Mr. Brennan was a Harvard graduate who moved to the Cleveland area in the late 1940’s. He was an executive for the Lamp Division of General Electric for many years. Mr. Brennan served on Highland Heights City Council from 1962 to 1963 and served as mayor for 10 years from 1964 to 1973.
Administration
During Mr. Brennan’s administration, the city went through many transitions, including the development of the Alpha Drive industrial development with their anchor tenant Picker X-Ray (now Philips). The business park was strategically planned to be adjacent to Interstate 271, which was somewhat removed from the residential area of the city.
The development of the Community Park also happened during Mr. Brennan’s administration. The city originally purchased 40 acres of land and built a state of the art swimming pool and 7 baseball diamonds.
While Mr. Brennan was mayor, Highland Heights became a city on January 1, 1967. He was instrumental in appointing a Charter Commission, which was responsible for drafting our city Charter. Our Charter is based on the traditional mayor and council form of government. Many of our zoning and residential codes were rewritten during Mr. Brennan’s administration.
Bill Brennan was a very forward-thinking man and much of the planning of our community can be attributed to him. Former Mayor William Brennan passed away on October 17, 2003.