East Cleveland City Council Optimistic Indictment of Mayor Brandon King Signals Opportunity for Turnaround
By Mark Oprea,
2 days ago
King campaigning for re-election in 2017. Tumult in East Cleveland continued last week as Mayor Brandon King was indicted on an array of corruption charges, the third East Cleveland mayor in the last 20 years to do so.
It follows what feels like a never-ending stream of bad news for the small city. It remains in a state of fiscal emergency. Nineteen members of its police force were indicted on criminal charges since 2022, which has left East Cleveland with just 16 current officers despite being budgeted for 40. Its former police chief resigned after being accused of sending racist, antisemitic and homophobic messages.
And now the mayor, along with former council Ernest Smith, face more than a dozen charges involving alleged theft in office, misuse of credit cards, and unlawful interests in public contracts.
As Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley sees it, King and Smith operated as if they felt untouchable, allegedly using city funds for personal gain. King has been accused of using city contracts on businesses owned by family members and providing city cars for Smith.
“Mayor Brandon King demonstrated a complete disregard and disdain for the rule of law,” County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley wrote in a statement on Thursday. “The citizens of East Cleveland deserve better. The investigation continues.”
It would be easy for East Cleveland city council to hang their heads, but what looks to be the end of King's reign feels more like a chance at yet another fresh start in a city that constantly seems to need new beginnings.
“It’s been a great sense of relief,” Council Vice President Patricia Blochowiak said Friday. “We have hope now that we can restrain some of this horrible, greedy spending that Brandon King has been doing over the years. It’s just a relief.”
And they're not surprised.
In August of 2023, King was seen (and filmed) drinking liquor and smoking on city property. The June before, as his force was being investigated, he was accused of sending an East Cleveland patrol officer to impound a campaign truck of a political rival, William Fambrough. In 2019, three years before he was recalled, Smith was accused of hosting a graduation party that allegedly involved strippers.
Actions that fell behind the scenes of some of King’s successes, like landing a major renovation of East Cleveland’s Rec Center, partnering with the Cleveland Institute of Art on beautification programs and overseeing a sizable green space revitalization program.
Yet his failures led, gradually over the years, to the ire of a City Council weary of his true intentions in the role.
“I mean, 150-plus police chases in a year, 23 indicted police officers,” Clerk of Council Eric Brewer, who was mayor of East Cleveland from 2006 to 2009 and Onunor’s former chief of staff, told Scene. “It’s all just a lot.” East Cleveland Police Chief Brian Gerhard, despite attempting to remedy the city's strained police force, resigned earlier this year after he was accused of sending coworkers racist memes. He thought of former mayor Gary Norton. Of Emmanuel Onunwor, who was sentenced to nine years in prison (he was released in 2012). Of the implication that East Cleveland’s mayor’s seat seems to attract players that fall short.
“These guys are greedy,” Brewer added. “They don’t have a sense of public service. They’re in it for themselves. They don’t see themselves as servants. They see themselves as leaders—and they’re not.”
Council President Twon Billings felt the same after hearing news of King’s and Smith’s indictment.
Yet, Billings expressed a sense of remorse as he recalled King’s ambitious years on council. There is, he told Scene, a kind of lure greater than the seat that seems to have led to recent downfalls.
“Every mayor that walk into East Cleveland’s mayor’s seat all walk in clean,” he said. “And when they finish, they all walk in handcuffs.”
If King is convicted of soliciting improper compensation, he will, by law, be barred from holding any type of public office in Ohio for at least seven years. As would Smith.
Both Blochowiak and her fellow council members suggested that Billings will be next in line if and when King is forced to step down, which could be as early as this week.
Like Blochowiak, Billings feels a sense of relief that King’s alleged trespasses in government have finally caught up to him. He shakes his head at the alleged crimes, at the fact that King constantly gave off the impression he lives in East Cleveland. (Not Euclid.)
And like when King came into office, Billings told Scene he’s ready—when needed—to try and convince East Clevelanders that they no longer need to be skeptics of their City Hall.
Which Billings said he’ll owe to a solid entourage around him. “Well, foremost, I will surround myself with people that, you know, understand politics,” he told Scene. Around nonprofit heads. CEOs. Good police chiefs. “I have relationships,” he added. “I would pick up the phone and get things done.”
All why Billings believes the city shouldn’t be shrouded in pessimism.
“It's a new day. It's going to be a new East Cleveland. It's a new day,” Billings said. People are “going to feel the impact in less than six months. I guarantee that.” [content-2] Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
East Cleveland needs someone with a mission to do much better then what they'll getting. The funds should always go in the direction of the city/residents. Lets servthis happen.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local News
