One of the main reasons city councilmen Sam Barone, John Francis, Jeff Gottke, Chris Menapace, and Matt Starr say we need a City Charter is to change the way the Civil Service Commission selects people to fill the positions of Fire Chief and Police Chief, and give them the ability to hire from outside. Actually, they could do that now: A City Charter is not needed.
Janis Seavolt believes our Civil Service Commission works just fine the way it is. She also feels the Charter issue is moving ahead too quickly, and more meetings are needed for information.
A panel consisting of people from Charter Cities spoke at a public meeting explaining the processes they went through to become a Charter City. A man from Newark, Ohio said Newark spent 3 1/2-4 years educating the public about Charter Cities in their efforts to get the issue passed there.
Chris Menapace said it's not the Council's job to educate the voters of Mount Vernon about Charter Cities beyond what was presented by the pro charter panel at the public meeting on July 11. It's up to the voters to educate themselves.
Chris Menapace accused the Mount Vernon News in their editorial and citizens permitted to speak at the work session of misrepresenting facts. One of the facts he was referring to was the length of time Newark spent education voters about Charter Cities.
Newark's Comments from July 11th Public Meeting
Nancy Vail agrees with Janis. She also points out Columbus, a Charter City, has had terrible problems.
Mrs. Vail also said if the Charter Commission isn't balanced, the resulting Charter could be very different from what many voters perceive it will be like.
Nancy Vail reiterated her belief the Charter City issue is being put on the ballot too quickly, and that a balanced commission will be difficult to achieve.