YOUNGSTOWN Charter changes will wait

Next year's primary has a Jan. 2 ballot deadline.
YOUNGSTOWN -- City voters passed six charter amendments this month by landslides averaging almost 72 percent, but they probably won't be asked to consider any more amendments until next November.
William Carter, chairman of the charter review commission, and John McNally IV, city law director, said next year's primary falls so early that it's unlikely there will be amendments on the ballot.
To get any amendments the commission might recommend on the March 2 ballot, city council would have to act by Jan. 2, McNally said, adding that three council seats and the council presidency will be changing hands in the next several weeks.
Council terms
Meanwhile, the commission discussed Thursday whether council members should be full or part-time and whether term limits should be retained. It set its next meeting for 4:30 p.m. Dec. 4 in the city council caucus room.
Before then, the commission will research compensation costs for seven part-time council members, their aides and clerks. That would help determine if it's cheaper to replace seven part-time council members with five full-timers, said Alvin Hopkins, charter review commissioner.
Although council may redraw ward boundaries after each census, charter amendments would be needed to change the number of wards or council members, to change council members from part-time to full-time status or to repeal their eight-year term limits.
Hopkins said council members have told him that the job demands full-time hours, and Arlette Gatewood, a commissioner, said voters might support reducing the number of council members if the savings are significant.
A possible drawback
But Willie Oliver, another commissioner, observed that full-time council members, who would be based all day at city hall, might be less inclined to respond to complaints after 5 p.m.
Mayor George McKelvey said full-time council status could reduce the available pool of qualified candidates because well-paid professional people would be reluctant to leave their careers to take a full-time council seat, which would not have a guaranteed tenure.