Vermillion Resigns Council Presidency

Hilliard City Council President Cynthia Vermillion, citing concern about “distractions” related to City Council’s decision on April 22 to adopt a resolution calling for “mutual end to hostilities in Gaza,” announced her resignation as president May 28 at a special meeting of City Council.

Vice President Tina Cottone will assume the mantle as president, according to the city charter, and the seven council members will internally appoint a new vice president, according to council’s rules of order.

Vermillion, one of four Democrats on City Council, was elected in 2019. She became the first Democrat elected to City Council in Hilliard since 1989.

She was elected to a second term in 2023, receiving the second-most votes in the six-candidate field. All three Democrat candidates were successful in that election and joined Cottone, elected in 2021, to create the first-ever Democrat majority on Hilliard City Council.

In remarks made from the dais May 28, Vermillion said she first ran for City Council “with the goal of making our city government responsive to Hilliard’s residents.”

It was with that in mind Vermillion said previously that she introduced a resolution April 22 calling for a “mutual end to hostilities in Gaza.”

The resolution was introduced after numerous residents, citing family members living in Gaza under attack by the Israel Defense, beseeched City Council to publicly stand against the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

Hamas, a Palestinian militant organization, launched a surprise attack in Israel Oct. 7 that renewed hostilities between Israel and the state of Palestine dating back to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1948, according to numerous historians.

City Council adopted the peace resolution 4-2 with Council members Les Carrier and Peggy Hale dissenting on April 22, the first day of the Jewish Passover.

In an email on April 19 to City Council, City Manager Michelle Crandall asked City Council not to consider the resolution because it was Jewish Passover, but the resolution advanced.

Vermillion issued a public apology at the May 13 City Council meeting but residents- opponents and proponents from both within and outside of Hilliard- continued to call for Vermillion to resign while others lauded her “humanitarian” action and encouraged her to stand her ground.

Vermillion said May 13 that she did not intend to resign but later indicated she was reconsidering her stance and she resigned the council presidency May 28.

“In the aftermath of the peace resolution that City Council passed on April 22, there has been continued distractions during City Council meetings and within the community. I am concerned these distractions will have a negative impact on the city, administration and staff in their day-to-day work to ensure Hilliard continues to be a shining community in central Ohio,” Vermillion said from the dais May 28.

“Therefore, I have made the difficult decision to step down as president of City Council,” Vermillion said.

Vermillion will continue to serve as a member of City Council and said she looks forward to continuing her service.

“I’ve worked hard as your city council member and made a positive difference in my first term… I look forward… to continuing to make positive changes in our community,” Vermillion said.

Councilman Les Carrier said he hopes the city quickly moves past the issue.

Carrier also withdrew a resolution he had proposed to formalize the apology Vermillion read into the record on May 13.

“I do not see (Vermillion’s resignation) as an end but an opportunity to work together as a body on what makes sense… finding things we agree on (and) cordially disagreeing (on other things),” Carrier said.

“We all want what is best for Hilliard,” Carrier said.

Councilman Greg Betts also lauded Vermillion for having the “personal courage” to step forward “no matter how controversial the issue.”