North Canton voters to see three potential charter amendments on November ballots

NORTH CANTON – With just under four months until the November election, North Canton City Council is moving toward adding three potential charter amendments to voters’ ballots, which could change the way that citizens experience council moving forward.

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The proposals came out of a charter advisory board convened in January and headed up by Ward 4 council member John Orr, who was appointed to the position.

North Canton usually convenes an official Charter Review Commission every 10 years, with the most recent taking place in 2017. City council opted to call a charter advisory board this year, comprising citizens and members of the city, to come up with proposals to suggest to City Council to put on the ballot.

"I tried to get someone from every ward, all age groups, 23 to 74, and we kept one person who was on before and she just knew a ton of stuff, and it was a good committee," Orr said.

Proposed amendment would increase terms to four years, stagger elections

The first proposal that will be put forth to voters, if passed, would change elected officials' terms from two to four years and split the officials into two sets to be elected on alternating four-year cycles.

"I'm not sure, at the end of the day, that we get the full 24 months out of our council, because everybody's getting geared up for campaign," At-Large Council Member Daryl Revoldt said in favor of the proposal to change the terms.

Revoldt also said that staggering the election cycles will allow for some level of institutional continuity. Currently, with all the seats up for election each cycle, the entire council could potentially be replaced each election.

Should voters approve the amendment, the next election would still see all elected officials up for election, but the mayor and at-large council seats would be running for four-year terms, while the remaining ward council seats would run for two year terms, so as to set the staggered cycle in motion.

Charter amendments aimed largely at council proceedings

The second proposed amendment that voters will see on their ballots would end the charter requirement that City Council legislation be published in the newspaper, and replace it with requirements legislation be posted on the city's website within two days of final action and physically posted in City Hall and the Council Chambers.

Council Clerk Ben Young said the council has a $10,000 budget they use annually to advertise legislation in the Canton Repository, and eliminating this requirement could save the city money.

A survey of North Canton residents found that 56.4% of respondents did not have a newspaper subscription.

Orr said part of why he ran for council was improved communication, and he believes council is doing better. On the city's website, which was overhauled earlier this year, council bulletins are posted weekly following session weeks, and all agendas and minutes are also posted.

The final proposal voters will see would, if passed, eliminate the budget deadlines of May 15 for revenues and June 15 for expenses. Director of Finance Jina Alaback said those dates are part of a budget process no longer used and are no longer relevant dates.

The proposal stipulates that a budget must be adopted on or before Dec. 31 for the next calendar year, which is in line with the city's current budget process.

Other proposed amendments pushed off for later years

The charter advisory board originally proposed several more potential amendments that council could have chosen to place in front of voters. One proposal, which would have changed the attendance policies for City Council members, failed due to a lack of motion in early June.

Three other proposals from the charter advisory board came up Monday night, only to die on the floor due to a lack of motion.

One of the amendments could have changed the way the clerk of council notifies council members of special meetings, another potentially would have established distinct differences between ordinances and resolutions and the final proposal would allow council to call the Charter Review Commission more frequently than every 10 years.

Ultimately, council opted not to move forward with the three proposals so as to avoid voter fatigue in the upcoming election, though it left the option to take up these same proposals again for future ballots.

"I think the best part of this is the fact that all of these are going to be submitted to the voters of North Canton to make their ultimate decision," Ward 2 council member David Metheney said.

City Council broke for summer recess this week and will return on Aug. 15.

Sam Zern can be reached at szern@cantonrep.com or 330-580-8322. You can also find her on Twitter at @sam_zern.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: North Canton voters could change city charter come November