CH council appointee decision tabled until July

After the June 22 Cleveland Heights City Council meeting, Mayor Jason Stein stated that council had not yet selected anyone to fill the council vacancy.

Noting that each of the four finalists, Craig Cobb, Anthony Cuda, Robert Koonce, and Anthony Mattox Jr., had a good interview with the six current council members, Stein said, “We will take time to reflect and continue the discussion at the July 6th meeting.”

The sole agenda item on the June 22 Cleveland Heights Council Committee of the Whole meeting, which took place in executive session, was “[t]o consider the appointment of a public official.”

Stein announced that council had chosen four finalists in a May 21 post on his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MayorStein4ClevelandHeights/.

The four finalists were selected from 22 original applicants, three of whom withdrew. The remaining 19 provided videos in which they answered questions posed by the Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland. Those videos can be viewed online at www.clevelandheights.com (go to Government – City Council – City Council Applicants).

Subsequent interviews between council and each finalist were conducted in executive session, and therefore not recorded. Due to the coronavirus, all interviews have been conducted remotely. 

The council seat has been vacant since March 2, when former council member Melissa Yasinow resigned.