About Earl
I have been a resident of Shaker Heights since the 1970s, raised two sons who both attended Shaker schools and both graduated from Shaker Heights High School, and was honored to serve as the city's mayor from 2007 to 2018. As mayor, with the support of wonderful city council members, amazing city staff and a dedicated community of caring citizens, we helped to lead the city through a major financial crisis stemming from the national economic recession of 2007-2009, including the state legislature's elimination of the Ohio estate tax which had provided millions of dollars annually to pay for all of the city's capital expenditures, and a 50% reduction of the state's local government fund. In order to overcome the crisis and a loss of over six million dollars in annual city revenue, city government went to four day work weeks and renegotiated our labor contracts to support city employees while responsibly managing expenses, while successfully raising city revenue through a difficult, resident-supported income tax increase. Shaker Heights came through the crisis after several years of effort with a healthy reserve balance and achieved an AAA bond rating, the highest achievable and one of only a very small number of communities in Northeast Ohio with such a rating. We also successfully revitalized neighborhoods that had been devastated by the housing crisis, including landscaping and redevelopment. We created a new organization in a community adversely affected by the housing crisis called Moreland Rising, and brought neighbors together in a concerted effort that brought new vitality and strength to the community. We replaced the deteriorating retail-commercial Van Aken Center with a new commercial-retail-residential center, bringing many vibrant new businesses and retailers to the community as well as adding fully occupied high level residential apartments. The Van Aken District now serves as an exciting community center for residents who gather there every day and fill the outdoor area and food hall.
My LinkedIn profile: www.linkedin.com/in/earlleiken
To learn more about my work as Mayor, please visit the enclosed links:
Shaker Heights City Council Resolution - March 26, 2018
Leiken Reflects on Three Terms as Shaker Heights Mayor
Sustainable Shaker - Making Shaker More Green
Speech on Martin Luther King Day at East View United Church of Christ
Resolution of the Governing Board of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency
Van Aken District to Become the "Downtown" of Shaker Heights
Shaker Historical Society Celebrates City's Centennial
Teaching Cleveland - Earl Leiken Delivers State of the City Address
Mayor Earl Leiken Welcomes New Shaker Heights Police Officer
Mayor Earl Leiken Announces Paul Newman Day
During my time on Shaker Heights City Council (2000-2007), I chaired the Public Works and Safety Committee, which was responsible for overseeing police, fire and public works departments and the Finance and Administration Committee responsible for the city's financial and administrative operations. I also served as Vice Mayor in 2006 and 2007.
From 1994-1997, I served as president of the Shaker Family Center. SFC served families and children with a nursery school, a day care center, a county program for mentally and physically handicapped children and by providing educational and other programs for those with young children. It existed (and continues to exist in a different form) in an elementary school building which was substantially renovated for use by pre-school children and families during the time I served as president.
I served as president of the Cleveland Jewish Community Center (JCC) from 1989-1991. The Cleveland JCC provides community programming, camping, pre-school, education, physical fitness and a variety of social services in partnership with the United Way and other charities. During my term as president, we negotiated an agreement with Mt. Sinai hospital to provide space that the JCC for rehabilitation programming. The space is now occupied by University Hospitals and serves as a major rehabilitation center for the Cleveland community.
In the mid-1980s, our school district in Shaker Heights was facing the problem of declining enrollment and segregation by neighborhood. We also faced excessive costs because we had too many school buildings for a declining student population. During my term as president of the Shaker Heights City School Board, we worked together as a community to consolidate and reorganize our school district, closing four elementary schools and increasing the diversity of each of our remaining district schools. The school reorganization was successfully accomplished despite some initial opposition and skepticism to system-wide changes, and remains in effect today, paving the way for continued and ongoing progress in the care and development of Shaker students.
As Assistant Dean of Case Western Reserve University Law School between 1967 and 1971, I served as Dean of Students and was also responsible for admissions, financial aid and placement programs and ran the Legal Research and Writing program from 1967-1969. As an Associate Professor, I taught Civil Procedure, Labor Law and Equal Employment Law. Publications: Preferential Treatment in the Skilled Building Trades, Cornell Law Review (1970); The National Labor Relations Board as an Equal Employment Statute, Duke Law Review (1971).
I served briefly as chief of staff to the county executive of Cuyahoga County in 2018, after the county executive asked me to assist him in helping to stabilize county government during a number of crises. I worked collaboratively with the Cuyahoga County Council and numerous other state, county and local organizations on a wide array of projects, and worked to help members of county government remain focused on serving residents and those in need across our region. I helped to oversee the county-wide implementation of a new ERP system, including permitting county employees to participate in open enrollment for benefit programs. I also helped to oversee the modification and improvement of the process for applicants to receive SNAP or food stamp benefits. I retired from full-time work at the end of 2018, but remain dedicated to doing work in the public interest as a volunteer, educator and citizen.
My LinkedIn profile: www.linkedin.com/in/earlleiken
Crunchbase: www.crunchbase.com/person/earl-leiken
Sister site: www.earlleiken.net
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/earlleiken
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earlleiken/
