Inconsistencies rule in big-city councils

Youngstown to study changes in government structure

By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

When it comes to the number of members, salaries and perks of city councils in the state’s nine largest municipalities, there is little consistency.

The Vindicator with the assistance of city-hall reporters at the other seven largest newspapers in the state — which make up the Ohio News Organization — collected information about council members in those cities.

Youngstown city officials plan to form a charter review commission in May or June to discuss proposed changes, including a potential overhaul of city council.

Six of the state’s nine most populated cities have some or all of their members elected citywide. Three are strictly elected by wards: Youngstown, Cleveland and Parma.

Also, the number of council members range from five in Dayton — the only one of the nine without a full-time mayor — to 19 in Cleveland. Youngstown has seven.

The only thing council members in the nine cities have in common is receipt of health-care coverage while serving.

Those in Columbus and Cleveland, the most and second most populated cities in the state, respectively, have paid assistants; the rest don’t.

Youngs-town, Ohio’s ninth largest city, is the only one with a specific travel budget for its members: up to $5,000 a year per member.

Council members in Cincinnati and Cleveland can spend some of their budgets on travel. City funds aren’t used to pay for travel for council members in the other cities.

Youngstown is also the only city with a $5,000 “discretionary fund” for each of its members. The money is used largely to assist local civic groups, events and programs in need of money.

Annual salaries range from $16,150 in Canton, the state’s eighth most populated city, to $74,038 for Cleveland.

Council members in Youngstown, the least populated city among the nine, make $27,817 annually.

That’s more than their counterparts in Canton; Parma, the state’s seventh most populated city; Toledo, the fourth most populated city.

It’s only a few thousand dollars less than council members in Akron and Dayton, the state’s fifth and sixth most populated cities in the state respectively.

A reduction in the salaries of Youngstown council members may be a topic of discussion for a new charter review committee.

The last charter review committee recommended a salary increase for council members from $600 a year to $27,817, and the elimination of council legislative aides who were paid the latter amount.

City voters in 2004 approved that charter change.

Other possible topics for the committee could be reducing the number of council members, making some of them at-large members and redistricting ward boundaries.

Some wards have a fraction of the population of others.

Based upon the number of council members in the state’s most populated cities, seven in Youngstown doesn’t seem out of the ordinary.

Except for 19 in Cleveland, the eight other cities have between five and 13 members.

Youngstown is among only three of the largest nine cities with no at-large members.

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams says seven is a good number, but two should be elected citywide as at-large members.

“You wouldn’t dilute the representation of residents,” he said. “The wards should be balanced. It’s more of a representational issue than the numbers.”

Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th, said he’d consider a reduction to five council members with four representing an equal amount of constituents and one at-large member. The five would elect a council president, which would eliminate the election of the current council president, he said.

Councilman Paul Drennen, D-5th, also favors a five-member council with one elected at large.

Any changes to how city council operates would take effect after the 2015 election.

Williams envisions the charter-review commission recommending smaller items — such as giving bonus points to city residents who take civil service tests for city jobs — for the November general election.

“More complex issues” such as “the restructuring of government” could go on the March and November 2012 ballots, Williams said.

But Williams said he won’t dictate what the commission members should do and when.

Besides the potential changes to council, Williams said the commission will look at the structure of the city’s administration. That could include replacing the mayor with a city manager/executive.

Admitting he’s “somewhat biased,” Williams said he thinks the current structure is the best option.

Dayton has had a city-manager-led government for about 100 years. Officials in that city said late last year that they wanted to change the structure of the government with a full-time mayor.

To date, it’s only been in the discussion phase.

Cincinnati had a similar government system until 2001. That’s when changes approved by Cincinnati voters in 1999 took effect.

Those changes include electing a full-time mayor. Under the old system, the top city council vote-getter was the mayor with a city manager running the day-to-day operations.

Cincinnati still has a city manager, but with reduced responsibilities.