YOUNGSTOWN — With the Mahoning County Democratic Party unable to have a quorum of central committee members meet to appoint someone to Youngstown City Council’s 6th Ward seat, the six sitting council members will decide who will succeed Anita Davis in the position.

It will be the first time in nearly 28 years that council members will get to fill a vacancy on the legislative body.

Mahoning Democratic Chairman Chris Anderson initially expressed concerns in early December about getting a quorum of the committee members who represent the ward to attend a meeting to select Davis’ successor. But by the end of the month, after an appointment of one central committee member, Anderson said he was more confident about getting enough to attend a meeting that was set for Jan. 26.

That changed Tuesday with the sudden resignation of that newly named committee member.

Seven Democratic central committee seats are in Youngstown’s 6th Ward. In addition to the recent resignation, another vacancy exists, and three committee members from the ward have not responded to messages and home visits, Anderson said.

That leaves only two active committee members in the ward, which is short of the needed quorum, Anderson said. The party canceled the meeting to appoint a successor to Davis, a Democrat who resigned to become council president.

“It’s a terrible situation to be in, but it highlights the need we have for central committee members who are involved,” Anderson said Tuesday. “It’s an unfortunate byproduct of central committee members not doing the job they were elected to do.”

Without a quorum, the county Democratic Party will turn over the responsibility of appointing a 6th Ward council member to city council, which is the next step under state law.

State law requires the county party to have up to 45 days to appoint, so city council cannot make its selection until at least Feb. 15. State law also requires city council to make a selection no later than 30 days after the expiration of the county political party’s 45 days. If council cannot come to a decision, the appointment is made by the mayor. Derrick McDowell, an independent, has been mayor for three weeks.

There is nothing to stop council members from starting the process to replace Davis right away , but council has to wait until at least Feb. 15 to make the selection official.

Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th Ward and the legislative body’s president pro tempore, said: “I would have to see what the pleasure of the body is. It sounds like we have an item on the agenda” for today’s council meeting.

Ray said: “We also will want to talk to the law department to discuss the process.”

Ray said he wasn’t worried about the time crunch as council members have reacted quickly in other issues with deadlines such as when its members quickly agreed in February 2022 on a redistricting map on the final day it had to approve one.

“When there’s a deadline, I’ve seen my colleagues come together, and I’m sure they would on this,” Ray said.

The person selected would fill the ward seat until Dec. 31, 2027, with a November 2027 election for a full four-year term.

CANDIDATES

Those who formally applied to the county Democratic Party for the appointment were Janet Tarpley, Cynthia McWilson, Brenda Richardson and Jeffrey Oates Jr.

Tarpley is a former two-term 6th Ward councilwoman, elected in 2007 and 2011. She couldn’t seek reelection to the ward seat in the 2015 election because of the city’s term-limits law. Tarpley unsuccessfully ran for an Ohio House seat in the 2014 Democratic primary and lost the Youngstown mayoral race in 2015 as an independent.

Tarpley, who worked at Mahoning County Juvenile Court for 30 years before her 2018 retirement, ran for the 6th Ward seat in the 2023 Democratic primary, finishing in a 273-273 tie with Davis. But Davis won the primary on a coin flip.

McWilson, a registered nurse, lost Democratic primaries in 1999, 2003 and 2015 for the 5th Ward council seat. After the 2022 redistricting, her residence was moved into the 6th Ward.

Richardson, a self-employed hairdresser, and Oates, who didn’t list an occupation on his application, have never run for public office before.

“I feel terrible they spent all that time filling out the questionnaires,” Anderson said. “It is 40 pages long and they spent a considerable amount of time filling it out.”

Others in the 6th Ward who were planning to ask the Democratic central committee members for the appointment were Alex Barker, Rodney Seabrook, Jaelynn Morrison, Rubin Chappell, Catrina Donald, Yolanda Tubbs, Joseph Allen, Eric Franklin and Lichille McRae, according to Anderson.

None has ever run for public office.

Donald is Davis’ niece and serves on the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District’s board of directors.

LAST APPOINTMENT

City council members last got to fill a vacancy on the body in April 1998 when Herman Hill was removed as the 3rd Ward council member.

Because Hill was an independent, the replacement wasn’t done by a political party, but by the council members.

Hill was convicted in 1997 of theft in office for using a fake receipt to cover up his using a city credit card to withdraw more than $2,400 to buy a computer for his personal use.

Hill appealed and was ultimately removed from council in April 1998. Hill served 10 days at a Youngstown halfway house in August 2000 for his crime. His record for that crime was sealed in December 2005.

City council — all six members were Democrats — in 1998 appointed Republican Richard Atkinson to replace Hill. Atkinson won the 1999 and the 2003 elections for the 3rd Ward position.

Until Amber White was elected to represent the 7th Ward in the 2023 election, Hill was the last person elected to council as an independent.

PRECINCT COMMITTEE SEATS

The county Democratic Party is looking for those interested in running for its central committee because some members do not actively participate in the process, Anderson said.

All 212 precincts in the county will be up for election during the May 5 primary. The terms are four years.

Central committee members serve as the “chief liaison and organizer to your neighborhood for our party,” Anderson said.

Those who want to run for central committee seats are asked to go online to centralcommittee.mahoningdemocrats.org and fill out the form. Once that is done, the party will provide information on how to file paperwork.

Those wanting to run need five valid signatures on nominating petitions and must submit them to the board of elections by the Feb. 4 filing deadline. Also, candidates can run as write-ins, without collecting signatures, and file by Feb. 23.

The inability to get a quorum for Youngstown council’s 6th Ward appointment meeting “highlights the importance of having engaged committee members,” Anderson said.

The party visited the homes of the three inactive committee members from Youngstown’s 6th Ward to try to get them engaged, but none responded, Anderson said. Anderson said he also texted them, called them and sent emails — all without any response.

“Those positions are the lifeblood of the party,” Anderson said. “If they’re not filled by those who are committed, there are consequences and we’re seeing that.”