Michael Polensek

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Michael D. Polensek (born November, 1949) is a City Council person in Cleveland, Ohio. He presently represents Ward 11 in Cleveland City Council. He was first elected to council in 1977 and represented what was Ward 26. He served as its president from 2000 to 2001.

His nickname is purported to be McGruff, as in McGruff the Crime Dog.

On July 12, 2007, Councilman Polensek sent a letter to Arsenio Winston who had recently been arrested on allegations of drug dealing in Cleveland's 11th Ward, which Polensek has represented since 1982. The harsh letter referred to Winston a "crack dealing piece of trash" who should "go to jail or the cemetery soon." Writing that jail or a funeral home would be Winston's next stop, Polensek noted, "Quite frankly, I don't care which one you get to first as long as your dumb stupid ass is out of my neighborhood." While Polensek defended the confrontational letter in an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Winston's mother said she considered the missive a threat to her son and was conferring with her lawyer.