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Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio—Cleveland City Council and leadership from the Center for Economic Recovery—the policy team tasked with carrying out Mayor Justin Bibb's Rescue & Transformation Plan—discussed proposed initiatives for strategic American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending at a meeting on Monday with the mayor and city council calling for $35 milion for housing,improvements citywide, $5 million for minority businesses, and $4.7 million to address rape and domestic violence in the city.
Other projects have also been proposed to round out the multi-million spending projections for the monies.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021. Cleveland got $310 million in spending from the ARPA and has $102.5 million remaining to distribute.
The 17-member Cleveland City Council, which is expected to vote on spending projests for this latest round of COVID-19 monies in coming weeks, is led by Council President and Ward 6 Councilman Blaine Griffin who, like Bibb, is Black. A largely Black major American city, Cleveland has roughly 372,000 residents and most of them live below the poverty line. It is ranked among worst metro areas for Black women living in Midwestern cities.
The city mayor said Monday in a press release to Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com that the ARPA monies allocated by the federal government for the city of Cleveland are being put to good use.
"The Center for Economic Recovery Team has done their due diligence to ensure that we are making the best and highest use of ARPA dollars to benefit Clevelanders in a sustainable way and where we need it the most. I look forward to working with them and with council to get these ideas across the finish line," said Mayor Bibb, who took office in January and is the city's fourth Black mayor and also a Democrat.
Mayor Bibb has 10 priority areas for distribution of the monies and he says that they will directly impact an estimated 284,700 Cleveland residents. The Bibb administration also anticipates being able to attract approximately $25 million in additional funding for these proposals from various partners.
The proposals introduced Monday by city council at Monday's meeting regarding those 10 priority areas that are sanctioned by the mayor relative to the use of Cleveland's remaining $102.5 million of AARP monies are as follows:
Housing for All
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$35 million for a housing gap fund to provide grants and equity stake in projects to incentivize renovation and construction of affordable, workforce housing projects, mixed-income, and market rate projects.
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$10 million for a home repair fund to create a network of new grants, deferred loans, and low-interest loan funds for home repair to close gaps in existing programs.
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$5 million for a developer acquisition and rehab loan pool to create a revolving loan pool to provide low-interest capital for small, mostly minority contractors and CDCs seeking to rehab structures in places where private banks don't typically provide funding.
Violence Prevention & Public Safety
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$5 million for CIT/co-responder program to expand the successfully piloted crisis intervention team/co-responder program, add a mental health dispatcher, and hire a senior-level strategist to connect mental health and public safety efforts.
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$2.75 million to expand ShotSpotter technology to cover 13 square miles (33 percent of City residents) disproportionately affected by gun violence.
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$2.3 million to outfit the CPD frontline vehicles with in-car dash cameras, including purchase of dash cams, installation, cloud storage, software license accounts, and equipment refresh for five years.
Inclusive Economic Recovery
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$7.5 million for an Opportunity CLE Fund, contributing to a $50 million civic loan fund designed to promote inclusive and thriving neighborhoods by supporting real estate and business development projects in low-income communities in Cleveland.
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$5 million for a minority business credit enhancement fund to create a revolving loan fund to provide flexible lines of credit to construction firms owned/led by historically underrepresented individuals in the construction industry, as well as to fund a technical assistance program.
Education for Everyone
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$2.7 million to create a fund that will grow a pipeline of new early childcare educators and maintain the current labor force through sign-on and retention bonuses.
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$1.88 million for an early childhood scholarship program to subsidize early childhood care while newly employed parents await enrollment in publicly funded programs.
Arts & Neighborhood Amenities
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$3 million for a fund to stimulate investments for transformative arts projects with capital needs, with a focus in areas of high BIPOC populations that lack arts investment, developing areas with significant arts activity, and promoting increased walkability.
Modern City Hall
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$16.35 million to for repairs and "greening" of City Hall, replacing the roof and insulation (which is causing interior damage), as well as fortifying City Hall's building envelope, exterior masonry, and windows--resulting in a greener building and energy savings.
COVID Relief
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$300,000 to fund Dollars for Doses, an incentive program offering cash rewards to residents who get COVID vaccinations, aiming to boost rates in areas hit hardest by COVID and build up trust between residents and institutions.
In addition, city council is seeking $4.7 million to increase coordination and support to victims of domestic and sexual violence and/or abuse and $1 million to expand right to counsel, funding attorneys and other staff to provide free housing help to Cleveland residents, including extended representation in court, brief legal advice, and pro se help. This increased funding would also be used for community outreach purposes regarding services and support available to Cleveland residents.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com the most read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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