The Curious Non-Appointment of Kyle Herman

City Council’s Shenanigans over Volunteer Commission Appointments

Part 1

This story has 3 parts. But, it’s an enthralling read! Let’s get started:

On November 10, 2022, when Mayor John Pribonic nominated 34-year-old Kyle Herman to the Ward 3 vacancy on the Stow Planning Commission, Herman had no idea he’d become a political football for a volunteer position.

Pribonic endorsed Herman as a very qualified candidate with a master’s degree in public policy and varied government experience, including in city planning in Alexandria, Va., as assistant to the mayor of that city.

But, city council members were not interested in reviewing Herman’s qualifications during this meeting. They were only interested in the process of how Herman was nominated. City Council President and At-Large Councilman Jeremy McIntire and Ward 2 Councilwoman Sindi Harrison peppered the mayor with questions about when the opening occurred and why the position had not been advertised.

Pribonic referred to city ordinance, that the mayor is not required to advertise open positions for boards and commissions.

And then, they voted – without asking any questions about the applicant or to the applicant, who was sitting in the chamber ready to discuss his qualifications. His nomination failed in a 3-3 vote, with Cyle Feldman (At-Large), David Licate (At-Large) and Matt Riehl (Ward 1) voting for the nomination while McIntire, Harrison and Mario Fiocca (Ward 4) voted against. Brian Lowdermilk (Ward 3) was absent.

See the nomination and vote here:

Stow resident Mike Daniels, who was in attendance at the meeting, was incensed with the council’s vote for its lack of transparency, in part because city council had earlier in the year appointed previously term-limited Matt Riehl to the vacant Ward 1 councilmember seat without interviewing any applicants.

See Daniels’ comments at the meeting:

But, Kyle Herman’s story does not end here.

Part 2

Not having any applicants for the Ward 3 Planning Commission position after the rejection of Kyle Herman, the mayor’s office advertised the position and received a number of resumes.

On December 15, 2022, after evaluating the Stow Planning Commission applications, Pribonic nominated the candidate he felt had the best qualifications: Kyle Herman.

City Council wasn’t having any of it. This time, Harrison objected to Herman’s re-nomination first by saying she was disappointed that he was re-nominated, and then claiming that he was not qualified for the position based on his residency, because he was a “registered elector of Ward 1” when the position posted was for Ward 3.

Herman was registered to vote at his parents’ home in Ward 1 but he had recently moved to an apartment in Ward 3 and hadn’t yet changed his registration. However, Stow’s charter does not specify that a person’s residence must be confirmed by their voter registration. In fact, it only says that “4 electors, one from each of the wards, shall be appointed by the Mayor with confirmation by Council.”

The word “elector” is the critical term and Harrison got its definition wrong. An elector is someone who is qualified to vote, not someone who is registered to vote. If the only people eligible to be on Stow’s boards and commissions were registered electors, then many Stow residents would be left out of the opportunity to serve their city.

Here’s the section in the Stow Charter regarding the Planning Commission:

Harrison is an attorney and should have known this. Or, she knew and intentionally offered up misinformation to prevent his nomination from being accepted.

Again, Herman was at the meeting, ready to discuss his nomination and the circumstances of his residency, but the city council members with concerns didn’t bother to ask him about it.

Other Council Antics with the Mayor's Commissions

Herman’s nomination wasn’t the only point of contention between the mayor and a faction of the city council. Additionally, the council had rejected the re-appointment of three commission members for new terms, including two that were discussed in the same Dec. 15 meeting.

Rich Sprungle, a long-time member and chair of the Planning Commission, and Kari Suhadolnik, a four-year member and chair of the Arts Commission, also were rejected without explanation.

Under Kari Suhadolnik's leadership as the chair of the Arts Commision, the group came up with the idea for the decorated traffic signal boxes around the city, along with the Stow Women in Arts show, the Summit County Courthouse art exhibits and other programs. See letters read into the minutes of the Dec. 15 meeting from Stow residents disturbed by the rejection of these appointments.

There was spirited debate over the mayor’s nominations. Pribonic and Licate questioned the motives of the council’s No votes as none of the candidates had been interviewed by council and there was no discussion during the meeting, other than Herman’s residency, about their qualifications.

See the discussion about Herman’s re-nomination and the re-appointment of other commission members:

The vote for Herman was 4-2 against: Harrison, McIntire, Lowdermilk and Fiocca voted against his appointment, while Licate and Feldman voted for it. Riehl was absent.

The votes for Suhadolnik and Sprungle were the same: 4-2 against.

On January 3, 2023, longtime Stow resident John Comi was nominated for the Ward 3 Planning Commission position. While his application touted a long work history in manufacturing and business management, he did not have any experience related to city planning. None of the four who had rejected Herman questioned anything about Comi’s qualifications, even Harrison, who at the prior meeting had said she’d prefer a candidate who was an attorney. Comi was appointed to the position with a unanimous vote.

One more chapter of this saga.

Part 3

On January 26, 2023, Kyle Herman was nominated again, but this time for a position with the Civil Service Commission. During that same meeting, Mike Daniels was nominated to be on the Arts Commission.

In both cases, Herman and Daniels had previously applied for different commission positions: Herman, for the Planning Commission position, and Daniels for the Civil Service Commission. Because Daniels is a registered Republican, his application was not qualified for the open Democrat position. As a result, Pribonic suggested that Daniels join the Arts Commission.

Daniels’ nomination was quickly approved, with none of the council members questioning his qualifications, none of which suggested anything having to do with experience or interest in art or theater or patronage of the arts.

However, when Herman’s nomination came up, Lowdermilk questioned whether Herman had any relevant experience and why Herman’s application had been reused with “Planning Commission” crossed out and “Civil Service” written in its place. (Daniels’ application had “Civil Service” crossed out and “Arts Commission” written in – that was not questioned.)

• See Mike Daniels’ application.

• See Kyle Herman’s application.

See the discussion of Daniels’ and Herman’s nominations:

Having run out of reasons to reject Herman for a VOLUNTEER position, his nomination was approved on a 5-2 vote; McIntire and Lowdermilk voted against it.

What Should We Make of This?

After the 2nd rejection of Herman’s application for Planning Committee, as well as the rejection of Suhadolnik and Sprungle, councilman Licate called out the obstructing council members for attempting to expand council’s role beyond its charter of approving qualified appointments and applying a political lens to their review. See his comments:

Stow residents in attendance of the meeting did the same:

John Impellizeri, a Munroe Falls councilman, addressed the harmful impacts of political infighting in local government based on past issues in our neighboring city:

Council’s Unnecessary Interference May Impact Residents

Although the various boards and commissions are manned by volunteers, they serve a vital role in reviewing and helping to create city policies that the city council and mayor eventually consider and vote into law. So, these appointments are important and shouldn’t be made willy-nilly. But, there’s been no accusations or evidence to suggest that any of Mayor Pribonic’s choices have been unqualified – certain council members just seem to feel that they should have an oversized influence in what those choices should be.

During the time that city council was obstructing Pribonic’s Planning Commission appointments (going back to the non-renewal of another commission member, Chris Brauer, in January 2022), the Planning Commission could have done important work to update city zoning ordinances to better reflect the city’s development priorities. The residents living around Marsh Road and N. River Road who oppose the proposed Pulte Miller’s Landing development found out the cost of City Council’s removal of two seasoned voices from the Planning Commission -- the commission voted 4-0 on September 26 to approve the Pulte development. It now goes to City Council.

City Council serves a vital purpose in providing an important “checks and balance” to assure that all city operations serve the people of Stow. But, review of city council’s meetings illuminates a regular pattern of conflict between city council members Jeremy McIntire, Sindi Harrison and Brian Lowdermilk with the mayor and members of his administration on matters only intended to harass and obstruct the administration from fulfilling its responsibilities.

While that infighting continues, Stow residents watch other communities like Hudson, Kent and Cuyahoga Falls make tremendous improvements that make their residents proud. The residents of Stow deserve an administration and city council that can work together to improve our community.