The Observation Deck

We were alerted at this evening's Democratic Club meeting to the return of the Third Amended Charter.

Placed on second reading last June, it's on the agenda for Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting.
http://www.onelakewood.com/event/commit ... eeting-45/

Otherwise, I certainly enjoyed our guest speakers and can share some of their info for those who would like… I know that some people had other events. But I think this was basically it in terms of city content, tonight.

Third Amended Charter was produced in August 2014. It eliminated all mention of a hospital - except for one little paragraph at the end "just in case Lakewood still had a hospital."

It also has ethics requirements for elected officials, and requirement of attending some educational sessions on ethics. (Presumably that is why this charter did not go through Council's approval near the end of 2014, or by end of 2015, or by end of 2016.)

What is the time frame for approval of this charter? How long from August 2014 does Council have, to approve it?

Then does it have to go to the voters?

My understanding is that charter changes have to be approved by voters. All the relevant language that I can find in the current charter seems to be relatively concise.

SECTION 6. AMENDMENTS.
Amendments to this Charter may be submitted to the electors of the City by a two-thirds vote of the Council, and, upon petitions signed by ten percent (10%) of the electors of the City setting forth any such proposed amendment, shall be submitted by such Council. The submission of a proposed amendment to the electors shall be governed by the requirements of Article XVIII, Sections 8 and 9 of the Constitution of the State of Ohio as to the submission of the question of choosing a charter commission; and notice of the proposed amendment may be mailed to the electors as provided by the Constitution or, pursuant to ordinances adopted by the Council, notice of the proposed amendments may be given by newspaper advertising. If any such amendment is approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon, it shall become a part of the Charter of the Municipality, except that if two or more inconsistent amendments on the same subject are submitted at the same election, only the one of such amendments receiving the largest affirmative vote, not less than a majority of the electors voting thereon, shall become a part of this Charter. A copy of said Charter or any amendment thereto shall be certified to the Secretary of State within thirty (30) days after the adoption by a vote of the electors.

[…]
SECTION 8. CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION.
In January of 2004 and of each tenth year thereafter, nine electors of the City shall be appointed as members of a Charter Review Commission pursuant to this Section. Five members of the Commission shall be appointed by Council, and four members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Mayor. Members of the Commission shall not hold any other office or position of employment with the City. The Commission shall review the Charter and within six months after the appointment of its members, may recommend to Council by a two-thirds vote of the members of the Commission, revisions and amendments to this Charter. Council may submit any proposed amendments recommended by the Commission to a vote of the people in the manner provided under this Charter and the State Constitution. Such amendments shall be in the form as provided by Council.

I found the chart beginning on page 13 of this document to be very helpful in understanding the proposed charter changes:

http://www.onelakewood.com/wp-content/u ... 122014.pdf

I notice that yesterday, cleveland.com announced the amended charter's approval for this November's ballot.

It's an odd article, featuring some odd comments.

mjkuhns wrote:I notice that yesterday, cleveland.com announced the amended charter's approval for this November's ballot.

This article may have been premature. The proposed amended charter has not yet been placed on the November ballot and council is still deliberating on the proposed changes.

That is an important update.</understatement> Thank you!

Continuing from where we left off, the revised Lakewood charter is on this November's ballot, as I think most of us now know.

At tonight's League of Women Voters - Chamber of Commerce forum, Professor Larry Keller spoke about the charter. He summarized the changes as primarily 1. cleanup of language, 2. training requirements for elected officials, 3. ethics provisions.

He also invited people, very sincerely I think, to contact him if they would like to explore charter questions: L.KELLER@csuohio.edu.

Apparently all those of us who are registered voters will also receive a copy of the revised charter in the mail. So FYI.

mjkuhns wrote:Continuing from where we left off, the revised Lakewood charter is on this November's ballot, as I think most of us now know.

At tonight's League of Women Voters - Chamber of Commerce forum, Professor Larry Keller spoke about the charter. He summarized the changes as primarily 1. cleanup of language, 2. training requirements for elected officials, 3. ethics provisions.

He also invited people, very sincerely I think, to contact him if they would like to explore charter questions: L.KELLER@csuohio.edu.

Apparently all those of us who are registered voters will also receive a copy of the revised charter in the mail. So FYI.

Here is a new webpage that will hopefully serve as a good resource for Lakewood voters: http://www.onelakewood.com/charter/

Note the links to charter-related documents.

Dan OMalley wrote:

mjkuhns wrote:I notice that yesterday, cleveland.com announced the amended charter's approval for this November's ballot.

This article may have been premature. The proposed amended charter has not yet been placed on the November ballot and council is still deliberating on the proposed changes.

Mr. O'Malley,

Thank you for your continued participation on the Deck--you are hopeful glimmer of sunshine in an otherwise dark government.

I do, however, disagree with your opinion that "this article may have been premature."

The mayor's comments to the media as well as those "leaked" by some of your colleagues evidence an ongoing series of open meetings violations where there is a predetermined agenda known by what Mr. Kindt refers to as the "knowledge group", which agenda is rolled out according to a non-public predetermined agreed upon "communications strategy" in violation of the sunshine laws.

So, it is my opinion that the mayor's comments to the media in May, 2017 were not "premature" when viewed from the eyes of the "knowledge group"

I now have multiple public records that establish multiple violations---and I have not even completed my review of the August, 2017 records dump.

My family received three copies of the Proposed Third Amended Charter booklet in yesterday's snail mail. Just skimming its 41 pages, it does not appear to highlight the changes from the previous charter. I guess transparency has its limits....

Here's a chart of the modifications. http://www.onelakewood.com/wp-content/u ... y-2017.pdf

Tim Liston wrote:My family received three copies of the Proposed Third Amended Charter booklet in yesterday's snail mail. Just skimming its 41 pages, it does not appear to highlight the changes from the previous charter. I guess transparency has its limits....

Out of curiosity: three identical 40+page booklets were mailed to one household?

mjkuhns wrote:

Tim Liston wrote:My family received three copies of the Proposed Third Amended Charter booklet in yesterday's snail mail. Just skimming its 41 pages, it does not appear to highlight the changes from the previous charter. I guess transparency has its limits....

Out of curiosity: three identical 40+page booklets were mailed to one household?

They sent one to each registered voter in my household, including two that have moved and registered to vote elsewhere.

It was REAMS of paper!

Bridget Conant wrote:

mjkuhns wrote:

Tim Liston wrote:My family received three copies of the Proposed Third Amended Charter booklet in yesterday's snail mail. Just skimming its 41 pages, it does not appear to highlight the changes from the previous charter. I guess transparency has its limits....

Out of curiosity: three identical 40+page booklets were mailed to one household?

They sent one to each registered voter in my household, including two that have moved and registered to vote elsewhere.

It was REAMS of paper!

This is another example of the Cowboy Mayor's "Fire, Ready, Aim" approach to governing---he thinks he is running his Grandpappy's rubber company.

Taxpayer money has been spent BEFORE a "VOTE" on putting it on the ballot. Huh?