The North Royalton City Council introduced two pieces of legislation that would potentially place charter change issues on the November ballot. A third option was also discussed and dismissed in a Council committee meeting.
Ward 4 Councilman Jeremy Dietrich serves as the Chairman for the Council Review and Oversight Committee. Ward 5 Councilman Vince Weimer and Council President, Paul Marnecheck also serve on that committee. The three-member committee votes on agenda items, but the entire City Council sits in on the meetings and are included in the discussion. The Council committee meetings are open to the public, where all can be heard.
Discussion took place at the April 6 Council Review and Oversight Committee on the possibility of changing North Royalton from a non-partisan city to a partisan city. That would mean that those running for Council, Council President and Mayor declare a party, adding a partisan primary to the current November election process. There was no interest in this measure, so it was removed from the agenda.
The structure of the city’s Charter Review Commission was discussed. Currently, the process of having a charter amendment go to the voters to amend the city’s charter is two-fold. Charter amendment issues can come before voters either through the Charter Review Committee, or through legislation that is introduced and approved by at least five members of City Council. City Council can, at any time, pass legislation that would place a charter amendment issue on the ballot for voters.
The method through the Charter Review Committee cannot be formed at any time. Every four years, the Mayor and City Council appoint a committee of nine qualified voters in the city to review the city’s charter. That committee, along with the city’s Law Director, review the current charter and make recommendations to Council, for any additions, deletions or amendments that may ultimately be placed on the ballot of the next regularly scheduled election. The city’s department heads also can offer recommendations of items to be considered. Those recommendations must then be passed by the voters to become a part of the newly formulated charter. The Mayor appoints five members and Council appoints four members.
Dietrich stated that this subject came up last year, with the Charter Review Committee, who sent items to the ballot and Council was not able to have discussions about any of it. Ward 6 Councilman Michael Wos noted that some other cities do allow Council to have some input over the language and could possibly make edits with majority votes. Ward 3 Council Representative Joanne Krejci said that she felt that Council should not have to automatically pass through items from the committee without having input.
Marnecheck noted that “I like that Council can’t sit on Charter Review. I like that it has to be residents. Council sits on nearly everything else in the city. . . I think this is a way that kinda lets residents really take a look at the charter.” He said he liked that scenario, with Council’s guidance.” He noted that the only other way for a resident to get something on the ballot is to get about 1,500 signatures.
When Dietrich was asked, “Why would you want Council to have a more active role in the Charter Review Committee, when Council already has the ability to place Charter issues on the ballot at any time? Some say that would undermine the power of the residents who would sit on that committee, as Council could override their wishes for change,” he responded by saying “What I proposed is actual the norm in a lot of other municipalities. The charter members (residents) in North Royalton for example were all picked by the Council President and the Mayor. In many cities you will find that all of council either has a say in who is appointed and/or has the ability to sit on the committee. In its current structure, when legislation is brought to Council by the Charter Review Committee, elected City Council members must accept it as written without the ability to vote No or even abstain. We researched other cities and could not find another example of this practice outside of North Royalton. We should have the ability to review and work with the CRC if needed.”
The issue of changing the city’s current possible run-off to a spring primary was then discussed.
Marnecheck noted “ I have a problem with a spring primary. The last three Mayors were elected by a different system . . . So we’re potentially talking about a new system that has never been done in North Royalton and this was the first time I think we had this many candidates, without an incumbent. I don’t think anybody has questioned the results of it though and I think if you were coming up with a worst-case scenario/hypothetical, three current elected officials, one former elected official were all candidates this last time, none of them, the incumbent Mayor, were all candidate for Mayor. In the end, though, we still had a candidate that cleared 50% of the vote. So, I think the current one worked and I think we could have even more confusion, because we used to have this and now we’re talking about a spring primary. . . You might also want to think about that you could have a lame duck incumbent that is made a lame duck in the May primary, that is now a lame duck for eight to nine months potentially.” Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz responded by saying “so how do these other cities, states, and federal do it with a May primary? There’s got to be a lot of lame ducks laying around. . . what happens when somebody is termed out? We have term limits, so basically, I’m not going to speak ill of anybody, but when we had eight-year term limits, basically, when Cathy Luks won her second term, theoretically, she was a lame duck for four years, because she was termed out.” Marnecheck responded by saying “no, because she hadn’t faced the voters and they hadn’t rejected her.” Antoskiewicz noted “people are voted out of office all the time, but still have an obligation to serve.”
Marnecheck notes that by adding a spring primary, it increases the election process, which would start in January, rather than in August, having candidates start running earlier and longer. “I don’t like how the election cycle is perpetual – you’re always running for office.”
Antoskiewicz said that it is already the case. He added that the difference is that “with a spring primary, residents have two clear candidates to focus on.”
Marnecheck also pointed out that if the city were to go to a spring primary, it could potentially have to pay for the entire cost of the election, if there are no other issues or candidates from a county, state or federal level. He said that he thought the cost of a primary could be about $30,000-50,000. According to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, the approximate cost for North Royalton would be about $46,200.
Ward 1 Council Representative Jessica Fenos noted that “this is six in one hand, half-dozen in another. It doesn’t matter. It’s working fine the way it is. I don’t think it’s necessary. You’ve got problems either way, potentially. It doesn’t make a difference. I feel it’s totally unnecessary at this point. If this was a consistent problem, I could see maybe making some changes.”
Another potential issue with a spring primary for Council President or Mayor could be a council representative running as a spoiler, one who runs only to take votes away from another candidate. With the proposed spring primary, a council representative could run in the spring for that purpose and then run in the fall for their current council seat.
At the April 20 City Council meeting, the following two ordinances to submit to voters in November were introduced and placed on second reading: The first states “Council desires to provide a ballot issue to change the section entitled Charter Review Commission to allow for Council to participate in the process of crafting the proposals that the Commission determines to present to the voters and to provide for a collaborative effort in the formation of such amendments.” If passed, it would add the following language to the Charter Review Commission section of the Charter: “In the event of a disagreement between the Commission and a majority of Council over the language of a proposed amendment, two members of the Commission and two members of the Council majority and the President of Council shall meet and work collaboratively to determine by majority vote on the actual text of the amendment. The text determined by this committee shall be that submitted to the voters.”
The second ordinance states “Council desires to provide a ballot issue to amend Article XVII, Subsection (b) and to repeal Article XVII, subsection (e) pertaining to the Runoff Election and replace said section with a new Subsection (e) requiring a primary election in the event that more than two candidates file for the offices of Mayor and/or President of Council.” If passed by the voters, these two paragraphs of the current Charter,
“(b) ELECTORS’ QUALIFICATIONS; BALLOTS.
Every citizen of the United States who is of the age of eighteen (18) years and over and who has been a resident of the State thirty (30) days, of the County thirty (30) days and of the voting precinct thirty (30) days next preceding the election at which he or she offers to vote, has the qualifications of an elector and may vote at all elections, provided such citizen has registered as a voter with the election authorities in the manner and within the time prescribed by the laws of the State of Ohio. No primary election shall be held for the selection of candidates for any elective Municipal office. The ballots used in all elections provided for in or under this Charter shall be without party mark or designation of any sort. The names of all candidates shall be placed upon the same ballot and shall be rotated in the manner provided by the general laws of the State of Ohio. The form of ballot to be used on all questions submitted to the electors shall, if not specifically prescribed in this Charter, be prescribed by Council at the time the question is certified to the proper election officials for the calling of the election.
(e) RUN-OFF ELECTION.
In any election for the office of Mayor and/or President of Council, when more than two (2) candidates are eligible to be elected, that candidate who receives the most votes and at least forty (40%) percent of all ballots cast for that office shall be elected. If no candidate is elected thereby, a run-off election shall be held on the first Tuesday of December immediately following between the two (2) candidates who received the most votes for that office.” would be replaced with these:
“ (b) ELECTORS’ QUALIFICATIONS; BALLOTS.
Every citizen of the United States who is of the age of eighteen (18) years and over and who has been a resident of the State thirty (30) days, of the County thirty (30) days and of the voting precinct thirty (30) days next preceding the election at which he or she offers to vote, has the qualifications of an elector and may vote at all elections, provided such citizen has registered as a voter with the election authorities in the manner and within the time prescribed by the laws of the State of Ohio. The ballots used in all elections provided for in or under this Charter shall be without party mark or designation of any sort. The names of all candidates shall be placed upon the same ballot and shall be rotated in the manner provided by the general laws of the State of Ohio. The form of ballot to be used on all questions submitted to the electors shall, if not specifically prescribed in this Charter, be prescribed by Council at the time the question is certified to the proper election officials for the calling of the election.
(e) NOMINATIONS, PRIMARY ELECTION.
Candidates for the office of Mayor and President of Council shall be nominated at a nonpartisan primary election to be held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in May prior to the regular election in November. In the event that there not be more than two (2) persons that have filed petitions as provided for in this Charter, then said persons shall be the candidates at the regular Municipal election and the primary for the particular office shall not be held. The name of each person who is nominated in compliance herewith shall be printed on the official ballot at the regular election in November following and no other candidates shall be printed thereon.”
Council needs to adopt each ordinance with a majority of at least five votes in order to place it on the November ballot.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer