CLEVELAND (AP) -- Nearly 50 county government employees in Cleveland have been told to quit their outside political positions or they'll be fired.

Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County has given the workers an Oct. 14 deadline.

According to The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer ( http://bit.ly/pDjjnc ), consultants concluded that the workers are classified employees forbidden by state law from holding elected office or serving on precinct and party executive committees.

The directive comes from county Executive Ed FitzGerald, a Democrat elected last year to replace a corruption-tainted three-commissioner government.

Parma City Councilman Roy Jech (jehk) plans to quit his county job as a pipefitter, rather than give up his council seat. He says the law governing public employees has never been enforced.

Unclassified employees, including managers, are not affected. Neither are council members in suburbs with nonpartisan elections.

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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com