Council hears robust opposition to proposed removal of school-board appointee to Planning Commission

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Dozens of residents, school officials and Planning Commission members urged City Council on Tuesday to retain a longstanding Planning Commission seat appointed annually by the Middletown City School Board, saying the role gives schools a direct voice in land-use decisions that affect students and neighborhoods.

City planner Claire Fetters summarized the text amendment before council: the ordinance change would let council appoint all seven members of the Planning Commission and remove the seat currently filled by a voting member appointed by the Middletown City School District. Fetters said the proposed text change also would modify vacancy appointments so city council — rather than another authority — would fill openings.

Fetters noted the Planning Commission had voted 5–1 on Feb. 12 to recommend denial. Several written comments were in the record, she said.

Speakers opposing the change included Superintendent Debbie Hauser, Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer Randy Bertram, Planning Commission chair Will Parsons, former planning commissioners who also served as school-board representatives and public figures such as Rick Pierce from the Middletown Chamber of Commerce. Hauser told council the school-board seat “is not symbolic” and that school planners bring perspectives on how zoning, traffic and infrastructure affect children and families.

Randy Bertram, the district’s treasurer, described how past cooperation on facility siting, land swaps and tax-increment financing has yielded school and city projects and urged council to preserve the seat. Planning Commission Chair Will Parsons and vice chair A.J. Dean Mentel Jr. both said the commission itself did not support the change and that members saw no evidence of a code-based reason to amend the ordinance.

Several speakers traced the school-seat arrangement to a 1959 ordinance establishing the seat, and Fetters’ staff materials included an attachment summarizing those founding materials and the district’s comprehensive school compensation agreement of Dec. 18, 2023, which staff said was part of the background conversation.

Council deliberations were extensive. Councilmember Tony Horn — who initiated the amendment — framed the move as a matter of appointment authority and vetting, saying council appoints other advisory boards and that the city should be able to choose Planning Commission members. Councilmember Zach West and Councilmember Horn said they wanted a stronger, more direct relationship between council and the school board and suggested formal, regular meetings between the two governing bodies.

Several council members and many public commenters countered that the relationship between the city and schools works best when the school district has a formal seat at the Planning Commission table. Speakers warned that removing the seat would damage long-standing cooperation that has helped place schools, plan traffic and structure economic agreements such as TIFs.

Council ultimately took a nonbinding straw vote to gauge support for the text amendment. The straw vote was: Yes — West, Horn (2); No — Lolli, Carter, Mayor Slamka (3). The outcome was not a formal ordinance vote; council told the public the matter would remain on the record for deliberation.

Why it matters: The school-board seat has existed for more than six decades and school leaders argue it materially affects planning outcomes that touch students’ commutes, school siting, and the district’s fiscal planning. The change proposed would alter the balance of advisory appointments and how the district participates in municipal land-use conversations.

What’s next: Council conducted the public hearing and a straw poll but did not adopt the text amendment Tuesday. Staff and council members indicated the subject will remain on a future agenda for additional deliberation, and interested residents and district officials asked council to preserve the existing appointment structure.