From the Mayor’s Desk

by Mayor Sam Alai

Every four years, the city charter is reviewed to determine if changes are needed and to make recommendations for the November election.

Through a series of five public meetings held between Feb. 17 and April 21, nine residents, including Council President Bob Boldt, carefully reviewed our current Broadview Heights charter and thoroughly discussed potential additions, deletions and/or amendments.

Resident participation was sought via in-person attendance at the meetings, emailed input through the city hall email address, an in-person visit to the mayor’s office and/or U.S. mail. Submissions through any of these avenues were accepted up to March 24, and all agendas/meeting minutes were posted on our city’s website.

These are the ballot issues approved by the charter commission for consideration by the voters this November:

Issue 22: Councilpersons shall be in office for no more than three consecutive four-year terms or 12 consecutive years, and terms served prior to the effective date of this amendment shall not be counted.

In a nutshell, this would not affect any council members currently in office, but it would affect them starting with the 2027 term (if they are re-elected). Their prior years in office as councilpersons would not be included in this calculation. And, of course, it would affect new members of council elected in 2027. As a reminder, their jobs are part-time and they are permitted to hold full-time employment elsewhere.

Issue 24: The mayor shall have the authority to enter into contracts on behalf of the city without prior council approval when the contract value is $25,000 or less, provided sufficient funds have otherwise been appropriated by council (increasing annually by 3% as of Jan. 1, 2028).

Issue 25: The mayor shall have the authority to make purchases on behalf of the city without prior council approval when the purchase value is $25,000 or less, provided sufficient funds have otherwise been appropriated by council (increasing annually by 3% as of Jan. 1, 2028). This is applicable to both Issues 24 and 25. According to ORC Section 9.17 (which captures the total expenditure regardless of whether it is executed through a formal written contract or a purchase order), the allowable amount of municipal purchasing was $25,000 before 2011, $50,000 from 2012-2023 and is now $75,000. It also includes a provision for an annual increase (similar to a cost-of-living adjustment), so now it is estimated to be between $77,000 and $78,000. This includes all purchase orders and contracts.

Our charter has capped the allowable amount for both purchases and contracts at $10,000 or less for over a decade. The rationale behind both of these ballot issues is that the spending limit in Broadview Heights is significantly lower than the current Ohio Revised Code threshold, and our charter’s language has not kept up with inflation regarding many of the items we purchase in the city. Even with this change, we are still far below the amount used by Ohio law, so this is a small, incremental adjustment meant to increase efficiency. Rest assured that all monies spent will continue to be only those first appropriated by council in the city budget, via open and public discussions/voting. The need to approve the initial funds in each annual budget remains as it is in the current charter.

Issue 27: Municipal tax levies can only be placed on the ballot for municipal elections held in November of any calendar year. Since voter turnout at the general elections is higher, all tax levies will only appear on those ballots.

Issue 28: Any gender-specific terms shall be changed to gender-neutral terms in all future charters. This is essentially a housekeeping item.

The next two ballot issues were not put forward by the Charter Review Commission but were instead placed on the November ballot by a majority vote of council after the commission completed its work.

Issue 23: The mayor shall be in office for no more than three consecutive four-year terms or 12 consecutive years, and terms served prior to the effective date of this amendment shall not be counted. In a nutshell, this would not affect me in this current term, but it would affect me (and any future mayors) starting with the 2027 term. My prior years in office as your mayor would not be included in this calculation. As a reminder, the job as mayor (and safety director) is a full-time job and city mayors are not permitted to hold any other full-time employment elsewhere.

Issue 26: The city of Broadview Heights shall maintain two fire stations within the city, with each fire station having at least one fire truck and one EMS vehicle. I am uncertain about the rationale for this language put forth by council. No one in the fire department (including the fire chief), any community members or myself have ever advocated for closing a fire station in our city. Both are needed. I have stated my position repeatedly and unwaveringly. In fact, once the Broadview Road station is completed, the money set aside by council to rehab the Wallings Road station will be accessed and updates will occur. The amount currently appropriated is $2 million, which will provide much-needed improvements for our fire department staff, who work every day to serve our community and keep them safe. Therefore, to be clear, neither fire station was ever scheduled, proposed or budgeted for closure. I want to be sure that the community hears my message loud and clear, because there is some unfortunate miscommunication out in the public about this issue, so I feel the need to clarify the concerns I’ve heard from some people around town.

In closing, regardless of where you fall on each of these issues, I urge you to exercise your right to vote. I hope to see you at the polls in November.