MAHONING COUNTY Council to get 2 chances for charter issues

The charter ballot issue cost is still unclear.
YOUNGSTOWN -- City council will have two opportunities this summer to place proposed charter amendments on the Nov. 2 general election ballot, the city law director told the charter review commission.
The earliest such ordinances could be passed by council would be July 5, which is 120 days before the general election, and the latest would be Sept. 3, which is 60 days before the election, Law Director John McNally said Thursday.
Council is normally in recess during the summer, but could convene to pass such ordinances, he added.
McNally told the commissioners he'd prefer that they submit proposed amendments to him first so he can draft them in ordinance form before they are presented back to the commission for review and then to council.
McNally said the Mahoning County Board of Elections still hasn't clarified what cost the city might incur to be on the general election ballot, for which all precinct polling places in the city will be open for the presidential election.
Sharing cost
Any cost likely would be shared with other entities placing issues on the ballot, he said. Council would decide what it wants to spend on such an election. "They control the purse strings," McNally said of council members.
When the city income tax went on the ballot, it cost the city $730, commission member Laureen Scahill said. If there is a charge to the city, a series of proposed charter amendments would likely cost the city between $1,000 and $5,000, depending on how many are on the ballot and how lengthy they are, Scahill said based on discussions with an elections board official.
William Carter, commission chairman, said he thinks the commission should have two public meetings to get input on additional proposed charter changes. "It might be considered arrogant for us not to give them the opportunity to come out," and make comments, he said of the voters.
By landslides averaging almost 72 percent, the voters passed six charter amendments last November that were placed on the ballot after commission review.