July 2010 Council Message: “One new council member welcomes another”
This month’s message by Chris Dobrozsi, Councilmember
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I hope everyone has been enjoying a safe and relaxing summer with their friends and family. My family has certainly enjoyed the start to summer with the numerous wonderful local activities including the Blue Ash Memorial Day parade, All Saints Festival, Montgomery Farmers Market and numerous trips to the local pools just to name a few.
City Council also had a busy start to summer with the process to fill the vacant Council seat created by the resignation of Vicki Hirsch on April 13 due to personal and family medical issues. Vicki has been active within our City for many years and brought a wealth of experience and history to the council. We will miss Vicki and wish her well.
Our Charter dictates the process, which is that any vacancy on Council shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of Council within 60 days following the resignation. The process to fill the vacancy began immediately with advertising the vacancy and requesting applications from interested citizens to be submitted by 5:00 pm on May 10, 2010. Eight candidates submitted applications – Bill Hunt, Delores Jacobson, Craig Margolis, Peggy Platz, Jim Ryerson, Larry Schwartz, Ash Shehata and Barbara White. This strong response of well qualified candidates is another example of why the City of Montgomery is an exceptional community.
City Council then held special meetings on the evenings of May 20, June 3 and June 8 to conduct one-hour interviews with each candidate. These interviews included questions based upon the City’s vision, strategic plan and the understanding of a Council member’s role and the time commitment associated with the position.
As in the past, appointments have also been based on prior volunteer service to the City and the level of understanding of how the City does business. This is why Council believes that experience on a City board or commission and/or a graduate of the Montgomery Citizen’s Leadership Academy is extremely important for the council position. The Mayor and the remainder of Council are committed to working as a team on the selection process and providing complete support of the selected candidate.
The Council is thankful to these strong candidates who stepped up to fill the vacancy and the decision was hard to make. After many hours of interviews and consideration, the Council is proud to select Craig Margolis as the newest council member. He is a 16 year resident of the City, has been involved with the City as a seven year member of the Planning Commission and is a 2008 graduate of the Montgomery Citizen Leadership Academy (MCLA).
I hope everyone enjoys the remaining days of summer and be sure to attend the Independence Day parade/festival on July 5th and Bastille Day on July 17th.