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Council hears charter government proposal

EAST LIVERPOOL — The idea of changing the city’s current statutory form of government to a charter form was brought before City Council’s licensing and economic development committee at its recent meeting.

Local businessman and former state legislator Craig Newbold addressed the committee about the concept, saying he believes charter government is more progressive.

Newbold is a resident of the city of Columbiana where a charter government is in place. The other Columbiana County community which operates with a charter is the village of East Palestine.

Some of the largest cities in Ohio operate with charters, including Youngstown, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Akron. An attempt to introduce a charter in Salem failed at the polls when voters opposed it, according to Newbold, who said it appears the measure failed due to lack of understanding by the community about charters.

Newbold told the committee a charter government allows a city to be proactive with development.

With a charter government in place, the city council would hire a city manager who handles daily operations and reports to council.

The charter would be drafted by a committee of citizens and would be voted on by the electorate.

A charter government was last proposed for East Liverpool in the 1980s. Former city council member Sherrie Curtis was in attendance at the committee meeting and said she believed it also failed due to lack of education of the public and also due to opposition from both political parties. She said it may have been a faulty charter, as well.

Committee member Bill Hogue said the beauty of the current system of government is that voters choose who is serving and wondered what the public perception would be to such a proposal.

Newbold said the city manager would initiate legislation and oversee all departments. The manager could be hired from outside the city so the best candidate for the job could be hired, he pointed out.

Although a mayor would still be seated, the role would be primarily ceremonial, Newbold explained.

If council were to pursue exploring a charter, a 15-member commission would have to be formed to draft the charter, with members appointed by city council. The charter would be presented to the public prior to council voting to place it on the ballot.

Newbold told the committee it is expeditious to have the public involved throughout the process.

Hogue suggested an ad hoc committee be formed to explore the matter further, and at this week’s council meeting, Chairman John Mercer invited any council member interested in discussing the matter further to contact him.

In other matters, Curtis told the committee she would like to meet to discuss in detail the county land bank program, for which she serves as a committee member. Mercer indicated a meeting will be scheduled in the future which could focus on neighborhood stabilization concepts as well.

Hogue reported that $500,000 worth of demolition projects were completed in the past year through the land bank program with 12 more in the city scheduled for demolition and four houses slated for rehabilitation.

Hogue expressed his hope that the idea of rehabbing homes will become more popular to improve neighborhoods, thanking the county and state for providing funding for the projects.

Hogue also noted that many of the city’s tax abatement projects are nearing an end, meaning property taxes soon will be collected on those properties.

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