MOUNT VERNON – Last week, city council voted 5-2 in favor of adopting legislation that puts the question “Shall a commission be chosen to frame a charter?” on the November ballot.
This means that in three months, Mount Vernon residents will be asked to vote on an issue that could change the way city government operates.
A charter could change everything, it could change nothing, and it could also fall somewhere in between. It all depends on how the charter is constructed by the charter commission, which will also be elected on the November ballot.
But as residents expressed in last month’s city council meeting, it seems as if many within the city feel unprepared to vote on the issue. Many do not understand what a charter is and what it might look like in Mount Vernon.
This week, Knox Pages talked to city officials and Ohio government experts to understand what a charter might mean and how it might affect local government. Over the next week, we will define what a charter government is, what it might look like in Mount Vernon, and why it has or hasn’t worked for other Ohio cities.
In today’s story, we will aim to answer some of the baseline questions surrounding the ballot issue.
What is a charter?
A charter is the constitution of a city. It details the powers, duties and structures of a local government and the rights of its citizens. It determines the system of checks and balances in a local government. The charter is written by an elected charter commission.
Adopting this type of government is possible because Ohio is a ‘home rule’ state, which means that local governments are given certain powers to adapt government structure in order to better serve residents.
What form of government do we currently have?
Mount Vernon currently operates under a statutory form of government, meaning that city government is structured under state regulations that are outlined in the Ohio Revised Code. Under statutory government, Mount Vernon is limited in its flexibility when considering how its government operates.
For cities that do not have a charter, statutory government serves as the state’s default form of government.
There are many differences between statutory and charter forms of government, which will be outlined in the next installment of this series. One example, though, is the mayor’s role in a city government.
For example, Mount Vernon has a strong mayor form of government, where the mayor is elected by voters and serves as an authoritative executive power within the city – appointing department heads and serving four-year terms.
Were a charter form of government adopted, the commission might choose to reform Mount Vernon’s city government model so that the city hires a city manager to work alongside city council, reducing the mayor’s role to one that could be considered ceremonial. At the same time, the commission could also choose to maintain the strong mayor form of government. It all depends on the desires of the commission.
How common are charter governments?
There are 188 cities in Ohio with charter governments, along with many more villages. Garry Hunter, legal counsel for the Ohio Municipal League (a non-profit organization that serves city governments across the state), estimates that around 60 percent of Ohio’s cities have charter governments.
Hunter said that most of Ohio’s larger cities – ones with populations of 50,000 or more – have charter governments, and that a rising number of villages are also adopting charter governments. He said that the area in the middle, between the village population cutoff of 5,000 residents and the 50,000-resident mark, generally sees more statutory governments.
“(With) the established cities that have been there for decades or a century that are less than 50,000, there’s not so much activity to do a charter because it seems to be working and they don’t see a need to change,” Hunter said.
Mount Vernon’s population was 16,990 at the 2010 census.
What is a charter commission?
A charter commission is the group of city residents elected to frame the charter. Multiple city officials have said that this will be a group of 15 Mount Vernon residents chosen from a list of 25 names on the November ballot.
Members of the charter commission cannot be employed by the city and cannot hold an elected position within city government (for example, Mayor Richard Mavis can’t serve on the commission).
Those who want to be on the ballot as a potential commission member must file a petition with the Knox County Board of Elections by September 4. The petition must have 50 signatures, which must be from people who are both city residents and registered voters. Filing a petition costs $45.
Mavis said Wednesday that there were only four petitions filed at that time, and that the city would like to have 25 names on the ballot.
What are we voting on in November (in regards to the charter)?
Mount Vernon residents will vote on two things:
- They will vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the question, “Shall a commission be chosen to frame a charter?”
- They will then vote for 15 of the potentially 25 listed names on the ballot for the charter commission. The 15 people with the most votes will be elected to serve on the commission.
Mavis encouraged people to vote for commission members regardless of whether or not they voted for a charter, just in case the charter passes.
What happens if the vote passes?
If the vote passes, the elected commission will have a year to construct the city’s charter, which will then be placed on the November 2019 ballot. Commission meetings will be open to the public and the commission will take resident feedback into account when crafting the charter.
The commission will then need to inform the public of what is included in the charter before it is voted on in 2019. If the public votes down the initial charter, the commission will go back to the drawing board and try again. It is not rare for a city take multiple years to pass a charter.
Why do people want a charter?
This is what we will explore in the next installment of this series, which will run later this week. We will look at the potential benefits and drawbacks of having a charter government and what it might look like in Mount Vernon.
Some city officials feel as if it’s high time to adopt a charter, freeing Mount Vernon from a so-called ‘archaic’ form of statutory government. Others feel as if the current form of government has worked for the city so far and that it shouldn’t be changed.
On November 6, the voters will decide.
