Reuben Cozmyer, a Merriam resident, is the newest city councilmember.
In two separate rounds of paper ballot voting, the Merriam City Council on Monday appointed Cozmyer as the new Ward 4 councilmember.
Cozmyer fills the vacant seat left by former councilmember David Neal, who resigned from his position earlier this year due to health issues.
Cozmyer will serve Ward 4 through December 2025, the end of Neal’s term.
Cozmyer is a civil engineer, recent planning commissioner
- Cozmyer is a 12-year Merriam resident, who sat on the planning commission up until his appointment to the city council. He is a civil engineer whose work focuses on water resources and flood management.
- During his interview with the city council on Monday, Cozmyer said he believes the city needs to focus on improving the downtown area as well as pedestrian access around major thoroughfares.
- Cozmyer said he believes his professional work will help him serve Merriam as the city moves forward with any work with state or federal agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
- He said he wants to help the city live up to its motto: “Just right.”
- “I want to join you in keeping Merriam a place that people want to move to, want to live in, want to visit,” Cozmyer said.
There were four other candidates
The city council interviewed five total candidates during the Oct. 28 meeting including Cozmyer, the eventual appointee. The other candidates were as follows:
- Jonathan Beaver, a Ward 4 resident who owns a landscape company and who grew up in Merriam.
- Billy Croan, who was born in Merriam, bought his home in 2014 and has been on various committees and his homeowners association board. Croan, an information technology consultant, previously applied for a Ward 4 vacancy three years ago.
- Nida Dillon, a 17-year resident and a family physician who was on the 5701 steering committee in 2018.
- Daniel Molina, a 15-year resident who works in digital media and content strategy. Molina served on the Mobile Merriam committee in 2022, as well.
After interviewing all five candidates, the city council conducted a paper ballot in which they each voted for their top two candidates to move on to the final round.
Cozmyer and Dillon each received five votes, according to city staff’s vote count. In the final round, Cozmyer received six out of seven votes.
Cozmyer’s appointment leaves planning commission vacancy
- As a newly appointed councilmember, Cozmyer can no longer sit on the city’s planning commission.
- The Merriam Planning Commission already had a vacancy, so with Cozmyer leaving his role on the commission, it leaves that public body with two vacancies.
- Residents interested in sitting on the planning commission can learn more online here.
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