CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE – FORM OF GOVERNMENT STUDY
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
September 9, 2010
The Charter Review Committee – Form of Government Study
Committee met at 4:30 pm on September 9, 2010. Present during all or part of the meeting were Resident Committee Members Sue Kettler and Bob Luther, Industrial Representative Committee Members Robin Novak and Gary Acton, Councilmember, Committee Member Chris Schaefer, Jack Cameron Dave Nichols, George Snyder, Rick Cruse and Jim Bothe.
The meeting started with Bob Luther commenting that the most recent previous Charter Review-Form of Government Study Committee noted that the Administrative Assistant job should be enhanced. Jack Cameron explained that since that time frame he has taken on new responsibilities in the area of economic development, there were no specific duties added in response to the prior Charter Review – Form of Government Study comments. Jack also indicated that the focus of the committee was whether a Charter Amendment changing the form of government should be placed on the ballot. Beyond that responsibility, comments in the committee report are non-binding. Bringing focus back to the task at hand, Jack Cameron commented that the issue is whether the CEO of
the Village should report directly to Village residents through an election or report to the Council who would then be subject to the will of the electorate.
The next subject discussed was the length of time the committee had to make its report and the timing of any election should a recommendation be voted out of the committee. Jack Cameron calculated that the report is due to be made to Village Council in December. Councilmember Schaefer added that the deadline to put items on November’s ballot was in August. Any item voted out of committee would most likely be on the May primary ballot.
The Committee then interviewed the Village Department heads to discuss the decision making process and their experiences in different local government structures.
The first question posed was the experience of each with different forms of government. George Snyder’s experience was with North College Hill and Evendale. North College Hill is a statutory city with a strong mayor form of government. Jim Bothe’s experience was solely with Evendale. Chief Cruse worked for Cheviot and Evendale. Cheviot is a strong mayor form of government. Dave Nichols had the broadest experience having worked for Columbus, Grove City, and Bexley in Ohio and Ionia and Troy in Michigan. The Michigan cities were manager forms of government. The Ohio Cities all had strong Mayors.
Dave Nichols said that his experience was that under the Strong Mayor form of government every time one party or another won the mayor position, things changed. There was more continuity in the Manager form of government. He added that he would have not come to Evendale had there been a party system. The lack of the party system made Evendale uniquely different from other types of strong mayor local governments. Chief Cruse noted that when the parties changed in Cheviot, every thing changed. George Snyder commented that the change is in the Safety-Service Director position in the cities with strong mayors, the other employees are protected by civil service.
Next the various department head discussed the Evendale decision making process. All had council committees and had no hesitancy to discuss matters with a council committee. Smaller decisions are generally made by the department heads or mayor. The more significant decisions are discussed with the council committees. The department heads had no day to day contact with the administrative assistant. The mayor has bi-monthly department head meetings. Examples were also given of day to day interaction with the mayor.
Committee member Bob Luther inquired of Dave Nichols about the determination to contract for services to operate the pool and the fitness center. Dave explained that the pool operations were given to a contractor initially on a one year trial basis. The process include a request for proposals and appropriate advertisements. The solicitor drew up a contract, it was submitted to Council for approval and it has worked fairly well over the last decade or so. The fitness center service contract was let in the same manner because of the positive experience at the pool. The decision to reduce staff coverage hours at the fitness center was made by him in conjunction with the mayor to reduce costs.
The next discussion centered on personnel issues. Disciplinary decisions go to the mayor. If it cannot be resolved at that level, Council gets involved. Chief Cruse, in general terms described a fairly recent disciplinary process. For the most part, however, disciplinary issues have not often arisen.
The Department heads then discussed the hiring decisions. Chief Cruse explained the extensive hiring process for firefighters. The process for the service and administrative department was similar but less rigorous. Currently, after background checks and a narrowing process, candidates are presented to the Council hiring committee for an interview. That committee is currently made up of three council members and the mayor. Previously, there were other configurations of the hiring committee. The experience of the department heads is that the mayor does not always get the person he wants. Instead, there is usually much discussion and the committee usually comes to a consensus as to the person hired. Chief Cruse indicated that
before the hiring committee interviews, the Fire Department process results in a ranking of the candidates. He withholds that ranking from the hiring committee. In all instances, so far, the committee decision has matched that of the department.
Next the committee inquired as to interactions with the counterparts of the department heads of other communities. The problems most hear about involve the learning curve of the manager. Based upon the interaction with other communities, the experience would be that a manager would probably stay 5 to 6 years in a community the size of Evendale.
Finally, the department heads were asked about the latitude given them to manage their departments. Generally, there is latitude to manage within the confines of the budget passed by Council and the Village Administrative code. That being said the Department heads do routinely consult with their Council committees which create some limitations.
Jack Cameron, who had excused himself from the meeting during the interview of the department heads, returned at the conclusion of the interview. He indicated that the Charter Review Form of Government Study Committee could recommend some changes less than a full village manager form of government.
After a short discussion, the next meeting was scheduled for October 12, 2010 at 5:00pm. The committee members are to think about whether any additional information that they might need before making a recommendation. If no additional information is required, the members should be prepared to discuss their position on a recommendation.
The meeting adjourned at 6:30 pm.
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Christian J. Schaefer
Committee Secretary
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