EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio. — East Cleveland has been awarded $10 million from Ohio's state capital budget for emergency infrastructure repairs, with State Senator Jerry Cirino playing a key role in securing the funding despite the city falling outside his district.
The money will go toward emergency repairs of roads and sewer systems. East Cleveland Mayor Sandra Morgan and her team will decide where the funds are directed.
Cirino, a Republican representing Ohio's 18th District, said he has personal ties to the area that motivated him to act.
"I've been here all my life," he said. "So, it just occurred to me that something needed to be done and needed to be done quickly."
Cirino described the investment as the first step in a broader effort to revitalize East Cleveland.
"It's much deeper than potholes in the street," Cirino said. "Although that needs to be fixed. It's, it's about turning this community into something where they can be proud to live."
Cirino said East Cleveland could use the $10 million as leverage to attract additional grant funding to continue the city's transformation — a process he said also includes addressing public safety issues.
"If you don't have proper roads and sewers and infrastructure," he said. "You're never going to get businesses to come there or people to move there. So this is an important first step, but it is the first of many steps that need to come."
He and Mayor Morgan have also discussed allowing data centers to build in old brownfields as part of an effort to attract more businesses to the area.
Cirino said Governor Mike DeWine recently visited East Cleveland, and the two had a conversation about what the governor could do to help the city before the end of his term. Cirino said he is also having similar conversations with gubernatorial candidates Dr. Amy Acton and Vivek Ramaswamy.
