CH council appointment deadline nears

A special meeting of Cleveland Heights City Council, scheduled for Monday evening, Jan. 30, had a single agenda item: Appointment of a Council Member.

With the same-day cancellation of the Jan. 30 meeting, that agenda item has moved to a Feb. 2 special meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. 

CH City Council has until Saturday, Feb. 4, to appoint a new council member to fill the seat formerly held by Josie Moore.

According to the city charter, council has 45 days in which to appoint a new council member. If council were to fail to appoint someone by the deadline, the mayor would then have 10 days in which to fill the seat.

According to Ordinance 2400, which council passed on Jan. 3, 2022, "[t]he resignation of a member of Council shall not take effect until the resignation has been accepted by vote by a majority of Council members exclusive of the person tendering the resignation."

While Moore resigned on Dec. 16, council voted to accept Moore's resignation on Dec. 21; thus, it has until Feb. 4 to appoint the new council member.

Moore was elected to CH City Council in November 2021, to serve the remainder of the unexpired council term of Mary Dunbar. That term ends on Dec. 31, 2023; the seat will be on the ballot this coming November.

There were 26 applicants originally, six of whom withdrew their names from consideration during the selection process.

The remaining applicants are: Harriet Applegate, Lee Barbee II, Janine Boyd, Sara Brintnall, Jeanne Gordon, Drew Herzig, Sheronda Isler-Hunter, Neal Kreisler, Jennifer Lang, Tas Nadas, Jim Petras, Shelli Reeves, Eric Silverman, Akshai Singh, Jonathon Slater, Al Snodgrass, Paul Volpe, Cole Ware, James Williams, Ray Wilson.

Their applications can be viewed on the city's website, at www.clevelandheights.gov/1144/City-Council-Applicants, along with videotaped interviews for each applicant, conducted by the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland, Heights Chapter.

CH City Council is also in the process of selecting residents to serve on the city's new Charter Review Commission. Per a Dec. 5 council resolution, council will appoint six commissioners, and Mayor Seren will select three.