ATHENS, Ohio — During Athens City Council’s first meeting of the year, city Law Director and Parliamentarian Lisa Eliason swore in three new council members to two-year terms, who were elected November 2025.
The council also selected its president pro tempore and acting president pro tem, distributed committee assignments, and discussed a homeowner flooding issue from water line breaks and resulting compensation for a Columbia Avenue couple.
The new council members are Megan Almeida, 1st Ward, representing the city’s West Side; John Staser, 2nd Ward, who represents the South Side; and Paul Isherwood, At-Large. They replaced, respectively, Solveig Spjeldnes and Jeff Risner, who did not seek re-election. Council President Micah McCarey, formerly council At-Large, replaced Sam Crowl.
Left to right: During an Athens City Council Swearing-In ceremony Monday evening, city Law Director Lisa Eliason swore in three new council members: Paul Isherwood, At-Large, with daughter Eleanor beside him; John Staser, 2nd Ward, representing the city’s South side; and Megan Almeida, 1st Ward, who represents West side residents. They also received their committee assignments. Photos by Larry Di Giovanni. Jan. 5, 2026.
Almeida has worked for nearly three years as a retention specialist at Ohio University, helping students with time management and academic support services.
A tenured professor, Staser has taught chemical engineering students the past dozen years.
Isherwood works as the Pathways Hub director for Corporation for Appalachian Ohio Development. Originally from Ireland, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2023, he recently served for a year-and-a-half on the Athens Board of Zoning Appeals.
New business: key positions
The first order of business for Council was to elect a president pro tem and acting pro tem. The president pro tem fills in for Council President McCarey when he is either absent or serving as mayor when Steve Patterson is away on business.
Mayor Patterson said he is no longer president of the National League of Cities, so he does not anticipate being away as much. McCarey offered that in preparation for filling key positions, the seven council members participated in a two-day orientation Dec. 17 and 18, 2025.
Unlike past selections of council president pro tem, which was based on seniority, McCarey said the criteria this time would involve a council member who has exhibited traits such as availability, punctuality, decorum and experience. Those seeking the position were self-nominated or nominated by fellow council members.
For president pro tem, council member Michael Wood, 3rd Ward, nominated Jessica Thomas, At-Large. Council member Beth Clodfelter, At-Large, nominated herself; Alan Swank, 4th Ward, nominated himself. Each briefly discussed their attributes.
Thomas received five votes to become council president pro tem; Swank received two votes, one from himself and one from Staser. Voting for Thomas were herself, Almeida, Clodfelter, Isherwood and Wood.
By a unanimous vote, the position of acting president pro tem went to Clodfelter.
2026–2027 committee member designations
McCarey read the names of council members serving on the four council committees, which consist of four council members each, and the committee member chairs. The designations, involving input from all council members, were hashed out during their two-day orientation. The assignments are as follows:
- Finance and Personnel: Jessica Thomas (Chair), Beth Clodfelter, John Staser and Michael Wood.
- City and Safety Services: Paul Isherwood (Chair), Megan Almeida, Alan Swank and Michael Wood.
- Planning and Development: Alan Swank (Chair), Megan Almeida, Paul Isherwood and Jessica Thomas.
- Transportation: Beth Clodfelter (Chair), Michael Wood, John Staser and Alan Swank.
Law director’s 2025 report
City Law Director Lisa Eliason released her annual report, outlining the Athens City Law Department’s two divisions: civil, overseeing the city and its legal matters, including litigation; and criminal, overseeing prosecutions of misdemeanors in the city, OU, and in some unincorporated areas through an agreement with Athens County.
The law director, a three-quarter time position at a minimum of 30 hours per week, manages a staff of an assistant law director, two full-time prosecutors and two full-time secretaries. The 2025 city law office budget was just over $757,000, with just over $82,000 coming from Athens County for prosecution of misdemeanor offenses in unincorporated areas.
Eliason wrote that as of Dec. 24, 2025, the city had handled 1,398 criminal cases, 6,419 traffic cases, and 240 operating vehicle while intoxicated cases for a total $8,057. That was a slight increase from 8,006 cases in 2024.
In 2025, 294 defendants entered diversion programs for matters including driving under suspension, substance abuse and alcohol-related offenses.
“Also in 2025, approximately 76% of the 8,057 cases waived court appearance (paid the ticket), pled the arraignment, entered diversion, or were prosecuted by another jurisdiction (such as Nelsonville),” she noted. “The Athens City Prosecutors had direct involvement with the remaining 24% (1,963) cases from pre-trial conference, motion hearing, to jury trial and appeal. Of those 1,963 cases, 1,008 cases occurred in the city of Athens, including on Ohio University property, and 955 occurred outside the city of Athens in the unincorporated areas of the county.”
Her office handled three jury trials and one appeal. The office also handles victim letters, emails, and virtual as well as in-person meetings with victims. The office collected just over $3,100 in restitution for cases completed prior to May 2023, when the court clerk of Athens Municipal Court began collecting restitution.
In the civil division, the law director’s duties included serving on collective bargaining teams, reviewing and drafting easements and land use agreements, working with the clerk of council to draft ordinances, working with the human resources director on personnel issues, providing legal advice to the Athens Civil Service Commission, filing proof of claim forms where the city is owed money in bankruptcy cases, preparing and reviewing deeds, and other duties.
Eliason provided a brief description of five pending civil cases involving the city of Athens, ranging from a damages claim against the city fire department made by East State Development Co. LLC, to a case involving municipal entities filing suit against multiple drug manufacturers for alleged drug overpricing.
Swank noted that the approximately $82,000 provided by the county budget to cover 955 prosecutions within unincorporated county areas works out to about $86 per case. He asked Eliason if that was enough money per case. Eliason said although the amount for cases paid by the county has risen substantially, it only covers basic case costs.
Swank said he would like to push toward a council resolution this fall to seek more funding, about the time the county discusses its budget.
City compensates couple for flooding from water line break
Homeowner Alison Sincoff appeared before the council near the end of Monday’s meeting to discuss extensive damage done to her and her husband Dave’s home at 155 Columbia Ave., related to “numerous water main breaks to the Northside neighborhood near Columbia Avenue, Old Peach Ridge and Strouds Run Roads.”
Sincoff said she and her family, longtime residents of Columbia Avenue, suffered their most recent damage from a water main break of a city line on Dec. 17, 2025.
The line breakage happened on the opposite side of the road, at 156 and 158 Columbia Ave., where the terrain and drainage infrastructure was not equipped to handle the flooding that resulted, she said. There was a similar “event” in July 2025, she said.
“This break sent torrents of water and mud across the street, overwhelming our outside drainage, infrastructure, flooding our property and our home’s finished lower level,” Sincoff said. “This extreme muddied water event flooded all carpeted hallways, a bathroom, utility room, workout room and garage.”
Neighbors also suffered from the line breaks and flooding, she said, and were particularly hard hit from a line break on Dec. 19, 2025.
Sincoff said “the utter lack of functioning drainage” on Columbia Avenue “makes our home remarkably vulnerable to wall street water events.” She emphasized that the city has a “responsibility to better ensure water drainage is directed away from all residential properties” in her vicinity, including a property at 1 Old Peach Ridge Road.
During communications, Patterson addressed the water line breaks, offering that “freeze-thaw” events in the winter contribute to the problem. The city will address the drainage issue with a future fix. He offered that the city’s insurance carrier, Sedgwick Claims Management Services, worked out a damage claim amount to compensate the Sincoffs with a payment of $15,000.
Clodfelter said she has spoken with a McGuffey Lane resident, who has also suffered from flooding. That property owner has also endured flooding of their basement, she said.
During the winter months, because access to faulty water lines involves digging, Patterson said the remedy may have to involve crushed limestone to pack in around water lines, since asphalt operators don’t begin operations until April. A fix called “cold patch” doesn’t hold well, he said.
Sincoff commended the city for addressing the water main breaks on a timely basis, specifically naming street department employee Curt Mayle. She said council members Wood, Isherwood and Thomas all offered their “constant communication and support,” as did city Service-Safety Director Andy Stone, Deputy Service-Safety Director Andrew Chiki, and city Engineer Jared Balderson.
Athens City Council’s next regular meeting will be 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, at Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also streamed online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays.
