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Mayor nominates longtime REMC employee to Utility Rate Advisory Board; council records motion but transcript shows name confusion
Summary
The mayor nominated a longtime Northeastern REMC employee to fill a vacancy on Columbia City’s Utility Rate Advisory Board on Oct. 28, 2025; the nominee was described as a non-city resident who is a city utility customer, and staff indicated they were eligible to serve. The transcript records a nomination and motion but does not include a recorded final vote or an unambiguous appointee name.
The Columbia City Common Council on Oct. 28, 2025, heard a mayoral nomination to fill a vacancy on the Utility Rate Advisory Board following medical leave by the board’s chair, Lee Botts. The mayor described speaking with a candidate identified in the meeting as a longtime Northeastern REMC employee and asked the council for approval to appoint that person to the advisory board. The transcript identifies the candidate in successive sentences with differing surnames; the mayor referred to “Doug Carroll” and later to “Doug Fairlock” while asking to fill a vacancy left by Jim (surname in transcript varies). The council discussion indicated staff (Sean) had spoken with the nominee and believed the person could serve; no recorded roll-call vote or formal confirmation appears in the transcript.
The mayor emphasized the nominee is a non-city resident who is nonetheless a city utility customer, which staff said satisfies the advisory-board requirement that members be city utility customers even if they live outside city limits. Council members did not substantively debate policy changes to the board’s role during the discussion; the item was handled as an appointment request rather than a policy matter.
Because the transcript presents inconsistent surnames for the individual referenced, the council’s final action and the appointee’s correct legal name should be confirmed in the official minutes or appointment paperwork before publication or formal announcement.
