Erie City Council elects Mel Witherspoon president, Tyler Titus vice president for 2025

Erie City Council on Jan. 8 voted to install council member Mel Witherspoon as council president and council member Tyler Titus as vice president for 2025.

The council's reorganization began after a brief delay while staff resolved a clerical absence. Council Member Ed Brzezinski sponsored a resolution nominating Witherspoon as council president for 2025; later Brzezinski sponsored a separate resolution nominating Titus as vice president. The council recorded the roll call of council members during both nominations and then congratulated the newly elected officers.

The election came at the start of the council's first regular meeting of the year and was followed by expressions of thanks to outgoing leadership and words of support for the new officers from council colleagues. Witherspoon said he intends to work as a team leader and to assign duties to the vice president that have not been traditionally delegated, and Titus said he will support council priorities and encourage public participation.

The reorganizational business preceded a full agenda that included public comment, public hearings on two historic-designation requests and several ordinances. Council members and members of the public used the meeting to outline priorities for the year including housing, sidewalk maintenance, and community outreach on a proposed home-rule charter study.

Council did not set additional procedural changes during the nominations beyond the customary roll-call confirmation and the council's standard statements of congratulations.