A. Wards. The City shall, by this Charter, be divided into five (5) wards, and one (1) Councilmember shall be elected from each ward, and two (2) Councilmembers elected from the City at large.
B. Districting Commission. The Council shall appoint five (5) qualified voters, one from each ward of the City, determined from the registration from the last general election, who shall comprise the Districting Commission. The voters chosen shall not be employed by the City in any other capacity.
C. Report/Specifications. By the tenth (10th) day of January at least every five (5) years from the date of the report of the last preceding Districting Commission, or as often as necessary to comply with the statutes of the State of Ohio, said Commission shall file with the Clerk of Council a report containing a recommended plan for adjustment of the Council ward boundaries to comply with these specifications:
1. Each ward shall be formed of compact, contiguous territory.
2. Each ward shall contain as nearly as possible the same number of qualified voters, determined from the registration for the last statewide general election, but wards shall not differ in size by more than ten percent (10%) of the voters in the smallest ward created.
This report shall include a map and description of the wards recommended and shall be drafted as a proposed ordinance. Once filed with the Clerk, the report shall be treated as an ordinance introduced by a Councilmember, but shall be subject to amendment or deletion in whole or in part by a majority vote of Councilmembers so long as the above specifications are complied with. The Council may, by ordinance, provide for the creation of a Districting Commission to convene and report at such earlier dates as it deems advisable.
D. Procedure. The procedure for the Council's consideration of the report shall be the same as for other ordinances. It must include both the map and description of the recommended wards.
E. Failure to enact ordinances. The Council shall adopt the ordinance as recommended or amended at least one hundred eighty (180) days before the next regular municipal election. If the Council fails to do so by such date, all Councilmembers to be elected at such election shall be elected at large and shall serve as Councilmembers-at-Large until their terms of office expire. After such an election at large, the Districting Commission shall convene and adjust the ward boundaries in accordance with the specifications, requirements and procedure earlier provided in this section, except that the ordinance shall be enacted at least one hundred eighty (180) days before the next regular municipal election following such election at large.
F. Effect of enactment. The new Council wards and boundaries, as of the date of enactment, shall supersede previous Council wards and boundaries, for all purposes of the next election. The new wards and boundaries shall supersede previous wards and boundaries for all other purposes as of the date on which all Councilmembers elected at that regular election take office.
(Amended November 3, 1981; November 5, 1985; November 6, 2018)