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| Affiliation | Republican |
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| Name | Virgil E. Brown |
| Address |
Cleveland, Ohio , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
August 12, 1917
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| Died | November 10, 2010
(93 years)
|
| Contributor | RMF |
| Last Modifed | 00
Jan 02, 2011 11:58pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | The Republican was a Cleveland councilman, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections director, Cuyahoga County commissioner and Ohio Lottery director. He was the first African-American to lead an elections board in Ohio and the first to win a Cuyahoga-wide office besides a judgeship.
"He was what you would call a public official's public official," Arnold Pinkney, veteran Democratic leader, said Wednesday. "He didn't speak with a lot of bravado, but he spoke with substance. Virgil would say what was on his mind, and then he was through."
The Cleveland Heights resident died a few weeks before the county commission gives way to a new form of government.
"I wish the new Cuyahoga County executive and council could have developed a relationship with Virgil and learned from his honesty, integrity, compassion and commitment to serving his fellow man," said U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, who was replaced by Brown on the commission and named the fellow Republican to lead the lottery. "I don't know of any public servant in our community more highly regarded than Virgil Brown."
Republican Jim Petro, former Cuyahoga commissioner, Ohio auditor and Ohio attorney general, said praised Brown. "He lived a good, long life and a very productive life. He was one of the warmest, kindest people you could ever know in politics. He truly reached across the aisle."
Brown lunched with Commissioner Tim Hagan the day after beating the Democrat for commissioner in 1980.
"He was really above the partisanship," Hagan said today. "He was a classic gentleman."
Brown was born in Louisville, Ky., and graduated from Cleveland's Central High School and attended Fenn College. He became an early black franchise holder for Firestone in 1959 at Brown's Firestone Tire and Appliance Store in the new Longwood Shopping Plaza. He was the first president of the plaza's merchants association. He also became an early black insurance agent for Canada Life and opened the Virgil E. Brown Insurance Agency.
Living in Glenville, he represented its old Ward 25 on council from 1968 to 1972. After the elections board botched the primaries, , he took it over for seven years and helped to automate it.
He received early political support from Mayor Ralph Perk and from Bob Hughes, Cuyahoga Republican chairman. In 1976, he was among delegates who spoke to second Gerald Ford's presidential nomination at the Republican convention.
Supporters wanted Brown to replace Voinovich as county auditor, but he withdrew. Three years later, he was picked to replace Voinovich on the county commission.
During the 1980 primary race for a full term as commissioner, Brown's county car flipped over on the way to a candidates' forum in Bay Village. His jaw was wired shut until the day before the primary. His opponent accused him of illegal use of public property for a campaign. But Brown claimed he'd planned to discuss a county health and human services levy. He won the nomination and went on to beat Hagan in November.
Among other issues, Brown fought to save what is now MetroHealth Systems. He supported many levies, including ones for the Cleveland schools. He helped oversee the county's human services and plan a new headquarters on Superior Ave. that became the Virgil E. Brown Center.
In 1982, Brown won a primary for secretary of state. Sharing the surname of his Democratic foe, Sherrod Brown, he tried the slogan "Vote Virgil" but lost.
In 1991, he left the commission to accept an appointment from Governor Voinovich as lottery commissioner. He retired in 1994.
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