City of Cleveland's Mission Statement

"We are committed to improving the quality of life in the City of Cleveland by strengthening our neighborhoods, delivering superior services, embracing the diversity of our citizens, and making Cleveland a desirable, safe city in which to live, work, raise a family, shop, study, play, and grow old."

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Cleveland's government is comprised of Mayor Frank G. Jackson, the Mayor's Cabinet, City Clerk Emily Lipovan, twenty-one City-Council Members each representing a Ward of the city, Chiefs, Special Staff, and Department Directors.

Click on the images below to see each city official's brief biography

Mayor
Frank G. Jackson

City Clerk
Emily Lipovan

   Nina Turner           Robert White                Zack Reed              Ken Johnson          Phyllis Cleveland          Patricia Britt           Fannie Lewis
        Ward 1                     Ward 2                        Ward 3                       Ward 4                        Ward 5                        Ward 6                      Ward 7
                                        

    Sabra Scott              Kevin Conwell          Roosevelt Coats      Michael Polensek  Anthony Brancatelli   Joe Cimperman           Joe Santiago
        Ward 8                        Ward 9                      Ward 10                     Ward 11                     Ward 12                    Ward 13                     Ward 14
                                         

Brian Cummins           Kevin Kelley                 Matt Zone             Jay Westbrook             Dona Brady          Martin Sweeney          Michael Dolan
       Ward 15                     Ward 16                     Ward 17                     Ward 18                     Ward 19                     Ward 20                     Ward 21
                                         

Click this link to further view the specific wards which these council members represent:

Breakdown by Gender and Race

15 males / 6 females

10 AA / 10 W / 1 Latino

Mayor - Caucasian

City Clerk Member - Caucasian

President of Council - Caucasian

Majority Leader - African American

Majority Whip - Caucasian

Gender/Ethnic Breakdown of City Government

Cleveland’s government is proportional to the demographics of the city except for the representation of Women in the community.  The city has 21 Wards and out of those Wards, 10 council members are African American (47.61%), 10 council members are Caucasian (47.61%), and 1 council member is Latino (4.76%).  Considering the racial breakdown of the community, African American (51%), Caucasian (41.5%), and Hispanic (7.3%), the comparison of Cleveland’s government and demographics is relatively comparable.  The breakdown of city government by gender reveals that 6 council members are women (23.81%) and 15 council members are men (76.19%).  Considering the gender breakdown of the community, female 52.6% and male 47.4%, women are underrepresented by 28.79%, while the males are overrepresented by 28.79%.  Reasons why the ethnic comparisons of government and demographics are relatively the same and the gender comparisons of government and demographics are tilted towards males dominating the city council are puzzling. 

Of the 21 Wards associated with Cleveland’s government, the first 10 Wards are represented by African American council members.  Of the last 11 Wards, 10 city council members are Caucasian and 1 is Latino.  There seems to be a divide in the city, and chances are if a certain Ward is dominated by a certain ethnic group, more than likely a person that represents that Ward will also match the dominated ethnicity of that Ward.

Information gathered from:

Council Members' Biographies

City of Cleveland Home Page

Cleveland Demographics

Images gathered from:

Cleveland City Council

Cleveland City Council (Wards Map)

Council Directory

City of Cleveland Home Page

Government Page

Created for Political Science 350: Group and Minority Politics
at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire

Taught by: Professor Freitag
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Website created by:
Erin Butler, Eric Duwe, Brent Falkner, Sarah Graves