Recordpub.com - Ravenna charter amendments

By Mike Hixenbaugh
Record-Courier staff writer
Six amendments to the Ravenna City Charter are to appear before voters Nov 6.
As specified within the charter, a Charter Review Commission is appointed to review the document every five years in order to correct potential weaknesses that develop over time.
This year, the 13-member commission offered nine suggested changes, three of which were deemed unnecessary by Ravenna City Council. Each amendment will appear as a separate issue on the ballot. A majority vote will result in the adoption of that particular amendment. They are as follows:
Issue 14 " To remove classified civil service protection from the city engineer position. Approval of this amendment would grant the mayor authority to appoint or dismiss the city engineer, at will.
Issue 15 " To change the residency requirements of mayor from one year to three years. The idea is to keep out-of-towners from sweeping in and taking over the city. Opponents argue that those living in Ravenna Township would also be considered "out-of-towners."
Issue 16 " To require the approval of city council for any appointments of membership to boards and commissions. Currently, the mayor has absolute authority to appoint board members. This would require him or her to first present such decisions before city council for final approval.
Issue 17 " To eliminate residency requirements for the clerk of council. In order to be in compliance with recent state legislation, the clerk would no longer be required to live in the city.
Issue 18 " To disallow family members of elected city officials and persons running for office from serving on the Charter Review Commission. In the past, family members of elected officials have been permitted to serve on the Charter Review Commission. This would ban all immediate family and those running for office from serving.
Issue 19 " To conduct nonpartisan elections for all city races. Party affiliation would be struck from the local ballot if this amendment passes. All elections for city positions would be initiated during a single May primary election, during which no party affiliation would be indicated. From the pool of nominees, the top two vote-getters would be placed on the November ballot. Write-in candidates would still be allowed to join the race after the primary.