Making a Difference in Forest Hills

Being the first black councilman in is part of Burleigh’s identity. But to understand who he is, one has to account for other facets.

“Bill is sort of an active grandfather,” Councilman said.

A self-described health nut and body builder, Burleigh takes 32 health supplements daily and visits the gym as many as five times a week. He’s a father of three and a grandfather of 13. In conversation, he juggles disparate topics—the race for a Republican presidential nominee, extraterrestrial life, the Bible, his love of Jeeps. 

Walking into Burleigh’s newly purchased house on Halsey Avenue, the first thing you see is a life-sized cardboard cutout of . But if the things a person keeps around provide windows into his or her personality, Burleigh’s is multifarious.

Atop the television rests a stuffed Spider Man doll and an anonymous figurine of a baseball batter. Across the room, four miniature statues of jazz musicians sit below the mantle. A replica of the Lincoln Memorial is on display in the dining room, along with a remote-controlled Hummer, a Steelers banner and a photo of Burleigh flexing his muscles after winning a body building contest in 1996. 

Burleigh lives alone. He’s three times divorced—”I’m like Gingrich!”—he said with a laugh, and figures that, at 65, he won’t remarry.

“I’m just an old guy who realizes that marriage is not for me,” he said.

Politics weren’t always an interest of his. But during the 12 years he lived in Jeanette before moving to Forest Hills, he became good friends with a code inspector there. 

The friendship piqued his interest in local politics and the knowledge he gained from the code inspector would later prove useful. He currently heads the Planning and Zoning Committee and was responsible for hiring Code Inspector Donald Branzel earlier this year.

Enforcing codes can be tough, Burleigh said, because one has to strike a balance between upholding ordinances and understanding an individual resident’s situation.

“I just wanted someone who was sensitive to the community,” he said.

Branzel seemed like the perfect fit, he said. After he was hired, Burleigh spoke with someone who saw Branzel helping an elderly woman carry groceries from her car to her house. 

He also issued a warning to Burleigh for leaving boxes outside of his apartment during the weeks he spent moving. 

Not knowing the apartment was inhabited by Burleigh, Branzel later apologized. Recounting the story, Burleigh laughed and said he was happy not to have gotten special treatment.

‘One of Seven’

By Burleigh’s own account, race played a role in his upbringing, but it’s not so important to his work on Forest Hills Council—which characterized as being traditionally populated by “a bunch of old white guys.”

Since he began serving on council, Burleigh said, he hasn’t felt like the voice of a minority contingent. But he has handled a few complaints from black residents who said they hadn’t seen the resolution of an issue for some time. 

As an example, he referred to a resident who complained about a busy intersection in which drivers frequently ran through a stop sign. A mother worried that she’d be hit when crossing the street with her baby.

“So, I got on the phone ... and in a matter of minutes, there was an officer there,” Burleigh said. “If it happened to be a white person or an Asian person—it doesn’t matter. It was a person who had a need.”

Burleigh said one of his top priorities is improving communication between council and residents. Before the primary, he, Karas and Wood had been creating a platform for their joint campaign. Health, safety and cleanliness were topics they wanted to address. But Burleigh felt that something was missing.

“We need something a little more down to earth, a little more attuned to the community,” he recalled saying. 

Community relations became part of their platform. Burleigh spent nearly every Saturday walking the streets, knocking on doors, letting people know who he is and hearing their concerns.

“He was probably on every street,” Karas said.

Even so, Burleigh thought his chances of winning were slim. He didn’t want to fall out of the political system, and he described the months leading up to November’s election as his most worrisome in the past three years. 

who had been in the community for a much longer time, ran an aggressive campaign against the incumbents and came within 46 votes of a seat. White declined to comment for this story.

“I think even if we didn’t run as a team, he probably would have won,” Karas said of Burleigh. “He’s the kind of person, too, who doesn’t take credit for himself.”

Calling his next four years on council a “golden opportunity,” Burleigh said he’s eager to continue serving the community.

“I’ve tried to look at myself as a surviving person, a striving person, and someone who can really make a difference now,” he said. “I’m one of seven. I’ve never had that type of opportunity before.”

His roots may be elsewhere, Burleigh said, but he lives in the present. It’s an attitude he applies to the way racial tensions have shaped his life, too.

“It really doesn’t matter where you come from,” he said. “It matters what you do when you get there.”