Two notable, long-serving suburban mayors lost their jobs last night: Merle Gorden in Beachwood and Tom Coyne in Brook Park.
Coyne, a former Democrat who'd ruled City Hall from 1982 to 2001 and again from 2013 until this year, had switched parties, running as a Trumpian Republican. (
He was set to be feted with a fundraiser in October with special guest of honor Donald Trump Jr. until it was canceled for unspecified reasons.) Three weeks later, he joined others riding Trump's rhetoric and policies straight out of office. Former Brook Park council president Michael Gammella prevailed in a four-person race with 42% of the vote.
Meanwhile, out east, Merle Gorden will cede his fiefdom of favors and shady governmental benefits to Beachwood city council president Martin Horwitz who narrowly topped the Merle of Sandwich by just 1% in the polls. Gorden's tenure, which began in 1995,
will be remembered for many things, including being the state of Ohio's highest paid elected official, dropping tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money on expensive meals, and cashing in on weeks of vacation days each year that he supposedly never took.
He'll finally have some time off to relax, it would seem.
