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Except as otherwise provided in this charter all legislative and executive powers of the city shall be vested in a commission of not less than five members, either elected or appointed. One member shall be elected from each ward in the manner hereinafter provided. Commissioners from wards shall have resided in their respective wards for at least one year preceding their election or appointment. All Commissioners shall be elected from the city at large, and the person from each ward receiving the highest number of votes from the city at large shall be the commissioner from his ward. The terms of members of the commission shall begin on the first Monday in January next following their election, and they shall serve for a term of four years or until their successors are chosen and qualified, except that the three members elected at the first election by the lowest number of votes shall serve for two years only. Members of the commission shall be qualified electors of the city and shall not hold any other elective office or municipal position or employment for the City of Piqua, Ohio with the exception of the office of mayor. If a vacancy occurs in the commission except as the result of a recall election, the commission shall forthwith fill the place vacated for the unexpired term, within the sixty days, by the appointment of an elector from the ward in which the vacancy occurs. If such vacancy has not been filled by appointment within sixty days, then said vacancy shall be filled by a special election. Such special election shall be called by the commission to be held not less than forty nor more than sixty days after the failure of the commission to appoint an elector to fill the vacancy. The special election shall be held at the same time as any other general or special election held within such period; but if none such election is to be held within such period the commission shall call a special election to be held within the time aforesaid. A member ceasing to possess any of the qualifications specified in this section or convicted of a felony, adjudicated mentally incompetent, or removing from his ward, or from the city, shall forfeit his office.
Redistricting of the wards shall occur every ten years using the census. The redistricting shall be based on an equitable balance of population and shall commence with the 2010 census figures, having the new boundaries of the wards in effect for January 1, 2012. After January 1, 2012, said boundaries of the wards if redrawn shall go into effect at the earliest possible time that the census information can be verified and the boundaries redrawn. In the event the redrawing of boundaries results in a commissioner being located in a different ward than the ward he ran from for election to commission, the commissioner in office at the time of the redistricting shall remain in office for the balance of his term.
(Adopted by electorate, November 6, 1979 – Amending Ordinance No. 40-79; Adopted by electorate, November 2, 2010 – Amending Ordinance No. 3-10)
At six o’clock P.M. on the first Tuesday in January following a regular municipal election the commission shall meet at the usual place for holding commission meetings and the newly elected members shall assume the duties of office. Thereafter the commission shall meet at such times as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, but not less frequently than once each month. Special meetings may be held upon vote of the commission taken in any regular or special meeting and, also, shall be called by the clerk upon the written request of the mayor, the city manager or two members of the commission. Any such vote or request shall state the subject to be considered at the special meeting and no other subject shall be there considered. Except for executive sessions not open to the public, all meetings of the commission and of the committees thereof shall be open to the public, and the rules of the commission shall provide that citizens of the city shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at any such meeting in regard to any matter considered thereat.
The members of the commission may hold an executive session only after a majority of its quorum determines by a roll call vote to hold such a session and only at a regular or special meeting for the sole purpose of the consideration of any of the following matters:
A. To consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline or compensation of the City Manager or City Clerk;
B. To consider pending or imminent litigation;
C. To prepare for and review negotiations on compensation or other terms and conditions of employment for City personnel;
D. To consider matters regarded as confidential by federal law or rules or state statutes;
E. To consider specialized details of security arrangements;
F. To consider the purchase or sale of property for public purposes;
G. To consider the compensation or discipline of a City employee.
H. To consider details related to the security arrangements and emergency response protocols for the City of Piqua or an event where the City of Piqua is involved in the security, if disclosure of the matters discussed could reasonably be expected to jeopardize the security of the City of Piqua or the event being held in the City of Piqua;
I. To consider confidential information related to economic development as further defined by Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22(G)(8) or as amended;
J. To consider other matters as specifically authorized by Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22 as it specifically applies to municipalities.
(Adopted by electorate, November 7, 1989 – Amending Ordinance No. 51-89; Adopted by electorate, November 2, 2010 – Amending Ordinance No. 3-10; Adopted by electorate, November 8, 2016 - Amending Ordinance No. 5-16; Adopted by electorate, November 7, 2023 – Amending Ordinance No. 5-23)
The president of the commission, who shall have the title of mayor, shall preside at meetings of the commission and perform such other duties consistent with his office as may be imposed by the commission. He shall be recognized as the official head of the city for all ceremonial purposes, by the courts for the purpose of serving civil process, and by the governor for military purposes. The president of the commission shall be chosen by direct election of the City Commissioners for a term of two years to commence on the first regular meeting in January commencing in 2018, and every two years thereafter. The City Commissioners shall also elect at the same meeting a vice mayor for a term of two years. Any commissioner shall be eligible to be mayor or vice mayor. If a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor, the vice mayor shall succeed to the office of mayor for the unexpired term, and the commission shall choose another of its members to act as vice mayor. The vice mayor shall also perform all the duties of the office of mayor during the mayor’s absence or disability.
(Adopted by electorate, November 2, 2010 – Amending Ordinance No. 18-10; Adopted by electorate, November 8, 2016 – Amending Ordinance No. 8-16)
The salary of a member of the commission shall be **twenty dollars ($20.00) per month, and the salary of the mayor shall be **forty dollars ($40.00) per month unless modified by an ordinance adopting the recommendations of a citizens review committee. Said committee shall consist of at least five and not more than nine members who shall be electors of the City of Piqua appointed by the commission, at least one member being a resident of each ward. No officer or employee of the City of Piqua or member of the immediate family of such officer or employee shall be eligible to be a member of said committee. Said committee shall be appointed and convene every four years beginning in 1998 and issue a recommendation on salaries of commission members and the mayor. The commission may, by ordinance only, accept or reject said recommendation.
(Adopted by the electorate November 4, 1997 – Amending Ordinance No. 43-97 & 8-98; Adopted by the electorate November 2, 2010 – Amending Ordinance No. 18-10)
Editor’s note:
The current salary for the Mayor is $500 per month, and the current salary for City Commissioners is $416.67 per month. See Ord. 43-97, passed - -97 and Ord. 8-98, passed 3-2-98.
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