Otto Beatty III has been appointed to Columbus City Council to fill Franklin County Prosecutor Shayla Favor's District 7 seat.
Beatty's appointment was announced during Monday night's city council meeting. He replaces Favor, who left Columbus City Council to become the next Franklin County prosecutor after she was elected in November.
Beatty, an attorney and businessman, is the stepson of U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty and son of former Congressman Otto Beatty Jr.
He was selected from a list of 10 finalists. More than 40 people applied for the position.
District 7 includes downtown Columbus, Franklinton and most of the core neighborhoods to the north and east of downtown like Italian Village, Victorian Village, Harrison West, Fifth by Northwest, Olde Town East, and the Near East Side.
Beatty spoke to reporters following the unanimous vote to appoint him. He said his focus will be on housing in his 11 months in the seat.
"I'm hoping in part in the area of housing that we can open up opportunities for all the citizens and not just those, you know, young professionals, but older adults who may be struggling with those things such as property taxes and changing neighborhoods. And then also the unhoused," Beatty said.
"(The unhoused) is a particular growing problem which you heard a lot about last week in last week's (city council) hearing. And so those are some of the things I'd like to work on," Beatty said.
Beatty said he was chosen for his expertise in housing. He said that mirrors his predecessor, Favor, whom he said he worked with to bring more affordable housing to the Near East Side.
Beatty said he pledges not to run in November's election for the seat, leaving the door open for any number of the other 40 people who applied to be chosen by voters.
"I didn't look at it as... it's only 10 months or only 11 months," Beatty said. "I look more in the opportunity to serve. You see, public service is a gift and it is a temporary gift whether you're serving 11 years or 11 months."
Some of the other applicants have already said they plan to run for the seat this November, such as Jesse Vogel and Stonewall Columbus Executive Director Densil Porteous.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said District 7 has a "deep bench of public servants."
"We are blessed to have such a tough choice today," Hardin said.
Council took about 20 minutes to pick Beatty after going into executive session. Beatty was the only name put forth in a nomination by Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla.
Beatty was sworn into the city council seat after the meeting.
