Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel Titles topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council debates 'Chief of Staff' title change after members say it was used without approval
Summary
Council members raised concerns that the 'Chief of Staff' title had been publicly used for over a year without formal council approval; a motion to suspend rules for immediate adoption of a title-change ordinance failed and the ordinance remains for future reading.
Councilmembers and the mayor sparred July 23 over Ordinance 2025-35, which would rename the Assistant to the Mayor on Special Projects to Assistant to the Mayor on Special Projects/Chief of Staff.
Councilmember Sheri Sax accused the administration of repeatedly using the 'Chief of Staff' title for Deanna Bremer-Fisher in public materials and grant applications without following legal process. "This law had been bypassed and ignored by calling, writing and pronouncing Ms. Bremer-Fisher’s job as Chief of Staff on the University Heights website," Sax said, urging the council to correct the record.
Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan pushed back, saying title adjustments happen routinely and that other employees historically had informal titles that differed from payroll documents. "When he got here, there were not current salary ordinances, and all the titles were wildly different," Brennan said, arguing the matter was not unique and that the administration had brought the ordinance forward to resolve it.
Council attempted to suspend the rules and consider the measure on an emergency basis; Law Director Brad Bryan advised that the vote failed for lack of the required support. Because the suspension failed, the ordinance remains scheduled for further consideration at a later meeting.
The exchange reflected broader tensions between council oversight and administration practices. Councilmembers said changes to public-facing titles should align with salary ordinances and be transparent; the mayor said internal practice and timing had led to inconsistent label usage but supported resolving the matter through the formal process.
