Cleveland Councilman Zack Reed, who has represented Ward 2 for more than 16 years, poses with supporters Wednesday after formally announcing he would join a growing field of candidates for mayor of Cleveland.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- City Councilman Zack Reed launched his mayoral campaign with a simple message Wednesday: It's time for a change in City Hall and time to do more to address Cleveland's ailing neighborhoods.

Reed, speaking at the Murtis H. Taylor Multi Services Center in his Mount Pleasant neighborhood, formally announced his candidacy for mayor to a crowd of about 80 supporters.

"It's good to be back home," he said. "It's good to be back where it all started 16 years ago. ... It's been a great honor to serve the residents of this community to the best of my ability for the past 16 years. I'm here today to formally announce that I am running for mayor of the city of Cleveland."

What's his platform?

A councilman for 16 years, Reed recounted the words of his minister from a recent service.

"He says the main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things. Just keep it simple," Reed said. "So let me say it as simply as I can. We need a new mayor."

With that in mind, Reed said he would focus on three key areas:

Violence in neighborhoods and public safety.

Job creation in neighborhoods.

Opportunities that will help youth flourish.

Fulfilling those goals would mean adding 400 police officers for community policing on bikes and on foot patrols.

He proposes expanding summer job programs for youth, in part as a means to keep teens out of trouble. He cited the addition of $500,000 to the summer youth program in the city's 2017 budget as one of his successes. He wants all Cleveland teens age 14 to 18 to be able to have a job.

And he recommends putting people who have been released from prison to work rehabbing rundown homes in neighborhoods. He said the practice would save housing stock and teach the workers a skill that could lead to other employment.

On his final point, he pledged to take steps to encourage youth to flourish by tapping their ideas and making them part of the city.

"If we have a department of aging, I don't see why we shouldn't have a department for youth services."

What's his background?

Reed was appointed to City Council at the end of 2000 to replace retiring Councilwoman Odelia Robinson. He since has been elected to four four-year terms representing an area that includes the Mount Pleasant, Union-Miles and Mill Creek Falls neighborhoods.

He frequently speaks publicly about the issues of urban violence, poverty and unemployment - all key issues in his ward. Recently, in speeches during City Council meetings, he has said that the best way to stop a bullet is with a job -- a line he repeated Wednesday.

Prior to joining council, he worked 11 years coordinating a jobs program for youth through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

He spent three years working on public housing initiatives in San Francisco and often speaks fondly of working with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, the first African-American mayor of that city.

After returning to Cleveland, he worked for Cuyahoga County's Children and Family Services.

As a councilman he has teamed with the U.S. Marines for two decades to host an annual Toys for Tots event that has raised more than $10,000 and collected 20,000 toys for children in the Cleveland..

What are his shortcomings?

While Reed has portrayed himself as a champion for the common man, he often is at odds with City Council leadership and has not figured prominently in many council initiatives over the years.

Critics suggest his bombastic style actually makes him less effective.

Reed is perhaps best known outside his ward for his three drunken driving convictions while in office. The most recent conviction was in 2013.

He addressed those convictions Wednesday, apologizing to supporters for having let them down in the past.

"I am mindful that many people will not vote for me because of my mistakes in the past, and I accept and understand that," Reed said. "Through self-reflection, and treatment at Cleveland Clinic, I am now a better person."

How many people are in the race?

Reed joins a growing field of potential candidates for mayor.

Mayor Frank Jackson announced in February that he will seek an unprecedented fourth, four-year term.

Fellow Councilman Jeff Johnson became the first candidate to qualify for the 2017 mayoral election earlier this month, when the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections validated his nominating petitions.

And more than a dozen others have taken out nominating petitions for the race.

Among them restaurateur Brandon Chrostowski, who operates Edwin's Leadership and Restaurant Institute on Shaker Square, and Robert Kilo, a Republican from Ohio City on the West Side who finished third in the 2009 mayoral election.

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