President’s Page: At Large Council Applicants Sought

As I write this, I’m sitting outside of Lincoln greeting neighbors coming in to vote. We don’t yet know what the results will be, and by the time you read this, some races may still be too close to call. It is, however; almost certain that Lakewood City Council Member at Large Tristan Rader will be elected State Representative for District 13 and will resign from Council effective December 31, 2024 in order to begin his new position. In this event, the City Charter requires Council to appoint an individual to the remainder of his unexpired term, which ends December 31, 2025. 

Therefore the Council office shall begin accepting applications for the at large position. Per the charter, an applicant must be a registered voter and a resident of the city for at least one year to qualify for consideration. If you are interested in applying, please review the job description posted on the council webpage to consider how your skills, knowledge and experience could be utilized to serve our neighbors and evaluate your capacity for the time commitment of this public-facing role. At Large Councilmembers serve and are elected by residents in all four wards. There are three At-Large Councilmembers, and as one of them, I welcome questions from interested individuals about the role. To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume in PDF format to the Clerk of Council at council@lakewoodoh.gov by November 24th at 11:59pm.

In addition to reviewing applications, Council has a busy rest of the year. Plans for the Downtown Development project have now been approved by both of the required citizen-led groups- the Planning Commission and the Architecture Board of Review. We anticipate that the Administration will officially submit the package to Council for the November 18th docket. Once received, the legislation is likely to be referred to Committee of the Whole for deliberation. Per ordinance, Council will have 45 days to approve or reject the proposal. 

The November 18th docket will also include the Administration’s proposed 2025 budget documents, and we expect budget hearings to begin that same night in the Finance Committee and continue throughout November and December. Committee meetings may be added or adjusted. Sign up for our email list to receive agendas for upcoming meetings, livestream meetings or watch past meetings, and learn more about Council on our webpage: https://www.lakewoodoh.gov/lakewood-city-council/