Elyria’s newly seated City Council elected its leadership and adopted procedural rules at its Jan. 5, 2026 meeting.

Victor Stewart III was elected Clerk of Council after a nomination and roll-call vote. The council then approved the appointment of Reagan Phillips and Colleen Rosario as executive administrators in the clerk’s office and reappointed the clerk’s administrative staff.

Council members also elected Donna Mitchell as council president and Brenda Davis as council president pro tem for the 2026–2028 term. Jack Seher was chosen as council majority leader and Bradley Armstrong as council minority leader. The council adopted the proposed council rules for the 2026–2028 term after a motion and vote.

The nominations and leadership votes were handled by formal motions with roll-call recordings for the officer elections. The meeting record shows each named member responding “Aye” during those roll calls; no negative votes were recorded in the transcript for those outcomes.

The actions were procedural and focused on internal organization; no amendments to the council rules were recorded on the meeting record. After leadership elections and adoption of rules, the president moved to recommit matters pending in council committees to the same committees under the new council.

The council then proceeded to its regular agenda and ended the meeting after scheduling committee meetings and hearing brief departmental reports.

What’s next: committee meeting dates were announced by the clerk for January, including Utilities (Jan. 7) and Community Development and Finance (Jan. 12). The council adjourned the meeting by voice vote.