Northeast Ohio Mayor Who Linked Ice Fishing, Prostitution Resigns

HUDSON, OH — The mayor of a northeast Ohio city resigned Monday following backlash to his comments about how allowing ice fishing on a nearby lake could lead to prostitution.

Craig Shubert, 65, notified city officials in Hudson of his resignation Monday.

"City Council appreciates the time and dedication that Mayor Shubert has put in to serving the citizens of Hudson,” City Council President Chris Foster said in a statement. “We respect his decision and wish him the best in the future.”

The city council will seek to appoint a replacement mayor in the coming weeks. That person will serve until the November general election, when the position will be up for a vote.

Councilwoman Nicole Kowalski wrote in a Facebook post Monday: "I wish Mr. Shubert all the best in his future endeavors."

The comment in question came during a meeting last week concerning requests to ice fish on Hudson Springs Lake. Some officials expressed concerns the city could be held financially responsible if someone fell through the ice, Cleveland.com reported. Shubert expressed concerns that allowing ice fishing on the lake could be a slippery slope.

"If you open this up to ice fishing, while on the surface it sounds good, then what happens next year?" Shubert asked. "Does someone come back and say, 'I want an ice shanty on Hudson Springs Park for X amount of time?' And then if you then allow ice fishing with shanties, then that leads to another problem: prostitution. And now you’ve got the police chief and the police department involved."

In a letter of resignation posted to his campaign website, Shubert said he entered the mayoral in 2019 with the goal of bringing change: shaking up the City Council and the city administration, returning conservative values to Hudson and focusing on the needs of the larger community. His comments, made during a workshop, were a misinterpreted attempt at dry humor, he said.

"City Council workshops are a time for discussing important matters, the sharing of ideas and concerns, as well as one’s knowledge and experience prior to crafting legislation to establish new laws and policies," he said. "My comments at Tuesday’s workshop were made out of concern for our community; what could become of unintended consequences of new legislation, based on my prior television news reporting experience. My attempt to inject a bit of dry humor to make a point about this, in the midst of a cold, snowy February, was grossly misunderstood."

Shubert later added that some in the community used the comment to engage in what he called "the politics of personal destruction by means of character assassination." He also boasted that the city was left in a stronger financial and economic position than ever before, and that major road improvements were in the works.

Hudson, a predominantly white city with about 23,000 people, sits about 10 miles northeast of Akron.