Should Marion City Council have four-year staggered terms? Council might let voters decide.
The Legislation, Codes and Regulations committee is considering a resolution which would put would put staggered four-year terms for city council members on the ballot.
Ralph Smith, Ward 3, suggested that, if passed by city council, voters could vote on the measure as soon as November.
Currently, the legislation reads that Ward 1, Ward 3, Ward 5, At-Large Seat 1 and At-Large Seat 3 would come up for a four-year term first, while remaining seats are voted to two-year terms. At the end of the two-year term, the seats would then come up for a four-year vote, thus staggering the terms.
If passed by voters, the first four-year terms would be voted on in 2027 and the remaining four-year terms would be voted on in 2029.
Smith, chair of the Legislation, Codes and Regulations committee, intends to keep the legislation in committee for three meetings and then send the legislation to council, where he’d like it be read three times before a vote is called. To be placed on the November ballot, it would need to passed out of council in August.
“I think it’s a great idea because just having come on to council, the learning curve is steep, very steep,” At Large Councilman Dan Clark said. “I’m all for having more seasoned councilmen, but I don’t want … to turn this into a nursing home.”
During the meeting, council and community members discussed possible changes to the legislation, including changing the length of the term and having wards voted on first, followed by At-Large Seats.
Despite the discussion, Law Director Mark Russell explained the Ohio Revised Code for which the legislation is based on is written narrowly. According to his understanding of the law, the amendments suggested at the April 6 committee meeting may not be possible to include as a statutory city.
“The statute’s so clear, it doesn’t give you flexibility,” Russell said. “The statute doesn’t give you that ability to really modify it from the way the statute lays out how it’ll be done.”
There are no recent examples of a city council in a statutory city adopting staggered four-year terms. Some of the most recent examples of adoptions, such as in the City of Columbus and North Royalton in Cuyahoga County, were done through city charters.
“I’m not surprised that it’s typically done by the adoption of a charter because that would be the preferred path,” Russell said, “but, again, the charter question actually was a pretty close election last November, but there’s no talk that I’ve heard anyone in regards to let’s reintroduce the charter because it was just on the ballot last November.”
While Smith and Clark were supportive of the measure, At-Large Councilman Scott Crider said he’d like to take more time to gather information and feedback from constituents. His main concern was the timing of when wards, at-large seats and the council president would be voted on.
No vote was taken on the legislation, with Smith planning to have it discussed again in committee. The next Marion City Council committee meeting is April 20.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Marion City Council considers staggered 4-year terms beginning 2027
Reporting by Abby Bammerlin, Marion Star / Marion Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
