Charter commission debates expanding council terms, staggering and grandfathering

The Stow City Charter Review Commission spent the largest portion of its meeting on term limits and possible changes to council term length, discussing a proposal to extend council terms from two years to four and to stagger elections so not all seven council seats would be on the ballot at once.

The discussion centered on whether to convert council seats to four-year terms, how to stagger those terms (for example by ward versus at-large cycles), and how to protect current incumbents from being unfairly cut short. The commission also revisited recently adopted charter language limiting consecutive service for mayor, finance director, and law director.

Commission staff read the charter text the group was considering aloud. Staff summarized the amended language for executive officers: “With the…