This charter included provisions for women's suffrage, which at the time was unheard of east of the Mississippi River.

Before the charter passed, the city of Cleveland unsuccessfully attempted to annex the emerging municipality in 1910 and again in 1916.

[7] Nela Park, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, continues to operate today as the functional headquarters for GE Lighting and is the city's second largest employer.

[citation needed] After World War II, development of other suburbs within the region brought a number of changes to East Cleveland.

[23] The portion of firms owned by minorities and women are significantly higher than both the state[24] and national[25] average.

This has led to the demolition of many old buildings, new constructions, the renovation of historic homes, the creation of green space for hundreds of abandoned properties close to Case Western Reserve University, University Hospital, John D. Rockefeller Park and the Historic Lake View Cemetery.

East Cleveland is a charter city that is granted its authority under the home rule provisions of the Ohio constitution.

In 1985 voters grew frustrated with that form of government [citation needed] after two commissioners were charged with theft in office, and after a revolving door of city managers resulted in little stability and a reduction in services.

Citizens for Sound Government, a group of residents, led a petition drive to elect a strong mayor and to create a five-member city council.

After two years on the job, in Pittman's second two-year term, Ohio's State Auditor declared on September 9, 1988 that East Cleveland was in fiscal emergency.

The fiscal emergency designation came when the water and sewer fund were found to have deficits in excess of $2 million.

Pittman was defeated in 1989 by Wallace D. Davis, the council president and a funeral home owner.

Prior to his defeat, Pittman convinced former U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes to support a congressional amendment that made East Cleveland a "direct entitlement city" under HUD.

That designation gave the city the authority to receive more than $1 million a year in block grant funding directly from HUD.

Davis borrowed $2.5 million that had to be paid back in eight years to get the city out of fiscal emergency.

His administration made the last payment in 1997, but the city remained in fiscal emergency throughout Mayor Emmanuel Onunwor's eight-year term in office, and after he was indicted and convicted on federal charges of racketeering and corruption in 2004.

During his primary re-election campaign in 2009, Brewer accused the police union of releasing photographs depicting him wearing women's lingerie.

The city council's vice president, Brandon King, assumed Norton's position as mayor.

[30] King won the September 2016 Democratic primary for mayor, and was elected on in November 2017 to serve out the remainder of Norton's term.

[32][33] On April 28, 2012, Detective Randy Hicks, Officer Jonathan O'Leary, and other members of the East Cleveland Police Department arrested Arnold Black on suspicion of drug activity.

Black claimed that the police beat him while he was handcuffed and locked him in a storage closet for four days with no toilet and nothing to eat or drink but a carton of milk.

[34] The 248-acre (1.00 km2) Forest Hill Park boasts three baseball diamonds, tennis courts and walking trails that have retained the natural green space as intended by John D. Rockefeller Jr. when he deeded the park to East Cleveland and the City of Cleveland Heights.

The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center, which is also a Cleveland Clinic facility, specializes in many different areas including cardiology, chronic disease services, diabetes, internal medicine, and general surgeries.

[39] The East Cleveland demographics on the levels of education are as follows: with 34% of residents having a high school diploma or equivalent, 37% have at least some college, and 7% have a completed bachelor's degree.

Rozelle Elementary School was closed due to lower student enrollment and was later demolished.

[42] East Cleveland Public Library operates the Main Branch at 14101 Euclid Avenue.