CHARTER BALLOT ISSUE INFORMATION

What is a charter?
A charter is the constitution of a city. It details the powers, duties and structures of a local government and the rights of its citizens. It determines the system of checks and balances in a local government. The charter is written by an elected charter commission.

Adopting this type of government is possible because Ohio is a ‘home rule’ state, which means that local governments are given certain powers to adapt government structure in order to better serve residents.

What form of government do we currently have?
Ontario currently operates under a statutory form of government, meaning that city government is structured under state regulations that are outlined in the Ohio Revised Code. Under statutory government, Ontario is limited in its flexibility when considering how its government operates.

For cities that do not have a charter, statutory government serves as the state's default form of government.

What is a charter commission?
A charter commission is the group of 15 city residents elected to frame the charter.
What will the Citizens be voting on May 4th.
Ontario Residents will vote on two things:
1. They will vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the question, “Shall a commission be chosen to frame a charter?”
2. They will then vote for 15 citizens on the ballot for the charter commission.

What happens if the vote passes?
If the vote passes, the elected commission will construct the city’s charter, with the goal of having it on the ballot in November. Commission meetings will be open to the public and the commission will take resident feedback into account when drafting the charter.

The commission will then need to inform the public of what is included in the charter before it is voted on.

(The above information was taken from an article entitled, Defining A Charter, written by reporter Grant Pepper appearing in the Knox Pages news on August 5, 2018)