William M. Ondrey Gruber

Director of Law

City of Shaker Heights

Mr. Gruber has served as Director of Law for the City of Shaker Heights since February 2012, after serving as Chief Counsel since 2003. He also serves as the City’s Fair Housing Administrator, secretary to the City’s Board of Appeals and Income Tax Board of Review, and as counsel to the Shaker Heights Development Corporation. 

For 4 years he worked in private solo practice representing various city governments, and private clients such as AARP, the Ohio Environmental Council, and neighborhood organizations in Cleveland and Dayton, primarily in utility regulation and consumer matters before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Prior to that, he served as an attorney for the City of Cleveland for 16 years, where he was an Assistant Director of Law representing the Department of Public Utilities for 7 years, and Chief of the Environment, Health and Regulatory Compliance Section of the Law Department for 9 years. At Cleveland, he managed enforcement of Cleveland’s Air Pollution, Environmental Health, Food Service, Housing, Building, Zoning and Fire Prevention Codes, advised and defended City departments in environmental matters, represented the City in energy, telecommunications, utility regulation and cable television matters, and served as in-house counsel to the Departments of Parks, Recreation and Properties, Public Utilities, and Public Health, and the Division of Fire. 

Mr. Gruber has previously served as Chairperson of the Government Attorney Section of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (2005-2006), and as President of the Cuyahoga County Law Director’s Association (2008-2009). 

He is a 1982 graduate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a 1977 graduate of Georgetown University.