Milford holds first public hearing on proposed charter amendments, council schedules second hearing

The Milford City Council opened its first of two public hearings on proposed amendments to the city charter, discussing changes to residency and term rules, hiring and removal authority for the city manager and department directors, and aligning local procurement thresholds with state law.

The proposed amendments would raise the minimum residency requirement for council candidates from 90 days to one year, move the start of elected terms from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, remove a residency requirement for the city manager, clarify that department directors would be hired and terminated under the manager’s authority, and set procurement and bidding thresholds to the minimum amounts required by Ohio law.

Law Director (name not specified) led the presentation and said the package also contains housekeeping changes, gender-neutral language updates and an alignment of executive-session rules to Ohio law. He described the procurement change this way: currently the charter requires competitive bidding for expenditures over $40,000; the amendment would default to the minimum bidding amount required by state law (the presenter referenced the prevailing statutory threshold, discussed in the hearing as roughly $75,000).

Council members asked for clarification and raised concerns about the scope of manager spending authority. Council Member Cooper said she was concerned that increasing the manager’s unreviewed spending authority from $7,500 to the state bidding threshold “places too much authority in that office,” noting the change would endure across future managers. The presiding officer and other council members said the intent is to align the charter with common city-manager governments and state law.

City staff and the law director emphasized the city made the amendment text available on the city website at least a month in advance. The council noted only one public comment had been filed online as of the hearing and urged broader community outreach ahead of the second hearing.

There was no final vote on the substantive amendments at the June hearing. Council moved to close the first public hearing; the council recorded a motion to close that passed by voice/roll call with recorded affirmative votes from Council Members Velardo, Price, Thompson, Cooper and Chamberlain. A second public hearing was scheduled for July 15; council members said a final vote to place the amendments on the November ballot would follow that hearing and certification would then go to the board of elections.

The law director and staff reiterated that any adopted changes will be mailed to electors in compliance with the Ohio constitutional requirement to inform voters at least 30 days before the election. The council advised residents to consult the city website for the amendment text and to contact staff with questions.