Lakewood mayor to seek 'County Executive' post

LAKEWOOD -- Lakewood Mayor Ed Fitzgerald says he intends to run for the newly-created Cuyahoga County Executive job and will make a formal announcement next month.

Fitzgerald tells WKYC Senior Political Correspondent Tom Beres that he will be the only candidate with experience identifying and eliminating corruption.

Before he entered politics, Fitzgerald was an FBI agent, involved with corruption probes in Chicago, and an assistant county prosecutor.

He's heading into his third year as Lakewood mayor. He was on Lakewood City Council for nine years.

Of his time as Lakewood's mayor, Fitzgerald says, "I was going to make difficult decisions and I wasn't going to be loved by everybody. We had problems in the city that needed to be addressed."

Fitzgerald's been seeking union support and campaign staffers.

Of the new position, Fitzgerald says, "Job one is to restore confidence in the county. The county executive has to do that. Once they do that, they can start going down the road of creating a more efficient government structure."

Other candidates announcing their intention to run include State Representative Matt Dolan and former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim McCormack.

University Circle Inc. President Chris Ronayne is sounding out possible supporters.

Other names mentioned as possible candidates include Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman, Hiram College President Tom Chema, and state Senator Nina Turner.