Voters to have their say about mayor issue

Council OKs asking voters to fix charter ‘conflicts’

After months of debate, it appears that there was an amicable resolution to issues arising from passage of a Chardon charter amendment altering how the city’s mayor is elected.

City Council on Jan. 10 approved placing two more charter changes on a May special election ballot.

One amendment will bring the charter into line with the Ohio Constitution as it relates to the number of signatures required for a charter initiative petition. The charter currently requires that petitions be signed by 10 percent of registered voters in the city.

“The Ohio Supreme Court has

decided that the two conflicts in the Constitution should be resolved to mean 10 percent of the municipal voters who voted in the last governor’s election,” Chardon Law Director James M. Gillette said. “The proposed amendment makes the charter consistent with current interpretation of the signature requirement under Ohio law.”

The other May ballot issue will ask electors whether to amend the 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 petition was circulated by members of the Charter Review Committee, led by Councilwoman and former mayor Nancy McArthur and resident Hannah Sekas.

Issue 14 was meant to provide 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 election. Among the concerns was that this would result in eight council members.

Prior to the November 2018 election, several city officials expressed concern about potential repercussions and passed legislation opposing the amendment.

The new amendment will push back the mayor election to 2021, incorporate a four-year term and reduce the number of council seats up for election that year from four to three.

“We’re not trying to go back to the way it was here,” Council President Jeff Smock said.

“We’re just trying to put it back for two more years so that the numbers work better. We’re not trying to do an end run on what the voters have said. That’s not the intent here.”

Issue 14 also changed the selection of the vice mayor to a mayoral appointment with no input from council. The amendment will restore council’s ability to weigh in on the mayor’s recommendation for vice mayor.

The proposed change will clarify the mayor’s duties and powers as well.

Before voting on the new amendment, Smock asked Sekas, “Are you and your committee OK with what we’re doing?” She said yes. “We appreciated being at the (Legislative Committee) meeting and being part of the discussion,” she said.

She noted that the petition included language addressing officials’ concerns.

McArthur previously disputed the need for a special election, but since has agreed to support the move.

“Since Council plans to put forth some charter changes in a special election, (it’s) best to do it all at one time,” she said.

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

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