Ed FitzGerald's political career as Cuyahoga County executive and a Democratic gubernatorial candidate crashed in 2014 in part because of revelations that he drove for 10 years without a permanent valid driver's license.
In an ironic twist, FitzGerald will now be judging people caught driving without a license.
FitzGerald works as "of counsel" with the law firm Climaco Wilcox and is principal of an economic-development consulting firm. But he recently added another position: magistrate in mayor's court in Middleburg Heights.
Mayor Gary Starr said that FitzGerald is one of several people tapped for the part-time magistrate positons in mayor's court, which handles mostly traffic-related cases. Only people pleading guilty or no contest come before the court. Magistrates then dispense justice by issuing fines and other penalties. Starr said it's indeed likely FitzGerald will see people busted for driving without a valid license.
News in 2014 that FitzGerald had gone 10 years without a license helped derail his bid for governor that year. His campaign said at the time that FitzGerald regretted the "error and he's now driving with a valid license." But the issue dogged him on the campaign trail.
This week, I asked FitzGerald how he plans to approach cases involving people accused of driving without valid licenses.
"I suppose nobody knows that issue better than me," he quipped.
[url]http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2018/03/cle_chatter_ed_fitzgerald_to_j.html#incart_target2box_default_#incart_target2box_targeted_[/url]