No Major Effects from Charter Amendment Oversights

Two concerns were brought to City Council's attention Tuesday night during an annual report from the city's Charter Review Oversight Committee.

Russ Sypen, a representative from the committee, said that the group found a license fee from last year and .

The four ballot issues from 2009 were passed by voters, but were not legally advertised before the election. Because they are now part of the city's governing document, they need to be removed and re-voted on.

"These errors were not intentional, but they should be corrected as soon as possible," Sypen said.

The issues (33-36) established certain criteria for appointing a law director, dealt with zoning amendments, combined the Historic Preservation Commission with the Architecture Review Board, and changed how charter was amended. Fortunately, no actions were taken on the invalid provisions.

According to Ohio Revised Code Section 731.211 residents must be notified of proposed charter amendments either through the mail or published in a newspaper of general circulation with the full text of the proposed amendment.

Law Director David Maistros said these four issues in 2009 will go on the March primary ballot, exactly as they were in 2009. Sypen said they would be endorsed by his committee.

Sypen told council that to avoid this in the future hiring "an experienced clerk of courts could help."

That was a point Maistros disagreed with.

"It was a timeliness aspect," Maistros said of the 2009 ballots. "Not that it was omitted." Maistros said the issues were published once in the local paper, but not twice.

"It's unfair to treat it that it wasn't done," he said.

The second concern was a license fee passed last year. Sypen said it didn't sit on the mayor's desk for the required 30 days and should be invalid. However, he said this hasn't had any effect since passed.