Lebanon City Council swears in members and elects Mark Messer mayor, Scott Norris vice mayor

LEBANON, Ohio — At its Dec. 2, 2025 organizational meeting, the Lebanon City Council administered oaths to newly seated council members and elected Mark Messer as mayor and Scott Norris as vice mayor by unanimous consent.

The session opened with a roll call and a statement of purpose from Mark Yerrick, who said the meeting was convened under the city charter to swear in members and elect council leadership. Yerrick referenced the charter provision that requires council to organize within five days of the beginning of council members' terms and described the logistics for administering the oath and notarizing signed copies.

Council members were sworn in at the podium in alphabetical order. Michael Coppell, Brad Lamoreaux, Scott Norris and Matt Sellers each repeated the standard oath of office, including the pledge to "support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Ohio," and to "faithfully discharge the duties" of their positions. Yerrick noted paperwork would be signed and notarized and that one copy of each oath would be retained in the member's personnel file.

Following the swearing-in, council moved to elect officers. A council member nominated Scott Norris for vice mayor; the nomination was seconded, nominations were closed without objection and Norris was declared elected. Norris then took the oath and assumed the vice mayor role.

The council used the same procedure to elect the mayor. Mark Messer was nominated from the floor, no other nominations were made, and Messer was declared elected by unanimous consent. Messer was sworn in as mayor and completed the oath at the podium.

A short period of informal remarks followed the officer elections. The council then approved a motion to close the organizational meeting and adjourn to the boardroom for the remaining paperwork. Clerk Burke called the roll on that motion and recorded affirmative votes from Mayor Messer, Vice Mayor Norris, Matt Sellers, Mrs. Harper, Mr. Lamoreaux, Mrs. Eggers and Mr. Coates; the motion passed.

The meeting record shows the organizational duties required under the charter were completed: oaths administered, leadership elected and formal closure of the special meeting. No contested votes or policy items were taken during the session; the council planned to continue with additional paperwork in a separate boardroom session.

— End of report