Fort Wayne City Council will have representation in the form of a non-voting member on the fire department’s Merit Commission, in an appointment decided Tuesday.
The Merit Commission was reformatted in October to better align with state statute. With five votes, representative Lloyd Osborne with International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399 was chosen to serve a four-year term as the liaison between the department and Council, being present at meetings to offer input and feedback.
At-large Republican Michael Barranda nominated Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership director of business development Brandon Noll, who subsequently earned three votes. He advocated for Council to give a younger person an opportunity, while criticizing Osborne’s nomination.
“I think it’s a terrible idea, to offer someone so heavily involved in labor for this spot," Barranda said. "I thought we should aim to nominate somebody more neutral for the position.”
Barranda was also nominated, by 2nd District Republican Russ Jehl.
Council ultimately voted Osborne to the position after an hour of discussion. One of the points of debate was whether or not the new Council in January could replace Osborne with, say, Barranda, which received a lukewarm response from Council members.
