James D. DeCamp ©James D. DeCamp/JamesDeCamp.co
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Portraits of the New Albany City Council and senior staff members photographed Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at New Albany City Hall. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)
New Albany’s charter serves as our community’s foundation of governance. Residents approved New Albany’s first charter in 1992, giving the then-village greater local control and flexibility by formally outlining its powers and duties of elected officials, staff and legislation. As a result, Ohio statutes govern only on matters that the New Albany Charter does not address.
City Council appoints residents to the Charter Review Commission to review New Albany’s charter in its entirety every 10 years and make recommendations to City Council about any changes it deems necessary. Some changes are minimal in nature but still important to make. For example, New Albany grew from being a village to a city in 2011, making it necessary to replace the word “village” with the word “city” in the charter. The commission also recommended changing the description of our government from “Mayor-Council-Administrator” to “Council-Manager” to more accurately describe New Albany’s form of government, and revised the charter to select the City Council President Pro Tempore annually instead of every two years.
Other recommendations have more of an impact on actual governance, including:
- A provision broadening the forfeiture of office standard for City Council members. The change provides that three unexcused absences within a 12-month period constitute grounds for forfeiture of office; and
- A provision establishing that boards and commissions which have no unique rules of procedure shall operate under the “City’s Standard Rules of Procedure for New Albany Boards and Commissions.”
Council approved the Charter Review Commission’s recommendations at its June 18 meeting. As a result, these recommendations will appear on the November 2019 ballot and must be approved by the majority of the voting electorate in order to take effect. By law, prior to the November election, every registered voter will receive a mailer describing the charter recommendations. This means that some households will receive multiple letters for their own family members, and some will also receive letters to people who no longer live at a respective address. Because these names remain on the voter register received by city staff, we must mail a letter.
On behalf of all City Council members, I would like to recognize and thank the residents who were part of this Charter Review Commission: Andy Cooke, Chair; Patrick Weyers, Vice-Chair; Debra Lowery, Secretary; Bill Carleton; Johnna Evans; Mary Fee; Glenn Redick; and Mitch Banchefsky, our law director who is also a resident. They performed a very important service to our community and it was a pleasure to serve with them on this commission.
Matt Shull is a councilman for the City of New Albany. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
