KerryMcCormack.jpg

Kerry McCormack has been named as Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman's successor to lead Ward 3.

(Photo courtesy of Ohio City Inc.)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, who leaves council next month to head up the nonprofit agency Global Cleveland, has tapped political newcomer Kerry McCormack as his successor to represent Ward 3.

McCormack, the director of community affairs for local development corporation Ohio City Inc., is the son of Ohio Court of Appeals Judge Tim McCormack. He served as his father's campaign manager in 2010 and his resume touts experience in politics and community organizing.

Most recently, McCormack, 27, spent time as a field organizer for the Ohio Democratic Party, and he served two-and-a-half years in Madrid as a "language and cultural ambassador," teaching English to students for Spain's Ministry of Education. He is fluent in Spanish.

McCormack, who grew up in the North Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland and attended Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School, is a 2010 graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Cimperman announced in January that he would leave council after 18 years to become the president of Global Cleveland, a nonprofit economic-development group focused on immigrants, refugees and other newcomers to the city.

Cimperman is the subject of an Ohio Ethics Commission investigation involving city contracts awarded to the nonprofit design firm LAND Studio, where his wife is the senior project director. Cleveland.com reported in August that the commission had sent subpoena orders to several community development corporations, including Ohio City Inc., seeking copies of correspondence dating back to 2002 with Cimperman and his staff related to projects and services rendered by LAND Studio.

The commission, which is by law secretive about such investigations, has not reported a conclusion in the case.

Council is likely to follow tradition in filling Cimperman's vacancy -- accepting the outgoing member's recommendation and invoking what is called the "unit rule," requiring all members to vote with the majority or face banishment from future caucus meetings. Because the next council election is less than two years away, in November 2017, council will not hold a special election in the meantime to give voters a chance to weigh in on Cimperman's choice.

City Council will meet McCormack on April 4 and will take a preliminary vote on his appointment, according to a council news release Friday. During that evening's council meeting, Clerk Patricia Britt will officially read Cimperman's resignation into the record, and council will vote on his replacement.

McCormack said in an interview Friday that he is honored to be Cimperman's choice to represent Ward 3, which encompasses the downtown business district, the Flats, Ohio City and Tremont neighborhoods, as well as a portion of Clark-Fulton and the Stockyards. McCormack added that he views himself as a true public servant, who would put the city's best interest above his own political ambitions.

"This is a city that I have loved my entire life," McCormack said. "I get tingles when good things happen here, and I'm really concerned by the challenges it faces."

In an interview Friday, Ohio City Inc. Director Tom McNair called McCormack "one of the absolute best employees on our staff."

"His departure will be a big loss to Ohio City Inc., but a big gain for the city of Cleveland," McNair said. "Kerry is a leader, and more people are going to begin to find that out."

McCormack, who is openly gay and will be council's first member of the Millennial Generation, will effectively represent sectors of Cleveland's population currently unrepresented on council, McNair said.

Eric Wobser, city manager of Sandusky and the former director of Ohio City Inc., said in an interview Friday that he hired McCormack in 2013 on account of his "idealism, enthusiasm and willingness to work hard and listen to every point of view."

Those same qualities, Wobser said, will make McCormack a fair-minded and effective city councilman.

Wobser said McCormack took the lead on several important projects at Ohio City Inc., including a program that offered small matching grants to homeowners to improve the safety of their homes with new doors, windows, locks, lighting or garage door repairs. The opportunities for upgrades were identified during home safety audits conducted by a Cleveland police officer.

McCormack also managed a partnership with his alma mater, Miami University, spearheading a program to introduce students to Cleveland and urban neighborhoods, where many of them became student teachers.

As a community organizer, McCormack proved himself to the residents of Ohio City, Wobser said.

"How well they liked and respected Kerry is a testament to how well he balanced the many needs of the people of Ward 3," Wobser said. "He truly has less of an agenda than anyone I ever met. Kerry loves Cleveland, and he loves public service. He's ambitious, obviously, but he has unbridled optimism. That will carry him in this new role."