Toledo City Council elects new president, fills vacant seat

TOLEDO, Ohio — A special Toledo City Council meeting was held Tuesday to elect a new council president and fill a vacant seat.

Councilwoman Vanice Williams was voted in to serve as the new council president, and former council president Matt Cherry was elected to fill the vacant seat left by Carrie Hartman, who was the most recent council president.

Cherry previously served on council for close to 10 years, with his last term ending in 2023. He said it was an easy choice to come back to council, especially knowing how short the term will be. He said his goal will be to help council over the next two months.

“I was the president of the city council here for six years when I left,” Cherry said. “I did enough leading then. I think right now it’s just time to listen to the other council members and see what their needs are and see how I can help mesh some things together.”

Williams was appointed unanimously to fill the role of president. She said she is excited to serve as president of council for the next few weeks. She said there are a lot of transitions happening, so her goal is to be there for support and to smoothly carry out the rest of the term. 

“There’s an election going on, so we just want to manage the transition pretty well for our staff and for my colleagues,” Williams said.

Hartman left her position as council president for a job at the University of Toledo, which was later rescinded by the university. Hartman’s last day as council president was Oct. 17, and she withdrew her candidacy for the six open at-large seats in the November election.

Hartman was appointed to council in 2023 and elected president in 2024. Her tenure as president was set to expire at the end of the year, when council members elect a new president.

Eleven people are vying to fill six at-large council seats. The 11 candidates running are:

• Council member Brittany Jones
  
• Council member George Sarantou
  
• Council member Mac Driscoll
  
• Council member Nick Komives
• Council member Cerssandra McPherson
• Tom Waniewski
• Ed Beczynski
• Erin Kramer
• Tom Names
• Robert Pasker III
• Blair Johnson

According to the Lucas County Board of Elections, votes for Hartman will not be counted, although her name will remain on the ballot as the deadline to withdraw has passed.