Kent City Council to consider charter review commission recommendations

Kent City Council will consider six changes to the city charter this evening, including who council members can represent, and when.

Ward boundaries

One suggested amendment is rooted in the national census, which takes place every decade. Since local ward boundaries are based on population, those boundaries can shift following each count. Council members could find themselves elected from one ward, but suddenly living in another one.

Kent’s Charter Review Commission, which now meets once a decade, recommended that such elected officials shall complete the remainder of their term. In the election following the council member’s four-year term, they would have to run in the newly drawn ward in which they reside.

Conviction while in office

Council will also consider tweaking language detailing why public officials can be removed from office. The charter now states that removal can be “for conviction while in office for a crime involving moral turpitude.”

The CRC held that the term “moral turpitude” is vague, and that even the Ohio Revised Code provides no clear definition.

If council should agree, Kent voters will decide if the reason for removal should be “for conviction while in office for a crime.”

The charter already stipulates that council members may be removed for gross misconduct, malfeasance in office, disqualification for office, if they are legally judged to be incompetent, for violating their oath of office, for persistent failure to abide by council’s rules, or for a pattern of absence from council meetings.

Six of the remaining council members must vote for removal, and the accused member has 15 days to respond to their colleagues’ charges.

Recall

Council will also consider the CRC’s recommendation that an elected official who has been recalled from office can’t be appointed to the vacancy created by their own removal, and that the City Manager can’t appoint that person to any other vacant city office for a year after the election in which they were recalled.

Wording updates

Also, concerned that words matters, council agreed to consider two language tweaks, one removing the word “disability” from the city manager’s duties; and one removing the phrase “to Almighty God” from the charter’s preamble.

The current charter states that the city manager must appoint a qualified administrator to perform their duties “during any absence or disability. During such absence or disability, the council may revoke such designation at any time and appoint another qualified city administrative officer to serve until the manager shall return, the disability shall cease, or a new manager is appointed.

The new language replaces the term “disability” with the phrase “inability to perform.”

The suggested language is that the city manager appoint a qualified administrator to perform their duties “during any absence or inability to perform the such duties. During such absence or inability to perform relevant duties, the council may revoke such designation at any time and appoint another qualified city administrator to serve until the manager shall return, is able to perform relevant duties, or a new manager is appointed.”

The CRC held that the word “disability” does not reflect modern awareness.

‘Almighty God’

Council will also consider deleting the phrase “to Almighty God” from the charter’s preamble.

Should council and voters agree, the charter’s preamble would read, “Removing the phrase “We, the people of the City of Kent, Ohio, grateful for the freedoms we enjoy…do adopt this charter” instead of, “We the people of the City of Kent, Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for the freedoms we enjoy…do adopt this charter.”

The CRC rooted this recommendation in its desire to underscore the separation of church and state, and to avoid possible offense to residents. 

Five-year reviews

Council will also consider approving the CRC’s recommendation that, beginning in 2030, the charter review commission will convene every five years instead of once a decade; and that it consists of nine members instead of 15, with two alternates. 

The CRC felt that meeting only once a decade was too long a time period to keep Kent’s foundational document dynamic, council member Barbara Hipsman Springer said. The CRC also said that reducing the number of members would eliminate practical hurdles.

City council members must approve each of the commission’s recommendations in order for them to appear before voters. In this case, the recommendations council approves this evening will appear on the November ballot.

Council last week rejected the CRC’s proposal that Kent’s mayoral and council elections be nonpartisan. Two other recommendations—one requiring the city manager to develop an annual economic development plan that includes a five year forecast, and one requiring the director of public safety to create complaint forms, maintain them and make them available to the public—remain under review.

The CRC’s concern was that complaint forms are now available only through the city police department, which could be awkward for citizens who wish to lodge complaints against the police.

Concerned that the recommendation sounded like implementing policy when the charter is meant to do no such thing, council opted to continue discussing the matter. Complicating matters is that Kent does not actually have a Director of Public Safety. By default, that job is performed by the city manager, currently Dave Ruller.

Ruller said he already provides regular economic development updates, and suggested that in today’s ever-changing world, the last two years of any five year forecast are more educated guesses than data-based predictions.

The CRC countered that investors still expect to see them, that the current city charter does not mention economic development anywhere, and that prospective businesses review charters when considering investment.

Council has a year to consider both recommendations, though neither is expected to be approved in time to meet the Board of Elections’ Aug. 6 deadline for placing items on the November general election ballot.

Council can also approve a city ordinance placing specific charter changes before Kent voters. A successful citizen initiative could also propose charter changes.