Olmsted Falls voters to decide handful of charter amendments

Community NewsOlmsted Falls, Ohio. (John Benson/cleveland.com)John Benson/cleveland.comBy John Benson, special to cleveland.comOLMSTED FALLS, Ohio -- Residents on Election Day will be voting on five charter amendments. The ballot issues were presented to City Council by the Charter Review Commission. “We come up with the proposed amendments and then Council has to approve them to move forward to be on the ballot,” Charter Review Commission Vice Chair Mark McClausland previously told cleveland.com.“When Council is approving, they cannot make any changes. “If they don’t approve something, they can give feedback, but then it would have to come back to the Charter Review Commission to make any changes and then go to Council for approval again.” The list of charter amendments includes:• Issue 72 strengthens home rule in Olmsted Falls by explicitly stating the broadest local self-government powers Ohio allows and it makes state and federal laws apply only when truly required or approved by the city.• Issue 73 states monetary contracts involving amounts less than the dollar limit set for department heads in the purchasing approval section of the city’s codified ordinances must be reviewed and approved by the law department prior to their execution.• Issue 74 allows Council to adopt an emergency ordinance or resolution for approval. • Issue 75 expands a recall election for an elected official from 40 to 55 days after the recall to between 60 and 90 days.• Issue 76 increases the experience requirement for a finance director from three to six years. “We had a committee of residents who sat down and reviewed the charter,” Olmsted Falls Mayor Chad Gluss said. “They did meet with the finance department, the police chief, the fire chief and the service director to discuss what changes would need to be made to basically run the city more efficiently. “These are the five that they’ve come up with to put up for a vote this year. I’ll stand by whatever the voters decide.”Read more news from the Sun Post Herald here.