The rights and powers of initiative, referendum and recall are reserved to the people of the Municipality and shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the general laws of the State of Ohio which are applicable thereto, subject always to the following special provisions with respect to the exercise of initiative, referendum and recall within the Municipality, anything to the contrary provided in the general laws of the State of Ohio as now or hereafter enacted to the contrary notwithstanding:
(a) INITIATIVE. The electors shall have the power to propose any ordinance or resolution except an ordinance appropriating money or authorizing the levy of taxes, and to adopt or reject the same at the polls, such power being known as the initiative. An initiated ordinance or resolution shall be submitted to the Clerk of Council, by petition signed by electors, at least equal in number to fifteen (15) percent of the number of registered electors of the Municipality on the date of the last general election in the Municipality, as determined by the Board of Elections of Lorain County, Ohio. When so submitted, the Board of Elections shall determine the sufficiency thereof and if sufficient, Council shall take final action, either enacting, amending or rejecting the proposed ordinance within forty (40) days after submission. If Council fails to pass such proposed ordinance or resolution or passes it in some form different from that set forth in the petition therefor, the petitioners through the committee named on such petition may by the next regular meeting of Council request in writing that it be submitted to a vote of the electors. Thereupon, Council shall provide for submitting the petitioned ordinance or resolution to the electors at the next general or regular municipal election occurring more than ninety (90) days after filing of such petition with the Board of Elections of Lorain County, Ohio, but if such petition is signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of such electors, the date of the election may be fixed therein, which may be a special election to be held at any time more than ninety (90) days after the filing of such petition.
(b) REFERENDUM. All ordinances and resolutions passed by the Council, whether passed as emergency measures or otherwise, shall be subject to being repealed on a referendum with the exception of ordinances or resolutions pertaining to budgets, appropriations, current operating expenses, rates of pay and compensation and employment by the Municipality of nonelected employees, payrolls and legislation pertaining to any improvement the cost of which is to be borne in whole or in part by special assessment upon benefited properties where the owners of sixty percent (60%) or more of the street frontage of the properties to be benefited have petitioned for the improvement.
Whenever Council is by law required to pass more than one ordinance or resolution to complete the legislation necessary to make and pay for any public improvement, the right to a referendum shall apply only to the first ordinance or resolution required to be passed and not to any subsequent ordinances or resolutions.
Nothing in this Charter pertaining to referendum shall ever be construed to apply to any proceeding or to any measure taken by Council for the accomplishment of the purpose thereof, where the undertaking or the method of financing thereof has been approved by a vote of the people of the Municipality.
A valid petition for a referendum election within the Municipality must be signed by at least fifteen percent (15%) of the number of registered electors of the Municipality on the date of the last general election in the Municipality, as determined by the Board of Elections of Lorain County, Ohio. In addition to all other legal requirements, the referendum petition must set out with exactness the respects in which objections to the measure are made, and must state the reasons advanced to support the objection.
A valid petition for a referendum must be filed with the Clerk of Council by 4:00 P.M. on or before forty (40) days after the ordinance or resolution was passed by Council. When a referendum petition is filed with the Clerk of Council, the ordinance or resolution sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended from taking effect. Such suspension shall terminate when:
(1) There is a final determination of insufficiency of the petition, or
(2) The petitioners withdraw the petition, or
(3) The Council repeals the ordinance or resolution, or
(4) The vote of the referendum has been certified.
The Board of Elections shall determine the sufficiency of the referendum petition within thirty (30) days. If said petition is found to be sufficient the Clerk shall certify and deliver it to the Board of Elections of Lorain County, Ohio, for submission to a referendum vote of the people of the Municipality.
The vote of the City on a referred ordinance or resolution shall be held not less than sixty (60) days and not later than one year from the date of the final Council vote thereon. If said petition is signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of such electors, the date of the election may be fixed therein. If no regular City election is to be held within the period prescribed in this subsection, the Council shall provide for a special election; otherwise, the vote shall be held at the same time as such regular election, except that the Council may in its discretion provide for a special election at an earlier date within the prescribed period.
(c) RECALL. Electors shall have the power to remove from office by recall election any elected officer of the Municipality. After an elected officer has served six (6) months of his term, a petition demanding his recall and removal may be filed with the Clerk of Council. Such a petition shall be signed by electors eligible to vote in the last election for the office to which the recall petition is directed equal in number to at least twenty percent (20%) of the registered voters eligible to vote for the office. Such petition shall contain a general statement in not more than two hundred words of the grounds upon which the removal of such person is sought. The filing of the petition with the Clerk of Council must be done by 4:00 P.M. on or before forty (40) days after the date the first signature was affixed to the petition. The Board of Elections shall determine the sufficiency of the recall petition within 30 days of such filing. If the Board of Elections shall find the petition sufficient the Clerk shall promptly so certify to the Council, shall deliver a copy of such certificate to the official whose removal is sought and make a record of such delivery. If such official shall not resign within five (5) days after the day on which such delivery shall have been made, the Council shall fix a day for holding a recall election not less than thirty (30) days, or more than forty (40) days from the date of delivery. The ballots at such recall election shall submit the question: "Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of (name of office) by recall?" with provision on the ballot for voting affirmatively or negatively on such question. If a majority of the votes cast on the question of removal are affirmative, the person whose removal is sought shall be removed from office and such vacancy shall be filled as provided in this Charter. The official removed by such recall election shall not be eligible for appointment to the vacancy created thereby.
(Amended 11-4-86; 5-6-03; 11-8-05)