Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval delivered his State of the City Address, reflecting on achievements and his vision for the city’s future. The Mayor’s priorities include equitable growth, public safety, environmental justice, economic opportunity, and housing.
Mayor Pureval highlighted several investments in community-based solutions to prevent violence. The city launched an Alternative Response to Crisis team, which deploys mental health professionals for specific 911 calls, freeing up police resources and providing specialized care. Additionally, partnerships with local hospitals are offering trauma-informed interventions to disrupt cycles of violence. The Mayor noted that these investments and more have helped the community see a reduction in shootings, particularly among youth.
The Mayor shared how the city is expanding economic opportunities to empower underrepresented communities. Programs such as the Women of Color Access to Capital Bootcamp, launched in partnership with the Urban League, aim to support women-minority-owned businesses with the tools necessary to thrive. Another significant program is Cincinnati’s Financial Freedom Blueprint, a comprehensive plan to address the community’s systemic financial barriers. He shared the plan’s impact through the city’s medical debt relief program, which has abolished $47 million in medical debt for over 52,000 residents in two months.
Mayor Pureval discussed Cincinnati’s efforts to address housing and homelessness challenges, with the goal of ensuring all residents have access to quality, affordable homes in which they can remain. Through the Housing Stability Collaborative, city partners leverage data to intervene early for households at risk of eviction, connecting them with crucial resources. Additional initiatives, such as the Access to Counsel program, provide tenants with legal assistance, help balance the scales against well-resourced landlords, and reduce the trauma of facing eviction alone. From January to September of this year, Cincinnati’s partners have offered rental assistance and free legal support to 542 households, including aiding over 700 children whose families got the support they needed. Further, in the legal support program, in its first month alone, 83% of represented tenants had their evictions dismissed.
Watch the Mayor’s full address here.
