Charter Changes - SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE

[Jim O'Bryan]

SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICE            


In Accordance with Article III, Section 4, of the Second Amended Charter of the City of Lakewood, you are hereby notified and I am calling a Special Meeting of Council Monday, July 25, 2011 at 6:30 PM in the Auditorium of Lakewood City Hall; 12650 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio. The agenda is as follows:


PROPOSED ORDINANCE NO. 36-11 CHARTER AMENDMENTS TO BALLOT AT THE General Election Tuesday, November 8, 2011 (1st Read 7/5/11, 2ND READ & RECOMMENDED FOR ADOPTION 7/18/11) (outlined below per ordinance language)

Article I, Sections 2 and 3 stand to be amended in order to reflect that the City may perform any actions permitted under the Charter and the Constitution of the State of Ohio

Article II, Section 7 is antiquated and stands to be amended to eliminate the quasi-judicial authority granted to the Mayor to compel witnesses, compel production of evidence and make findings of contempt in the Mayor’s investigation of city activities, all of which are functions reserved for the judiciary

Article II, Section 8 stands to be modernized in order to grant City Council the authority to designate the acting mayor if the Mayor is temporarily absent, and to appoint the interim mayor if the Mayor’s office becomes vacant by death, resignation or removal, ensuring that at all times the Mayor of Lakewood will be a qualified elector;

Article III, Section 2 contains confusing wording and thus should be amended to clarify that an election must be held to fill a vacant City Council position if the vacancy occurs more than two years and 105 days prior to the next election for that position;

Article III, Section 5, Article III, Section 8, Article XVI, Section 9, and Article XVII, Section 3, Notice, should be amended to give the votes of appointed Councilmembers the same effect as those of elected Councilmembers, as the fiduciary responsibilities of the office do not change merely by virtue of how the officeholder earned the Council position;

Article III, Section 12 should be modernized to give the City more flexibility in determining how and where to post notices of official municipal actions, particularly as the practice of physically posting thousands of pages of paper at places like the police headquarters and fire stations is one that is outmoded, inefficient and wasteful in the digital era;

Article VII, Section 2 should be amended only to clarify that the City may use its home rule authority to limit, as necessary, the duties imposed upon its law director by those outside our municipal government;

Article XVI, Section 31 should be amended to include the city sewer system among those municipal improvements that may be supported by the millage identified in that section, particularly as that type of flexibility is needed by the City while it responds to the sewage- and stormwater-related environmental improvements sought by federal and state authorities



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