This is what happened last year. I was wrong and I apologize.

In 2019 and before I was elected to Council, I was very close with Jillian DeLong and her husband when she decided to run for school board. I told everyone I knew they should vote for her and as the election became very heated, Jillian and her husband took positions that were at best close minded. I attempted to convince them to go a different route, but they continued on their path, which was hurtful to many members of our community.

About two weeks before the election, her husband authored a Letter to the Editor, published by the Cleveland Jewish News, where he didn’t attempt to hide his belief that voters should view another candidate running for school board unfavorably, because her son helped about 15 black families improve their circumstances by moving into rental properties he owned in Beachwood so they could attend Beachwood schools.

I was furious reading this letter to the editor as were many in the community. My 8-year-old was the ballboy for the football team, which you can probably guess which one he is in the picture. I had gotten to know many of these kids well; many would come over to our house for pizza and treated my two kids and all their friends like gold.

The day after Jillian's husband's letter to the editor was published, I was furious and wrote an anonymous email that was sent to about 24 people, all who claimed they cared about diversity, in the voice of a parent of one of these black families expressing how hurtful it would be if any of them read the Cleveland Jewish News and saw that the spouse of a school board candidate wrote an open and public letter to the editor, without any attempt to hide his belief that voters should view the presence of these 15 minority families in our school district as a negative thing.

I regret how I reacted to my anger, but let me be clear, I meant every single word I wrote in this email. If I could do it again, I would write almost the exact same email, saying the exact same thing but in my own voice (Below my signature is the actual letter I wrote and the redline version of it in my own voice).

At some point Jillian is going to have to realize that she is not the victim here, the anxiety this issue has caused her is not because I wrote an anonymous email, but because of the letter to the editor he husband wrote openly suggesting that the presence of these 15 black families' in Beachwood should be viewed by residents as a negative thing.

Mike Burkons

Below is the actual anonymous letter I wrote in the voice of a parent of one of these black families, and also the redline version saying the exact same thing but in my own voice.