Citizens in Charge

A proposed charter amendment originally rejected by Council will end up on the November ballot after all, after one significant change was made to it. If approved by voters, the amendment would allow the Charter Review Commission to forward any proposed charter amendment to the ballot, unless it is rejected by five or more Councilors. Council voted 7-0 Aug. 25 to place the revised amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot. Council initially rejected a similar charter amendment 3-4 Aug. 12. At that time, the proposal did not allow Council to reject amendments with even a super majority vote.

Of the six charter amendments the Charter Review Commission recommended to Council in July, only three were forwarded to the Summit County Board of Elections to put before voters. But charter commission members say the rejected amendments could still end up on the November ballot by petition. According to the city’s charter, a charter amendment can be forwarded to the Board of Elections by either five affirmative votes from Council, or by an “initiative petition” signed by 10 percent of the electorate — about 6,500 signatures per amendment. The signatures are needed by Sept.