Source: Alan Copson / Getty
CLEVELAND – Former East Cleveland Mayor Eric Jonathan Brewer confirms to WKYC that he is running for mayor of Cleveland.
Brewer, 63, of Cleveland, who was East Cleveland’s Mayor 2006-2009 and now works as a consultant, said Wednesday that he is circulating petitions. He consults for business and government. On a side note, he added that he also appeared in an episode of “Dead Again” on the Arts & Entertainment network.
He said his campaign announcement was posted on his Facebook page.
Brewer moved to Warren after leaving East Cleveland. He ran a restaurant in Warren and, when it closed, he moved north again in 2012, this time to Cleveland.
“Bottom line. I’m the only candidate with a successful government management track record. I’ve served as mayor, worked for one mayor as chief of staff and I was one of (Cleveland Mayor) Mike White’s special assistants. I’ve never reported to any official lower than the mayor in city government,” Brewer said, in a statement.
“I know how to identify areas of waste, mismanagement and corruption inside municipal government that’s wasting millions of dollars and redirecting public funds away from serving Cleveland residents, business and property owners. I’m the only mayor to have kept EC out of fiscal emergency for 4 years. I cut crime 40 to 75 percent in all categories without stomping all over my residents’ constitutional rights…All of our successes came without a single request ever to the residents to raise their taxes.”
Brewer says that Cleveland has enough money to serve all of the city’s needs. “That money has been chronically mismanaged because this mayor and others have not had management experience going in the door,” he said.
“I’m running because I already know the job and will competently perform its duties. I’ve been exposing incompetent and corrupt politicians for over 35 years as either a journalist or an advocate. I’ll be no different as mayor,” he said, in his statement.
Brewer is not listed on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections website as having pulled petitions. Brewer said it is not necessary to identify yourself when picking up petitions to circulate. BOE spokesman Mike West confirmed that, saying “If you want petitions, you do not have to give your name.”
In this non-partisan race, those who wish to be on the primary ballot must collect 3,000 signatures and return them to the BOE by 4 p.m. June 29. The top two vote-getters in the Sept. 12 primary will face off on Election Day Tuesday Nov. 7.
READ MORE: WKYC.com
Article Courtesy of WKYC Channel 3 News Cleveland
Picture Courtesy of Alan Copson and Getty Images
