Commission highlights vacancies, removal procedures and roles of law director and city administrator for charter review

Commissioners used the first meeting to flag sections of the North College Hill charter they want to scrutinize for governance clarity, focusing on vacancy-filling procedures, removal standards for elected officials, and the appointment and duties of the law director and city administrator.

Erica Underwood, a North College Hill City Council member who chaired the session, said the commission should examine Section 3.07 (vacancies on council) and related sections to define who is eligible to fill vacancies and what process should apply when there is no nominating committee. "This impacts 9,000 people of this city," Underwood said, urging a thorough line-by-line review.

Commissioners described recent local experience in which some vacancies were filled after a committee-led interview process while others were filled by a council vote without an organized committee process. Members discussed referring to Board of Elections procedures when a committee is not available and recommended the charter clarify whether a committee’s nominees are required and what steps follow if the committee cannot produce candidates.

The commission also discussed removals and disciplinary procedures. Commissioners noted that the charter currently allows the council to handle removal, but they recommended creating a clear removal process (for example, specifying the steps that council leadership should follow when concerns arise) and considered whether removal should require a particular threshold of council votes or a specified combination of officials.

Members raised questions about the law director’s role and appointment. The charter currently states the law director is appointed by the mayor with approval by a majority of council, and that removal likewise requires joint approval by the mayor and a majority of council. Commissioners said that language should be reviewed to clarify how removal would work in practice. Several commissioners expressed concern that a law director who serves multiple municipalities could be less available to North College Hill; the meeting referenced a 2017 vote of no confidence in the city’s law director as background to the concern. Commissioners discussed options including an in-house full-time attorney, a locally resident law director, or clearer contractual requirements for availability and duties.

Commissioners also discussed the city administrator role and finance director oversight. Members said the city has experienced frequent turnover in administrators (the commission noted four city administrators in roughly two years) and that council and citizens should have clearer input into selection and oversight of key administrators and department heads. One recommendation discussed was a requirement that chief department heads (police, fire, public works, finance and recreation) attend at least one council meeting per month to provide updates.

No formal changes were adopted at the meeting; commissioners directed that these sections be a priority for review during future sessions and asked that commissioners come prepared with suggested language or questions. Underwood asked commissioners to prepare targeted comments on Sections 3 and 5 (vacancies, qualifications, president of council duties) and Section 6 (administration and department heads) for the next working session.