Fort Thomas council moves into executive session after public endorsements for Councilmember Andy Ellison

FORT THOMAS, Ky. — The Fort Thomas City Council held a special meeting to consider a potential mayoral vacancy and heard multiple public endorsements urging the council to appoint Councilmember Andy Ellison as interim mayor before voting to move into executive session to consider an appointment.

State Senator Shelley Frohmeyer, introduced by the clerk, told the council she wanted to "speak for... considering Andy Ellison," citing his business acumen, financial focus and a values-based approach to leadership. Several residents followed, including Jim Farris and Peggy Naggio, who praised Ellison's work on local financing questions connected to the "1 Highland" development and urged council to install an interim mayor who is ready to govern immediately.

One commenter criticized the council's recent fiscal oversight on the record, warning of "accounting shenanigans, human resource deficiencies, [and] audit findings," and cited a fiscal-year discrepancy the speaker said was "off by 277,000." A member of the public asked what would happen if council failed to act; staff replied the council has 30 days to make an appointment and that, if it did not, the matter would go to "the government," as recorded during the meeting.

Earlier in the meeting a procedural motion to have a pro tem mayor run the meeting was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. Near the close of public comment, a council member moved to enter executive session under KRS 61.810(1)(f) to discuss personnel matters that might lead to appointment, discipline or dismissal; that motion was seconded and the council voted in favor to enter executive session.

The meeting record shows multiple attendees speaking in support of Ellison and urging the council to pick a candidate from among its members who can "do deep dives" into finance and policy right away. No formal nomination for interim mayor was announced in open session before the council recessed into executive session.

The council's next procedural deadlines were stated on the record: staff said council has 30 days from the vacancy to appoint an interim mayor and that, absent council action, the appointment process would move to another governmental authority per statute as noted in the meeting.

Council took no further public action before going into executive session; the session was convened to discuss the appointment in private as permitted by the cited Kentucky Revised Statute.