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Vote is to explore idea of charter government only

SALEM — Salem voters aren’t deciding on a charter this Nov. 8 — they’re deciding whether to explore the idea of a charter through a commission of 15 fellow residents.

That’s the message officials associated with the charter proposal keep stressing to voters.

“This is the most important decision facing voters of Salem for the future of their city. The government structure of Salem now is what is dictated by the State of Ohio because Salem never bothered to define their own government organization. More than 260 cities and villages across the state have done so since the Ohio Constitution enabled it more than 100 years ago,” city Councilman Dave Nestic said.

The question as it appears on the ballot asks, “Shall a commission be chosen to frame a charter for the governance of the city of Salem?”

Voters also have to select 15 out of 22 candidates to serve on the commission to frame a proposed charter, but the candidates selected won’t serve unless the voters agree to have a commission formed. No one on council can serve on the commission.

“Many of the cities we think of as well managed, growing and destination cities are charter government cities and this is Salem’s chance to explore this option. We can’t even consider it unless this first step is taken to pass the issue of establishing a Charter Commission to develop a charter (plan of government organization) and then get it to voters in the next year to decide if they want to adopt it. Nothing changes if it passes, until a commission designs a charter and delivers it to voters. If it doesn’t pass, we don’t even get a chance to do that,” Nestic said.

He was the councilman who raised the issue earlier this year, as promised during his re-election campaign last fall. He’s been pushing for the charter exploration and as chairman of the Committee of the Whole, arranged for a city manager, assistant city manager and councilman from Mentor to talk about their experience during a meeting this past summer.

During a recent charter forum hosted by the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Affairs Committee, an assistant professor from Cleveland State University talked about the charter process.

Under the statutory form of government, which is what Salem follows now, the rules are set by the state of Ohio regarding what positions are elected and how the city operates. Under a charter, the people write their own form of government through a commission of volunteer citizens, then vote on whether to accept the new form of government mapped out by those citizens.

The website at salemfuturenow.org explains that if the issue on the ballot fails, nothing will happen. If the issue passes, nothing will happen with the current government. The government will continue to operate as is. The commission members elected will be seated, a consultant may be engaged by council as a facilitator to assist the commission, the commission will spend several months developing the charter, the charter will be sent to the voters and the voters will decide whether to approve the charter.

If the voters next year choose to approve the charter, then the charter will be adopted and Salem will have a new government. If they don’t, the city will continue as is.

There can be a strong mayor/council format similar to what Salem has now where the mayor serves as administrator for government operations. Another option is city council/city manager where council members are elected and hire a city manager to handle the day-to-day operations. The idea is that the city manager will have a background in public administration and hire the other positions, such as the fiscal officer and law director. There likely wouldn’t be an election for auditor, treasurer or law director. There can also be a commission option where a group of commissioners oversee everything.

A charter discussion on the website noted that this is a non-partisan issue with bi-partisan support and unanimous support by city council and the mayor.

The website, which was funded through the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, said the effort for a charter isn’t a power grab or indictment of current officials. The website said it’s not an effort to recreate a fire district and there’s no one in mind for the position of city manager.

To the question “Why are we doing this?,” the website said it’s harder to find candidates to fill elected positions, an increasing complexity demands qualified personnel and a charter provides maximum flexibility and modernization.

mgreier@salemnews.net

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