In 2001 a group of citizens in Sandusky, Ohio tried to change the city government to a mayor/ward system. This site tells about that election. The site remains for others to use for research or to learn what can happen in their own fight for change.

Sanduskians for Mayor/Ward Boy and the Boot2001

"A mayor form and ward system basically provides more direct participation from the citizens. The government becomes more proactive, more goal-oriented, because there's basically a voter referendum every four years on the city's leadership." - Kevin Zeiher

"The ward system identifies a person with a particular area of town, and he'll be more responsible to those people in that area."  - Dannie Edmon

ORC

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Sections of the Ohio Revised Code as it applies to municipalities

Highlights added by BFG - [The way I understand it, if the City Charter does not agree with the ORC, the ORC takes precedence? Wouldn't it be nice for Sandusky to have reference material, such as this, on their website? - comments added by BFG are in light blue.]

The commission can only discuss certain subjects and exclude the public. 

 

§ 705.43 Meetings of commission; legislative and administrative sessions.

Text of Statute

 

The commission shall meet at the regular place for holding such meetings, at ten a.m. on the first day of January after its election, at which time the newly elected commissioners shall assume the duties of their office. Thereafter the commission shall meet in legislative session at least twice each month and in administrative session at least once each week, at such times as are prescribed by ordinance or resolution, but no legislative business shall be considered or acted upon at administrative sessions. Upon written request of the chairman or of any two members, special legislative sessions of the commission shall be called by the clerk. Any such request shall state the subjects to be considered at such special meeting, and no other subject shall be considered.

 

Does this apply to us??!??

§ 705.58 Appointment and term of city manager; vacancy.

Text of Statute

 

The council shall appoint a city manager who shall be the administrative head of the municipal government under the direction and supervision of the council and who shall hold office at the pleasure of the council.

In the event that the city manager is absent from his office by reason of illness, death, vacation, resignation, or removal, the member of council serving as chairman shall act as city manager and perform all the duties of such office, until such time as the city manager returns to his duties or the council appoints a new city manager to fill the vacancy.

§ 718.07 Electronic versions of rules, ordinances, blanks and instructions to be available on internet.

Text of Statute

As used in this section, "internet" means the international computer network of both federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks, including the graphical subnetwork known as the world wide web.

On and after January 1, 2002, each municipal corporation that imposes a tax on income shall make electronic versions of any rules or ordinances governing the tax available to the public through the internet, including, but not limited to, ordinances or rules governing the rate of tax; payment and withholding of taxes; filing any prescribed returns, reports, or other documents; dates for filing or paying taxes, including estimated taxes; penalties, interest, assessment, and other collection remedies; rights of taxpayers to appeal; and procedures for filing appeals. On and after that date, any municipal corporation that requires taxpayers to file income tax returns, reports, or other documents shall make blanks of such returns, reports, or documents, and any instructions pertaining thereto, available to the public electronically through the internet. Electronic versions of rules, ordinances, blanks, and instructions shall be made available either by posting them on the electronic site established by the tax commissioner under section 5703.49 of the Revised Code or by posting them on an electronic site established by the municipal corporation that is accessible through the internet. If a municipal corporation establishes such an electronic site, the municipal corporation shall incorporate an electronic link between that site and the site established pursuant to section 5703.49 of the Revised Code, and shall provide to the tax commissioner the uniform resource locator of the site established pursuant to this division.

You can now go to the Internet and download the tax forms for any city in Ohio - that is, if it works. I tried Toledo (on two different computers) with no success. I contacted them and they said there have been alot of complaints of the same problem. I also tried Sandusky's and also had no success - since I tried it during tax season, I have been able to get Sandusky's forms off the Internet.

 

§ 731.01 Members of legislative authority.

Text of Statute 

(A) Except as provided in divisions (B) and (D) of this section, the legislative power of each city shall be vested in, and exercised by, a legislative authority, composed of not fewer than seven members, four of whom shall be elected by wards and three of whom shall be elected by electors of the city at large. For the first twenty thousand inhabitants in any city, in addition to the original five thousand, there shall be two additional members of such legislative authority, elected by wards, and for every fifteen thousand inhabitants thereafter there shall be one additional member similarly elected. The total number of members of such legislative authority shall not exceed seventeen [So actually, what Sanduskians for mayor/ward want is to return to what is written in the ORC for most municipalities to follow....]

(B) The legislative power of a city may be vested in, and exercised by, a legislative authority composed of not fewer than five nor more than seventeen members, to be determined in the manner provided in this division, and in lieu of the number required in division (A) of this section. Under the alternative plan for the composition of the legislative authority, the number of members shall be fixed in a resolution which may be submitted to the electors for their approval or rejection by a two-thirds vote of the members of the legislative authority, or by the people through an initiative petition in accordance with section 731.28 of the Revised Code. Such a resolution passed by the legislative authority shall not be subject to veto by the mayor, need not be published, and shall be immediately effective for purposes of placing such issue on the ballot. The resolution shall be submitted to the electors at the next general or primary election occurring not less than seventy-five days after its passage by the legislative authority, or the certification of the text of a resolution proposed by initiative petition to the board of elections. The resolution shall specify the total number of members, the number to be elected from the city at large, and the number to be elected from wards. Members may all be elected from the city at large or all elected from wards, or some may be elected from the city at large and the remainder elected from wards, as determined by the resolution. A resolution that changes the total number of members shall specify the method by which the change in number is to take effect, but no reduction in the number of members shall terminate the term of an incumbent. When the number of members elected from wards is changed, new ward boundaries shall be determined as provided in section 731.06 of the Revised Code. [Section B is how we can have our current system and still follow the ORC.]

(C) The number of members of the legislative authority determined under an alternative plan for the composition of the legislative authority under division (B) of this section may be changed or abandoned by a resolution submitted to the electors in the same manner as provided in division (B) of this section for a resolution to institute such an alternative plan. When the alternative plan for determining the number of members of the legislative authority under division (B) of this section is abandoned, the number of members of the legislative authority shall be determined by division (A) of this section. [The writers of the ORC obviously preferred the mayor/ward system for cities.]

(D) When a city has just been incorporated from township territory pursuant to Chapter 707. of the Revised Code, the legislative authority of the city initially shall be vested in and exercised by a legislative authority composed of not fewer than seven members elected by electors of the city at large. In all subsequent elections for the city legislative authority, the members shall be elected as provided in division (A) of this section.

§ 731.02 Qualifications of members of legislative authority.

Text of Statute 

Members of the legislative authority at large shall have resided in their respective cities, and members from wards shall have resided in their respective wards, for at least one year immediately preceding their election. Each member of the legislative authority shall be an elector of the city, shall not hold any other public office, except that of notary public or member of the state militia, and shall not be interested in any contract with the city, and no such member may hold employment with said city.  [This is not as strict as our City Charter. When the City hired an outside attorney to advise the commissioners about this, he only advised them about the ORC. He should have read our City Charter which is much stricter.] A member who ceases to possess any of such qualifications, or removes from the member's ward, if elected from a ward, or from the city, if elected from the city at large, shall forthwith forfeit the member's office.

The purpose of establishing a one-year residency requirement in this section is to recognize that the state has a substantial and compelling interest in encouraging qualified candidacies for election to the office of member of the legislative authority of a city by ensuring that a candidate for such office has every opportunity to become knowledgeable with and concerned about the problems and needs of the area the candidate seeks to represent. In enacting this requirement, the general assembly finds that the one-year period is reasonably related to this purpose, while leaving unimpaired a person's right to travel, to vote, and to be a candidate for public office. [So how can a city manager brought in from Wisconsin have much of an "opportunity to become knowledgeable with and concerned about the problems and needs of the area"?]

§ 731.03 Election and term of members of legislative authority.

Text of Statute 

(A) Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section, one member of the legislative authority of a city from each ward and such number of members thereof at large as is provided by section 731.01 of the Revised Code shall be chosen in each odd-numbered year. Members shall serve for a term of two years commencing on the first day of January next after their election.

(B) A city legislative authority may, by majority vote, adopt a resolution causing the board of elections to submit to the city electors the question of whether the terms of office of the members of the legislative authority should be changed from two to four years. [There are lots of rules in the Ohio Revised Code about how the city must be run. The way I read this is that we don't have a choice of having 6 year terms for our commissioners. I have heard that brought up. We can't do it because the ORC doesn't allow it? Some attorney out there - explain this to me if I don't understand this right...] The question may also ask whether the legislative authority should be authorized to establish staggered four-year terms of office among members of the legislative authority by fixing certain terms of office at two years for one term of office but then at four years thereafter. If the resolution calls for submission of the question about staggered terms, the resolution shall specify the number of members to be elected for four-year terms and the number to be elected for two-year terms at the next election for such members. The resolution shall also specify how many of those members elected to four-year terms and how many of those members elected to two-year terms shall be elected from the city at large, and how many from wards. If staggered terms of office are established, the legislative authority shall fix the length of the terms of office prior to the last day fixed by law for filing as a candidate for such office. The question shall be voted upon at the next general election occurring not less than seventy-five days after the certification of the resolution to the board of elections. If a majority of the votes cast on the question is in the affirmative, the terms of office of the members of the legislative authority shall be four years effective on the first day of January following the next regular municipal election, except as may otherwise be provided by the legislative authority to establish staggered terms of office among members of the legislative authority.

A city legislative authority whose members' terms of office are four years may, by a majority vote, adopt a resolution establishing staggered four-year terms of office among members of the legislative authority by fixing certain terms of office at two years for one term of office but then at four years thereafter. The resolution shall specify the number of members to be elected for four-year terms and the number to be elected for two-year terms, and shall specify how many of those members elected to four-year terms and how many of those members elected to two-year terms shall be elected from the city at large, and how many from wards. If staggered terms of office are established, the legislative authority shall fix the length of the terms of office prior to the last day fixed by law for filing as a candidate for such office.

A city legislative authority whose members' terms of office are four years may, by majority vote, adopt a resolution causing the board of elections to submit to the city electors the question of whether the members' terms should be changed back from four to two years. The question shall be voted upon at the next general election occurring not less than seventy-five days after the certification of the resolution to the board of elections. If a majority of the votes cast on the question is in the affirmative, the terms of office of the members of the legislative authority shall be two years effective on the first day of January following the next regular municipal election.

§ 731.04 Officers of legislative authority.

Text of Statute 

Within ten days from the commencement of their term, the members of the legislative authority of a city shall elect a president pro tempore, a clerk, and such other employees as are necessary, and fix their duties, bonds, and compensation. Such officers and employees shall serve for two years, unless the members of the legislative authority serve terms of four years pursuant to division (B) of section 731.03 of the Revised Code, in which case these officers and employees shall serve for four years, but may be removed at any time for cause, at a regular meeting of the legislative authority by a two-thirds vote of the members elected.

§ 731.05 Powers of legislative authority.

Text of Statute 

The powers of the legislative authority of a city shall be legislative only, it shall perform no administrative duties, and it shall neither appoint nor confirm any officer or employee in the city government except those of its own body, unless otherwise provided in Title VII [7] of the Revised Code. All contracts requiring the authority of the legislative authority for their execution shall be entered into and conducted to performance by the board or officers having charge of the matters to which they relate. After the authority to make such contracts has been given and the necessary appropriation made, the legislative authority shall take no further action thereon.

§ 731.06 Division of city into wards.

Text of Statute 

(A) The legislative authority of a city shall subdivide the city into wards, equal in number to the members of the legislative authority to be elected from wards, within ninety days after:

(1) The first day of October of the year following the decennial census year;

(2) The approval of the adoption, change, or abandonment of an alternative plan for the composition of the legislative authority of the city under division (B) or (C) of section 731.01 of the Revised Code, if the number of wards is changed;

(3) The annexation of territory containing, according to the last federal census or a census authorized by the legislative authority, such population as will entitle the city to an additional member of the legislative authority under division (A) of section 731.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) If the legislative authority fails to make such subdivision within the time required, it shall be made by the director of public service.

(C) In order to provide substantially equal population in each of the wards, the legislative authority may redivide the city into wards at any time.

(D) All wards shall be bounded, as far as practicable, by county lines, streets, alleys, lot lines, avenues, public grounds, canals, watercourses, municipal corporation lines, center lines of platted streets, or railroads, and shall be composed of adjacent and compact territory, and substantially equal in population.

(E) The legislative authority may authorize and provide for conducting a census of the population of the city at any time in order to carry out the powers granted by this section.

(F) Action of the legislative authority to divide the city into wards shall be taken by ordinance and shall be effective for the first municipal primary election occurring at least one hundred fifty days after the passage of the ordinance.

§ 731.07 Salaries shall not be changed during term.

Text of Statute 

The salary of any officer of a city shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which he was elected or appointed. This section does not prohibit the payment of any increased costs of continuing to provide the identical benefits provided to an officer at the commencement of his term of office.

Unless otherwise provided, all fees pertaining to any office shall be paid into the city treasury.

§ 731.08 Power of legislative authority as to salaries and bonds.

Text of Statute 

Except as otherwise provided in Title VII [7] of the Revised Code, the legislative authority of a city, by ordinance or resolution, shall determine the number of officers, clerks, and employees in each department of the city government, and shall fix, by ordinance or resolution, their respective salaries and compensation, and the amount of bond to be given for each officer, clerk, or employee in each department of the government, if any is required. Such bond shall be made by such officer, clerk, or employee, with surety subject to the approval of the mayor.

§ 731.17 Passage of ordinances and resolutions.

Text of Statute 

(A) The following procedures shall apply to the passage of ordinances and resolutions of a municipal corporation:

(1) Each ordinance and resolution shall be read by title only, provided the legislative authority may require any reading to be in full by a majority vote of its members.

(2) Each ordinance or resolution shall be read on three different days, provided the legislative authority may dispense with this rule by a vote of at least three-fourths of its members. [I don't get this. Does this differ from our City Charter? My copy of the charter says two different days. (Is my copy of the city charter erroneous?) But the city has to follow the ORC on this, doesn't it?]

(3) The vote on the passage of each ordinance or resolution shall be taken by yeas and nays and entered upon the journal.

(4) Each ordinance or resolution shall be passed, except as otherwise provided by law, by a vote of at least a majority of all the members of the legislative authority.

(B) Action by the legislative authority, not required by law to be by ordinance or resolution, may be taken by motion approved by at least a majority vote of the members present at the meeting when the action is taken.

§ 731.18 Style of ordinances.

Text of Statute 

The style of all ordinances shall be, "Be it ordained by the . . . . . . . . . . (filling the blank with the name of the legislative authority of the city or village) of . . . . . . . . . ., state of Ohio," (filling the blank with the name of the city or village.)

§ 731.19 Subject and amendment of bylaws, ordinances, and resolutions.

Text of Statute 

No ordinance, resolution, or bylaw shall contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. No bylaw or ordinance, or section thereof, shall be revived or amended, unless the new bylaw or ordinance contains the entire bylaw, ordinance, or section revived or amended, and the bylaw, ordinance, or section so amended shall be repealed. Each such bylaw, resolution, and ordinance shall be adopted or passed by a separate vote of the legislative authority of a municipal corporation and the yeas and nays shall be entered upon the journal.

§ 731.20 Authentication and recording.

Text of Statute 

Ordinances, resolutions, and bylaws shall be authenticated by the signature of the presiding officer and clerk of the legislative authority of the municipal corporation. Ordinances of a general nature or providing for improvements shall be published as provided by sections 731.21 and 731.22 of the Revised Code before going into operation. No ordinance shall take effect until the expiration of ten days after the first publication of such notice. As soon as a bylaw, resolution, or ordinance is passed and signed, it shall be recorded by the clerk in a book furnished by the legislative authority for that purpose.

§ 731.21 Publication of ordinance, resolution or summary; proof; charge for copies; posting.

Text of Statute 

(A) Notwithstanding any conflicting provision of section 7.12 of the Revised Code, each municipal ordinance or resolution, or a succinct summary of each municipal ordinance and resolution, and all statements, orders, proclamations, notices, and reports required by law or ordinance to be published shall be published as follows:

(1) In two English language newspapers of opposite politics, published and of general circulation in the municipal corporation, if there are any such newspapers;

(2) If two English language newspapers of opposite politics are not published and of general circulation in the municipal corporation, then in one such political newspaper and one other English language newspaper published and of general circulation therein;

(3) If only one English language newspaper is published and of general circulation in the municipal corporation, then in that newspaper;

(4) If no English language newspaper is published and of general circulation in the municipal corporation, then in any English language newspaper of general circulation therein or by posting as provided in section 731.25 of the Revised Code, at the option of the legislative authority of such municipal corporation. Proof of the publication and required circulation of any newspaper used as a medium of publication as provided by this section shall be made by affidavit of the proprietor of either of such newspapers, and shall be filed with the clerk of the legislative authority.

(B) If a summary of an ordinance or resolution is published under division (A) of this section, the publication shall contain notice that the complete text of each such ordinance or resolution may be obtained or viewed at the office of the clerk of the legislative authority of the municipal corporation and may be viewed at any other location designated by the legislative authority of the municipal corporation. The city director of law, village solicitor, or other chief legal officer of the municipal corporation shall review any summary of an ordinance or resolution published under this section prior to forwarding it to the clerk for publication, to ensure that the summary is legally accurate and sufficient. [This topic has come up with our commission. It was recently in the news. It does cost alot to publish the ordinances and resolutions in the newspaper. The newspaper is the most accessible record of the business of our city. The Internet is also a place where ordinances and resolutions should appear - the public should have easy access to these records. The archives of the paper are available at the library. (I would also like to see the Sandusky Register have a big on-line archive. Other newspapers charge a small fee for getting old newspaper articles.)]

(C) Upon publication of a summary of an ordinance or resolution in accordance with this section, the clerk of the legislative authority shall supply a copy of the complete text of each such ordinance or resolution to any person, upon request, and may charge a reasonable fee, set by the legislative authority, for each copy supplied. The clerk shall post a copy of the text at his office and at every other location designated by the legislative authority.

731.21.1] § 731.211 Notice for proposed amendments to municipal charters.

Text of Statute 

In accordance with Section 9 of Article XVIII, Ohio Constitution, notice of proposed amendments to municipal charters shall be given in one of the following ways:

(A) Not less than thirty days prior to the election at which the amendment is to be submitted to the electors, the clerk of the municipality shall mail a copy of the proposed charter amendment to each elector whose name appears upon the poll or registration books of the last regular or general election held therein.

(B) The full text of the proposed charter amendment shall be published once a week for not less than two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the municipal corporation, with the first publication being at least fifteen days prior to the election at which the amendment is to be submitted to the electors. If no newspaper is published in the municipal corporation, then such publication shall be made in a newspaper of general circulation within the municipal corporation.

§ 731.22 Times of publication required.

Text of Statute 

The publication required in section 731.21 of the Revised Code shall be for the following times:

(A) Ordinances and resolutions, or summaries of ordinances or resolutions, and proclamations of elections, once a week for two consecutive weeks;

(B) Notices, not less than two nor more than four consecutive weeks;

(C) All other matters shall be published once.

§ 731.23 Publication and certification of ordinances in book form.

Text of Statute 

When ordinances are revised, codified, rearranged, published in book form, and certified as correct by the clerk of the legislative authority of a municipal corporation and the mayor, such publication shall be a sufficient publication, and the ordinances so published, under appropriate titles, chapters, and sections, shall be held the same in law as though they had been published in a newspaper. A new ordinance so published in book form, which has not been published as required by sections 731.21 and 731.22 of the Revised Code, and which contains entirely new matter, shall be published as required by such sections. If such revision or codification is made by a municipal corporation and contains new matter, it shall be a sufficient publication of such codification, including the new matter, to publish, in the manner required by such sections, a notice of the enactment of such codifying ordinance, containing the title of the ordinance and a summary of the new matters covered by it. Such revision and codification may be made under appropriate titles, chapters, and sections and in one ordinance containing one or more subjects.

Except as provided by this section, all ordinances, including emergency ordinances, shall be published in accordance with section 731.21 of the Revised Code.

731.23.1] § 731.231 Adoption of technical ordinances and codes.

Text of Statute 

The legislative authority of a municipality may adopt standard ordinances and codes, prepared and promulgated by the state, or any department, board, or other agency thereof or any code prepared and promulgated by a public or private organization which publishes a model or standard code, including but not limited to codes and regulations pertaining to fire, fire hazards, fire prevention, plumbing code, electrical code, building code, refrigeration machinery code, piping code, boiler code, heating code, or air conditioning code, by incorporation by reference.

The publication required by sections 731.21 to 731.25, inclusive, of the Revised Code, shall clearly identify such code, shall state the purpose of the code, shall state that a complete copy of such code is on file with the clerk of the legislative authority for inspection by the public and also on file in the law library of the county or counties in which the municipality is located and that said clerk has copies available for distribution to the public at cost. If the adopting municipality amends or deletes any provisions of such code, the publication shall contain a brief summary of such deletion or amendment.

If the agency which originally promulgated or published the code thereafter amends said code, any municipality which has adopted a code by the provisions of this section may adopt such amendment or change by incorporation by reference in an amending ordinance by the same procedure as required for the adoption of the original code without the necessity of setting forth in full in the amending ordinance the provisions of the original ordinance or code.

Ordinances or codes adopted by a municipality under the provisions of this section shall be deemed to be a full and complete compliance with sections 731.21 to 731.25, inclusive, of the Revised Code, and no other publication is necessary.

§ 731.24 Certificate of clerk as to publication.

Text of Statute 

Immediately after the expiration of the period of publication for ordinances or summaries of ordinances required by section 731.22 of the Revised Code, the clerk of the legislative authority of a municipal corporation shall enter on the record of ordinances, in a blank to be left for such purpose under the recorded ordinance, a certificate stating in which newspaper and on what dates such publication was made, and shall sign his name thereto officially. Such certificate shall be prima-facie evidence that legal publication of the ordinance or summary of the ordinance was made.

§ 731.26 Effect of not making publication.

Text of Statute 

It is a sufficient defense to any suit or prosecution under an ordinance, to show that no publication or posting was made as required by sections 731.21 to 731.25, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

§ 731.27 Mayor's veto in cities.

Text of Statute 

Every ordinance or resolution of a legislative authority of a city shall, before it goes into effect, be presented to the mayor for approval. The mayor, if he approves such ordinance or resolution, shall sign and return it forthwith to the legislative authority. If he does not approve it, he shall, within ten days after its passage or adoption, return it, with his objections, to the legislative authority, or, if it is not in session, to the next regular meeting thereof, which objections shall be entered upon its journal. The mayor may approve or disapprove the whole or any item of an ordinance appropriating money. If he does not return such ordinance or resolution within the time limited in this section, it shall take effect in the same manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislative authority, by adjournment, prevents its return. When the mayor disapproves an ordinance or resolution, or any part thereof, and returns it with his objections, the legislative authority may, after ten days, reconsider it, and if such ordinance, resolution, or item, upon such reconsideration, is approved by a two-thirds vote of all the members elected, it shall then take effect as if signed by the mayor. [We don't have these "checks and balances" operating in Sandusky currently.]

§ 731.42 Bylaws and ordinances as evidence.

Text of Statute 

The printed copies of the bylaws or ordinances of a municipal corporation, published under its authority, and transcripts of any bylaws, resolutions, or ordinances, or of any act or proceeding of a municipal corporation, recorded in any book or entered on any minutes or journal kept under the direction of such municipal corporation, and certified by its clerk, shall be received in evidence throughout the state for any purpose for which the original books, ordinances, minutes, or journals would be received.

§ 731.43 Vacancy in legislative authority.

Text of Statute 

(A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of this section, when the office of a member of the legislative authority of a village becomes vacant, the vacancy shall be filled by election by the legislative authority for the unexpired term. If the legislative authority fails within thirty days to fill such vacancy, the mayor shall fill it by appointment except that, subject to division (A)(2) of this section, when the vacancy occurs because of the operation of section 733.25 of the Revised Code, the successor shall hold office only for the period the president pro tempore of the legislative authority holds the office of mayor.

 

(B) Except as otherwise provided in this division, when the office of a member of the legislative authority of a city becomes vacant either because a member ceases to hold the office before the end of the member's term or because a member-elect fails to take office, the vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by a person chosen by the residents of that city who are members of the county central committee of the political party by which the last occupant of that office or the member-elect was nominated. If the vacancy occurs in the office of a ward representative in a city where the political party which nominated the last occupant of that office is organized into a city controlling committee with more than one member from the ward where the vacancy exists, the members of the city controlling committee representing that ward shall choose the person to fill the vacancy.

(C) Not less than five nor more than forty-five days after a vacancy occurs, the specified members of the city or county committee shall meet to make an appointment to fill the vacancy. At least four days before the date of such meeting the chairperson or secretary of the city or county committee shall notify each committee member eligible to vote on filling the vacancy by first class mail of the date, time, and place of the meeting and its purpose. A majority of all eligible committee members constitutes a quorum, and a majority of the quorum is required to make the appointment. If election to the office so vacated took place at a nonpartisan election, or if the office was occupied by, or was to be occupied by a person not nominated at a primary election, or if the appointment was not made by the committee members in accordance with this section, the vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as a vacancy in the legislative authority of a village, as provided in this section.

§ 731.44 Judge of election and qualification of members; quorum and special meetings.

Text of Statute 

The legislative authority of a municipal corporation shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its members. A majority of all the members elected shall be a quorum, but a less number may adjourn from day to day and compel attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as are prescribed by ordinance. The legislative authority shall provide rules for the manner of calling special meetings. [So the way I understand it, if a commissioner says "I resign" but didn't mean it, it would be the "legislative authority" or the city commission that would decide if they thought the commissioner had resigned?]

§ 731.45 Rules; journal; expulsion of members.

Text of Statute 

The legislative authority of a municipal corporation shall determine its own rules and keep a journal of its proceedings. It may punish or expel any member for disorderly conduct or violation of its rules, and declare his seat vacant for absence without valid excuse, where such absence has continued for two months. No expulsion shall take place without the concurrence of two thirds of all the members elected, and until the delinquent member has been notified of the charge against him and has had an opportunity to be heard. [See, here again, the legislative authority determines its own rules. So it can decide that a commissioner must submit his resignation in writing for it to be official. Or they can decide anything they want on this. It is not subject to precedents of other city commissions. It would only be subject to its own precedents. Do I have it right?]

§ 731.46 Meetings of legislative authority.

Text of Statute 

The legislative authority of a municipal corporation shall not be required to hold more than one regular meeting in each week. The meetings may be held at such time and place as is prescribed by ordinance and shall, at all times, be open to the public. The mayor, or any three members of the legislative authority may call special meetings upon at least twelve hours' notice to each member, served personally or left at his usual place of residence. 

§ 731.47 General powers.

Text of Statute 

The legislative authority shall have the management and control of the finances and property of the municipal corporation, except as otherwise provided.

§ 731.48 Contract restrictions.

Text of Statute 

The legislative authority of a municipal corporation shall not enter into any contract which is not to go into full operation during the term for which all the members of such legislative authority are elected.

barbfeick.com - Index of all my sites. 

Sandusky, Ohio - pictures from around the Sandusky area: Northcoast Thunder Rally, downtown Sandusky, Mulberry Creek Herb Fair. 4th of July celebration (I lived in Sandusky until January 2, 2007)

Sandusky links:

Cedar Fair
Erie County Auditor
RITA - taxes
Sandusky Register

 

"Where there is a strong mayor, there is a well-run city, which attracts residents and visitors," Ingraham said.

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