Michael D. Polensek (born November 16, 1949) is a City Council member in

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, representing Ward 8. He has served in

Cleveland City Council Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of government for the City of Cleveland, Ohio. Its chambers are located at Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue, across the street from Public Auditorium in Downtown Cleveland. Cleveland Ci ...

since 1977. He lives in the North Shore Collinwood area of Cleveland with his wife, Kathy, and has five children: Lisa, Deana, Michael, Lauren and Andrew.

Political career

Polensek was first elected to council in 1977 representing what was Ward 26 until 1982, then representing Ward 11 for ten terms, and is now in his second term representing Ward 8. All totaled he is serving in his 13th term in Council. He served as Council President from 1999 to 2002. He is also an Executive Board member of the

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, and the founder of the Collinwood Nottingham Villages and the Northeast Shores Development Corporations in Ward 11. On November 5, 2013, Polensek won the election for the newly reconfigured Ward 8, uncontested. He was endorsed by the '' Cleveland Plain Dealer''.

City Council positions

Polensek is Vice-Chair of the Public Safety Committee and a member of the Health and Human Services, Public Parks, Property and Recreation, Public Service, Public Utilities, and Rules committees.

Personal

Polensek, a

Slovene American Slovene Americans or Slovenian Americans are Americans of full or partial Slovene or Slovenian ancestry. Slovenes mostly immigrated to America during the Slovene mass emigration period from the 1880s to World War I. History The first Slove ...

, grew up in the Slovenian section of Collinwood, attending the Nottingham and Hannah Gibbons Elementary Schools and eventually graduated from Collinwood High School in January 1969, where he is a member of the Collinwood High School Hall of Fame. His mother and two sisters also graduated from Collinwood. He played freshman, junior and varsity football at Collinwood and played on the 1967 unbeaten East Senate Championship Football Team in the

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Day Charity Game at Cleveland Lakefront Stadium. Polensek attended Tri-C Community College at their Metro campus through the Cleveland Scholarship Program, where he studied Industrial Management. He remains an active member of the congregation member at St. Mary of the Assumption Slovenian Catholic Church.

Notes

References

* Bennett, David ''Council Puts Foot Down'' (8/14/2000) Crain's Cleveland Business Vol. 21 Issue 34, p1. 2p

* ''Cleveland City Councilman's Letter Tells Teen 'Go to Jail or the Cemetery Fox News, (July 19, 2007) Associated Pres

* ''Dear Piece Of Trash: Cleveland Pol Sends Drug Suspect Profanity-Filled Letter'' (July 19, 2007) The Smoking Gu

* Berry, Jason ''Render Unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church'' (2011) Random House * Welsh, Thomas G. ''Closing Chapters: Urban Change, Religious Reform, and the Decline of Youngstown's Catholic Elementary Schools, 1960–2006'' (2011) Lexington Books * ''Cleveland Borrows Big Bucks from the Browns to Fix Stadium'' (Feb 06, 2012) WOIO / WTO

* Larkin, Brent ''New Ward Map Leads to Cleveland City Council Intrigue: Brent Larkin'' (May 25, 2013) The Plain Deale

* Seaton, Jay ''Cleveland City Councilman Michael Polensek Offers Reward After Mentally Challenged Man Attacked'' (8/23/2013) ABC News Channel Fiv

* ''Bike Cleveland Cleveland City Council Candidate Questionnaire: Ward 8 – Michael Polensek Responses'' (Oct. 25th, 2013) Bike Clevelan

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polensek, Michael D. 1949 births Living people Ohio Democrats Cleveland City Council members Slovene-American culture in Cleveland 21st-century American politicians