Just When You Thought it was Safe to Get Back in the Charter

City Council Contemplates Further Structural Changes - Questions Among Elected Membership Drive Discussion.

Hilliard voters could be asked to amend the city charter to provide additional employment protection to the city’s finance director and law director.

The proposal comes in the wake of a decision by Hilliard City Manager Michelle Crandall in February to fire the city’s former finance director, David Delande.

Under the city’s current charter, and unlike charters in neighboring Dublin and Upper Arlington, Hilliard’s city manager, created in 2018 by a charter amendment, has the unilateral authority to hire and fire all department directors.

The city manager, however, is subject to an annual review by Hilliard City Council and is employed by a contract approved by Council and typical of all municipalities that have a city manager rather an elected mayor.

The proposed charter change could either make Hilliard’s law director an elected position, or would require the assent of City Council for the city manager to hire or fire the law director.

It could also change the charter to require City Council approval for the city manager to hire or fire the finance director.

• In Dublin, the approval of City Council is required for the city manager to hire of dismiss either the law director or the finance director.

• In Upper Arlington, City Council appoints the law director and confirms the city manager’s decisions concerning the finance director.

• In Columbus, the auditor and city attorney are elected offices.

The charter-amendment proposal is expected to be introduced as an ordinance for a first reading June 12 and a second reading, and vote, on June 26.

Tarazi said he expects the ordinance will fail 4-3 along “established ideologies.”

And if it does, Tarazi said supporters of the proposed charter amendment would launch an initiative petition to place the issue on the ballot for voters to consider.

It is possible it could be placed on the ballot in November but the petition would need to be filed with the Franklin County Board of Elections by Aug. 9.

It is more likely that supporters would collect signatures on a petition for placement on the ballot in May 2024, Tarazi said.

Councilman Les Carrier advocates for a ballot issue.

“Having the public vote on these matters is the clearest and best feedback our local government can receive,” Carrier said.

Tarazi said the offices of finance director and law director, as evidenced by the policy of other cities, should be devoid of pressure “from one side or the other” be it City Council or a city manager.

“I think those are valid and worthwhile improvements that we could do to our charter,” Tarazi said.

Councilman Pete Marsh opposes the proposed city charter amendments.

“When you make it an elected position, you introduce politics,” Marsh said of an elected law director.

Marsh said he does not subscribe to the school of thought, “Just put it on the ballot and let the people decide.”

“I do not subscribe to that philosophy. As an elected representative… our responsibility is to provide our best judgment. If I believe an idea is as dangerous and bad, as quite frankly I think this one is, I have a responsibility. It would be a betrayal of my oath of office to put this in front of the people,” Marsh said.

Tarazi, an attorney, said an elected law director is not the only path forward and asked City Council if members were open to other policy that would provide protections to the city’s law director and finance directors but met push back.

“If we are going to hold the city manager to the high standards, responsibilities, and expectations that we do, it only makes logical sense to allow the city manager to put together that team that he or she feels is best to deliver on those expectations,” Marsh said.

City Council interference in those personnel decisions would “hamstring” a city manager and cause “potential detriment” to the city.

But Tarazi said he remains concerned that City Council relies on information supplied by the directors of finance and law, both of whom can be unilaterally terminated by the city manager, and believes the nature of those two positions are critical enough that other cities have afforded them protections apart from other department directors.

“If their jobs can be terminated at any moment at the pleasure of the city manager, if there is ever any kind of conflict, and they know what the city manager wants versus what city council wants, then there is an imbalance in the system,” Tarazi said.

Still, Marsh said City Council participation in administrative decisions of the city manager is not optimal.

The city manager should be allowed to freely make such decisions because City Council can ultimately hold the city manager accountable, Marsh said.

“If there is a pattern of firings or a pattern of false information… the buck stops at the city manager. We still have recourse to address those, if those ever happened. I have not seen that to even come close to happening. To me, this is a solution in search of a problem,” Marsh said.

Tarazi said he believes there have been problems, citing “multiple instances” where City Council received what he believes is “misleading or incomplete” information from the administration.

“Had this been in place, things might have come out differently,” Tarazi said about the firing of Delande.

In April, Tarazi asked for an independent inquiry into Crandall’s decision to fire Delande but it failed 4-3.

• Tarazi and council members Les Carrier and Peggy Hale voted in favor of the inquiry.

• Marsh and council members Cynthia Vermillion, Andy Teater, and Tina Cottone voted against it.

At the conclusion of a May 22 committee-of-the-whole meeting, Marsh said he believed the charter should remain as is.

“If the entire body thought it (the powers of the city manager) was a problem, it would have been raised by now. Changing our city charter just because one or two or even three members at any particular time aren’t happy with a particular thing doesn’t make sense to me,’ Marsh said.

Vermillion said any charter amendment should stem from the recommendations of a charter review commission rather than Tarazi’s proposal, and Cottone said she did not support a charter amendment for the issues Tarazi outlined.

City Manager Crandall was not immediately available for comment concerning the proposal. Any updates to this story will be indicated via Substack “note” function and available on our website.