A city charter: Just what is it?

On Nov. 3, Lorain voters will consider whether to form a commission to create a new charter.

That’s the city government kind, not the fishing boat kind.

The city Charter Commission appears as Issue 25 on the ballot across the precincts of Lorain.

For people who don’t dive deeply into local politics, city government can be confusing, said professors and lawyers who specialize in Ohio municipal law.

At the least, forming a charter commission could be a year-long civics lesson for Lorainites to examine how they want city government to function.

It might also lead to major restructuring of how Lorain’s elected leaders interact with each other and their constituents.

What is a city charter?

In Ohio, cities are corporations that need a set of rules to govern how they function, said Larry Keller, associate professor emeritus in the Public Administration Program at Cleveland State University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs.

The United States of America and the states have constitutions outlining how the government works.

Ohio cities may be run by elected individuals with the state primarily providing rules about how to do things, said Stephen Brooks, professor emeritus and associate Director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

That is how Lorain’s city government works now.

The opposite of that is for cities to adopt a charter that defines what kind of government they will have, Brooks said.

The experts said Ohio cities can write their own operational rules, within the bounds of state and federal laws.

It’s in Article 18, Section 7, of the Ohio Constitution.

Keller worked with the Lorain Charter Commission in the 1992 sessions to draft a city charter that voters turned down that year.

In 2020, he prepared a 37-minute video primer on municipal government for Lorain voters.

Is Lorain voting on a charter?

Residents who decide on Issue 25 are not approving or rejecting a city charter.

Issue 25 is a question: Shall a Lorain Charter Commission be chosen to frame a charter?

After that, are names of 35 candidates seeking seats on the panel, if voters approve it.

Lorain voters can pick up to 15 people, one for each seat on the Lorain Charter Commission.

The Charter Commission does not have the final say on a charter.

Once the rules are written, city voters will have another public vote on the charter itself, next year.

Will the vote change city services?

If voters say yes, Lorain residents most likely won’t see any radical changes in how the city provides basic services.

Even if Lorainites approve a new city charter in the future, there probably won’t be huge effects on day-to-day services to residents.

“That depends a little bit on the charter provisions, but generally speaking, I would say no, they’re not going to see a lot of drastic changes, because typically, a charter is not designed to have a major impact on the services that citizens are receiving,” said Paul S. Rutter, a Columbus attorney with the firm Bricker & Eckler.

Rutter is the author of “Implementing a municipal charter: Lessons from the front lines,” an online essay, and a consultant for communities drafting city charters.

So how is it different?

The real change happens when the Lorain Charter Commission examines city government and proposes new ways of doing things.

Then it’s time to set the rules.

“People that will see a difference, will be the administrators, the city bureaucracy and the City Council,” Brooks said.

Changing Lorain government?

The experts said a charter commission could examine ways to streamline city government or change its form entirely.

Some of the change could be largely procedural, Rutter said.

For example, a commission would consider the number of council members, elected by wards or at large, or a combination of both.

“Really, the most foundational question that drives a lot of the content of the charter is, what kind of government are we going to be?” Rutter said.

Ohio city governments generally fall into three types:

• Mayor-Council, which has two variants, with a strong or weak mayor

• Council-Manager

• Mayor-Council-Administrator

For example, Lorain could have a city manager guiding City Hall, instead of a mayor and other elected officials, Keller said.

When does this happen?

By law, when a city forms a charter commission, that panel must draft a charter and present it to voters in a year.

That may seem like a long time, but the actual process must move quickly, Rutter said.

Charter commission work cannot start until after the Lorain County Board of Elections certifies the election results.

It must be finished in time to file with the elections board for the November 2021 general election.

Based on “back of the envelope calculations,” a city may have as little as seven months to draft the document, Rutter said.

The charter commission has to be moving pretty quickly to get things done,” Rutter said. “If I’m working with a charter commission, that’s really one of the first things I try to focus their attention on, is how quickly we have to move.”

What about other cities?

If voters approve a charter, they later can amend it based on the needs of the city, Keller said.

“One of the biggest advantages of a charter, is that it can be amended, so if you’re facing new issues, you have a lot more flexibility,” he said.

Lorain and Parma are the two largest cities in Ohio without city charters, Keller said.

If approved, a charter commission could be an opportunity for Lorainites to get involved and learn about their city government.

If municipalities are well governed, elected leaders, city workers and residents can handle problems at the community level, instead of “pushing up” for state and federal involvement, Keller said.

“I would always recommend they vote for it,” he said.