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Chillicothe Council Again Denies Dr. Gabis to Health District

Yet again - and possibly for the last time - the proposed city nomination of former county coroner Dr. John Gabis to the Ross County Board of Health was blocked in Chillicothe Council.

After a few failed votes on Mayor Luke Feeney's nomination of Gabis in earlier council sessions, including reconsideration of council rules, council president Joe Gieringer determined that the nomination would be treated like legislation, in a special committee.

Anthony Phillips had accepted that chairmanship, and in Monday's council, he announced the result of a two-hour committee meeting last week where Gabis was interviewed.

Phillips said, in the motion to move the nomination out of committee, that he and committee member Julie Preston voted no, while member Dustin Proehl voted yes...so the nomination did not proceed.

But Proehl then tried to give a "minority report" in council, saying that it was intended to protect the rights of the majority of council from a minority of council members in the committee. He was cut off by a vote from council...but was later allowed to finish. He asked for his minority report to replace the committee's report, per procedure...but that vote failed.

Later, special committee chairman Anthony Phillips asked Mayor Luke Feeney about comments that Phillips said Feeney had made about the issue. The mayor addressed several aspects of the issue, including an email from the president of the Board of Health about wanting more diversity on the board, including non-medical personnel.

Law Director Anna Villarreal also complained about miscommunications about the issue, lack of clarity about the email, and misinterpretations of council's actions.

So with this additional complexity, it looks like Dr. John Gabis will continue to be denied the city's nomination to the Health District.

At the time of this report, the video of council was not available on council's Facebook page or Youtube page.

Kevin Coleman covers local government and culture


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