She said three members of the commission — Chair Dr. Kelly Clark, Vice Chair Katie Wagner and Vicki Hickman — either were married to a council member or later became connected to council. Hickman’s husband, Todd, served on council, and Wagner’s husband, Ben, and Clark are serving their first terms on council.
The charter, considered the city’s constitution, is reviewed every 10 years, and the commission also included Linda Tucker, Kara Brown and Colleen Taylor.
The Charter Review Commission met for months in 2020 and made numerous recommendations to city council. Three of those proposed charter amendments — Issue 7, Issue 8 and Issue 9 — will appear on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot.
Drew said it was “a conflict of interest” for Clark to recommend the charter changes, then, as a council member, to approve them.
Clark, a local veterinarian, told Drew she needed to “stop you and correct you” because she was just one of the seven council members who passed the ballot language.
Drew didn’t understand why Monroe voters must decide whether to pass Issue 8 that provides for gender neutral references in the charter; requires council proceedings on public media platforms; and requires the city to make all financial activities public.
She said the financial records are already public record and the meetings are livestreamed on the city’s Facebook page. Council member Jason Frentzel said if Issue 8 passes it “locks in” those changes to the charter.
As the talks continued, Mayor Keith Funk said council typically doesn’t “engage in conversation” with citizens during their comments that are supposed to be limited to three minutes.
Drew walked out of council chambers and Clark said she didn’t appreciate some of the comments and accusations.
“I will not stand to allow that,” she said.
Clark said “that kind of criticism” from residents is one reason people are reluctant to serve on committees.
“We answered the call,” she said of the Charter Review Commission. “We did a good job.”
MONROE’S PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS
Issue 7
Shall the proposed amendment to Section 4.01 and Section 4.06 of the Charter of the City of Monroe to establish term limits for Council Members commencing on Jan. 1, 2024, to reduce unexcused absences from four to three consecutive regular meetings, and to require attendance at 66% of regularly scheduled meetings in a calendar year be adopted?
Issue 8
Shall the proposed amendments to the Charter of the City of Monroe to:
- provide for gender neutral references;
- require Council proceedings on public media platforms;
- include as additional duties of the City Manager: to encourage and provide support for regional and intergovernmental cooperation, promote partnerships among Council and staff, assist the Council to develop long term goals for the City and strategies to implement these goals, submit to Council and make available to the public a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the City at the end of each fiscal year, make such other reports as Council may require concerning operations, and make recommendations to Council concerning the affairs of the City and facilitate the work of the Council in developing policy;
- eliminate the Department of Engineering and Inspection, the Department of Streets, and Department of Utilities; and
- create the Department of Public Works and the Department of Development
Issue 9
Shall the proposed amendments to the Charter of the City of Monroe to specify which acts of Council must be done by ordinance; to permit legislation to be read by title only unless otherwise indicated; to permit resolutions to become effective immediately; to increase from 30 to 60 days the time limit for holding public hearings on zoning; and to eliminate the requirement for the Council to authorize the Manager to obtain bids be adopted?
SOURCE: Butler County Board of Elections
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