Special election proposed for spring

Officials: Charter change would undo unintended consequences

Chardon voters may see another charter amendment on the ballot, this time in the spring.

Chardon voters may see another charter amendment on the ballot, this time in the spring.

City Council on Jan. 10 will consider an ordinance asking electors whether to amend various sections of the city charter to: “provide for a mayor to be elected by the city’s electorate in 2021 and to also serve as a seventh council member; to provide for the authority, duties and compensation of the mayor; to provide for six other elected council members; to provide for a vice mayor to be recommended by the mayor and affirmed by the members of council, and to act as mayor in the mayor’s absence or inability to serve … .”

The amendment is designed to address conflicts within the charter that some city officials say resulted from Issue 14 — an initiative petition-driven charter change passed by voters in November.

“The council recognized the problems with the initiative petition but lacks the power to change the language,” city Law Director James M. Gillette said.

Issue 14 provided for one member of council to be elected as mayor by the people rather than appointed by a council majority.

It also called for the mayor’s first election to occur this coming November, when three of seven council seats are up for grabs. Among the concerns is that this will result in eight council members after the November election.

“The proposed charter amendment on the agenda will push the election for a mayor/council member to 2021 for a four-year term and reduce the number of seats for council members from four to three in 2021, and every four years thereafter,” Gillette explained.

In addition, Issue 14 changed the selection of the vice mayor to a mayoral appointment with no input from council, he said. The proposal would restore council’s ability to weigh in on the mayor’s recommendation for vice mayor.

Officials say Issue 14 also changed the mayor’s duties to presiding over all city meetings rather than just council meetings. The proposed amendment, which was recommended by council’s Legislative Committee, would correct that as well, Gillette said.

He indicated that the 2018 amendment gave the mayor all powers granted under Ohio law as well, which conflicts with the city’s council-manager form of government.

“The proposed amendment would return the responsibility for day-to-day functioning and operation of the city to the city manager,” he said.

“Other than moving the election for mayor to 2021, most of the changes are to correct the poor draftsmanship by the author of the petition, who neither intended nor was able to foresee the problems that were created when Issue 14 passed,” he added.

The goal is to place the new charter amendment on the May ballot in a special election. The request must be filed with the Geauga County Elections Board by Feb. 6.

About 65 percent of voters on Nov. 6 approved the charter amendment requiring that the mayor to be elected by residents, despite opposition from council.

If Chardon has the only issues on the May ballot, the special election will cost the city $6,000, Mayor Jeff Smock said.

Councilwoman and former mayor Nancy McArthur, who led the 2018 Charter Review Committee, has disputed the need for a special election.

“As I have reiterated many times before, the language does not indicate that there is an eighth council seat,” she said. “If it has been determined that this is a fact and not an opinion, it would be the only thing that would need to be addressed prior to council candidates filing their petitions in August 2019 to run for office. Any other needed charter language changes should be done at the general election in November of 2019 which would be a far lower cost to the taxpayers.”