Youngstown City Charter Review Commission
Meeting Notes: February 29, 2012
Meeting Began: 5:00 p.m.
Meeting Adjourned: 6:10 p.m.
Host of Public Forum: Sandra Horton-Teague and Phil
Kidd
# of participants: 18
Present: Jerome Williams, Chair; Phil Kidd; Jacqueline Taylor;
Glenda House; Sandra Horton-Teague; William H. Carter; Thomas Rusback
·
Public Forum at Downtown Main Library in
Youngstown, Ohio.
Special Guest:
v Nate Pinkard (3rd Ward
Councilman)
Suggestions/Critique
v Participants felt that the 10-15 minutes
given to review the Charter before the start of the meetings was great.
v The pace between allowing participants to
view section and gathering their concerns was great.
v Participants felt that at this meeting
their concerns were heard or taken more into consideration than the prior
public forum.
v Participants did not feel rushed to give
their concerns.
v Participants felt that Charters should
have been available days before the public forum so that they would have time
to review.
Participants concerns regarding Charter
Mayoral Terms
v Participant opposed to term limits for the
mayor. Participant felt that the process should be reviewed in regards to how
the President of City Council becomes Mayor (Ex. How Mayor Sammarone replaced
Mayor Jay Williams).
Council
v Participant felt that salary of council
members is too high and it needs to be reduced, especially when council members
are receiving benefits and stipends.
v Participant felt that council needs to be
reduced from 7-5 members. Benefits for council members should be discontinued
and the President of City Council should be chosen Pro-Temp amongst city
council members themselves (Section 83).
v Participant felt City Council meetings
should be restructured and the agenda for the meeting should be made public
prior to the meeting so that the public will be informed of what the meeting
entails. City Council needs to allow more transparency and conduct business
during the meetings so that citizens can see what is transpiring. Citizens need
to see city council members conducting business in front of citizens, not
behind closed doors. Participant feels that when city council has a meeting the
citizens are their only to witness the vote and the section # of what is being
approved. Citizens need to be able to attend the meetings and have an
understanding of what is being voted on, why and how it affects them. Citizens
need to see the whole process going forward.
v Participant feels that section 6(1)(A)
needs clarity regarding the process of the President of City Council becoming
the Mayor of the City of Youngstown. Also, Charter needs to clarify what is
meant by 2 year consecutive terms (Ex. Sammarone-did he serve 2 consecutive
terms (as President of Council/as a Council member), prior to becoming Mayor.
What does 2 consecutive terms mean?
Section 7 Meeting of Council
v Participant felt that all meetings minutes
from City Council should be made available to the public online within 30 days
of their meetings. Also, City Council meetings should be held after working
hours.
v Participant felt that the public should be
allowed more time to speak or address concerns at City Council meetings.
v Participants feel that citizens should be
able to attend City Council meetings and sign in and speak on the same day.
v Participant opposed speaking and signing
in on the same day. Participant felt that this would hold council members
“verbally hostage,” to anything they talk about or say at the meetings.
Participant felt that citizens should sign in and speak according to how it is
recommended by council.
v Participant felt that city county clerks
should be civil service employees to protect their jobs.
v Participant felt that city council members
have too many administrators that are not necessary. For example, the City
County Clerk has an assistant then the Deputy Clerk has an assistant. Also,
because they have all of these people on staff, notes from City Council
meetings should be made available to the public within 24 hours.
v Participant who stated that city council
notes should be made available online to public within 30 days rescinded his
statement and agrees with prior citizen who states that due to large number of
staff members for city council members notes should be made available within 24
hours.
v Participant feels that the wording “reasonable
time” within the Charter in Section8 needs to be defined more clearly.
Emergency Members-Section11
v Participant feels that this would affect
the number of council members.
Ordinances
v Participant feels that the City Website
should contain more information regarding council meetings and decisions. Notes
should be provided.
v Participant says that citizens can request
to be placed on the cities bulletin regarding council meetings so that they can
receive notification regarding City Council events or activities.
v Participant says that this access is
available through council and the City of Youngstown.
v Participant feels that City Council Wards
should be reduced.
v Participant feels that council’s purpose
and duties need to be defined more clearly and their median incomes. If members
are part-time then they should not be paid $30,000.
Administrative Department-Section 20-22
v Participant feels that there should be a
Human Resources Department that addresses human resources needs and an EEOC
department that addresses/investigates complaints. When EEOC concerns come up
within the Human Resources Department they should be addressed/investigated by
the Law Department.
Finance Department
v Participant feels that the finance
department needs to be audited every 4 years with the change of
administrations.
v Participant feels that the finance
director needs to be elected when administrations turnover.
v Participant feels that there should be a
Residency requirement for all salary employees.
Parks & Recreation
v Participant feels that directors who are
chosen for this position meet all qualifications and requirements before they
are hired for the position.
Department of Health
v Participant feels that the City has
different needs regarding the Health Department than the County does.
Therefore, participant opposes the City and County Health Departments being
combined. Participant feels that the combining of these two would allow for
services to be negatively affected and politics to take place.
Commissioner of Water
v Participant wants to know why does the
Mayor have authority over the water department and is this typical?
Department of Police
v Participant expresses concerns regarding
the Police Chief’s pay. Any Police Chief at the end of the year should receive
a 2-3% increase above their highest paid Captain. No Police Chief should make
less than his Captains.
Civil Service Section 52 part C
v Participant asks if you have to be a
resident? This should be more clear in the Charter.
v Participant feels that this section needs
to be reviewed and revised.
v Participant feels that this section needs
to be reviewed because large numbers of employees are leaving the city.
Nominations and Elections Section 69
v Participant feels that council elections
should be non-partisan like Campbell, Ohio.
v Participant feels that it is not fair that
Primary elections turnout to be the actual election. This is not fair to
Independent Party voters.
Division of City into Wards Section 83
v Participants feel that council should have
3 Wards. It would save money.
v Language. The word “Shall” should be
“must” in all of the Charter.
Board of Sinking Funds Trustees Section 84
v Participants would like to know what this
section means. It needs to be clarified in the Charter.
City Planning Commission Section 85
v Participant felt that the wording in this
section needs to be addressed. It is now 2012 and Affirmative Action Laws need
to be reflected in this section. Needs to be reviewed and revised.
v Participants feel that the City should be
required to obtain a city planner (6-9 months).
v Participants felt that council meetings
should be held in central locations and during times that the public is able to
attend.
v Participants feel that this section should
include family members.
Official Time Section 115
v Participants feel that this needs to be
changed from April to March.
Chairman Jerome
Williams informs participants of the purpose of the public forum and that
questions will be addressed in the future.
Public Forum adjourned at 6:10 p.m.
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