Electoral board chair asks Franklin City Council not to seat two newly sworn council members without certificates of election
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Summary
Pearlie Banks, chair of the Franklin City electoral board, urged the council during public comment not to seat two council members who had not received their certificates of election, citing state code and procedural concerns.
Pearlie Banks, chairman of the Franklin City electoral board, told the council at its Jan. 13 meeting that two sitting council members had taken oaths without first receiving their certificates of election and that the electoral board requested the council “do not allow these 2 gentlemen to be seated until they receive their certificate of election.”
“The electoral board is requesting that you do not allow these 2 gentlemen to be seated until they receive their certificate of election,” Banks said, noting the board’s obligation to follow relevant state code provisions. She referenced state code numbers on the record as part of the explanation for the board’s request and said the late filing of fees by the newly elected members required the board to hold an emergency meeting to appoint an acting secretary so it could process the certificates.
Banks read language explaining the board’s view that certification is a formal attestation that must occur before an oath is administered, and she asked the council to delay seating until certificates are issued. The council did not announce an immediate action in response during the public-comment portion of the meeting.
Sheriff Josh White also used the public-comment period to congratulate newly seated Mayor Paul Kaplan and to offer cooperation between the sheriff’s office and the city.
The transcript captures Banks’ invocation of two state code sections as the basis for the electoral board’s procedural concern; the council did not, on the record during public comment, announce a follow-up vote or directive to staff on the request.
