Tiffin City Council rejects mayor’s pick to fill health board vacancy

Tiffin, Ohio — The Tiffin City Council voted 4-3 on Monday to reject Mayor Dawn Iannantuono’s appointment of John Bing to fill a vacancy on the Seneca County Board of Health.

The councilmembers who voted against the appointment were Vickie Wilkins, Ken Jones, Dan Perry, and John Spahr, while Cheyane Thacker, Steven Lepard, and Kevin Roessner voted in support of Bing.

During discussion on the appointment, Councilman Ken Jones stated that he voted against Bing’s appointment due to the majority of people who had contacted him expressing opposition to it. It is worth noting, however, that a number of people who contacted councilmembers or spoke against the appointment during previous council meetings were not residents of Tiffin, but were rather residents of Fostoria and surrounding villages.

“I know this is not a vote, this is an appointment by the mayor. But based on these numbers, and I told five of these people, if these numbers didn’t change, I would have to be a ‘no’ vote on John Bing’s appointment,” explained Jones.

Councilman Dan Perry cited Bing’s stance on mask mandates as his primary reason for voting against the appointment. Perry expressed his belief that Bing was not a fair representation of Seneca County.

“I don’t feel like John Bing’s the correct appointment for this. I don’t think he is a fair representation of Seneca County,” said Perry. “As far as COVID goes, I know we definitely don’t see eye-to-eye on that… I don’t think COVID’s a huge thing now, I think we’re past that, but when he was faced with a question on if he would enforce a mask mandate, any answer other than ‘no’ was unacceptable to me.”

Following the council’s vote, Bing released a statement to TiffinOhio.net, expressing his disappointment and suggesting that partisan politics played a role in the decision.

“I’m afraid that partisan political ambitions triumphed over personal judgment. This is not a political appointment, and the issues facing the Health Board are not Democrat or Republican,” Bing said. “I did not have a political agenda, simply long experience as a 40-year chair of the Park and Recreation Board. I did not seek this appointment but was willing to serve. My qualifications were not questioned and spoke for themselves.”

Bing encouraged others to look beyond the implications of the vote and remain willing to volunteer for public service in the future.

“Let’s reject personal agendas and partisan ambitions. Select the most qualified candidates to represent the people of our community. I may be wrong, but I don’t think my losing has changed my judgment,” he concluded.