CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Businessman

announced Monday that he will run for mayor of Cleveland, challenging two-term incumbent Mayor Frank Jackson, who, Lanci said, has grown complacent while the quality of life in the city suffers.

Lanci, 63, chairman and chief executive of

addressed reporters and several dozen supporters during a news conference at his business on East 40th Street.

Two women beat African djembe drums and the crowd sporadically chanted Lanci's name, as the candidate accused Jackson of failing to keep promises to improve education, create jobs and make city neighborhoods safe.

Lanci said that despite Jackson's repeated pledge that the city's school system is his highest priority, the graduation rate hovers at 55 percent. And on the state's latest report card, the schools failed to meet many of the benchmarks for performance, he said.

Lanci also said that the city's homicide rate and other crime statistics have been on the rise in recent years. And a greater percentage of residents are living in poverty now than when Jackson took office, Lanci said.

"For the record, I'm not trash talking Frank," he said. "I'm going to talk about the facts, about his record. I feel Frank Jackson is a good man. I also feel he has done his best. However, I fear that being involved in city politics for 30 years has given him a sense of 'it is, what it is.'"

The crowd laughed at his derision of one of Jackson's most used catchphrases, while Lanci promoted his campaign theme, "Together we will do better."

Lanci said he empathizes with the plight of impoverished residents because he once "lived that story."

While growing up on Cleveland's East Side, he and his family spent half a dozen years on public assistance, he said. He rescued the family business from the brink of failure and has created jobs in the city for 40 years, he said.

"With a high school education, hard work and the grace of God, I stand here today," he said.

Lanci, who ran an unsuccessful campaign as an independent for

emphasized throughout his speech that he is running this time as a Democrat. The mayor's race is non-partisan, however. The two top vote-getters in a September primary will face off on the Nov. 5 ballot.

By the time Lanci stepped off stage, the crowd had begun chanting, "The people's power mayor!"

In a brief written statement Monday, Jackson affirmed his own candidacy for a third term and Lanci's right to run for office.

"It's the beauty of American democracy," Jackson wrote.

After the news conference, Lanci told reporters that the appetite for change in Cleveland is so great that he does not anticipate that he will have to front his own money for the campaign, as he had done during his bid for county executive. According to Board of Election campaign reports, Lanci had loaned his campaign more than a million dollars for that contest.

When asked for specifics on his plan to ameliorate the school system, he said that he would develop programs to offer children more emotional support and nurturing at home.

He also told reporters that he would approach economic development as a businessman, who has the tools necessary to "sell the city" to investors.

While running for county executive, Lanci described himself as a Gates Mills resident. On Monday, he told reporters that he rents a house in suburban Brecksville, but considers a condo on Cleveland's West Side to be his main residence.