Twenty candidates for vacant CH city council seat

Twenty candidates have applied for the Cleveland Heights City Council seat vacated by Phyllis Evans in June.

"We plan to interview 3-5 candidates in the next 2-3 weeks," said Mayor Edward Kelley. "My goal is to have someone in place around the first week of October but council is under no time restriction. The timeline will depend on council's ability to schedule with the candidates."

Evans resigned her council seat for personal reasons, and then sought an opinion from Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) on whether she would be able to keep the health benefits she received as a retired public servant if she were reappointed to city council.

While awaiting the decision from OPERS, Evans applied as a candidate for the seat she had resigned, along with 11 others who submitted applications by the July 25 deadline originally set by council.

In August, Cleveland Heights City Council announced it would reopen the search for the vacant seat. Mayor Kelley commented, "Many people told council members that they would have applied for the seat, but they thought the seat would go to Phyllis Evans. So we decided to give them an opportunity." The deadline for applicants was Sept. 10.

Applicants who applied by the original July deadline were not required to submit new applications.

The twenty applicants are: David Bergstein, David Biel, Janine Boyd, Kammer Boyle, Jessica Cohen, Jeff Coryell, Martin Cosentino, David Cronin, Pleurat Dreshaj, Mike Gaynier, Marcus Henry, Sheronda Isler-Hunter, Robert Koonce, Gary Maddox, Sean McMillion, Ronald Oswick, Keba Sylla, Robert Taylor, Thomas Weiler, Gina Weisblat. Gaynier, Coryell and Sylla ran for Cleveland Heights City Council in 2011. Isler-Hunter ran for CH-UH Board of Education in 2009.

Deanna Bremer Fisher

Deanna Bremer Fisher is executive director of FutureHeights and publisher of the Heights Observer.

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Volume 5, Issue 10, Posted 12:10 PM, 09.18.2012