CLEVELAND, OH - A city councilman wants more money to offer Cleveland teenagers summer jobs.
Cleveland City Councilman Zack Reed says more jobs equals less violence. He's asking for $1.5 million for a public-private partnership to hire 1,000 teenagers between the ages of 14 to 18 years old this summer.
“The current budget amount does not go far enough to offer employment opportunities for our young people," said Reed. "For the past three years, the City of Cleveland has done an inadequate job of hiring our teenagers for summer jobs. Last year 8,500 teenagers applied to work with the Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) program, only 1,500 youth were hired due to funding”.
WTAM's Josh Boose pressed Reed on why taxpayer money needs to be used.
"That's why I say there needs to be a public-private partnership," said Reed. "If we want to reduce the violence in the city of Cleveland, then we need to do all we can."
The jobs, Reed says, could be at rec centers or the streets department and local companies.
"Nothing stops a bullet like a job," said Reed.
(Photo of Cleveland City Hall by Ken Robinson/WTAM 1100)
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