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Committee continues rewrite of Chapter 111, debates committee referral rules, voting and resignation procedures
Summary
Committee reviewed and proposed revisions to Chapter 111 of the codified ordinances covering how legislation is prepared, referred, published and voted on.
Cleveland Heights’ Administrative Services Committee spent the bulk of its April 28 meeting continuing a detailed review of Chapter 111 of the city’s codified ordinances, a chapter that lays out how ordinances and resolutions are prepared, referred, read and published.
Committee members examined Section 111.17 (referral to the appropriate committee upon introduction) and discussed language that currently requires every introduced ordinance or resolution to be referred to committee; members agreed real-world practice varies and debated softer wording to reflect practice while providing guidance to future councils. The chair proposed drafting language allowing the council, by resolution on file with the clerk, to establish procedural rules for the preparation and introduction of legislation, and the committee asked staff to draft specific substitute language.
Members discussed publication and required-copy provisions and suggested updating the code to reflect digital posting on the city website rather than strict hard-copy distribution. The committee reviewed the ordinance-reading and suspension-of-rules provisions and requested clarification about the history and rationale behind a recently amended ordinance (one provision cited as being changed in 1949 and another ordinance number questioned for accuracy).
The committee also debated voting procedures, including a unique existing provision that treats an unexplained recusal as an affirmative vote unless ethically or financially required; members discussed whether the provision’s title and text should be clarified and revisited a separate question of allowing remote participation versus remote voting (the committee reported no consensus in favor of remote voting). Several members said they would consult precedent from other Ohio councils and the law director on that issue.
On rules of order, members noted that Robert’s Rules of Order currently operates as a backstop where council has not adopted its own rules; some members welcomed a future committee-of-the-whole discussion about drafting council-specific rules while retaining Robert’s as a fallback.
The committee also discussed when resignations of council members should take effect.Several members said resignations should take effect upon submission to the clerk of council (for example, by email) and raised concerns about unintended consequences if a resignation occurs immediately before or during a council recess (for example, on triggering an appointment versus an election). The committee directed staff to research charter precedents and court decisions and to return recommended language.
Finally, staff reviewed current vacancies across advisory boards and commissions and confirmed the committee will place appointment legislation on future agendas; the committee also asked the clerk and staff to verify applicants and availability before placing legislation on the calendar.
Committee members asked the law director (Bill Hanna) and staff (including Addie) to draft replacement language and to provide the existing resolution referenced in the code so the committee can finalize recommended changes before sending them to council.
