors interrupted Ronayne’s speech throughout.

    With just a year-and-a-half in the county executive post, Ronayne has spent what seems to be an incalculable amount of time trying to present the county in a positive light, which seems bolstered by Ronayne’s encyclopedic knowledge and affection for a place where he’s lived the bulk of his life.

    It’s how Ronayne, in his 34-minute speech, seemed to frame his policy: vying to keep the 54 municipalities in Cuyahoga County politically attuned through a highly personalized lens. (“You can see I’m very close to our mayors,” he winked at one point. “We got each other’s backs.”)

    “Wherever I am, I always stop to hear from residents. I tell them I work for them. I work for all of you,” he told the crowd.

    “And the reality is our entire county team works for you,” he added. “Protecting our children, investing in housing, keeping our roads and bridges safe, supporting our small businesses, improving our government services, transforming our social safety net, innovating in sustainability and leveraging our assets for growth.”

    And growth was often substantiated by, as in Bibb’s State of the City, impressive data: 502 small businesses helped with the county’s financial assistance; 122 guns taken off the streets by the Downtown Safety Unit; 222 low-interest loans handed out for home improvements; $130 million from the EPA for the county to use towards climate pollution reduction.

    But Ronayne’s itch to highlight dozens of county programs and hurrahs sometimes felt a bit lacking in the exec’s trademark chutzpah, as if he was narrating a script for a marketing video to be shown in the Convention Center lobby.

    “Our word to the world is that you are welcome here,” he said, capping off a mention of the county’s new Welcome Center for immigrants. “We all are. All of us.”

    A welcome that apparently extended to the half dozen pro-Palestine protesters who managed to sneak into general admission tables. (“It’s the First Amendment right,” he said, as one accused him of “supporting genocide.”)

    At one point, during the event’s Q&A, a man wrapped in a black-and-white keffiyeh scarf asked Ronayne if he would reconsider the $16 million in Israel bonds in the county’s investment portfolio.

    Ronayne responded both curt and personal. He thanked the man for “coaching the kids” in the deep, complicated matters surrounding the Israel-Hamas War. He recalled his work as a local soccer coach.

    “I’m just going to say this,” Ronayne added. “We are not moving away from Israel bonds.”

    And that was that. Until next year.

    “In the words of my mother, a small business owner who got me through school and got me here today, I say to you what she said to me,” Ronayne said, ending his speech. “Let’s keep going.”

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    Mark Oprea

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