Council approved our 2023 budget on Thursday and had additional data shared regarding parks, buildings, equipment, and vehicle capital purchases along with roads, sidewalk, and stormwater projects that the Administration would like to undertake in 2023. While capital items typically still are required to come back to Council for approval, and often not all the items on the proposed improvements can make the final list as we make our way through the year, it is good to see a healthy investment being planned for our City. I am glad to see we are continuing to make improvements to our sidewalks throughout the City and that we are continuing to replace outdated playground equipment at additional neighborhood parks. Council has also empowered the Parks Board to be more involved in the process or parks projects, including a capital plan and input to prioritize items that were a result of the parks capital plan. I look forward to their suggestions as we prioritize the 2023 and forward park improvements.
Council also had guests from the Ohio Auditors Office provide a presentation on a performance audit that would review City operations for economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. As we look to implement a 5-year capital plan per the recent charter amendment approved by the voters I believe this will be a good tool to evaluate our current capabilities as it relates to staffing and service levels currently available. This will allow us to also plan for any adjustment in operations in both the short term but also the long term to be more forward focused. The representative from the Auditors office also said on average performant audits typically have a 7:1 return on investment. I expect we will see legislation to approve this process come forward in early 2023.
There was also several boards and commission appointments on the agenda for Council confirmation. Boards and commissions are independent administrative bodies in our City which consist of members selected by the Mayor and then confirmed by Council. This two-step process as defined by our Chater and code that gives Council the authority to confirm or deny participation in such boards and commissions. Three of the appointments that appeared on the agenda Council had already been addressed and Council voted not to confirm the applicants. I stated in the meeting that this was a political move to put these items back on the agenda to try and change the outcome already determined by Council. Specifically, because I was absent at the meeting 2 of the appointments failed (due to attending my daughter’s middle school band concert) and Mr. Lowdermilk was absent when another had failed, these items were put back in front of Council. However, only those items which did not get the outcome they wanted were put back in front of Council. Had there been true concern that all Council needs to vote on these items then all the items should have been held until all members were present. In addition, there was no communication with myself or Mr. Lowdermilk on these appointments, they were just put back on the agenda. My frustration is that Council acts as a body and the questions of these appointments had already been asked and answered by Council. Council members have the ability to reconsider decisions only by members who have the ability to make a motion to reconsider. It is playing political games to bring things back up when they have already been addressed to try to achieve a different outcome. Some member of the public were upset that they felt they needed a reason that such confirmations were not approved. I stated very clearly on Thursday, and I will restate here, my no vote on two appointees that were added back to the agenda after Council had already acted was to uphold the decision that was already made.
As for the third request to appointment that I was previously in attendance for, I again voted against the confirmation. I was disappointed instead of moving the process forward, Council was once again being presented with the same choice that we already answered. While I agree that there is important business to come before the Planning Commission in the next several months and personally would like to see this position filled, I could not vote to confirm an appointment that does not meet the qualifications. The requested appointee is not an elector of Ward 3, he is a registered elector of Ward 1, which already has representation on the Planning Commission. I did not bring this issue up when I voted no the first time as I did not think it was necessary to call out a private citizen for this issue in a public meeting. However, at the time this came back to us a second time and citizens wanted a reason for such denial, I provided this information. There were other candidates who applied who did meet the qualifications and I suggested to Mayor Pribonic that he select one of those candidates to present to Council during our committee meeting or under new business at our Council meeting, however he did not present any candidate for our confirmation.
Council also made a change to the staffing level of our Council office which currently is staffed by one full time clerk and one part time deputy clerk. Council voted that in January of 2023 that our clerk of council will become a part time position. This decision was made with the efficiencies our Council office has gained through the implementation of our new legislative and meeting software, Granicus. This will allow coverage of the Council office and meetings more efficiently than we could provide with simply having one full time person.
Council also heard a presentation from residents in Ward 1 about a proposed residential development by Pulte Homes off of North River Road near Marsh Road. The residents are concerned about the potential development and feel that the initial design shared by the developer was out of character for the surrounding residential areas. This was a study item discussed by Planning Commission earlier in December, and it seems that Pulte has submitted initial plans to the planning department that has taken into account some of the feedback received from the surrounding residents. While I understand the concerns of the residents, it makes it very difficult for Council to provide much input back to the residents until we see the actual details of the proposal and how it compares to what is permissible under our zoning code. The next steps for this project is for the Planning Department to review the submission and once they feel it has all the necessary details, they will present it to Planning Commission who will make a recommendation to Council. I would foresee this coming forward to Council in early 2023.
Council will meet next for our organizational meeting on January 3, 2023 at 7 PM where Council will elect our offices for 2023 and address any immediate legislative needs.
I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!