Erie County Council narrows field of applicants seeking to fill Mary Rennie's vacant seat
Erie County Council on Wednesday heard from six Democratic applicants vying to fill a vacancy left by former County Councilmember Mary Rennie, who resigned in July.
After reviewing resumes and conducting a brief question-and-answer session, council unanimously agreed to narrow the field to three applicants: Rock Copeland, Larry Sapienza and Tom Spagel.
Council will hold a special meeting before Aug. 24 to select one of the applicants by majority vote.
If no one is chosen by Aug. 23, which marks 30 days after Rennie's resignation, the Court of Common Pleas, upon petition of the council or any five residents of the county, will appoint someone to fill the vacancy, according to the Erie County Administrative Code.
Rennie, who represented the county's 3rd District, which includes parts of the city of Erie and Millcreek Township, was a Democratic councilmember and must be replaced by a Democrat as per the Administrative Code.
The selected applicant will serve until Dec. 31, which means the applicant will deliberate over and vote on the 2024 county budget.
Who are the three final applicants?
Copeland, who's already been nominated by the Erie County Democratic Party to replace Rennie on the 2023 general election ballot, is a gear product specialist at Mayer Electric, 2402 W. 15th St.
He's also chairman of the Erie Democratic Progressive Caucus and a board member of the Erie Sewer Authority. He also ran for Erie City Council earlier this year.
Sapienza is a refugee social services director and housing coordinator for the Multicultural Community Resource Center and a board member of the Erie County Convention Center Authority.
He was also a constable for the city of Erie for nearly 20 years.
Spagel is the owner and president of Spagel Brothers Inc. and is a partner at Spagel Brothers Realty. He's also served on several boards, including the Erie School District School Board and is a retired major in the U.S. Army.
How did council vote?
Both Copeland and Spagel received votes from five of the six councilmembers present Wednesday.
Voting for Copeland were Jim Winarski, Charlie Bayle, Ellen Schauerman, Terry Scutella and Andre Horton. Voting for Spagel were Winarski, Bayle, Schauerman, Horton and Brian Shank.
Sapienza received three votes, from Winarski, Bayle and Shank.
The other three applicants who didn't make the cut were Mark Tanenbaum, John Chimera and Julie Schmitt.
Tanenbaum, who serves as executive director of the Performing Artists Collective Alliance, received votes from Shank and Horton. Tanenbaum was not present at Wednesday's meeting due to a doctor's appointment and submitted a statement that was read aloud to council.
Chimera received votes from Schauerman and Scutella. Schmitt received no votes.
Following the meeting, Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Wertz told the Erie Times-News he was glad council is engaging in a full process to make its appointment.
"Obviously, I think it would be great to see Rock Copeland get a head start this term as our candidate in a Democratic-leaning district," he said. "The opportunity to begin serving the people of the 3rd Council District would be a benefit to all involved."
Dems nominate Copeland for ballot: Erie County Dems nominate Rock Copeland to replace Mary Rennie on ballot
Council to accept applications: Erie County Council to accept applications to fill Mary Rennie's vacant seat
A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County Council to pick from three applicants seeking vacant seat
