After decades of financial distress, East Cleveland takes a positive step to get it’s financial books in order

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - After 30 years of being in fiscal distress, the city of East Cleveland is now officially in receivership with the State of Ohio on Wednesday.

East Cleveland Mayor Sandra Morgan, who took office in January, tells 19 News it’s positive news that will help keep the city moving forward.

“The City of East Cleveland really has a second chance at life. We will work collaboratively with the receiver in order to organize our books from the past. Remember, there have been reports of things that have not been filed for a number of years, and so we’ll get that all squared away. We will address the needs of East Cleveland in the here and now, and we will work with the receiver to develop a five-year recovery plan so that we can sustain ourselves going into the future.”

Mayor Morgan says she’s excited because, along with the receivers, they will need to put on their creative thinking caps and explore ways to generate new revenue for the city of East Cleveland.

Morgan says her administration is focused on prioritizing what needs to be done to improve the city, including infrastructure such as water pipes that are 100 years old.

“My priority for the first year is two-fold: it’s public safety and getting that sorted out, and then number two, it’s infrastructure. Address the needs of our pipes, water, sewer, and repave our roads. Every road in our city will not be paved in the first year, obviously, but prioritizing our roads and doing as much paving as we can, and certainly, that will contribute to public safety as well. It’s not the impossible dream. It’s about prioritizing the funds that we have in the City of East Cleveland and also going outside looking for grants and other sources,” Mayor Morgan said.