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East Cleveland, a city in financial distress, has appointed commissioners to explore a merger with Cleveland.

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio -- East Cleveland completed the first step in opening annexation discussions with Cleveland by appointing three commissioners to represent the city in negotiations with Cleveland.

During a special council meeting Monday evening, a unanimous vote approved the ordinance that designated Andrew Jackson, Chris Glassburn and Sandra Morgan as commissioners and announced the city's intent to explore a merger.

The choice now goes to Cleveland City Council to enter these discussions and to appoint three commissioners of their own.

"This is huge for East Cleveland," Council President Thomas Wheeler said in an interview Tuesday.

Who are the commissioners?

Jackson owns several small businesses and is president and CEO of Elsons International, a packaging company. He was also involved in the Greater Cleveland Partnership as part of the Commission on Economic Inclusion.

Glassburn is a senior policy advisor for Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish.

Morgan, an East Cleveland resident, has a long history of civic endeavors in Cleveland and East Cleveland and is director of external affairs for Kent State University's College of Arts and Sciences.

Jackson, Glassburn and Morgan were chosen after an open application process and being interviewed by City Council.

While Cleveland City Council considers the proposal, East Cleveland will use the time to provide its commissioners with all the information that they need, Mayor Gary Norton said.

What led to this?

East Cleveland's leaders are pursuing a merger between the two cities because of East Cleveland's poor finances.

An petition effort in 2015 to prod City Council to pass this kind of ordinance failed when Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Russo ruled that a technical error by the elections board made the petitions invalid. Petitioners started a second attempt to collect signatures in April.

Norton, on behalf of the city, also explored asking the state permission to file for bankruptcy in late April. However, the Ohio tax commissioner's office replied that only council could make the bankruptcy request, and it must undergo certain preparations to do so.

Council also approved an ordinance Monday that would ask the Cleveland Foundation for funding to support a study conducted by Conway MacKenzie.

So what's next?

Cleveland City Council could choose not to move forward on the annexation discussion, or has 30 days to appoint its own commissioners, Council President Kevin Kelley said. After that, the joint commission would have 120 days to discuss a merger and provide a report.

Then the issue would go to both the voters of both East Cleveland and Cleveland. Cleveland City Council could choose to approve the ordinance themselves. However, Kelley said people seem to prefer giving Clevelanders a vote.

Kelley said he's very interested in keeping this discussion alive, but that the priority will be to make sure Cleveland is not put in financial harm. Cleveland has its own issues to deal with right now like the consent decree and a potential income tax increase, he said.

"There are a lot of moving parts," Kelley said. "There are a lot of questions we have to answer, and we need to get started."

This story was updated to clarify the process of approving a Cleveland-East Cleveland merger.