08/17/2010 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 08-17-2010 The money they are paying the City compared to other cities is quite something. He is not sure if the City can get any more out of them. Copfer explained that the monies were going towards recreation for improvements. Sturgeon said when you're heading East on I-480 at the corner of Clague Road and Brookpark Road, the state's property is an eyesore. He wants to know if anything could be done to clean up the area. It seems the state is using it as a dumping ground. Mayor Kennedy said the city will look into it. Councilman Orlowski said when Jennifer Brady was a State Rep, he was able to get her to have the trees planted there and placed in staggered rows in hopes that they would grow together to screen the area. It's a staging area for the state of Ohio roadway. He believes the City looked into purchasing the land years ago but the state refused. They can't even cut the grass -it's as high as some of the trees. The City requested they put the wood fence in by the tower. At ground level it obscures the cell tower but from I-480 it looks like a mess. Tim Smith, 6053 Sherwood said as a member of the Charter Review Commission, he is here to speak about the proposed Charter change that would separate the Council at- Large election (Ordinance 2010-86). It was stated that the change would make for more meaningful campaigns and prevent candidates from running an unnecessary campaign. He is still trying to figure out how it will create more meaningful campaigns. First, it separates all the at-Large seats so that they never compete against each other. Amore meaningful campaign would have everyone campaigning against each other. Second, he doesn't think there is such a thing as an unnecessary campaign. If you want to be involved in city government, then you have to answer to the citizens every four years through the election process. Unfortunately it's the nature of the beast when you enter the political arena. If you feel it's too expensive and time consuming, then you have a choice not to run. This is not reason enough to make such a drastic change to the Charter. He thinks the job of the Commission was to make only obvious and necessary changes that benefit the City and the citizens. This proposal does not benefit either. This takes choices away from the residents. How does this benefit anyone except for the at-Large Council members? Do we really want to change the Charter for the benefit of three people? Questions were raised at the Charter Review Commission meetings that no one could answer. It was asked what surrounding communities do for at-Large elections, but no one from the sub-committee researched it. He went online to read Charters and found that Rocky River, Lakewood, Brooklyn and Brook Park do it the way North Olmsted does. Westlake and Parma have all wards and no at-Large seats. Berea and Olmsted Falls have only one at-Large seat, and Bay Village has two but they elect one every two years so only one runs at a time. Out of thirty Charters he researched, no one has anything such as slotted or paired seats. At the Charter Review meeting, Councilman Barker suggested he abstain from voting on this proposal since he had run for political office and could have a vested interest in the outcome of this proposal. At the Committee of the Whole, he made no such request to the at-Large members when this proposal was before them. Smith requested that the at-Large members recuse themselves from voting on this proposal since they have a direct interest in the proposal and shows a conflict of interest, and ask the Law Director for an opinion on this matter. Gareau said he does not believe by virtue of the process of voting to put the matter before the voters of North Olmsted, that any member of Council has an ethical conflict. Councilman Mahoney said 9