KLEMENTOWICZ, BRONIS J. (22 Oct. 1915-7 April 1993) was a councilman, utilities director, and law director who worked under Mayors LAUSCHE, CELEBREZZE, and LOCHER. Influential in the Polish-American community, Klementowicz, during his political prime, was one of the powers at CLEVELAND CITY HALL.
Born and raised in Cleveland's Warszawa, Klementowicz attended St. Stanislaus Elementary School and graduated from South High School in 1934. He received his A.B. degree from Western Reserve University in 1938. He then worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce and served in the U.S. Navy from 1943-1946. In 1950 he received his LL.B. from the WRU Law School and passed the Ohio bar.
In 1948 Klementowicz was elected to the first of six terms as councilman for Ward 14 on the Southeast side, two terms of which he served as Democratic Majority Floor leader. In 1948 he staged the first filibuster in council history when his ward was denied a streetcar turnaround.
In 1958 Mayor Anthony Celebrezze appointed Klementowicz as utilities director. Klementowicz conceived the City's "no sewers, no water" policy which prohibited water tappings by communities lacking adequate sewage, and directed construction on the Lake Erie water crib. In 1959 he successfully led administration forces against the proposed county charter. From 1962-1967 he was Law Director under Mayor Ralph Locher when he was appointed an assistant State Attorney General supervising legal acquisitions in Northeast Ohio. In 1967, Klementowicz retired from politics, returning to his law practice.
Klementowicz married Dorothy Seamans in 1941. They had no children. He is buried in Harvard Grove Cemetery.