Andrew DeFratis Running for Cleveland City Council in New Ward 12

After Jenny Spencer announced that she would not be running for re-election, Andrew DeFratis began seriously considering a bid for the Cleveland City Council seat in the newly drawn Ward 12, which encompasses parts of Edgewater, Cudell and the West Boulevard corridor. (Incumbent Danny Kelly is expected to also run in the ward.)

It wasn’t long before he decided to officially jump in, hoping to translate his experience in public policy and community relations into meaningful representation for the neighborhoods.

“My personal mission is to make government work better for those who are otherwise disempowered or disenfranchised,” DeFratis told Scene.

The Northeast Ohio native lives in Clifton-Baltic with his partner and currently works for the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center as the Director of Public Affairs, working on government affairs, outreach and crafting legislative efforts to support sexual assault survivors.

He’s a lifelong Democrat who’s been involved in the Ward 15 Democrat Club, the county Dem party and previously worked for the Summit County ADAMHS Board.

And he’s like to bring in the expertise and voices of the neighborhoods to how Cleveland runs.

“I think there are a lot of informed advocates and informed experts in the progressive space and the ward deserves an elected official that responds to democratic advocacy,” he said. “I’m disappointed in how the council maps were drawn but that shouldn’t stop citizen advocacy and participation, even though the Ward 15 as we knew it is going to look a lot different. The mentality is still the same, driving democratic participation. If we want to elect Democrats at the state and federal level, it begins here.”

As for citywide issues, DeFratis said he’d like to see clear and obvious changes when it comes to the Consent Decree so that Cleveland is a leader and not dragging its feet year after year.

“One of those aspects is the Cleveland Community Police Commission,” he said. “I’d like to see it succeed and be made much more effect and run like a democratic government body.”

And he’d like the city to continue to focus on health-driven policies that improve the lives of everyday Clevelanders.

“From Project NOIR to the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, building up the tree canopy, there are a lot of ways to make Cleveland a better place to live in safety aspects and health aspects.”

With the departure of Kerry McCormack, who also will not be running for re-election, and the unsure future of current Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer, DeFratis also thinks it’s important that Council have LGBTQ representation.

“Cleveland has to continue to fight back at anti-LGBTQ legislation on the state level,” he said.

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