(A) INITIATIVE. Electors of the City shall have the power to propose ordinances and other measures by initiative petition in accordance with the provisions of this Charter, the Constitution and laws of Ohio now or hereafter in effect. All filings required to be made with the City shall be made with the City Clerk.
(B) REFERENDUM. The electors of the City shall have the power to approve or reject at the polls any ordinance or other measure enacted by Council in accordance with the provisions of this Charter, the Constitution and laws of Ohio now or hereafter in effect. All filings required to be made with the City shall be made with the City Clerk.
(C) RECALL. The electors of the City shall have the power to remove from office by recall election any elected official of the City. If an elected official shall have served six (6) months of the term, a petition demanding removal may be filed with the City Clerk, who shall note thereon the name and address of the person filing the petition and the date of such filing, and deliver to such person a receipt therefor and attach a copy thereof to said petition. The petition may be circulated in separate parts, but the separate parts shall be bound together and filed as one instrument. Each part shall contain the name and office of the person whose removal is sought and a statement in not more than two hundred (200) words of the grounds for the removal. Such petition shall be signed by at least that number of electors which equals twenty-five (25) percent of the total number of electors voting at the last preceding regular Municipal election.
Within ten (10) days after the day on which such petition is filed, the City Clerk shall determine whether or not it meets the requirements hereof. If the City Clerk shall find the petition insufficient, the City Clerk shall promptly certify the particulars in which the petition is defective, deliver a copy of the certificate to the person who filed the petition, and make a record of such delivery. Such person shall be allowed a period of twenty (20) days after the day on which delivery was made in which to make the petition sufficient. If the City Clerk shall find the petition sufficient, the City Clerk shall promptly certify to Council, shall deliver a copy of such certificate to the official whose removal is sought, and shall make a record of such delivery.
If such official shall not resign within five (5) days after the day on which delivery shall have been made, Council shall thereupon fix a day for holding a recall election, not less than sixty (60) days nor more than seventy-five (75) days after the date of such delivery. At such recall election, this question shall be placed upon the ballot: “Shall (naming the official) be allowed to continue as (naming the office)?” with provision being made on the ballot for voting affirmatively or negatively on such question. If a majority of the votes cast at such election shall be voted affirmatively, such official shall remain in office. If a majority of the votes cast shall be voted negatively, such official shall be considered as removed, the office shall be declared vacant, and such vacancy shall be filled as provided in Section 8.05 of this Charter for the vacancy of a Council member. The official removed by such recall election shall not be eligible for appointment to the vacancy created thereby.
(D) ASSISTANCE OF THE LAW DIRECTOR. Upon request, the Law Director may review the form of initiative, referendum and recall petitions prior to circulation thereof and provide a checklist detailing the requirements for such petitions.