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Ad Hoc Committee Chair Reid Courtney thinking at Thursday's meeting.
Ad Hoc Committee Chair Reid Courtney at Thursday’s meeting. [Joshua Hoerner| WOUB]

A Nelsonville citizens committee is recommending a solution to the city’s “December problem”

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NELSONVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) — A committee of Nelsonville citizens is moving forward with a proposal to seek candidates for one-month terms on the City Council. 

This is intended to solve the city’s looming “December problem,” in which the city might have only one council member for that month. 

Reid Courtney, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, calls this the “least-bad solution.”

“I think that it is the most likely to avert the most risk,” Courtney said. “And, obviously it’s not great. It’s going to be hard to get people to run for those seats.” 

The council still has to approve the committee’s proposal. Courtney is expected to discuss it at tonight’s council meeting. 

If the council accepts the committee’s suggestion, there will be two lists of candidates in November. One for a December-only term and one for a two-year term starting Jan. 1. 

The “December problem” stems from a ballot initiative, Issue 23, passed last November, which abolishes the city’s 30-year-old charter form of government at the end of this year. 

Nelsonville Law Director Jonathan Robe speaking to the committee at Thursday's meeting.
Nelsonville Law Director Jonathan Robe speaking to the committee at Thursday’s meeting. [Joshua Hoerner| WOUB]
All but one of the current council members’ terms ends on Nov. 30, while the new form of government doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1. The council needs four members to pass ordinances, so it couldn’t conduct business in December. 

If no one were to run for the one-month council seats, the back-up plan would involve the lone council member whose term extends past Nov. 30, Nancy Sonick.  If Sonick chose to remain on council, she could appoint another member, then those two could appoint another, up until the council was full.  

Nelsonville Law Director Jonathan Robe called this solution “as smooth as probably can be anticipated.” 

Other issues discussed at the committee meeting included proposals needed for the new council that is set to take office on Jan. 1. To maintain a seamless transition of government, some ordinances will need to be passed on that day.   

The committee is scheduled to have a meeting on June 12 if necessary. If it doesn’t meet on that date, its next scheduled meeting will be Tuesday, June 17.