BEACHWOOD, Ohio — Less than halfway through his first term, Mayor Martin Horwitz of Beachwood could be removed from office.
A source in City Hall confirmed it’s over some sort of workplace harassment involving a member of the law department, and this is serious.
In an Aug. 22 City Council meeting, President Brian Linick announced the legislature had appointed Carole Rendon—a former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio—as Special Counsel to investigate the allegations, declaring this to be an "urgent measure."
Rendon is a partner at the high-powered law firm BakerHostetler, and 3News has learned City Council is spending $30,000 for her expertise. In the past, has included high-profile, crisis-level litigation, much of which involved intense public and media scrutiny, according to the company’s website.
In a city agenda announcing a Special Council Meeting set for next Wednesday, listed items include, "BakerHostetler will summarize the investigation" and "Council will consider discipline of an elected official for conduct related to the performance of the official's duties or to consider that person's removal from office."
According to the city's ordinances:
"Council may remove any elected officer of the City for failure to possess or continue to possess any qualification of office established by this Charter, for a violation of the officer's oath of office, or for the conviction, while in office, of a felony. Council shall give an elected officer a written copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard, with at least fifteen (15) days prior notice of the time and place of hearing. The removal of an elected officer shall require a two-thirds vote of Council."
We tried to speak to the mayor, and released the following statement:
"On August 22, 2019, Beachwood City Council began an investigation into comments I am alleged to have made. Based on the posted agenda for the Council meeting of October 30, 2019, I understand that Council plans to review a summary of the investigation and consider next steps.
"I have been informally made aware of these allegations. Based on what I have been told, the allegations are a mix of misconstrued comments, statements taken out of context, and complete untruths. To be clear, nobody has claimed that I touched them inappropriately, said anything overtly sexual to them, propositioned them, or demeaned them. To the contrary, since taking office, I have demonstrated the highest levels of respect, appreciation, and support for our staff. This is not only a personal value of mine, but something I consider essential to our City’s success.
"As a lifetime Beachwood resident and elected official for 24 years, I look forward to a public airing of this matter in order to clear my name. My record of service over many years, working with countless individuals to advance our community and improve Beachwood residents’ quality of life, speaks for itself. I encourage City Council and our residents to closely examine the facts in this matter. I’m confident that they will show that I have done nothing wrong, and that these claims are baseless."
He added, "At this point, this is my only statement and I am not responding to phone, email or in-person interviews until after Wednesday night. Thanks for your cooperation."
In the meantime, after reaching out to every council member (including employees in the Law Department), the only responses we received were that they are following a specific process and will disclosure the charges and identities of those involved in their Wednesday Meeting.
Sources tell 3News there's some "bad blood" between the mayor and a council member or members, which may be partially what's driving this. But ultimately, it's the special counsel who's going to have a big say on how this turns out, and we plan to be there to hear her findings.