First Ward Councilman, Sam Barone, is at the very heart and start of the charter movement. In the fall of 2016, Mr. Barone brought up the idea of a charter for the city of Mount Vernon in general discussions with eight other individuals.¹ After city council voted 5-2 to place the charter issue on the ballot, the Mount Vernon News, July 24, 2018, reported Mr. Barone as saying (quoting the News) “council has one role in the charter issue and that is to give it to the people to decide.” The News went on to quote Mr. Barone, “It's not to express our opinion, but solely to provide an on ramp for discussion.”
With council’s decision to move forward on the charter, attention turned to candidates to serve on the 15 member commission, what qualities should they have? Commission members should be independent and open minded (which does not preclude a person from having an initial opinion or thoughts regarding the benefits or risks a charter can pose to the city); and the commission, as a whole, should represent a cross-section of the community.2 In fact, prior to the July 23rd vote, during preliminary discussions about the charter commission process and the circulating of petitions, Mayor Mavis, seeking to ensure honest debate on the issue, warned against “packing” the commission with “advocates of one type of charter” 3, or by extension, opposing or supporting a charter. In effect, the commission should be made up of people with diverse thoughts and ideas, not like-minded people sharing a singular point of view. Similarly, as reported by the Mount Vernon News, July 10, 2018, Mr. Barone stated the purpose of a charter commission is “to look at the pros and cons of a charter”. To do that, “to look at the pros and cons”, it is necessary for the commission to be made up of both people who tend to favor and those who tend to oppose or question a charter for our city. Assuming the charter vote on November 6th is not unanimous, if a commission is formed, having people on that commission who initially favor and those who initially oppose a charter would reflect a cross-section of the community. As the pro-group has often claimed over the last several months, “a charter is not on the ballot”. “The formation of a commission is just a step in a larger process.” “We only want to study the issue, to have a discussion, what can be wrong with that?” If it is as advertised, it is supposed to be the start of a conversation as to whether a charter would benefit our city. Unfortunately, in politics, people don’t always mean what they say. Sometimes they misrepresent their attitudes and intentions, walk different than their talk. Councilman Barone appears to be a prime example, and that casts a cloud over the entire pro-charter group.
Mr. Barone should have heeded his advice. Having voted to place the charter issue on the ballot, in his own words, he fulfilled his role as a council member and it was not in his purview to express an opinion on the issue, but only to “provide an on ramp for discussion”. Recently, Mr. Barone posted on his personal Facebook account an endorsement of “his choices” of commission candidates, making reference to non-endorsed candidates that are (according to Barone) anti-charter from the get go. The six (6) who did not receive his endorsement, Don Carr, Michael P. Hillier, Gary Koester, Bruce Malek, Jody L. Pritchard and David Randall, appear to have one thing in common. While not authorized and not attempting to speak for or on behalf of these candidates, by comments made during the public discussion on the charter issue, their profiles as included in the October 12, 2018 edition of the Mount Vernon News, or otherwise, they have apparently done or said something that in Mr. Barone’s view questioned, challenged or was in opposition to a charter, or the charter process as it has been conducted by the administration and city council. Acknowledging the right of free speech, that right is sometimes (or at least should be) constrained or restricted by decisions people make, positions they hold or just in good judgment. In this website’s opinion, that is the case with Mr. Barone. What he says in the course of private conversation is one thing, but it is quite another for him, as a public official and public servant, representing all the people of his Ward, to make a public declaration on social media as to his personal preferences for the charter commission, especially in light of his own earlier statements as to his and or city council’s limited role in the charter debate. Additionally, Mr. Barone’s endorsements, or lack thereof, contrary to Mayor Mavis’ warning, is an attempt to “pack” the commission with like-minded people who may not represent a true cross-section of the community. Seating a commission that is devoid of opposition is contrary to the healthy debate of the pros and cons of a charter as called for by Mr. Barone himself. The concerns regarding Mr. Barone’s decision to endorse candidates is not about the candidates. Rather, his conduct suggests he has not been sincere in his comments about the reasons for supporting a charter commission, its purpose or council refraining from offering an opinion on the merits of a charter. On August 27, 2018, at the conclusion of the city council meeting, Mr. Barone, speaking to the citizens of Mount Vernon, said: “ I can assure you people who have spent a lot of time getting their signatures (the commission candidates)… they seem to be interested in one thing and one thing only and that is making our government truly local, truly home rule, making it reflect what we want for our community, ‘Ah’, without having to follow ‘lock-step’ … everything that 132 legislators in Columbus do. ‘Ah’, They are interested in making it more efficient, cost saving and in making sure we have the highest quality people,’ Ah’, staffing the departments of our city. So please folks do not be afraid of studying a Charter…‘Ah’, so study it, be informed, but by all means, don’t allow yourself to be alarmed by allowing a committee of your fellow citizens to study something (the charter) that could really bring great benefit to our community over the coming decades.”
Only slightly biased and, apparently, not accurate. Is that statement consistent with Mr. Barone’s comments reported by the Mount Vernon News on July 24 that, “ (C)ouncil has one role in the charter issue and that is to give it to the people to decide. ‘It’s not to express our opinion, but solely to provide an on ramp for discussion.’”? You be the judge. Don’t be fooled. THE INTENTIONS OF MR. BARONE AND THE PRO-CHARTER ADVOCATES IS TO WRITE A CHARTER AND DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THAT CHARTER ADOPTED IN NOVEMBER OF 2019. Mr. Barone’s actions prove it.
NO COMMISSION, NO CHARTER. VOTE “NO” NOVEMEMBER 6.
*Where applicable, the information included in this article is, except as otherwise indicated, drawn from information as reported in the Mount Vernon News
¹ Mount Vernon News: May 8, 2017; April 3, 2018; July 7, 2018 and July 10, 2018
² Mount Vernon News: July 10, 2018
3 Mount Vernon News: April 3, 2018