Council fills open board seats

by Hillary Copsey
Senior City Writer

The Athens Board of Housing Appeals is at full membership for the first time in more than a year after City Council appointed two new members to the board and moved a former alternate to full member status at last night’s council meeting.

Former alternate Greg Fialko will serve as a full board member until December 2003. Council also appointed Melissa Freeman and David Shafie to the board. Sheryl Hill, Todd Mitchell and alternate R.J. Sumney are the other members.

Members of the board serve three-year terms and hear appeals of the Athens Housing Code. The board had not met since 1999 because there were no cases and terms had expired. Athens Code Enforcement Director Steve Pierson contacted council in February 2001 to find replacements for the board in order to hear a case. But administrative confusion left the case waiting for 14 months while council found new members.

“They just haven’t met in so long, I had problems getting in touch with everyone,” said Councilwoman Kathy Hecht, D-1^st ward. “Once I did they were very helpful.”

Hecht took over the job of finding board members from former First Ward Councilman Mike McSteen, whom Pierson originally contacted about the expired terms.

Councilman Dale Tampke, D-at-large, said members of the board should come from specific sectors of the community, which also prolonged the search. At least one landlord and one tenant should serve on the board.

“We had some good people want to serve on the board, but they didn’t fit the criteria,” Tampke said.

Hill is a landlord and Fialko is a tenant, Hecht said. Other board members are lifelong Athens residents and Ohio University faculty members.

Hecht said she expects the board to meet within the next month to hear three cases, including the one that has waited since last March. Pierson said he would contact the board members once council had appointed them.