University Heights voters will elect three to fill four council seats

The race for four open seats on University Heights City Council is a bit of a yawn this year. Four of the seven council seats are up for election this year, including those of council members Pamela T. Cameron, Steven Sims, Nancy English and Adele Zucker, but only three candidates will be listed on November’s ballot: Cameron and Sims, who are both running for reelection, and newcomer Michele Weiss.

Weiss, a controller at Hebrew Academy in Cleveland, has served as a member of the city’s finance committee since 2014. She served as campaign treasurer for Councilwoman Sue Pardee, and has served as an observer of University Heights City Council for the League of Women Voters for two years.

The history of one of the seats is complicated. Councilman Mark Wiseman was appointed to fill the vacated seat of Thomas Cozzens, who died in 2013. In the November 2014 election, however, Wiseman chose to run for a full four-year seat, rather than for the remainder of Cozzens’ term. Nancy English ran for the remaining year of Cozzens’ vacated seat, and won the election. She has decided not to run for re-election in 2015.

Adele Zucker, who has served on council for a total of 30 years, did not meet the filing deadline and will not appear on the ballot.

So in November, University Heights residents will elect three people for the four seats, and come January 2015 there will be a vacancy on University Heights City Council.

According to the city’s charter, council vacancies are to be filled by the majority vote of the remaining members of council within 30 days. If they do not do so, the mayor will make the appointment. Because the unexpired term of the appointee will be for more than two years, the charter requires the appointee’s seat to go back to voters at the next municipal election in 2017.