[ back ]
City Council remake among charter recommendations
(by Sue Reid - July 21, 2010)
City Council remake among charter recommendations
By SUE REID
A change from seven ward Solon City Council members to four with, the three members elected at large, is one of the recommendations of the city's charter review commission. Others include a one-time extension to the mayor's term in office and term limits for City Council members.
City Council is to set those matters and others for public hearing at their next meeting, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 2.
The volunteer commission began reviewing the city's charter in February. According to the Solon charter, council can accept all or none of the recommendations, with those meeting its approval being sent to the November ballot for voters to decide.
According to the commission's recommendations, beginning in 2013, an ordinance would be adopted subdividing the city into four wards as nearly equal in population as practicable, with the ordinance taking effect Dec. 1, 2013.
It would not increase the number of council members, commission chairman David Glavin noted. "It simply changes the mix from seven ward council people to four ward council people, with three council people at large."
The change in ward boundaries "is simply to accomplish the four ward council people's representation," he said.
"The significant difference is we would have three council people at large who would represent the entire population of the city," Mr. Glavin said.
The commission also recommended term limits for City Council.
"Effective for council terms beginning Dec. 1, 2011, City Council members shall be limited to serving two consecutive terms. After one term off, a former City Council member may run and serve for an additional two terms, it elected," the commission stated.
The commission also recommended that the mayor be elected for a term of five years, instead of four, which would be a one-time event, Mr. Glavin noted.
With the regular municipal mayoral election of 2018, the mayor's term would revert to four years, the commission stated.
"The purpose for that was to get the mayoral election onto a different year than the council elections," Mr. Glavin said. "The reason is that the council people who run in the same year as the mayor cannot run for mayor, but the other council people who run in the off-year election can," he said.
"The law is you can't run for two offices at same time," Mr. Glavin said. "By moving mayor's election off of the same year as council, it frees up people to participate in the mayoral election, if they choose."
With regard to voter approval, two changes are recommended by the commission.
One is the zoning district change, with the recommendation of the commission being to eliminate the requirement that issues pass in the ward in which the change is applicable. It was not a unanimous vote by the commission.
With the issue of zoning use changes, the commission recommends that, rather than the need to go to the ballot for a vote by the entire city, that council could simply pass a use change by majority vote. It was unanimously approved by the commission.
Mayor Susan A. Drucker thanked the commission members on behalf of the city for their hard work in reviewing the charter. "This was a great undertaking," she said, "and a lot of time was invested to help the city with this important review."
[ back ]
