Columbus City Council holds executive session to interview finalists for vacant seat

Columbus City Council President Hardin convened a special meeting and moved the council into executive session to interview finalists being considered to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Council member Sheila Faber.

President Hardin told colleagues the council was acting under provisions cited from the Columbus City Charter and Ohio Revised Code and said, “No vote or formal action of any kind shall take place during executive session.” The council then took the matter into closed session for interviews; the council returned to the public record and adjourned without taking any public vote on an appointment.

The closed session was called during “Special Meeting Number 1,” after a motion to dispense with the reading of the journal and a motion to enter executive session. A voice roll call recorded affirmative responses from the members present before the council entered the closed session. After the interviews, President Hardin announced the council was back on the record, said there was no other business, and asked for a motion to adjourn.

The meeting record does not indicate any public debate of applicants, a nomination, or a final vote to fill the seat during the public meeting. Council members indicated they had decided to interview each of the finalists; the interviews themselves occurred in executive session, where, per President Hardin’s statement, no formal action was to be taken.

The transcript references the Columbus City Charter and Ohio Revised Code section 121.22 as the legal basis cited during the meeting for holding the executive session. No appointment or other formal council action was announced in public before the meeting was adjourned.