Following the recent departure announcement of Columbus City Council Member Elizabeth Brown, Columbus City Council announced its process and timeline for a replacement appointee to serve out the remainder of that term through the end of 2023.
Last Friday, representatives with Columbus City Council announced that 27 locals had submitted applications to be considered for that appointment.
“We appreciate the interest of residents and will follow the City Charter and Code to ensure a continuation of governance by Columbus City Council,” said Council President Shannon Hardin. “Since 2023 is also an election year for Council Members as we prepare to go into a new district system, I believe we should appoint an experienced caretaker to the seat who will not be a candidate in 2023.”
Some of the candidates include Eli Bohnert, a Scioto West Area Commissioner; Densil Porteous, Executive Director of Stonewall Columbus; Charity Martin-King, Director of Social Change at OSU; and perhaps most interestingly, Mitchell J. Brown, a recent Columbus City Council Member who retired from the position at the end of 2021.
The full list of 27 candidates include:
- Christina Pelletier
- Olubunmi Adekanbi
- Patricia Duckworth
- Eli Bohnert
- Kelly Lombardo-Matthews
- Josh Leach
- Larry Druggan
- William Dodson
- Kurt Looper
- Rick Shuster
- Densil Porteous
- Martin Alvarado
- Tom Price
- Chelssy Alvarez
- Hugh Butler, III
- Charity Martin-King
- Forrest Neuswanger
- Mitchell J. Brown
- Aaron Neumann
- Lucy Gettman
- Charles Nabrit
- Kristen Hosni
- Ilhan Dahir
- Eric Duffy
- Angela Meddock
- Sean Ruffin
- Stephanie Matthews
A public meeting will be held on January 3rd for testimony and consideration. On January 9th, sitting Council Members will nominate and vote for their appointee selections. The new appointee will only serve through the end of 2023. Columbus City Council will undergo a major transformation in 2023 from seven at-large seats to nine district-based seats and all nine will be up for election in November 2023.