Kenneth Montlack will not seek reelection

Cleveland Heights city council member Kenneth Montlack has announced that he will not run to keep his seat in the city council election this November.

“A person with new perspectives, new different ways of looking at things . . . would be helpful for the city,” said Montlack, whose term expires Dec. 31.

This is Montlack’s sixth term on council. He is currently the chair of the public safety and health committee, but he has chaired all six council committees in his 24 years on council. “If you live long enough, these things happen,” he said.

Montlack, 71, made the announcement at the city council meeting, Aug. 1, but he does not know exactly when he made up his mind. “It’s one of those decisions that a person mulls over for a while,” he said.

Montlack was elected to council for the first time in 1987, when one of the incumbents decided not to run for reelection. "The Democrats looked around and ended up calling this guy Montlack, and asked if he wanted to run for council,” he said.

Montlack said he considers his role in helping to plan and oversee housing development construction during his tenure as chair of the planning and development committee, along with his work with the First Suburbs Consortium and “increas[ing] African-American membership on boards and commissions,” as among his greatest accomplishments as a member of council.

"I walk away with a great respect for our city staff," Montlack said. "The staff does all the work, we just make the speeches and take the credit.”

Montlack has enjoyed his time on council. Cleveland Heights represents “the promise of America,” he said. “This is a heck of a community.”

He, Dennis Wilcox and Phyllis Evans, the other council members who are in the same term cycle, ran unopposed for reelection in 2007, but five nonincumbent candidates are already on the ballot for the three at-large seats this year, according to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections website. Montlack said he has confidence in the challengers. “Whoever wins that position is going to be able to become a good council member.”

Montlack said he will always remain active in the community. “I hardly ever keep my mouth shut,” he said.

Wilcox announced in June that he would run for reelection, but he is not yet on the ballot, according to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections website.

Evans has not yet publicly announced whether or not she will seek reelection.

Council Member Jason Stein, who was appointed to replace Mark Tumeo after he accepted a position at the University of North Florida, is running in a separate category to keep his seat for the remaining two years of Tumeo’s term, which would have expired in December 2013. 

The terms of Mayor Edward Kelley and council members Bonita Caplan and Cheryl Stephens also expire in December 2013.