Bedford Heights mayor calls for removal of Jimmy Dimora's name from community center

BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio - The mayor of Bedford Heights is calling for the removal of Jimmy Dimora’s name from the building named after the politician found guilty of corruption last week.

Dimora served as mayor of Bedford Heights from 1982 to 1998, before moving on to the Cuyahoga County Commission. Last Friday, a federal jury found him guilty on 33 of 34 counts ranging from bribery to running a criminal enterprise out of his county office.

“His name should come down and I expect it will come down from the community center. This is a city council matter in the end, but I will ask them to take his name off the center,” Mayor Fletcher Berger told NewsChannel5.

Last August, Berger defended a billboard that was erected along I-271 showcasing photos of all of the city's mayors in its 50-year history, including Dimora's. Dimora had been charged at the time, but proclaimed his innocence and the case had yet to go to trial.

At the time, Berger said we live in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty. Dimora is simply one of several mayors who have served the city of Bedford Heights.

The same billboard misspelled Dimora’s name as “Dimara.”

There is no word yet when city council will decide on whether to remove Dimora’s name from the community center.