There is no reason to interview candidates for a vacant city council seat behind closed doors.
Johnstown’s Common Council held closed-door interviews with nine applicants for the seat left by a member who resigned facing criminal charges, going into executive session and giving each candidate about twenty minutes.
This is not the hiring of a city employee. It is the selection of someone who will hold an elected citywide office until voters get their say. Residents had no way to hear what any of the nine would do with the job, or why the council picked the one it picked.
The story: Johnstown council interviews potential Jeffers’ successor — The Leader-Herald, August 18, 2026.
When a board may close a meeting, and what the personnel exception actually covers, is in our Questions and Answers.
