JOHNSTOWN — Two attempts to nominate a Johnstown mayor fell through at Tuesday night’s city council meeting, but the council may have named a mayor when it wasn’t even trying.
After failed attempts to nominate Jon Merriman and Ryan Green to fill the vacant mayor’s position, the council went ahead with business.
Later in the meeting, Merriman introduced a motion to appoint Donald Barnard as city council president. The board voted 7-0 in favor of appointing Barnard as chairman of the board.
The city charter, however, shows that the council’s actions may have had unintended consequences.
Johnstown City Charter: who becomes mayor if the position is vacant
The charter specifies:
“In the event of a vacancy in the office of mayor, the president of the council succeeds to the office of mayor for the remainder of the unexpired term and the council elects another of its members to serve as president of the council for the unexpired term. mandate.”
So, by virtue of Barnard’s appointment as chairman of the council, he apparently automatically fills the vacant mayoral position. The mayor is a part-time job performed by one of the seven council members.
Barnard said he spoke to the city attorney, Yazan Ashrawi, and the charter appears to indicate he would be the mayor. He said he looked at the charter after the meeting and discovered the unintended consequences.
“I found out about this (Tuesday) night,” Barnard said. “I was quite shocked when I read it. I’m going to ask for this vote to be reconsidered because the way the charter is written, I would be the mayor. But I don’t want to be mayor for a technicality.
Barnard said if the council wanted him to be mayor, he would do the job. If they don’t want him in that role, that’s fine with him too. But he doesn’t want the work to be based on an oversight. The Board meets again on November 1.
A phone message left with Ashrawi was not returned by presstime.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first for newly appointed board members Bob Orsini, Nicole Shook and Charlie Campbell. The trio’s votes were critical in selecting the mayor, as the other four council members were split 2-2 in favor of Green or Merriman.
Shook and Orsini said they weren’t ready to choose a mayor when they first met as council members. Shook voted “no” to Green’s nomination for mayor, while Orsini abstained. Campbell, however, voted for Green.
Voters in Johnstown created the mayoral vacancy when they recalled Chip Dutcher, along with Council Speaker Marvin Block, in a special election on August 30. The holiday became official when the Licking County Board of Elections certified the vote on Sept. 12.
Doug Lehner resigned from the board on September 13, citing a family member’s ongoing health issues as the reason. He may have been elected mayor the next day. Councilwoman Sharon Hendren said she supported Lehner for mayor, and Green said he supported Lehner as well.
The town of Johnstown has come under the microscope as it sits a mile north of the construction of Intel Corporation’s $20 billion computer chip manufacturing plant, which is expected to begin production in 2025. The development will occupy 1,000 acres of Jersey Township land annexed to New Albany. It is the largest commercial development in Ohio’s history.
kmallett@newarkadvocate.com
740-973-4539
Twitter: @kmallett1958
