Grandview Heights Council Fills Two Open Seats

Grandview Heights City Council is back to full strength on paper. At its Monday, October 26 meeting, members chose Craig Diaz and Rick Kinsinger for the two seats left empty by resignations this fall, the city said in a news post the next day. Both take the oath on Monday, November 9.

The openings came about two weeks apart. Michelle Kozak stepped down on September 30 and Melanie Houston followed on October 13. Rather than leave the seats vacant into 2027, the remaining members took applications, and 21 residents put their names in, a turnout Council President Emily Keeler called a record in the post. Each appointee serves out the unexpired term, which ends December 31, 2027, so the seats will be on the ballot before then.

Diaz has lived in the city for eight years. His background, per the city, is about 15 years of work in nonprofit fundraising, philanthropy and community investment, along with board governance. Kinsinger moved to Grandview Heights in 2007, is a licensed professional engineer, and has served on the city's zoning appeals board for more than nine years, starting in spring 2017, which means he already knows the variance requests that come before the city. The city also notes his work with K-Tribes and at community events.

The post does not give a vote count for either appointment or name the other 19 applicants, and it does not say whether Kinsinger will leave his zoning appeals seat once he joins council. We will update when the city fills that board spot or posts the meeting minutes.

For residents, the two new members join while the city is still gathering resident input on a new parks master plan, and Kinsinger brings years of zoning appeals cases with him to the dais. Read about the Halloween trick-or-treat schedule for Saturday, browse places to eat on our Grandview Heights page, and keep up with suburban councils in City.