Some on Youngstown council challenge pay cut, other charter plans

By David Skolnick | May 30, 2012 at 12:08a.m.

Ray

YOUNGSTOWN

Several city-council members expressed concerns — and in some cases, complete disagreement — with a number of the charter-review committee’s proposed charter amendments.

Most of the disputes center on issues that directly impact city-council members.

They include: reducing their annual pay, making it more difficult for them to receive medical benefits from the city, eliminating president of council as an elected position, changing to nonpartisan elections, and requiring council committee and general meetings to start no earlier than 6 p.m.

Overall, the 11-member charter-review committee — with three appointed by the mayor and eight others selected by the seven council members and the council president — made 17 recommendations to council.

The charter-review committee presented them Tuesday at council’s legislation committee.

Council may ask charter-review committee members for follow-up information and will ask the law director to review the recommendations to determine if they comply with state and federal laws, said Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th, chairman of the legislation committee. Then council will determine what proposals will be on the fall ballot for voters to consider, he said.

“I don’t expect all 17 will be on the ballot,” said Jerome Williams, the charter-review committee chairman.

Phil Kidd, a member of the committee, urged council to approve all 17 and let voters decide.

But a number of proposals met with resistance from some council members.

One proposal is to eliminate council president as an elected position and have the seven council members choose who will hold that job.

“I don’t think the whole plan to change council president has been thought out,” said Councilwoman Annie Gillam, D-1st.

Councilwoman Janet Tarpley, D-6th, said a proposal to reduce council’s annual salary from $27,817.24 to $20,721.60, 80 percent of the average annual income of a city resident, was a bad idea.

“You want a city to move forward, but you don’t want to pay for it,” she said. “This is probably one of the most educated councils we’ve had. I don’t get the logic of this. I really don’t get it.”