Upper Arlington swears in council members; splits leadership terms between Jeter and Muntz

At an organizational meeting on Jan. 12, the Upper Arlington City Council swore in new and re-elected members, elected leadership under a split-term arrangement and announced committee and liaison appointments.

Councilmember Jeter was sworn in early in the meeting; Yvette McGee Brown administered an oath for at least one of the swearing-in ceremonies. Jeter thanked supporters and family and urged residents to support neighbors and be patient with those struggling in the community. Laura Oldham and Ben Tracy also took the oath and delivered brief remarks thanking family and supporters.

The council then proceeded to elect leadership under a split-term format. The council opened nominations for vice president for the term expiring Jan. 11, 2027, nominated Councilmember Muntz, and carried a motion to elect Muntz by voice vote. The council then opened nominations for the vice president term expiring Jan. 10, 2028; Councilmember Jeter was nominated, accepted the nomination, and the council carried a motion to elect her by voice vote.

For the president role the council followed a similar split-term approach. Councilmember Jeter was nominated and elected president for the term expiring Jan. 11, 2027. The council later nominated the vice president (referred to variably in the transcript as Munz/Muntz/Munce) to serve as president for the term expiring Jan. 10, 2028; a motion was made, seconded and carried by voice vote. The transcript records these outcomes as voice votes; individual tallies or recorded roll-call results were not specified in the meeting record provided.

Following the leadership elections, the president announced presidential appointments: vice president Muntz was named board of education liaison; Councilmember John Kulowitz will continue on the city board of health; Councilmembers Fortkamp, Tracy and Walter were named to the city council financial policy subcommittee; Oldham, Tracy and Walter will serve on the rules review committee; Fortkamp will serve as community relations committee liaison; and Oldham will serve as the city's representative to the regional planning commission. Those appointments were presented by the president as the official slate of presidential appointments.

The council then elected a council member designee for the term expiring Jan. 10, 2028, by voice vote; Todd Walter was nominated and accepted the designation. The meeting concluded after a motion to adjourn carried by voice vote.

The meeting record includes extended acceptance remarks by the newly sworn president, who cited mentors including Yvette McGee Brown and noted that, "for the first time in 107 years," the city will be led by two women as president and vice president. She called for listening, compromise and service to all residents of Upper Arlington.

What the record shows and what it does not: the transcript records nominations, acceptances and voice votes for each leadership and appointment action; it does not provide consistent first-name spellings for some council members (several names appear in multiple, inconsistent spellings in the transcript), and it does not record the numeric vote tallies or any roll-call votes. The transcript also contains a number of informal asides and colloquialisms during speeches; where possible the article uses last names and roles (for example, "Councilmember Jeter" and "Councilmember Muntz") to avoid repeating inconsistent first-name spellings.

Next steps: the council will serve with the newly sworn members and the leadership and committee appointments announced; any formal policy actions, ordinance introductions or votes beyond these organizational motions were not recorded in this transcript.