The article and section headings herein have been inserted for convenience in reference and are not intended to define or limit the scope of, or otherwise affect, any provision of this Charter.
Whenever the Charter requires the affirmative vote of a stated fraction of the Council, the multiplicand shall be the total number of authorized members of Council reduced by the number of vacancies then existing in Council.
The period of residence in the Municipality required by this Charter as a qualification for elective office shall include the period of residence in any territory which has been annexed to the City. (Amended 11-4-80.)
Commencing as early as practicable in the year 1971, and every ten years thereafter, Council shall determine by census the resident population of each ward, and shall apportion them equally, and, if necessary, shall redefine the boundaries thereof, so that there is no disparity, in resident population, of more than 10% between wards; provided, however, that this shall in no way limit, nor preclude, an increase in the number of wards, and further provided that each ward shall be comprised of compact and contiguous territory. (Added 5-5-70.)
Following any election at which any amendment to this Charter is adopted, the Clerk of Council, with the approval of Council and the Director of Law, may, prior to any reprinting of this Charter, make such changes therein, including the numbers, titles and arrangement of articles, sections hereof, and typographical corrections as may be necessary or desirable to maintain or assure the logical and consistent ordering thereof, but no such change shall, in any way, affect the substance or meaning of this Charter or any part thereof or amendment thereto.
(Added 11-8-2005.)
The location of meetings held by Kent City Council, City boards, and commissions shall be within the city corporation limits in facilities that will allow the free flow of information to the public. The approved exceptions to this requirement are as follows: Declared disasters necessitating locations outside of the city for public safety reasons, joint meetings with other Public Legislative bodies and meetings in which no city business is discussed and is intended for educational or recreational purposes only. If this Charter rule is violated then any and all formal actions taken shall be considered null and void. (Added 11-8-2005)
Beginning in 2016, City Council shall designate one day a “Democracy Day” during the first week of October each year in which a local, state, or national election is held in Kent. On this day, the Mayor and City Council shall sponsor a Public Hearing in a public space within the City. The public hearing shall be held during the evening or weekend time. The City will publicize the public hearing on its website and in area media at least one month in advance. The Public Hearing shall examine the impact on our City, our state and our nation of political influence resulting from campaign contributions by corporate entities. Corporate entities include business corporations, Political Action Committees, PACS, Super PACs, 501 c4 groups and unions. Members of the general public in attendance shall be afforded the opportunity to speak on these matters for up to five minutes per person. The City shall record the minutes of the hearing and make them available to the public no later than November 1 of each year in which it is held by posting them on the City’s website.
Within one (1) week following the annual Public Hearing, the Clerk of City Council shall send a letter to every elected state-level representative of the citizens of the City, to the leaders of the Ohio House and Senate, to our U.S. Congressional Representative(s), and to both U.S. Senators from Ohio. The letter shall include a brief summary of the Public Hearing and will state that the citizens of Kent in November 2015 voted in support of a Citizens’ Initiative calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution declaring the following principles:
The annual Public Hearings will no longer be required if and when a Constitutional Amendment reflecting the principles set forth in Section 02 is ratified by three-quarters (3/4) of the state legislatures. (Added 11-3-15)
CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF KENT