ASHLAND – Ashland City Council expects to vote Tuesday, Feb. 6 on the appointment of a new city council member.
Council president Steve Workman confirmed he and fellow council member Al Farnam interviewed four candidates for approximately one hour each on Saturday.
Workman declined to say who the finalists were; however, six of the 10 applicants said they have not been contacted by council members in response to their letters of interest.
Sandy Bally, Duane Fishpaw, Mitch Johnson, Pam Mowry, Shane Ross and Paul Stevenson each said they were not interviewed. The other four applicants are Christine Box, Scott Brown, Dan Lawson and Matthew Gorrell. One of the four candidates declined to comment on the record about the process, and the other three did not return phone calls.
Workman said the finalists were chosen by comparing “top three” lists from each of the four council members. Workman said he obtained those lists through phone conversations with each council member and then compiled them to determine which applicants to interview.
As of Thursday, Workman said, the council was “coming to a conclusion in our decision-making process and will have a formal nomination and vote on the matter at the meeting Tuesday.”
Workman said he expects the council to meet in executive session about the matter prior to Tuesday, but that meeting has not yet been set.
The four current city council members — Workman, Dennis Miller, Farnam and Bob Valentine — have the authority to appoint a replacement for Matt Miller, who resigned from council at the start of the year to assume his new role as mayor.
Workman said council member Bob Valentine did provide a “top three” list of candidates but chose not to participate in the interview process. The fourth council member, Dennis Miller, conducted separate interviews with finalists by phone, according to Workman.
When asked why Dennis Miller chose to talk to candidates independently rather than to take part in Saturday’s in-person interviews, Workman responded, “He couldn’t. We can only have two council members together, or else it’s considered a public meeting.”
Workman said the board considered, but decided against, meeting in executive session to choose finalists to interview.
“That was one approach we considered, but it just wasn’t a choice among us to do that,” he said.
Workman said he wanted to emphasize that the council members prefered to make decisions about their finalists independently of each other.
On Thursday, Bally, Fishpaw, Johnson, Mowry, Ross and Stevenson all confirmed they had not been contacted about the position.
“I guess I’m a little concerned about that,” Johnson said. “They should have brought all 10 of us in to see what we had to offer.”
Bally said she too was surprised that she didn’t receive a phone call or at least a letter acknowledging receipt of her application materials and stating she was not a finalist.
“I would have thought they would be a little more open about things. But, no,” she said.
Fishpaw’s reaction was even stronger.
“I’m a little bitter, I have to admit. I feel like I’m kind of getting the shaft,” Fishpaw said.
Fishpaw held the first ward seat on council from 2012 until 2017, when he was appointed by council to finish Glen Stewart’s unexpired term as mayor.
Fishpaw argued he should have been considered for the seat because he was previously elected by voters and because he would have had two years left on his term had he not spent a year as mayor.
Additionally, Fishpaw expressed his belief that the council lacks experience. Workman has served on Council since January 2017, while Farnam and Miller took office this January.
“If they don’t put me on there, they’re going to have four council members with one year of experience total,” Fishpaw said.
Fishpaw also questioned the council’s process for filling the vacancy.
“I’m concerned about them starting to think they can make decisions without having meetings,” he said.
Mowry and Ross both expressed disappointment at not being chosen but said they had no problem with the process.
“I think it’s always been open for the board to make those selections for those decisions,” Ross said. “I knew going into this that the process and the timeline was at their discretion.”
Mowry agreed.
“I’m sure they’re following a legal process,” she said. “I’m confident of that.”
A representative from the city law director’s office declined to answer questions about whether the council may conduct interviews without calling a public meeting.
“You would have to ask the council president,” the representative said.
Council is scheduled to meet 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6 at Ashland City Schools’ administrative offices, 1407 Claremont Ave.
