By Jeremy W. Steele
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FOREST PARK - City leaders are looking for someone to fill the seat of Forest Park's youngest council member.

Councilwoman Elaine Mooney, who had suffered from an undisclosed illness for more than a year, died Saturday. The 33-year-old was appointed to her seat in 2001 and ran unopposed that year for a five-year term.

City Council will hold a special meeting Aug. 11 to interview candidates and appoint a replacement.

Applicants have until 4:30 p.m. Aug. 4 to file an application with the Forest Park clerk of council.

Services were held Wednesday for Mooney, who is survived by two daughters.

Even though she's been hospitalized for the past year, Mooney kept up on city business, council members said. She received the regular council packet before every meeting, and although she no longer attended council meetings, she watched sessions on the city cable channel.

"She brought a youthful exuberance to council," Councilman Chuck Johnson said. "She was most interested in things that affected the young people of Forest Park on one hand and the elderly on the other. She had a lot of good ideas. She was very devoted to her job as a councilperson."

"The thing I liked best about her was she brought in a different perspective," Councilman Jim Lawler said.

Under the city charter, council has 30 days to appoint someone to fill Mooney's seat. If no one is appointed by City Council, Mayor Stephanie Summerow Dumas can name a replacement.

Whoever is appointed to council will have to run in the November election to complete Mooney's term, which ends in 2005, Lawler said.

Mooney, who was a Fifth Third Bank paralegal, served as chairwoman of the city's Law Committee and a member of the Tax Board of Review, Public Safety and Charter Revision committees.

She received her bachelor's degree in 1996 from the University of Cincinnati and had been working on a master's degree in criminal justice at Xavier University.

E-mail jsteele@enquirer.com