CITY COUNCIL Charter review commission requests amendment drafts from law director

One proposal would give city residents extra civil service exam points.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The charter review commission has asked City Law Director John McNally to draft four new potential charter amendments.
The amendments would be prepared for submission to city council Aug. 18, and council would then decide whether to place them before the voters on Nov. 2, said William Carter, chairman of the charter review commission.
One proposed amendment would require the city to update its comprehensive plan at least as often as every 10 years, immediately after each U.S. Census occurs.
Another would give extra credit to city residents with passing civil service exam scores, similar to the extra points given to veterans. The commission did not specify number of extra points to be awarded to city residents in its Thursday meeting.
"If a person is going to take the test, it shouldn't make any difference where they live,'' Mike O'Hara, of Lynn Avenue, told the commission. Once hired, that person should, however, be required to live up to the city residency requirement for city workers, he said.
Carter replied that he wanted city residents, who pay local taxes and maintain homes in the city, to be given the same consideration as veterans when it comes to civil service tests.
Alternatives
Yet another amendment to be prepared would require the board of health and park and recreation commission to follow the same affirmative action policies that apply to the rest of city government when awarding contracts.
The last of the newly proposed amendments would create a city personnel department that would work alongside the city's civil service commission.
The commission deferred action on a proposal for a civilian police review board until it gets more information from McNally, who did not attend Thursday's meeting.
Already slated to go before city council Wednesday is a charter amendment that would abolish eight-year terms limits for the mayor, council president and council members, effective Jan. 1, 2007.
Another proposed amendment slated for council consideration Wednesday would abolish council aides and raise council members' salaries.
Council members' salaries would rise from $600 a year to the $27,800 a year figure now paid to their aides, typically their spouses or other family members. The council president's annual salary would rise from $900 to $28,100 under the proposed amendment.