|
New Council Members Sworn in to Replace Those on Suspension
Sojourner’s Truth Staff
Three women and one man have been selected by Lucas County Probate
Judge Jack Puffenberger to fill the four Toledo City Council
seats vacated by the suspensions last spring of Yvonne
Harper, Gary Johnson, Tyrone Riley and Larry Sykes.
Judge
Puffenberger, who was selected to appoint the members
pursuant to Ohio law, narrowed a list of candidates for
council from more than 100 applicants who expressed interest
in serving on the municipal legislative body – a number of
prominent citizens and past elected officials were on the
list.
John Hobbs III will take the District 1 seat that Riley had served,
Vanice S. Williams will take the District 4 seat that was
previously filled by Harper. Tiffany M. Preston Whitman, EdD,
will assume an at-large seat, and Cerssandra McPherson will
take the other vacant at-large seat. All have extension
experience in the filed of education.
Hobbs, now the District 4 councilman, has been the owner of Hobbs
Barber Styling Salon for more than 25 years and is also a
BCSN color commentator for high school sports, a substitute
teacher with Toledo Public Schools, an inspector for the
Ohio State Barber Board and a barber instructor with the
Toledo Barber Academy. He is a graduate of St. Francis de
Sales High School, the University of Toledo and the Ohio
State Barber College. He has been a coach of high school
girls basketball teams for years, most recently as the
Bowsher High School head varsity coach.
Williams, the new District 1 representative, earned her bachelor’s
degree from Lourdes University and is an experienced
educator, working with LifeSkills Center of Toledo for a
number of years, most recently as an administrator. She is
the founder of First Light Consulting, LLC which operates
the First Light Child Care Center that opened earlier this
year and has already earned its first star from the State of
Ohio.
Preston Whitman, a graduate of Central Catholic High School and The
Ohio State University, is the director of Student Success
Initiatives at the University of Toledo. She has worked in
various capacities in secondary and higher education and her
areas of interest include K-16 education reform in
underserved communities, civic engagement, community-based
learning experiences and university-community partnerships.
McPherson majored in education at UT and has been a
paraprofessional with Toledo Public Schools for 28 years
working with severe emotionally disturbed and
developmentally disabled students. A longtime community
activist, McPherson has been involved with or a member of
such organizations as the Coalition for Black Trade
Unionists, the National Association of Negro Business &
Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc, the Toledo Federation of
Teachers Board of Directors, the NAACP, the A’ Phillip
Randolph Institute, the Perry Burroughs Democratic Women’s
Club and the Toledo Buffalo Soldiers. She has also served as
a volunteer on numerous political campaigns.
|
John Hobbs III
Vanice S. Williams
Tiffany Preston Whitman, EdD
Cerssandra McPherson
|
