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More power eyed for Chardon city manager
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - June 08, 2011)
More power eyed for Chardon city manager
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon voters may see a few charter changes on the November ballot to expand the role of the city manager.
City Council's legislative committee reviewed four possible changes to the charter, most of which would give the city manager the ability to hire administrators. That power now rests with council. Randall Sharpe is the interim city manager.
The committee recommended that council accept the changes and pass them on to voters in November to decide the issue.
Mayor Philip King, who attended the committee session, said council is required to hold a public hearing on the measures and possibly vote in July to put them on the ballot.
Councilwoman Nancy McArthur said she has been thinking about making the changes for months and believes the time may be right to do that, given that Finance Director Jeffrey Smock will be retiring next year.
She said department heads now are required to report to the city manager, so it makes more sense to give him more discretion in whom he will work with.
Councilman John Mallen said the powers given to the city manager by the charter as the city's executive officer imply that he would have control over the hirings.
Council now is required to gain five votes for any hiring or firing. City Law Director James Gillette said that, under the changes, council would be required to confirm appointments by the city manager by a four-vote majority.
Under the proposal, the city manager would appoint the city finance director, service director and director of public safety. The appointments would be confirmed by council. The city manager currently serves a dual role as safety director, but the committee said there may come a day when a separate position is created for that responsibility.
The committee also proposed that council's role as the hiring body for police officers and dispatch be turned over to the city manager as well. For now, council will retain the authority to hire the police chief. However, if and when a separate position of safety director is created, council would remove itself from the process.
A fourth proposal is to eliminate residency requirements for employees now in the charter. Mr. Gillette said courts have struck down residency requirements, leaving the city without the power to enforce them.
Mr. Smock said he believes the changes would help the city operate more efficiently. "It's best to have one chief," he said.
Mr. Gillette said the city originally may have decided on its current form because state law instructed villages to select their clerk-treasurers in the same manner as townships. But he said the role and responsibilities of the finance director have changed "dramatically" over the past 40 years.
Mrs. McArthur said she researched the matter on the Internet and found that many use the administrative structure now being considered. "It's worked for a lot of counties and for a lot of cities," she said.
Mr. Mallen said it would provide a "clean chain of command" for the city.
Mr. Gillette said council would still be able to question actions by various department heads, although it would rely on the city manager to relay its concerns. He said council has ultimate authority over any hiring, because it controls the city's purse strings and can vote not to fund a hiring.
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