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Youngstown charter commission plans to make three to six recommended changes
YOUNGSTOWN
Members of the city charter review commission plan to recommend city council put three to six proposed changes to the charter document on the November ballot for voters to consider.
“There will be a lot [of candidates and other issues] on the ballot, and we don’t want to have voter fatigue,” said Christopher Travers, commission chairman. “I think three to six is reasonable.”
At their first meeting Tuesday, the seven commission members listed sections of the charter to consider for potential changes including those dealing with the powers of the mayor, council, council president, the public buildings and grounds department, the department of community planning and economic development as well as the salaries of council members and the redistricting of the seven wards.
Community planning and economic development were created by a ballot vote in 2014; the redistricting language was changed by voters in 2012.
Any recommendations need to be approved by council before they can be placed on the ballot.
The group will meet weekly on Tuesdays for the next nine weeks, then have a public-input session June 28, Travers said. That would be followed by a final commission meeting July 12, then a July 19 meeting with council to discuss the proposals with city council culminating in a July 26 meeting to give final recommendations to council.
Tuesday’s first meeting was in the council caucus room at city hall and attended by the seven council members and Mayor John A. McNally at the request of the commission. The rest of the meetings, which are open to the public, will be at the Covelli Centre meeting room starting at 5:30 p.m.
Some of the concerns raised Tuesday by commission members was about outdated or grammatically incorrect language in a few of the charter provisions. That might not need to be put in front of voters and possibly be changed by council, commission members said.
McNally, who appointed the seven members, told them: “I’m going to stay out of the mix and not offer suggestions unless the commission asks.”
The biggest obstacle at the commission’s first meeting was finding someone to serve as first vice chairman. The six members – not including Travers – rejected the post. Robert E. Bush Jr., director of the Mahoning County Department of Job and Family Services and a former city police chief and law director, initially had said no, but finally agreed to accept the appointment when others declined.