Free Republic

To all you would-be politicians hoping to jump start a career in the public spotlight at the local level, be fore-warned: Local politics can be a pretty cut-throat business. And you'd be well served to not provide your political opponents with any ammunition to help them bring you down East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer blasted a local television station Thursday, one day after it aired photographs that purported to show the mayor wearing a wig and lingerie. The news conference came less than a week before voters decide if he should be re-elected. You see, that guy didn't think ahead....

LEVELAND -- East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer responds to racy photos sent to various media outlets. "Are you all part of the Eric Brewer for governor campaign? You need a sex scandal if you want to get to the next level," Brewer said to reporters as he arrived at his campaign headquarters on Euclid Avenue for a Thursday morning news conference. Mayor Brewer answered no questions, but talked to reporters about potentially embarrassing pictures released to the media days before the city's mayoral election on Tuesday. "I apologize to the residents of East Cleveland for the embarrassment my opponent's gutter...

A special panel investigating severance pay given a former East Cleveland mayor concluded that the money was given improperly. Former Mayor Emmanuel Onunwor resigned last August after being convicted on charges of racketeering, extortion and fraud. Before his case went to trial, he asked for $37,000 in unused vacation time and miscalculated. Current Mayor Saratha Goggins and two city employees approved the payout. Now the committee wants them to repay the money or face a lawsuit.

East Cleveland Mayor Acknowledges She Killed a Man 22 Years Ago, Says She Acted in Self-Defense Associated Press Sept. 25, 2004 EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) - The mayor of East Cleveland acknowledged that she killed a man 22 years ago and was convicted but said she acted in self-defense, according to a published report Saturday. Mayor Saratha Goggins told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer that she was defending herself when she fatally stabbed O'Neal Price, 48, in 1982. "It was an unfortunate incident that occurred in a time of my life. There is nothing I can do to change it. I...

BREAKING NEWS Feds arrest East Cleveland Mayor Federal agents this morning arrested East Cleveland Mayor Emmanuel Onunwor on a 22-count indictment for accepting "bribes, kickbacks and secret payoffs" over his career as a city official. A federal grand jury has been investigating Onunwor and other city officials since last year. In January, the grand jury indicted the city's former community development director on charges of channeling federal money to her relatives through "front companies" and accepting kickbacks in return. The U.S. attorney's office said Onunwor solicited and received numerous bribes from unspecified "intermediaries" that span his career as East Cleveland...