Give Warren residents chance to vote on charter government

More than seven years have passed since Warren City Council said “no” to legislation sponsored by Councilman Alford Novak that would have enabled residents to decide whether to change Warren’s form of government. The issue was resurrected in 2007, but again it didn’t go beyond the discussion stage.

Members of council and other city officials were of the opinion that more information was needed about home rule via a charter, as opposed to what is now in place. Warren is a statutory city, which means it is governed by the Ohio Revised Code.

For the past two months, a 13-member citizens panel has done just what the lawmakers had suggested: Closely studied the charter form of government.

And this week, the Warren Citizens Advisory Committee on Charter Government released a report and made this recommendation: Voters of the city should be allowed to decide whether they want a new form of government.

City Council has until Aug. 19 to approve a resolution by a two-thirds majority to put an issue on the Nov. 2 general election ballot for a charter framework and to elect charter commission members.

After all the years of talking, it’s time to act.

The 13-member committee, chaired by former Councilman Dan Crouse, has done outstanding work in not only studying the issue, but in reaching out to individuals who have been directly involved in the transition from statutory to charter government.

Seventy-three percent of the cities in Ohio have charters, including three in the Mahoning Valley: Youngstown, Niles and Cortland.

“There’s no question of powers, no question of who hires the police chief, who fires the police chief,” Tom Ault, city manager for Louisville, told a meeting of the committee last month. Louisville is a city of 9,000 near Canton.

Decision-making

Ault said that a charter, which takes a lot of time and energy to write, spells out very clearly who has the power to make decisions.

“I have five bosses,” he said, referring to members of city council. However, the key to running an effective city is good communication between the legislative and executive branches.

Many charter cities have mayors and councilmen and women who are directly elected by the people.

But what shape the final document takes will depend on the composition of the commission. If one is created, members would meet regularly to discuss just about every aspect of city government and decide what specific provisions would benefit the city of Warren the most.

Once the proposed charter is adopted by the commission, a copy would be sent to every registered voter in the city prior to the November 2011 general election. Then, residents would have the opportunity to approve or disapprove it at the polls.

To be sure, there will be costs associated with this endeavor, but there are grants and other sources of money, such as foundations committed to government efficiency, that could be tapped.

But the first step is to give the residents of the city the chance this November to say whether they agree to the framing of the charter and the election of commission members.

When Crouse and his colleagues made their presentation to 10 of the 11 members of council on Monday, there was no opposition. That’s a good sign.

There were concerns raised about the cost involved, but they can be addressed.

Not only was the charter proposal well received, it got a major boost from Councilman Dan Sferra, the former mayor of the city of Warren.

“You don’t have to take any more time educating me. I support this,” Sferra said.

He will be invaluable in selling the idea of a charter to the residents of the city.

It’s time for council to act.