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Johnstown council debates charter‑review recruitment and a proposal for a municipal financial‑transparency portal
Summary
Council members agreed to interview charter‑commission applicants rather than appoint immediately and urged more outreach; Councilmember Matthew Huggin proposed a 'Johnstown Transparency Act' to create a centralized online portal (examples: Hudson, Bellbrook, Huber Heights) and asked staff to explore vendor options and costs.
Council members on June 16 discussed how to staff a charter‑review commission and weighed process options for recruitment and interview. Several members argued for interviewing the three current applicants and recommended more vigorous outreach to recruit additional candidates; the group proposed a three‑person delegation to conduct interviews and suggested setting parameters and a timeline so applicants would not be left waiting.
Councilmember Matthew Huggin presented a detailed proposal he called the "Johnstown Transparency Act," asking the city to create a centralized online financial portal that would make budgets, monthly budget‑to‑actual reports, audits, revenue and expenditure summaries and up to 10 years of historical records easily accessible. Huggin cited examples in Ohio (Hudson, Huber Heights and Bellbrook) and suggested ClearGov as one vendor. He described an "open checkbook" function that would allow residents to download detailed check records and estimated an initial annual cost range for software and hosting in the low five figures.
"Residents should not have to search multiple sources to understand the financial condition of their government," Huggin said. He asked that the finance committee explore options and invite vendor demonstrations to determine costs and feasibility; council agreed the city manager and finance director should investigate and that finance committee would be an appropriate venue for the initial review.
Council also discussed procedural timing for charter‑commission work and noted that the county ballot deadline in August makes any substantive charter change this year unlikely; members agreed to continue recruiting and to begin interviews with a small delegation so work can proceed toward a spring ballot if necessary.
Council directed staff to prepare candidate lists and to confirm procedural details for appointing a charter‑review commission and to route the transparency portal topic to the finance committee for vendor outreach and a cost estimate.
