Westerville council opens bylaws review, discusses electronic voting, committee appointments and invocation

Westerville City Council spent much of its additional‑business period discussing a planned update to its council bylaws, focusing on four areas: limited electronic voting, clearer committee appointment procedures and attendance rules, resignation mechanics for council members, and whether to retain the invocation on the meeting agenda.

The law director briefed council on the charter authority to adopt bylaws and presented a menu of potential changes. Council members debated which items should be handled administratively and which require full council action; several members asked staff to return with draft language for review and formal adoption by resolution.

Why it matters

Bylaws determine how the council organizes itself and how appointments, resignations and procedural votes are handled. Changes could affect transparency, the speed of routine business (such as board and commission appointments) and how the council handles attendance or resignation of members.

Key points of discussion

- Electronic voting: Staff proposed an option limited to board and commission appointment votes and possibly council organizational votes (chair, vice chair) to streamline repetitive, successive votes. Several council members supported electronic voting for board/commission appointments but expressed reluctance to use it for legislative votes. Council asked staff to limit any electronic‑voting amendment to appointment votes or provide explicit chair discretion.

- Committees and appointments: Staff recommended categorizing council committee service into three buckets—standing city committees, regional/community committees and ad hoc committees—and tailoring appointment methods to each. Some council members preferred retaining the current practice of council appointment and instead adding attendance standards and remedies; others supported limited chair appointment authority for short‑term coverage.

- Attendance and removal: Council discussed adopting attendance standards matching existing board and commission rules: forfeiture after missing 90 consecutive days or one quarter of scheduled meetings (whichever applies). Members asked staff to draft clear language so council can address chronic nonattendance without expanding chair powers inappropriately.

- Resignation mechanics: Council raised questions about how a written resignation becomes effective and whether it may be rescinded. The charter requires presentation of a written resignation to the chair or vice chair; staff will draft clarifying language that mirrors the charter and addresses electronic delivery, acknowledgement of receipt, and whether future‑dated resignations are permitted.

- Invocation: Several members asked staff to research how peer municipalities handle invocations and to summarize relevant U.S. Supreme Court guidance. Some council members proposed removing the invocation from the agenda; others said the practice is longstanding and protected under the First Amendment. Staff agreed to return with a memo showing local practices and legal background.

Process and next steps

Staff will incorporate council feedback and, after conferring with the chair, vice chair, the clerk and the city manager, return a draft resolution with specific bylaw amendments for council consideration. The bylaws require amendment by resolution with a two‑reading process.

Provenance (transcript excerpts)

- topicintro: "I'm here for... council bylaws." (block_3390.95 — opening of the bylaws discussion)

- topfinish: "Sometime in the next several months... bring that back to you." (block_5784.50 — closing of the session and next steps)

Speakers

- Andrew (law director), presenter (government — City of Westerville) - Kenneth L. Wright, Mayor (government — City of Westerville) - Vice Chair Reemschneider (government — City of Westerville) - Mister Grimes (council member, government) - Mister Glasgow (council member, government) - Chairman Hayek (presiding officer for portions of the meeting)

Authorities

- City Charter (Article 3: Council organizational authority) — referenced by law director as governing bylaws and their authority.

Clarifying details

- Amendment process: staff noted bylaws are amended by council resolution and the current bylaws were last amended in May 2021. - Attendance standard under consideration: match board/commission language—absence for 90 days or one quarter of scheduled meetings can trigger forfeiture. - Electronic voting scope under consideration: board & commission appointment votes and possibly council organizational votes only; displays of tallies on the meeting screen to be improved.

Community relevance

- Geographies: affects citywide governance and all council appointments. - Impact groups: residents who monitor council appointments and civic boards; persons who serve on boards and commissions.

Meeting context

- Engagement level: extended discussion in additional business with multiple council members participating and several substantive procedural questions raised. - Implementation risk: low — changes would proceed by resolution and two readings if council directs staff to draft amendments.

Searchable tags: bylaws, electronic_voting, council_committees, invocation, resignation_policy