Cleveland Heights Mayor Supports American Jobs Act

Cleveland Heights Mayor Ed Kelley said that legislators can’t waste any more time — Congress should pass the American Jobs Act.

He was one of 23 Ohio mayors who signed a letter the first week of October, urging state leaders to vote to pass the bill. Senate republicans prevented a portion of the act that would have, among other initiatives, retained jobs for firefighters, teachers and police officers from moving forward Oct. 11, according to a statement from President Barack Obama. The bill called for increasing taxes for people with more than $1 million in personal income.

Now the president is attempting to push another piece of the bill, which includes measures to help create jobs for construction workers to rehabilitate the country’s antiquated roads, bridges and schools, according to a CBS News report. To pay for the improvements, Americans who have more than $1 million of personal income would receive a tax increase of .7 percent.

“I signed right away,” Kelley said. “I think it’s important we support the American Jobs Act now … it’s something that’s been debated around now for a good month probably, and as every month goes by, the unemployment numbers aren’t getting much better.”

The unemployment rate in Ohio is equal to the national figures — 9.1 percent if not seasonally adjusted, according to the September numbers from the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.

Out of approximately 26,800 people in the labor force in Cleveland Heights, 2,000 are unemployed, or 7.3 percent as of August 2011, according to statistics from the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. That number is down slightly from last year’s figure of 7.8 percent.

Kelley said the jobs act could help lower that rate of unemployment, and the city may get a specific construction project.

At the most recent City Council meeting, members passed a for the Cedar Lee Business District .

“You hear a lot with the Obama plans that they want these projects ‘shovel-ready.’ By doing the engineering plans on Lee Road, the project will be shovel-ready," Kelley said. 

Cleveland Heights lost about $1.5 million in income tax collections from 2008 to 2009, said Thomas Malone, the city’s finance director.

“That’s a 7 percent drop in income tax collections. Those are not pleasant signs. That’s a big decline,” he said.

In addition, the population dropped by 3,836 residents, or 7 percent, from 2000 to 2010, And the number of vacant housing units, which include owner-occupied and rentals, jumped to 11.2 percent in 2010 from 4 percent in 2000.

Though the city hasn’t completely recovered from those hits, the income tax collections increased slightly last year from $20,282,000 to $20,623,000, Malone said.

“It certainly was encouraging. We were worried in 2010. Did we stabilize? Did we turn the corner?” Malone said.

Other nearby mayors who signed the petition include Shaker Heights Mayor Earl Leiken, , Hudson Mayor William Currin and Parma Mayor Dean DePiero, among others.