Friday, Erie Mayor Joe Schember released a statement regarding the one open position on City Council due to the results of the November 2023 election in which Councilman Ed Brzezinski won both the four-year and two-year seats. Since Mr. Brzezinski can’t fill both seats, in December, the City Council announced it would accept applications for the vacant position to complete the seven-member council. City Council received thirteen resumes and cover letters for the position which, according to law, must be filled within 30 days. If Council could not agree on a suitable candidate by that deadline, the Mayor could break the stalemate and appoint a candidate. If the Mayor decided not to select the candidate by the deadline, the decision would be left up to the Erie County Court of Common Pleas.
Mayor Schember stated, “On Wednesday, January 3, 2024, City Council voted on a Resolution to appoint Mel Witherspoon to fill the vacant two-year City Council seat. The Resolution vote ended in a 3-3 tie. My intent was to leave the decision up to City Council. However, I was dismayed by the divisiveness at Wednesday’s Council meeting. Since being formally presented with the certified tie-vote on Wednesday evening, I have taken the time to talk to multiple members of Council and to review all the resumes and cover letters of the applicants for the two-year seat.”
“Through my conversations with City Council members, it has become clear that this situation is going to remain deadlocked. In reviewing the resumes and cover letters, I am pleased with the level of interest, and I hope these individuals will get involved, listen, learn, and run for office in the future. However, Mel Witherspoon is clearly the best candidate to serve out the two-year term at this time. Mel’s commonsense leadership, experience, and qualifications will enable him to hit the ground running. He brings a critical voice to the table and has consistently been overwhelmingly elected by the people. Given that the Council support for Mel is not going to change, it is incumbent on me to break the tie without delay. I did not ask for this, but I will not allow a city decision of this magnitude to be passed to the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, and I believe that it is not in the best interest of the citizens of Erie for this divisiveness to continue. Therefore, I am exercising my right to break the tie now in favor of appointing Mel Witherspoon to City Council so that we can get on with the proper functioning of City government.”
According to City Solicitor Ed Betza, the ordinance limiting a Council member to three consecutive terms of four years is not a factor in the appointment since there was a break in service between Mr. Witherspoon’s last term and this appointment.
