CLEVELAND — The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections rejected a challenge to the residency of East Cleveland's mayor, unanimously voting there was not enough evidence to prove Mayor Brandon King lied about where he lives.
Former East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer challenged King's residency, questioning if the mayor and other family members actually live in a home on Elsinore Street.
During a hearing Tuesday, King's wife admitted to living in Euclid, but said the mayor does not live with her, and a longtime neighbor testified he hasn't seen King come or go from the house in years, poking holes in what the challengers called King's maneuvers intended to convince the Board he lived somewhere he doesn't.
"That's what this is all about," said Ken Myers, the attorney representing Brewer in his challenge. "You have to live in the city of East Cleveland to be the Mayor of East Cleveland."
But King repeatedly insisted he lives in the home and presented a stack of legal documents and bank statements, all listing the East Cleveland address as his residence.
King's lawyer claimed the challenge was another effort to remove the mayor from office after a failed recall attempt last fall.
"The Board of Election is not for political theater," said attorney Charles Tyler. "It's not to help people win political challenges they lost in the community."
After the board rejected the challenge, King expressed relief but predicted he'll face more of what he believes are politically-motivated vendettas.
"We'll be back," said King. "They'll come up with something else to then try to get me thrown out of office or recalled or something other than doing their job. They'll do anything to get me out of office."
King called on everyone to come together to move East Cleveland forward.
It comes as the FBI and Cuyahoga County Proseuctor's Office continue investigations into corruption in that city.
