Office of the Mayor

Edward Fitzgerald, Mayor

Welcome to www.onelakewood.com, the official website for the City of Lakewood, Ohio.

It is my privilege to serve as your Mayor and Public Safety Director. Since taking office, my administration has focused on several challenges:

  • Getting our budget under control. When I took office, Lakewood faced a $4.5 million deficit, the largest in our history. Working with City Council, we have cut our expenses, preserved core services, and passed a balanced budget without raising taxes. By reducing personnel and automating services like garbage pickup, we have made significant progress, but continued fiscal discipline will be required.
  • Neighborhood-based Law Enforcement Initiative. Even while scaling back the size of local government, we made a commitment to hiring more police officers and implementing a community policing strategy. In 2009, we opened the last of four Neighborhood Police Offices, and have increased our total number of police officers by 15%. Learn more about our law enforcement strategy »
  • Focusing on absentee landlords and vacant properties. Because of the trends in the housing market, it is imperative that we focus on vacant and neglected properties. In 2009, we will acquire more properties for renovation or demolition than ever before in our city’s history. Also in 2009, we streamlined our enforcement efforts against irresponsible owners and tenants, particularly repeat offenders and nuisance properties.
  • Launching a comprehensive community wellness project called the Healthy Lakewood Partnership (HeLP). Working together with Live Well Lakewood, a grass roots organization founded to promote healthy lifestyles, we have provided wellness information to thousands of Lakewood residents.

Times are tough all over the country, but Lakewood is making the right choices. But working together with committed residents, we are seeing progress bit by bit. Lakewood is a vibrant community with strong schools, quality housing stock, and a talented citizenry.

If you would like to speak to me directly regarding your concerns or ideas, please feel free to attend one of our monthly "Listening to Lakewood" community meetings.

Thank you again for allowing me the privilege of serving as your mayor.

Sincerely,
Ed FitzGerald

ABOUT ED FITZGERALD

A longtime Lakewood resident and community activist, Ed FitzGerald was elected Mayor in November of 2007 by the largest margin in 20 years. Previously, Mayor FitzGerald was elected three times as an At-Large City Councilman. FitzGerald has a long record as a community volunteer, including serving as Chairman of the Zoning Board, member of the Lakewood Hospital Board of Trustees, Vice Chairman of the Charter Review Commission, and as a board member of the Children's Trust Fund of Cuyahoga County.

Mayor FitzGerald's record of public service is extensive. Upon graduating from Ohio State University, he served as a staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives. After working his way through night law school, FitzGerald served as a Special Agent with the FBI. As a Special Agent, FitzGerald was recognized by the FBI Director for heading up a wide-ranging investigation into organized crime and political corruption in Chicago.

FitzGerald then served as a supervising Prosecutor for Cuyahoga County, and successfully prosecuted hundreds of cases ranging from drug dealing to homicide. In 2003, FitzGerald left the prosecutor's office and expanded his civil practice, representing clients in civil matters throughout Northeast Ohio, in both trial courts and the 8th District Court of Appeals.

Mayor FitzGerald is a third generation Lakewood resident, his grandparents having moved to Lakewood in 1929. Ed and his wife Shannon are raising their four children together in their Lakewood home.