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By Rhonda Crowder, staff reporter-A one-on-one interview with Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones has been named by Council President Kevin Kelley to chair city council's transportation committee in place of Phyllis Cleveland, who resigned her city council seat in April for health reasons.

In that role he will oversee Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Burke Lakefront Airport, the city-owned docks around FirstEnergy Stadium and lakefront museums, bridges, harbors, river and lake travel, and public transportation and limousine and taxi operations

This is a one-on-one interview with Councilman Jones by reporter Rhonda Crowder for Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black and alternative digital news leaders.

Just prior to four years ago, Jones had no intentions of returning to politics. He had been out of elected office for 12 years, stabilized his family, and ran a successful business.

But when he looked around the community - a neighborhood he's lived in his entire life - he saw deterioration.

According to Jones, growth in Ward 1, the city's largest Black voting bloc, had become stagnant.

So with his longstanding interest in politics and helping people since childhood he decided to take another stab at serving the citizens of his community.

In 2017 he ultimately unseated incumbent Councilman Terrell Pruitt, who had held the position since 2008, to win the Ward 1 seat he had held for seven years prior to resigning in 2005 amid controversy.

"We're still struggling in the inner city and Black communities," said Jones, who himself is Black.

Jones is seeking reelection to council this year and says that if reelected he will continue to fight for his constituents on all fronts and as the country unwinds from a still existing coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately impacted Black communities and other communities of color.

Kimberly F. Brown, a social advocate and 2009 mayoral candidate, Marc Crosby and Bernita Thomas have also taken out petitions to run for city council in Ward 1 as all 17 city council seats and the office of the mayor are up for grabs this year.

Cleveland is a strong Democratic town that is roughly 60 percent Black, and has a population of some 385,000 people.

It also has the trappings of an impoverished large urban city__ poverty, crime, apathy, struggling public schools, and socioeconomic issues in general.

Its four term mayor, Frank Jackson, who is not running for reelection this year, is Black, as are nearly half of the city council persons, only three of them women.

A largely Black community with a staunch middle class and the second largest voting bloc of the city's 17 wards, Ward 1 encompasses the Lee-Harvard, Lee-Seville and Union-Miles neighborhoods, and part of Mt. Pleasant.

Since Jones was elected councilman in 2017, millions in development have come into the ward, the councilman said,  including the completion of the all new John F. Kennedy High School and a new state of the art recreation center that sits right next door.

This is in addition to new road construction across East 131th Street to Miles Avenue, side street developments, an Oak Street Health facility, and grant funds to the Harvard Community Services Center.

He's also worked with Tremco, a construction company, who developed office space and created jobs in the ward.

And Jones said storefront renovations are still to come.

He wants to continue building on the momentum as well as work to improve operations in City Hall that will bring basic services to the community.

"That would mean a commitment and investment from City Hall," said Jones.

The councilman said that housing development is a major priority.

"We need to bring new homes into our community,"Jones said.

A young and handsome activist in the 90s active under former congressman Louis Stokes and Stokes' then 21st congressional district caucus who went on to become a politician and city lawmaker, Jones said that he believes that in order for a community to survive, the existing housing stock must be maintained as well.

That's why he has formed a partnership with Harvard Community Services Center to begin establishing a development corporation.

Prior to his departure as a councilman in Ward 1 in 2005, there were two, he says.

"Today there are none," the councilman complains.

"All of that infrastructure that was here when I left office in 2005 is now gone," said Jones, who said he ran for election again in 2017 to push for infrastructure improvements in Ward 1, among other community developments.

A stable infrastructure is a core part of a thriving community. he says, and Ward 1 is no exception.

"That's what I meant by saying the community has gone down," said Jones, who added that he is committed to bringing it back to standard.

"In order for our community to move forward, we need to develop homes that have the amenities to attract younger families," the councilman said. "When you start building new homes in a neighborhood, the value of all the housing stock goes up."

Jones said doing this would allow an opportunity to create equity in the community and value.

"That's what institutions look at to determine if this is a good location to invest in," said Jones.

His desire for Ward 1 is for the citizens to have their fair share of economic development, like downtown, the west side, University Circle and Little Italy.

"My job is to protect, serve and bring resources to our neighborhood," said Jones. "If I get the opportunity to be elected again, I will be fighting for more police to be put on the ground, improved city services, new homes and expanding our commercial development."

He thinks the old JFK site is prime for housing, retail and restaurant development.

"I believe doing these things will put us on the trajectory we deserve to be on," said Jones.

He said the citizens of Ward 1 have been long committed to the city as evidenced in part by the consistent voting pattern in making it to the ballot box to vote on issues across the board for more than 60 years.

"We earned the opportunity to be invested into," said Jones.

A father of two children and husband to Judge Tonya Jones, the first and only African -American female elected to serve as Domestic Relations Court judge in Cuyahoga County in the court's 100-year history, Jones said he has enough skin in the game to see the vision through.

"I was born in this neighborhood. I have lived here all my life. I rode my tricycle, my big wheel, my bicycle, my motorcycle and my car in this community. I have walked these streets. What I do in this community matters," Jones said.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.