BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- Matthew Hildebrand has become the second candidate for Beachwood City Council to file petitions with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
Beachwood voters will be asked Nov. 7 to vote for not more than four candidates for council seats. Hildebrand filed his petitions May 24, three weeks after Councilwoman Danielle Shoykhet filed.
Others who have thus far taken out petitions for signature gathering are Councilman Mike Burkons, Howard Darvin, Beachwood Board of Education Vice President Jillian DeLong, Ranjini Ghosh and Lee Janovits.
It will be the first time running for office for Hildebrand, 46, who regularly attends council meetings and frequently speaks, often critically, during public portions.
Hildebrand, who was raised in Tuscarawas County -- in Dover, south of Canton -- has lived in Beachwood for nearly two years. He also lived a dozen years in the New York City metropolitan area and for a short time in Indianapolis.
“I’m a political person,” said Hildebrand, who said he has volunteered on national and state campaigns. “I enjoy this sort of thing.
“I started attending (Beachwood council) meetings at about the time Justin Berns was sworn in as mayor (January 2022) and the new council started. I listened (while at meetings) and then started expressing my views.”
Hildebrand said he wished more residents would attend meetings.
When asked what drove him to run for office, Hildebrand spoke of November 2022, when City Council voted to hire the firm Minc Law to try to determine who sent emails and made social media postings critical of Police Chief Kate McLaughlin and the Beachwood Police Department administration.
He called the resultant lawsuit to try to learn the sender’s identity a violation of the First Amendment.
“That was the spark for me. That was the ultimate decider for me,” Hildebrand said.
“This idea of us hiring a law firm was just so beyond the pale of what is acceptable for a city. There was no reason to file this lawsuit. They (the city), as the judge said, filed zero evidence.
“The other part that bothered me was they (council) authorized $25,000 (to hire Minc), even though the police chief, in her own words, said, ‘I’m filing this in my personal capacity.’
“She has every right to file this lawsuit, and I have every right not to pay for it.”
Earlier this month, the lawsuit was dismissed at the request of McLaughlin and the city.
“I’m very vocal about my opinions and I own what I say,” Hildebrand said.
Hildebrand and his wife, Lori, just celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary. They have a daughter, 12, and a son, 10, who both attend Fuchs Mizrachi School.
Hildebrand’s platform revolves around efficiency in spending.
“Beachwood is a great community, but pretending that everything we do is perfect and refusing to acknowledge there are serious but correctable issues holds us back from making Beachwood better,” he stated.
“I have been critical of some of the ways the city has spent money, not because I want the city to spend less money, but so they can address more things than just a few.
“When we spend millions more on a project than is needed, that is millions no longer available for things residents have been asking the city to address for years, like fixing the flooding issues in certain parts of the city, sidewalks on Bryden, better lighting on side streets or better ball fields.
“There are legitimate pressing needs for our city,” Hildebrand said. “Being efficient with spending allows us to address more of those faster.”
Hildebrand is director of regulatory affairs and quality systems for medical device manufacturer Checkpoint Surgical of Independence.
If elected, Hildebrand spelled out actions he would like to undertake as a council member. They include:
• Repealing the Minc lawsuit ordinance, which he calls “a stain on our city”
• Requiring all elected officials and director-level city employees to take a class on the First Amendment
• Requiring all engineering contracts over $50,000 to go out for request for proposal (RFP)
• Requiring an updated master plan for all aspects of the city, including asset management and new ideas, such as sidewalks for Bryden Road and appropriate side street lighting, and expecting all city departments to execute on this master plan.
“The time of passing non-emergency spending on a whim is over,” he said.
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