Council reduced to 5 members; wards eliminated

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By Ed Richter, Staff Writer Updated 6:25 AM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Middletown voters Tuesday, Nov. 3, approved an amendment of the city charter to reduce the size of City Council as well as eliminate the ward system of representation.

According to final, unofficial results from the boards of elections in Butler and Warren counties, the amendment was approved by a vote of 4,623 for to 4,151 against.

The measure will reduce the size of council from seven members to five members who will all be elected at-large beginning with the general election in 2013.

The way the charter amendment was placed on the ballot was the source of controversy over the past few months after council reversed itself to place the amendment before voters.

The city’s 2009 Charter Review Committee recommended placing the amendment on the ballot by a 13-2 vote. However, when it came before council, it was initially rejected because council could not muster the two-thirds vote, or five votes, to place it on the ballot.

A group of residents then circulated a petition to place the amendment on the ballot but the Butler County Board of Elections ruled the petition lacked sufficient signatures of registered voters.

The effort swayed 4th Ward Councilman David Schiavone to change his vote to place the amendment on the ballot in an 11th hour decision.

After the Tuesday’s vote, Dora Bronston, president of the Middletown NAACP, said there’s lots of time in between this election and when the amendment goes into effect in 2013.

“It doesn’t mean that this issue won’t be back,” she said.

Jeff Michel, the resident that initiated the petition drive to put the issue back on the ballot, said “the people have spoken and that’s what they chose. I’m pleased.”

“I think it’s fabulous, and the city has a bright new future,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or at erichter@coxohio.com.

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I agree with Fredy. what people don't understand is the economics of running for office. It doesn't matter where the future for Middletown is that is irrelevant to having distributed fair representation. Like it or not Middletonians live in ALL parts of Middletown and should have a voice on council. What if our state senators and representatives were eliminated in favor of nationwide vote? Would you like all or your senators coming from NY and CA? What if all coucil mems come from the 1st Ward?

Jacky
5:14 AM, 11/5/2009

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Ted if you want to know about MMF seek the truth at MiddletownUSA.com

MUSA=The Truth
7:50 PM, 11/4/2009

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just for the record, i said "kokk." they changed it to "cook." not I.

el wetabck de negro
7:27 PM, 11/4/2009

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Bill, I agree 100% with your statement. I want people that know what they are doing to make the decisions for this city regardless of where they live. If they all happen to be from the evil "east end" then so be it. Whether people like it or not, the future economic growth of this city is on THE EAST END. It is not downtown or anywhere else. The sooner people accept this, the better off everyone will be.

RN
4:54 PM, 11/4/2009

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I hate being uninformed. Who are the members of the "good old boys club" and the "MMF people" and what is their "plan" for the city? Most of the people I consider rich left Middletown awhile ago in order to enroll their kids in better schools. Perhaps the residents in the wards that feel like they won't be represented should try to secede from the city like the neighborhood on the east end.

Ted
3:49 PM, 11/4/2009

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