Details for New Government

 From the brief discussion we had this Saturday at Hypersonic Beverage and Coffee, we have decided on a new government structure to improve city governance.  We want a responsive council, and, in turn, a responsive city hall. 

The entrenched nature of our current council members and council president, or 'mayor', stems from the length of time the current mayor has been allowed to remain mayor and a core group who were elected about the same time as he was 20 years ago.  They have become entrenched, feel entitled, and have been allowed to go unchallenged all this time because the election structure would not punish them for their abuses; namely, it prevented us from throwing them out!

Electors in the city have had a lack of viable council candidates to represent the residents here in Cleveland Heights.  Many candidates were selected and groomed under the guidance of council members and the local Democratic party.  Their deep pockets and extensive network in this city made it a near impossibility for any non-Democrat or crony to win an election to, what is supposed to be, a non-party position on council.

To cut the influence of the council and the Democratic party, we think wards are the solution.  A city the size of Cleveland Heights could have 7 different wards of with populations of approximately 6,500 each.

A Ward council member can better focus on the needs and concerns of his constituents.  Being responsible to only 6,500 or so, allows the representative to, hopefully, develop better interactions with the people in his ward. 

However, to avoid becoming too mired in the specific issues of one section of Cleveland Heights over those of another, we thought it would be best that the council have only 4 Wards (of 11,500) and 3 at-large elected council members.  The three would provide a larger perspective, in theory, akin to the House of Representatives (ward representation) and the Senate (at-large representation).

Term limits are the second major change in the government process.  To avoid future entrenchment of council members they are limited to two or three 4-year terms, or 8-12 consecutive years in office.

A third change would require the rotation of who serves in the role of "Mayor", or president of council.  Every year, the mayor will step down, and the person who was elected vice-mayor then becomes the mayor.  The council them votes for a new vice-mayor, who will become mayor one year later.

This is the summary of this plan of government:

~ 7 Council Members
~ 4 Chosen by Wards
~ 3 Chosen at large
~ Term limits - two to three 4-year terms
~ Council members rotate through the mayor position

Please provide your comments, criticisms, ideas, suggestions, concerns, etc., here.