Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
University Heights Council overrides mayoral veto on salary ordinance amid debate over mayoral independence
Summary
Council voted 5-2 to override Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan’s veto of Ordinance 2024-82, which separates the Safety Director salary from the mayor’s guaranteed pay; the mayor said the change risks Council using pay to punish a future mayor, while sponsors said it restores a substantive Safety Director role.
Councilmembers in University Heights on Jan. 1 voted 5-2 to override Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan’s veto of Ordinance 2024-82, a measure that reconfigures the pay relationship between the elected mayor and the city’s Safety Director.
Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan had read a written veto at the meeting, saying the ordinance "effectively erodes the independence of the Mayor and makes the Council the boss of the Mayor, with the Mayor subject to Council's financial pressure." He argued the measure would guarantee only a $50,000 mayoral salary while leaving an additional $50,000 tied to the Safety Director post that Council could approve or withhold.
Sponsors of the ordinance and several councilmembers said the change was intended to restore the Safety Director to a substantive, ordinance-defined administrative post after prior modifications in 2013 left the title effectively symbolic. Councilmember Winifred Weizer, who read a response into the record, said the intent was not to target a sitting mayor but to ensure the Safety Director "holds the importance that it should" and to return to the prior separation of responsibilities.
During debate Councilmembers raised two recurring themes: (1) procedural protections — a pay change during an incumbent’s term would still require multiple council votes, providing a practical check on arbitrary cuts — and (2) the need for a formal job description for the Safety Director. Law Director Bradric Bryan noted the position’s duties are defined in city ordinances and that the administration prepares job descriptions when positions are posted.
On the roll call to adopt and override the veto, five members voted in favor and two voted against (Councilmembers Brian King and Christopher Cooney). The override restores the ordinance language as passed by Council in December.
The council’s action will change the city’s compensation structure for the mayor and the Safety Director beginning with the next applicable term as written in the ordinance. Officials at the meeting did not provide an on-the-record, itemized implementation schedule for when the altered pay structure would take effect.
