We wanted to get a better picture of what mattered to voters most in the wake of Thursday’s mayoral debate.
Answers seemed to vary by location.
We met Connie Hall outside a convenience store on St. Clair Avenue near East 55th Street.
“Just crime, all this killing, it’s unnecessary,” she said.
“The city needs more places and things for the inner-city people to do. Because if you’re not doing nothing, all you’re going to have is trouble,” said a man named Chris, parked nearby.
On Public Square, the complaints were different.
“The traffic. Just the traffic,” said John Rios who works in the area. “I’m sure that a lot of people get off work and they just want to go home.”
Chris Tsolakis sells hot dogs. Though he believes Cleveland needs more jobs, he had few concerns.
“I mean a lot of changes since I’ve been here…yeah it’s pretty good,” he said.
In some ways, it seemed to be two cities within a city.
Back on Cleveland’s near east side we met Faithe Evans, a mother.
“You know every day it’s a kid getting shot,” she said, adding that the city may look great from the outside but not so much on the inside.
“Just two months ago a kid we knew got stabbed four times,” she said. “Like can we have something more going on for the kids, you know?”
She said she voted for Frank Jackson but that her favorite mayor was George Voinovich. She points out the problems continue.
“We still have so many homeless issues, the violence, and you know I think that’s what the mayors need to focus on right now instead of just glitz and glam and ‘oh we look good, we’re bringing Cleveland back,’” ultimately asking, “Are we?”