Article published October 26, 2009
Fostoria mulls charter changes
Proposal on ballot would dump strong mayor, go to city manager Davoli
By JENNIFER FEEHAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
FOSTORIA - It's no surprise John Davoli objects to the proposal before Fostoria voters
Nov. 3 to switch from a strong mayor to a city manager form of government.
The three-term mayor sees it as a slam on his administration even though the change would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2012, after his current term ends.
"I take it personally because a lot of the information they're putting out says, 'If you're tired of the management of the city and the way it's going...' I take it personally for our safety-service director. I take it personally for our police chief, our fire chief," Mr. Davoli said. "The general public has no idea how we've gotten so much more done with so much less money. I believe it's a slap in the face to them, not just to me."
Council President Joe Droll, who introduced the idea of adopting a city manager form of government in August, 2008, insists the charter change is about making sure the city is professionally managed and objectively run, not politically run.
"I've been on council over 20 years, and I've been through four mayors," Mr. Droll said. "The mayor is trying to make it personal, but it isn't. I've just seen things I think that would run more efficiently and I think more smoothly" with a city manager.
Councilman Barbara Marley, a local attorney who served as mayor from 1990 to 1995, said she supports the change."I believe that municipal government is a whole lot different than it was even in the days when I was mayor," she said. "It's really gotten complicated, and even just knowing all the rules and regulations, we really, in my opinion, can use someone trained in public administration."
Under the proposal, which is based on 11 charter amendments unanimously approved by City Council in July, the city manager would be the city's chief administrative and law enforcement officer and would be hired by council "solely on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications."
The manager would have the authority to hire and fire the police and fire chiefs, subject to council's approval. Council, which would determine the manager's salary, would have the ability to remove the city manager by a majority vote.
Mr. Droll said the city manager would take the place of the current safety-service director so the change would not create a new position.
Fostoria voters still would elect a mayor, although the mayor's powers would be limited to duties such as officiating marriages.
"The mayor would serve in a ceremonial capacity on behalf of the city," the amendment states.
Mr. Davoli said he believes the changes give more authority to City Council and take away voters' right to choose the city leader. It bothers him that the changes were proposed by a City Council member, not an independent charter review commission.
On Nov. 3, voters will decide one question: "Shall the proposed charter amendments adopting the council-manager form of government for the city of Fostoria be adopted?" For that reason, the mayor said he is encouraging voters to read the complete text of the 11 amendments to see exactly what the change would mean.
"I tell the folks that like me, have voted for me before, like my policies, please vote no on this," Mr. Davoli said. "To the folks that have never voted for me, don't like my policies, and really don't even like me, I say vote no on this, and I give them all those reasons. They'll never again be able to vote for the leader of their city. They'll vote for a group of people who get together and pick the leader of the city."
John Mahoney, spokesman for the Ohio Municipal League, said about 60 of Ohio's 251 cities have a city manager form of government.
Contact Jennifer Feehan at:
jfeehan@theblade.com
or 419-724-6129.
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