Yet he is second in political stature to 36-year-old Mayor Justin Bibb. That is the story he tells about himself. He can wrestle you into the dust and still rise to break bread with you. Years later, he brags that he’s built a good relationship with the very same union against which he raised his fists. He warned – publicly – that those who disrespected City Council would be “dealt with.” Once, after the service workers’ union kicked a former council president out of an event, the Youngstown-born bare knuckler in Griffin awoke.
Blaine Griffin, the president of Cleveland City Council, claims to be both.
There are brawlers and there are brokers in politics.