Attorney Evan Nolan is Reggie Harris' replacement on city council. Here's how the selection process worked out

CINCINNATI — Councilwoman Meeka Owens selected attorney Evan Nolan to replace Reggie Harris on Cincinnati City Council after Harris resigned to take a job in President Joe Biden's administration.

The city’s charter is ambiguous. It doesn’t outline a step-by-step process for replacing a council member who dies or resigns from office. Right now, members simply get to choose the councilperson who can pick their replacement if they resign.

Owens told WCPO she’s hopeful her approach becomes the standard blueprint.

"Technically it’s a political process," Owens said. "It has nothing to do with the charter. And so therefore, as a member of this community, as a member of a party, certainly for me, [I was] very intentional in making that decision."

Owens contends the group she consulted was bipartisan, composed of faith and community leaders, most of whom were black women. She told WCPO Friday she wanted someone "ready on Day 1." She said she considered 30 candidates, and with this committee's help, interviewed six people.

In a Friday morning press conference, Nolan said he was committed to "lifting up voices from every zip code." When WCPO sat down with the newly appointed council member, he cited gun violence, pedestrian safety and "environmental justice" as focus issues during his service. Nolan also declared his intention to run for election.

"I realize that I'm an appointed council member now, but I look forward to engaging with the community, meeting voters out in the community, and hopeful win their trust next November," Nolan said. "What I hope to bring to City Hall is the ability to listen, to engage with the community. I spent eight years on the community council in Oakley. We went through a number of large projects, including a master plan of our own and it was important to engage everyone — not just the folks that showed up to our meetings."

Owens' decision was met with some pushback from former city leaders.

"Appointing a cis-gender, straight, white man to fill the term of Cincinnati’s first openly gay man of color is disappointing and a setback for our city," Chris Seelbach, the city's first openly gay council member, said on X after the announcement Friday. "First time in almost 15 years that Cincinnati won’t have the lived experience of an openly LGBTQ+ person on council."

In other major Ohio cities, the process for getting a successor is a bit different.

In Cleveland, council members recommend a successor that has to be approved by the full council. And if there are more than two years left in the term, there has to be a special election. Council members in Columbus start a public application process to solicit applications and are required to hold at least one public hearing before voting on a successor.