Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Dear Beachwood Residents,

I entered the council race at the last minute and vowed to only spend around $1,000. I knew my chances at winning were at best a long shot. However, I decided to run because I felt very strongly it was important to bring to light issues surrounding our city’s finances that many didn’t want to talk about.

Initially my main goal was not to get an embarrassing low number of votes and would have been thrilled to get 1000. After two months of campaigning, I felt I had a chance to do a little better than the 1042 votes I received and would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed I didn’t get more.

With that being said, I would never trade the conversations I had and the support I got from so many people in our wonderful city. I congratulate all who ran for keeping the race focused on the issues and I hope all council members and our new mayor will keep fiscal responsibility foremost in their minds as they work for an even better Beachwood.

Just a few more points;

There were two current City officials who genuinely went out of their way to let me know how excited and supportive they were that I decided to run. One was Barbara Bellin Janovitz and it meant a tremendous amount to me. Even though she wasn’t on the ballot I am confident it wouldn’t have been different if she was. The other elected official was Marty.

As many of you know I supported Mitch Luxenburg for Mayor over Martin S. Horwitz. If only one of them would have run I would have strongly supported either of them. For reasons that are no longer important, I supported Mitch and am very proud of him and the campaign he ran. He has become a great friend along the way and if that was the only positive to come from my candidacy, that would have been enough.

This wasn’t the easiest decisions because I had gotten to know Marty extremely well over the last few years. While there were many issues we saw differently, I developed a real friendship with him. I couldn’t speak more highly of him on a personal level and I would tell you about how funny he is but many of his jokes are not meant for all age groups.

When I decided to run, Marty went out of his way to let me know how supportive and happy he was. There was an absolute genuineness that my crappy writing isn’t capable of capturing but there wasn’t a doubt he was completely sincere. This speaks volumes to Marty’s character because he knew I was supporting Mitch and my campaign would be adverse to his interests as I would be critical of him and Council on certain issues.

This shows one of Marty’s great strengths I feel has been missing at City Hall. Marty knew I would be very vocal with my opinions that were often critical of him and Council, but he never viewed me as the enemy. He isn’t afraid or threatened of an opposing view and even welcomes them. This attitude will serve the City of Beachwood well and I am very optimistic that Marty is up to the task.

Many people have encouraged me to apply to fill the open seat on Council left vacant by Marty. I will only apply if Gail McShepard doesn’t. Not only did she receive 500 more votes than me, Gail is a wonderful, smart and deserving person for this opening. We also need diversity among our City leaders that reflects the diversity of the community. I couldn’t apply for this open spot and argue that I am most worthy if she is also seeking it. I hope she does, and will only apply if she doesn’t.

I want to end this email by letting everyone know who voted for me or reached out to me to provide encouragement and support how appreciative I am. I am proud of the campaign I ran and am confident that Beachwood is better because of it. All the winners of Tuesday’s election have Beachwood’s best interest at heart. While I will still be active and vocal when I see the need, I will be rooting for all of them to be ultra-successful.

Thanks again and it was great getting to know many of you over the last few months.

Mike Burkons

P.S. If you see my five year old son Jack, don’t mention I lost. I tried to break it to him and he was inconsolable so we kinda told him we won’t know the final results until next year. Then I promised him ice cream and Legos and he stopped crying. I believe honesty is the best policy but sometimes I break with my own ethos. With enough ice cream and Legos he will forget about it until he is old enough to understand there are many worse things in life besides losing an election.