News

Cleveland City Councilman Jay Westbrook today announces his plan to retire from Council at the end of 2013.  Westbrook, who has represented the mid-west side of Cleveland for more than 30 years, will not seek re-election in November.  His current term as a Cleveland City Council member ends on Jan. 6, 2014.

Councilman Jay Westbrook was first sworn in as a Cleveland City Council Member in 1980 and has been re-elected nine times. He also proudly served as President of City Council for 10 years (1990-1999). Councilman Westbrook served alongside four Mayors: George Voinovich, Michael R. White, Jane Campbell and Frank G. Jackson. Councilman Westbrook represents Ward 16, an area that consists of Denison, West Boulevard, Cudell and Edgewater neighborhoods on the “mid-west” side of Cleveland.

A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Councilman Westbrook received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy with an emphasis on music and education. Before being elected to Council, he worked in community organizing and citizen advocacy, as a veterans’ affairs counselor, a trainer with the American Friends Service Committee and as a community outreach worker for the Legal Aid Society. In addition, Councilman Westbrook was a founder of the Ohio Public Interest Campaign (now called Ohio Citizen Action), a statewide citizens organization with more than 350,000 members.