City of Delaware Special Council Meeting: Third Ward Candidate Interviews and Appointment - February 16, 2026
City of Delaware Special Council Meeting: Third Ward Candidate Interviews and Appointment - February 16, 2026
The City of Delaware held a special council meeting on February 16, 2026, starting at 4:30 PM, to interview candidates for the Third Ward council vacancy. After an initial debate about whether to interview applicants who missed submission deadlines, the council interviewed six candidates. Following two rounds of interviews and two executive sessions, the council appointed Matt McClellan to the Third Ward seat by a 4-2 vote.
Discussion Items
- Motion to interview late/submission candidates: Councilman Ryder moved to interview three applicants (Acker, Harris, Kasperg) who had not returned questionnaires on time or were not scheduled for interviews. He argued that excluding candidates on technicalities could deprive the city of the best candidate. Vice Mayor Frazier and Councilman Haynes opposed, emphasizing the importance of the deadline and the questionnaire as a tool for evaluation. The motion lacked a second and died.
- Interview order: The council attorney, David Moser, drew names to determine the interview order: 1. Brooke Diedrick, 2. Matt McClellan, 3. John Sylvestri, 4. Jacob Jankowski, 5. Sharis Fell, 6. Daniel Sanchez. (One applicant, Joy Scott, had withdrawn.)
Candidate Interviews
Each candidate gave a two-minute bio and then answered five questions from council members (Griffith, Haynes, Ryder, Bogan, Frazier) on: handling competing interests, responding to constituent opposition to a commercial development project, distinguishing qualities, views on annexation, and three priorities for the Third Ward. Key positions included:
- Brooke Diedrick: Emphasized checking personal biases, listening to constituents, balancing growth with identity, and streamlining development processes.
- Matt McClellan: Prioritized thoughtful growth, connecting the Third Ward to the city, economic development leveraging state government experience, and core safety/services.
- John Sylvestri: Advocated unbiased, fact-based decisions; raised concerns about Route 23 traffic, privacy (flock cameras), and preserving community character.
- Jacob Jankowski: Focused on community engagement, understanding the "why" behind development, advocating for defense industry/manufacturing, and filling vacant industrial spaces.
- Sharis Fell: Highlighted the large ward size, infrastructure strain, supporting local businesses, and connecting residents through annexation.
- Daniel Sanchez: Stressed balanced, game-changing growth, open communication, and collaborative decision-making with stakeholders.
Key Outcomes
- Executive session: At 6:38 PM, council entered executive session under ORC 121.22(G)(1) to discuss appointment of a public official.
- Nomination for second round: Councilman Ryder nominated Matt McClellan and Daniel Sanchez for further consideration. The other four candidates were thanked but not advanced.
- Second-round interview questions: Both finalists answered three additional questions:
- How would you explain the council-manager system to a constituent?
- What is the most cost-effective way to educate the entire city on an initiative?
- What are your thoughts on the future direction of the city’s tax base?
- Matt McClellan gave specific responses: explaining the system with staff expertise, using proactive mailers/office hours for education, and considering revenue adjustments as a last resort.
- Daniel Sanchez gave more conceptual answers: acknowledging he needed to study the council-manager system, engaging social media and word-of-mouth for education, and keeping all options open on tax policy.
- Second executive session: Council voted to re-enter executive session (6-0) for further deliberation.
- Final vote: Councilman Ryder nominated both finalists. Roll call vote for the appointment:
- Ms. Griffith: Sanchez
- Mr. Haynes: McClellan
- Mr. Ryder: McClellan
- Dr. Bogan: McClellan
- Vice Mayor Frazier: McClellan
- Mayor Rickle: Sanchez
- Result: Matt McClellan received 4 votes (Haynes, Ryder, Bogan, Frazier), Daniel Sanchez received 2 votes (Griffith, Rickle). Matt McClellan was appointed to the Third Ward seat.
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 7:01 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. The time is 4 30, and we will call to order the special council meeting for February 16th, 2026. Roll call, please. Ms. Griffith? Here. Mr. Haynes. Here. Mr. Ryder. Here. Dr. Bogan. Here. Vice Mayor Fraser? Here. Mayor Rickle. Here. I just want to say thank you all who've signed up to apply for this position tonight. This gives us great joy in knowing that there's this many people that are considering wanting to run for council. We all know that we have a great city, so it's really exciting to see this tonight. And I'm not sure if this is then becomes item 1.5 on the roll call or on the agenda, but we had some uh informal discussion over who would be invited to interview. And I I don't recall all the details of how that played out, except that there was some idea that very very clearly the questionnaires needed to be returned uh by a deadline. And uh and I and I don't recall the email if it was that you'll no longer be considered um for the candidacy for the position. Um I think overall my point uh that I want to make is uh some people didn't uh complete the petition as an example. Uh at least one individual couldn't be here tonight anyway. So that'd be very difficult to select someone that we can't interview, and I recognize that. Uh we at least had one questionnaire that was late, another one that wasn't submitted at all. Uh I think I want council to consider that these go to the uh the to the weight of their application, not the admissibility of it uh for their interview process. And I feel like uh if they are here and they're not already scheduled, um I propose that they actually be interviewed tonight, and then council just weighs that along with if they didn't uh submit their petition of signatures, if they didn't submit their application responses, but that we don't exclude someone as a candidates on a an important legalistic matter, uh in the worst case scenario that we're depriving Delaware of the best candidate because they missed a box. Um and so I'm not sure how the best way to proceed. I guess my my suggestions that we um ask if there's in fact Mr. Acker, Mr. Harris, Mr. Kasperg in the audience, who I don't believe are currently being interviewed. Um maybe they're not here, but uh if any of those three are here, I I would like to interview them tonight. Uh so my mo my I I'm I move that we as council interview um someone who has applied in attendance who's not currently scheduled to interview that motion or a second. Is there a discussion? Madam Mayor, uh while I I certainly um Councilman Ryder, I certainly understand the admissible uh nature of they've gone through the initial parts of the process. I think that looking at the cumulative process is also important. While I don't see the petitions per se weighted as heavily as the secondary questionnaire, so um I I could kind of acquiesce on the petition standpoint and not having that completed. I I feel slightly differently about completing that secondary questionnaire. Okay. At any time was the deadline changed for the questionnaire. It was changed by days, not by time. So it was moved from a Friday the 13th up to Wednesday to give us more time to review them all. And how much notice did they receive that that deadline had changed? Recall when you sent it out. The first three candidates that applied before the deadline date were notified as soon as at the same day.
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