Mayor's Office

Biography

Mayor Matt Burke was born on February 4, 1970 in Warren, Ohio. His family moved to Garfield Heights in 1978 and lived in an apartment on Turney Road behind what became Carlo’s Barbershop, which has since closed. About a year later, the family moved Granger Road where he now resides after buying the house from his parents in 1994. Matt is a 1988 graduate of Garfield Heights High School and has proudly served in the United State Army Reserve. 

While still in high school, Matt began his professional career in the floor covering industry working as a stockperson at the Colortile Home Improvement Supermarket, which was located in the Turneytown Shopping Center. During his 34-year career in the business, Matt represented multiple manufacturers of quality floor coverings, including Armstrong, Mannington, Congoleum, Shaw and Mohawk. 

In 2013, Matt was elected to represent Ward 6 on city council. After two terms, he was nominated and elected by his peers to serve as Council President. When former Mayor Vic Collova retired before the end of his term in 2021, Matt left his career to answer the call and serve the residents as Mayor, as stipulated in the Garfield Heights City Charter. He was elected to a four-year term in November, 2021, and is the city’s first Asian-American mayor. 

Throughout his life, Mayor Burke has served with and supported many organizations, including the Garfield Heights Boys Baseball League, the Northeast Ohio Floor Covering Association, The Garfield Heights Democratic Club PAC, the Kiwanis Club, Food for the Hungry, St. Jude, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the First Suburbs Consortium, the Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Council of Governments, the Cleveland Metroparks and more. 

Mayor Burke is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys bicycling, hiking, fishing and hunting. Matt has a passion for the National Parks throughout the country, particularly our own Cuyahoga Valley National Park. He is a huge fan of the Cleveland Browns, the Cavaliers and the Guardians. He also enjoys watching college football and is equally a fan of both the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. 

Matt has two children and two grandchildren.