The Charter of the City of East Cleveland

CHARTER
OF THE
CITY OF EAST CLEVELAND

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITOR'S NOTE:  The East Cleveland Charter was originally adopted on June 6, 1916, and became effective January 1, 1918.  Dates appearing in parentheses following a section heading indicate that those provisions were subsequently adopted, amended or repealed or replaced on the date given.                                     

 CORPORATE POWERS, RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES
  Sec. 1. Name and Powers.
  Sec. 2. Enumerated Powers Not Exclusive.

 THE COMMISSION
  Sec. 3. Powers. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 4. Term of Office. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 5. Qualification of Members. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 6. Vacancies. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 7. Salary. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 8. President. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 9. Appointees. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 10. Time of Meeting. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 11. Penalty for Absence. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 12. Legislative Procedure. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 13. Ordinance Enactment. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 14. Emergency Measures. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 15. Record and Publication. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 16. Price and Mode of Publication. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 17. Salaries and Bonds. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 18. General Disqualifications. (5-7-85)

 THE CITY MANAGER
  Sec. 19. Appointment. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 20. Powers and Duties.
  Sec. 21. Vice-Manager. (5-7-85)
 

                                                  TABLE OF CONTENTS                                            2

 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS AND DEPARTMENTS
  Sec. 22. Departments.
  Sec. 23. Directors.
  Sec. 24. Mayor as Acting Department Head.

 MUNICIPAL COURT
  Sec. 25. (5-6-52)
  Sec. 26. (5-6-52)
  Sec. 27. (5-6-52)

 CIVIL SERVICE
  Sec. 28. The Civil Service Commission.
  Sec. 29. Classification.
  Sec. 30. Appointments and Removals.
  Sec. 30-A. Residence Requirements; Officers and Employees.  (11-5-96)
  Sec. 31. Relief of Policemen and Firemen.

 ELECTIONS
  Sec. 32. Time of Holding Elections. (11-3-31)
  Sec. 33. Ballots. (11-7-00)
  Sec. 33-A. Voting Machines. (5-6-52)
  Sec. 34. Nomination by Petition. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 34-A. Balloting for Armed Forces. (11-7-00)
  Sec. 35. Acceptance. (6-5-45)
  Sec. 36. Elections. (11-7-00)
  Sec. 36-A. Women's Suffrage.  (11-7-00)
  Sec. 37. State Law Provisions.  (11-7-00)

 THE INITIATIVE
  Sec. 38. Proposed Petition.
  Sec. 39. Time of Filing.
  Sec. 40. Petition for Election.
  Sec. 41. Time of Holding Election.
  Sec. 42. Ballots.
  Sec. 43. Duty of Director of Law.  (11-7-00)

 THE REFERENDUM
  Sec. 44. Petition for Referendum.
  Sec. 45. Proceedings Thereunder.
  Sec. 46. Legislation for Improvements.  (11-7-00)
  Sec. 47. Initiated Ordinances Subject to Referendum; Conflict.

 THE RECALL
  Sec. 48. Application.  (11-7-00)
  Sec. 49. Recall Procedure. (11-7-00)
  Sec. 50. How Procured.
  Sec. 51. Signatures, Requirements of.
  Sec. 52. Filing.
 
3                                                 TABLE OF CONTENTS                                            

 THE RECALL (Cont.)
  Sec. 53. Notice. (11-8-77)
  Sec. 54. Recall Election.
  Sec. 55. Rotary Ballots.
  Sec. 56. Filling of Vacancies.
  Sec. 57. Counting the Vote.
  Sec. 58. Effect of Resignations.
  Sec. 59. Miscellaneous Provisions.

 APPROPRIATIONS
  Sec. 60. The Estimate.
  Sec. 61. Appropriation Ordinance.
  Sec. 61.-F. Limitation on Rate of Taxation (11-4-69)
  Sec. 62. Transfer of Funds. (4-29-24)
  Sec. 63. Unencumbered Balances.
  Sec. 64. Payment of Claims.
  Sec. 65. Certification of Funds.
  Sec. 66. Money in the Funds.
  Sec. 67. Financial Reports.
  Sec. 68. Sinking Funds. (4-29-24)

 IMPROVEMENTS - CONTRACTS
  Sec. 69. Limitation of Assessments.
  Sec. 70. Sewer, Water and Gas Connections.
  Sec. 71. Street Sprinkling and Cleaning Sidewalks.
  Sec. 72. Contracts. (11-8-77)
  Sec. 73. Time of Making Contracts.
  Sec. 74. Bids in Excess of Estimate.
  Sec. 75. Contracts - When Void.

 FRANCHISES
  Sec. 76. Grants Limited.
  Sec. 77. Period of Grants.
  Sec. 78. Assignment.
  Sec. 79. Extension by Annexation.
  Sec. 80. Consents.
  Sec. 81. Regulations.
  Sec. 82. Forfeitures.
  Sec. 83. Paving and Sprinkling.
  Sec. 84. Accounts and Reports.
  Sec. 85. Grants Not Included.
  Sec. 85-A. City Planning Commission. (11-7-72)
  Sec. 85-B. Districting or Zoning. (11-7-72)
  Sec. 86. General Provisions.

 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
  Sec. 87. General Laws to Apply. (5-6-52)
  Sec. 88. Ordinances Continued in Force.
  Sec. 89. Continuance of Present Officers.
  Sec. 90. Continuance of Contracts and Vested Rights.
 

                                                 TABLE OF CONTENTS                                            4

 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS (Cont.)
  Sec. 91. Investigation.
  Sec. 92. Oath of Office.
  Sec. 93. Hours of Labor.
  Sec. 94. Amendments. (11-7-72)
  Sec. 94-A. Charter Review Commission. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 95. Saving Clause.
  Sec. 96. When Charter Takes Effect.

 ABOLISHMENT OF THE COMMISSION AND OFFICE OF CITY MANAGER
  Sec. 97. Abolishment of City Commission and Office of City Manager. (5-7-85)
 THE COUNCIL
  Sec. 98. The Council; Powers; Election and Term of Office. (11-7-00)
  Sec. 99. Qualification of Members. (5-3-88)
  Sec. 100. Vacancy. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 101. Salary. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 102. Organization of Council. (11-7-00)
  Sec. 103. Time of Meetings; Public Meetings; Exceptions. (11-6-90)
  Sec. 104. Penalty for Absence. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 105. Legislative Procedure. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 106. Ordinance Enactment. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 107. Emergency Measures. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 108. Records and Publications.  (11-7-00)
  Sec. 109. Price and Mode of Publication. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 110. Salaries and Bonds. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 111. General Disqualifications. (5-7-85)

 THE MAYOR
  Sec. 112. Mayor; Qualifications and Term of Office. (11-7-00)
  Sec. 113. Powers of the Mayor.  (11-7-00)
  Sec. 114. Vacancy.  (11-7-00)

 NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
  Sec. 115. Nomination and Election Procedures. (6-6-89; 11-6-90; 11-5-96)
  Sec. 116. First Election; Recall. (5-7-85)

 AUDITING PROCEDURE
  Sec. 117. Auditing Procedures. (5-7-85)

 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
  Sec. 118. Charter Review Commission. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 119. Acting Mayor and Council; Ordinances Continued in Force. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 120. Repealed Sections. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 121. Savings Clause. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 122. Effective Date of Amendments. (5-7-85)
  Sec. 123. Effective Date of Amendments. (6-6-89)

 APPENDIX A REPEALED CHARTER SECTIONS

5

CHARTER
OF THE
CITY OF EAST CLEVELAND

CORPORATE POWERS, RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES

SECTION 1.  NAME AND POWERS.
 The inhabitants of the City of East Cleveland, as its limits now are, or may hereafter be, shall be a body politic and corporate and by name the City of East Cleveland, and as such shall have perpetual succession; may use a corporate seal; may sue and be sued; may acquire property in fee simple or lesser interests or estate by purchase, gift, devise appropriation, lease, or lease with the privilege to purchase for any municipal purpose; may sell, lease, hold, manage, and control such property, and make any and all rules and regulations by ordinance or resolution which may be required to carry out fully all the provisions of any conveyance, deed, or will, in relation to any gift or bequest or the provisions of any lease by which it may acquire property; may acquire, construct, own, lease and operate and regulate public utilities; may assess, levy and collect taxes for general and special purposes on all the subjects or objects which the City may lawfully tax; may borrow money on the faith and credit of the City by the issue or sale of bonds or notes of the City; may appropriate the money of the City for all lawful purposes; may create, provide for, construct, regulate and maintain all things of the nature of public works and improvements; may levy and collect assessments for local improvements; may define, prohibit, abate, suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals, comfort, safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the City, and all nuisances and causes thereof; may regulate the construction, height, and the material used in all buildings, and the maintenance and occupancy thereof; may regulate the construction, location, size, height, and the materials used in all billboards, and the maintenance and use of the same; may regulate and control the use, for whatever purposes, of the streets and other public places; may create, establish, organize and abolish offices and fix the salaries and compensation of all officers and employees; may make and enforce local police, sanitary and other regulations; and may pass such ordinances as may be expedient for maintaining and promoting the peace, good government and welfare of the City, and for the performance of the functions thereof.  The City shall have all powers that now are, or hereafter may be granted to municipalities by the Constitution or laws of Ohio; and all such powers, whether expressed or implied, shall be exercised and enforced in the manner prescribed by this Charter, or when not prescribed herein, in such manner as shall be provided by ordinance or resolution of the Council.
 

Sec. 2                                              CHARTER                                                    6

 

SECTION 2.  ENUMERATED POWERS NOT EXCLUSIVE.
 The enumeration of particular powers by this Charter shall not be held or deemed to be exclusive, but, in addition to the powers enumerated herein, implied thereby or appropriate to the exercise thereof, the City shall have, and may exercise, all other powers which, under the Constitution and laws of Ohio, it would be competent for this Charter specifically to enumerate.

THE COMMISSION
SECTION 3.  POWERS.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 4.  TERM OF OFFICE.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 5.  QUALIFICATION OF MEMBERS.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 6.  VACANCIES.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 7.  SALARY.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 8.  PRESIDENT.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 9.  APPOINTEES.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 10.  TIME OF MEETING.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 11.  PENALTY FOR ABSENCE.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 12.  LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 13.  ORDINANCE ENACTMENT.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 14.  EMERGENCY MEASURES.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 15.  RECORD AND PUBLICATION.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 16.  PRICE AND MODE OF PUBLICATION.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

 

 
7                                      Administrative Officers and Departments                       Sec. 23

SECTION 17.  SALARIES AND BONDS.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 18.  GENERAL DISQUALIFICATIONS.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

THE CITY MANAGER

SECTION 19.  APPOINTMENT.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 20.  POWERS AND DUTIES.
 The Mayor shall be responsible to the Council for the proper administration of all affairs of the City and the enforcement of the laws and ordinances, except as herein otherwise provided, and to that end he shall have authority to appoint and remove all other administrative officers and employees.  He shall attend all meetings of the Council and its committees with the right to participate in their discussions, but he shall have no vote.  He shall prepare and submit to the Council the annual budget after receiving estimates made by the directors of the departments, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this Charter and the ordinances and resolutions of the Council.

SECTION 21.  VICE-MANAGER.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS AND DEPARTMENTS

SECTION 22.  DEPARTMENTS.
 The following administrative departments are hereby established: (1) Department of Law.  (2) Department of Public Service.  (3) Department of Public Safety.  (4) Department of Finance.  (5) Department of Public Health.  The Council shall determine and prescribe the functions and duties of each department and by vote of four of its members and may create new departments, combine or abolish existing departments, and establish temporary departments for special work.

SECTION 23.  DIRECTORS.
 There shall be a director of each department who shall have the supervision and control thereof, who shall be immediately responsible to the Mayor for the administration of the department.  The Director of Law shall be an attorney-at-law, who shall have been duly admitted to practice in the State of Ohio, and who shall have engaged in the active practice of law continuously for a period of three years next preceding his appointment.  The Director of Public Health shall be a physician, who shall have been duly admitted to practice in the State of Ohio, and who shall have been engaged in the active practice of medicine continuously for a period of three years next preceding his appointment.

 
Sec. 24                                                  CHARTER                                                    8

SECTION 24.  MAYOR AS ACTING DEPARTMENT HEAD.
 Excepting the departments of Law, Finance and Health, the Mayor shall be the acting head of each and every department of the City until otherwise provided by the Council.

MUNICIPAL COURT

SECTION 25.  (Repealed 5-6-52.)

SECTION 26.  (Repealed 5-6-52.)

SECTION 27.  (Repealed 5-6-52.)

CIVIL SERVICE

SECTION 28.  THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION.
 There shall be a Civil Service Commission consisting of three members, who are qualified electors of the City, not more than two of whom shall belong to the same political party, who shall be appointed by the Mayor subject to the approval and confirmation of the Council.  Of the members first appointed, one shall hold office for a term of two years; one for a term of four years; and the other for a term of six years; and their successors shall be appointed for terms of six years.  The Mayor shall fill all vacancies by appointment for the unexpired term, subject to the approval and confirmation of the Council.  The Mayor may at any time remove any civil service commissioner for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, having first given to such commissioner a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity to be publicly heard in person or by counsel in his own defense; and any such removal shall be final.

SECTION 29.  CLASSIFICATION.
 The civil service of the City is hereby divided into the unclassified and the classified service.
 The unclassified service shall include:
  (1) All officers elected by the people.
  (2) The Mayor, and all directors of departments.
  (3) The members of all boards or commissions appointed by the Council or the Mayor.
  (4) The Clerk of Council, and such other offices and positions as may be determined and prescribed by the Council.

 The classified service shall consist of the police, sanitary police, and fire forces of the City, and such other offices and positions as shall be determined and prescribed by the Council, except as hereinbefore provided.

 
9                                       Administrative Officers and Departments                       Sec. 31

SECTION 30.  APPOINTMENTS AND REMOVALS.
 Appointments and promotions in the classified civil service of the City shall be made according to merit and fitness, to be ascertained by competitive examinations.
 No officer or employee in the classified service shall be demoted or removed except for cause and after hearing, and the Council shall provide by ordinance for the enforcement of this provision and also for appeals to the Civil Service Commission from suspensions, demotions and removals by the Mayor.
 Except as herein otherwise provided, ordinances shall be passed to fix the powers and duties of the Civil Service Commission and to prescribe rules and regulations governing the classified civil service.

SECTION 30-A.  RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS; OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.
 (a) Except as in this Charter otherwise provided or except as otherwise provided by a majority vote of the Council of the City of East Cleveland, every regular officer or employee of the City of East Cleveland, including members of all City boards and commissions established by the Charter or ordinances of East Cleveland, whether in the classified or unclassified service of the City of East Cleveland, appointed after the effective date of this amendment, shall, at the time of his appointment, or within six months thereafter, be or become a bona fide resident of the City of East Cleveland, and shall remain as such during his term of office or while employed by the City of East Cleveland.

 (b) No person shall, in any way, falsify or misstate verbally or in writing any application, paper, document or form, which relates to his employment with the City, that he is a resident of the City of East Cleveland, when in fact he is not a bona fide resident of the City of East Cleveland.  Any officer or employee of the City of East Cleveland who is found to have supplied or furnished such false or misleading information concerning his true residence or who fails to become a resident as herein required, or who, being a resident or having become a resident outside of the City, subsequently establishes a residence outside of the City, shall, after notice and hearing, according to law, be discharged from service with the City.

 (c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any officer or employee on the payroll of the City of East Cleveland on the effective date of this section.

 (d) If in the event an employee did not move within the stated time, and the Mayor decides to exempt the employee, the Mayor shall provide the reasons for exemption to Council for approval.  It shall be the responsibility of Council to either approve or disapprove any request for exemption.  In the event that the Council determines to deny the exemption, the employee shall be discharged from service with the City, after notice and hearing, according to law.
(Added 11-5-96.)

SECTION 31.  RELIEF OF POLICEMEN AND FIREMEN.
 The Council may provide by ordinance for the relief, out of the police or fire funds, of members of the police, fire and sanitary forces temporarily or permanently disabled in the discharge of duty.  Nothing in this section shall impair, restrict or repeal any provision of general law authorizing the levying of taxes to provide for firemen, police and sanitary police pension funds, and to create and perpetuate boards of trustees for the administration of such funds.

Sec. 32                                                  CHARTER                                                 10

ELECTIONS

SECTION 32.  TIME OF HOLDING ELECTIONS.
 Regular municipal elections shall be hold on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the odd numbered years.  Any matter which, by the terms of the Charter, may be submitted to the electors of the City at any special election may be submitted at a regular municipal election or at any general or primary election.
(Amended 11-3-31.)

SECTION 33.  BALLOTS.
 The ballots used in all elections provided for in this Charter shall be paper ballots, or mechanical, or other devices for voting not inconsistent with the general election laws of the State of Ohio.
 The ballots used in all elections provided for in this Charter shall be without party marks or designations.  The names of all candidates for any office shall be placed upon the same ballot and the names shall be rotated in the manner provided by the laws of the State of Ohio.
 The full name of all candidates shall be printed on the ballots.  If two or more candidates for the same office have the same surname or surnames similar as likely to cause confusion, their residence addresses shall be printed with their names on the ballot.
(Amended 11-7-00.)

SECTION 33-A.  VOTING MACHINES.
(Repealed 5-6-52.)

SECTION 34.  NOMINATION BY PETITION.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 34-A.  BALLOTING FOR ARMED FORCES.
 A member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a member of his family shall be entitled to vote in accordance with and pursuant to the procedures of the general election laws of the State of Ohio.  (Amended 11-7-00.)

SECTION 35.  ACCEPTANCE.
 (This section is no longer operative inasmuch as its provisions are superseded by Ordinance No. 3964, adopted June 5, 1945, pursuant to Section 34-A of this Charter.  The provisions of Ordinance No. 3964 are as follows:
 Any person whose name has been submitted for candidacy by any such petition shall file his acceptance of such candidacy with the election authorities not later than ninety (90) days previous to such election; otherwise, his name shall not appear upon the ballot.)

 
11                                                       The Initiative                                             Sec. 39

SECTION 36.  ELECTIONS.
 (EDITOR’S NOTE: The provisions of Section 36 were repealed on November 7, 2000.)

SECTION 36-A.  WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE.
 (EDITOR’S NOTE: The provisions of Section 36-A were repealed on November 7, 2000.)

SECTION 37.  STATE LAW PROVISIONS.
 All elections shall be conducted and the result canvassed and certified by the election authorities prescribed by general laws, and all other matters relating to primaries and elections, not herein, or by ordinance of the Council specifically provided for shall be determined by the general election laws of the State. 
(Amended 11-7-00.)

THE INITIATIVE

SECTION 38.  PROPOSED PETITION.
 Any proposed ordinance, including any ordinance for the repeal or amendment of an ordinance than in effect, may be submitted to the Council by petition signed by at least fifteen percent of the total number of voters voting at the last regular election of municipal officers.  All petitions circulated with respect to any proposed ordinance shall be uniform in character, shall contain the proposed ordinance in full, and shall have printed or written thereon the names and addresses of at least five electors who shall be officially regarded as filing the petition and shall constitute a committee of the petitioners for the purpose hereinafter named.
 Each signer of a petition shall sign his name in ink or indelible pencil and shall place on the petition, opposite his name, the date of his signature and his place of residence by street and number.  The signatures to any such petition need not all be appended to one paper, but to each such paper there shall be attached an affidavit by the circulator thereof, stating the number of signers to such part of the petition and that each signature appended to the paper is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and that it was made in the presence of the affiant and on the date indicated.

SECTION 39.  TIME OF FILING.
 All papers comprising a petition shall be assembled and filed with the Clerk of the Council as one instrument, within one hundred and twenty (120) days from the date of the first signature thereon, and when so filed, the Clerk shall submit the same to the Council at its next regular meeting and provision shall be made for public hearings upon the proposed ordinance.

 
Sec.  40                                                   CHARTER                                                 12

SECTION 40.  PETITION FOR ELECTION.
 The Council shall at once proceed to consider such petition and shall take final action thereon within thirty days from the date of submission.  If the Council rejects the proposed ordinance, or passes it in a different form from that set forth in the petition, or fails to act finally upon it within the time stated, the committee of the petitioners, by written demand filed with the Clerk of the Council not later than twenty days after final action or in action by the Council, may require that the proposed ordinance be submitted to a vote of the electors in its original form if, with or prior to such demand, a petition for such election, signed after the final action or inaction of the Council is filed with such Clerk bearing additional signature of five percent of the electors of the City, none of whom were signers of the first petition.  Such Clerk shall forthwith cause notice of the filing of such demand and petition to be published in some newspaper of general circulation in the City, and shall also within five days certify to the officers having control of elections the proposed ordinance, stating whether or not a special election is demanded in the petitions, the percentage of voters who voted at the last election of municipal officers who signed the two petitions in the aggregate, and the date on which he published the notice last mentioned.

SECTION 41.  TIME OF HOLDING ELECTION.
 If an election is to be held not more than three months nor less than thirty days after the publication of such notice by the Clerk, such proposed ordinance shall be submitted to a vote of the electors at such election.  If no election is to be held within the time aforesaid, the election officers shall provide for submitting the proposed ordinance to the electors at a special election to be held not later than sixty days nor earlier than thirty days after the publication of such notice, if the petition for such ordinance and the petition for such election so demand, and if the signers of the two petitions amount in the aggregate to at least twenty-five percent of the total number of voters voting at the last regular election of municipal officers, otherwise the same shall be submitted at the next regular or special election.  At least ten days before any such election the Clerk of the Council shall cause such proposed ordinance to be published.

SECTION 42.  BALLOTS.
 The ballots used when voting upon any such proposed ordinance shall state the title of the ordinance to be voted on and below it the two propositions, "For the Ordinance" and "Against the Ordinance."  Immediately at the left of each proposition there shall be a square in which by making a cross (X) the voter may vote for or against the proposed ordinance.  If a majority of the electors voting on any such proposed ordinance shall vote in favor thereof, it shall thereupon become an ordinance of the City.

SECTION 43.  DUTY OF DIRECTOR OF LAW.
 Before any petitioner proposed ordinance is submitted to Council, it may first be submitted to the Director of Law, whose duty it shall be to draft such proposed ordinance in proper legal language, and to render such other service to persons desiring to propose such ordinance as shall be necessary to make the same proper for consideration by the Council.
(Amended 11-7-00.)

 
13                                                     The Referendum                                             Sec.  45

THE REFERENDUM

SECTION 44.  PETITION FOR REFERENDUM.
 No ordinance or resolution passed by the Council, unless it be an emergency measure or the annual appropriation ordinance, shall go into effect until thirty days after its final passage.  If, at any time within said thirty days a petition signed by fifteen percent of the total number of voters voting at the last regular election of municipal officers be filed with the Clerk of the Council, requesting that any such ordinance or resolution be submitted to the electors of the City for their approval or rejection, it shall not become operative until the steps indicated herein have been taken.  Such petition shall have stated therein the names and addresses of at least five electors as a committee to represent the petitioners.
 Referendum petitions need not contain the text of the ordinance or resolution the repeal of which is sought, but shall be subject in all other respects to the requirements for petitions submitting proposed ordinances and resolutions to be Council members.  Ballots used in referendum elections shall conform in all respects to those provided for in Section 42 of this Charter.

SECTION 45.  PROCEEDINGS THEREUNDER.
 The Clerk of the Council shall, at its next meeting, present the petition to the Council, which shall proceed to reconsider the ordinance or resolution.  If, within thirty days after the filing of such petition, the ordinance or resolution be not repealed or amended as requested by said petition, the Council shall provide for submitting same to a vote of the electors, provided a majority of the Committee named in the petition to represent the petitioners shall by writing filed with the Clerk of the Council within twenty days after the expiration of the said thirty days, so required.  In so doing the Council shall be governed by the provisions of Section 41 hereof respecting the time of submission and the manner of voting on ordinances proposed to the Council by petition; excepting that the question of calling a special election for such purpose shall be determined by the demand and number of signers of the petition requesting the repeal or amendment of such ordinance or resolution, which number shall be twenty-five (25) percent of the total number of voters voting at the last regular election of municipal officers; and, excepting further, that the Council may call, and fix the time for a special election for such purpose, if in its judgment the public interest will be prejudiced by delay.  If when submitted to vote at such election any such ordinance or resolution be not approved by a majority of those voting thereon, it shall be deemed repealed.   Such ordinance or resolution shall not be considered as repealed unless the total number of votes cast upon the ordinance or resolution shall be equal to twenty-five (25) percent of the total number of voters voting at the last regular election of municipal officers.  Nothing in this section shall prevent the Council, after the passage of any ordinance or resolution, from proceeding at once to give notice or make any publication required by such ordinance or resolution.

 
Sec.  46                                                   CHARTER                                                 14

SECTION 46.  LEGISLATION FOR IMPROVEMENTS.
 Whenever the Council is by law required to pass more than one ordinance or resolution to complete legislation necessary to make and pay for any public improvements, the provisions of Section 38 to 47 of this Charter shall apply only to the first ordinance or resolution relating thereto.  Ordinances or resolutions providing for the current expenses of the City, or for street improvements petitioned for by a majority of the owners of the property benefited and to be specially assessed for the cost thereof as provided by law, and emergency ordinances or resolutions shall go into immediate effect.  Such emergency ordinance or resolution must receive an affirmative vote of four members of the Council, and the reason for such necessity shall be set forth in one section of the ordinance or resolution.
(Amended 11-7-00.)

SECTION 47.  INITIATED ORDINANCES SUBJECT TO REFERENDUM; CONFLICT.
 Ordinances submitted to the Council by initiative petition and passed by the Council without change, or passed in an amended form and not required to be submitted to a vote of the electors by the committee of the petitioners shall be subject to the referendum in the same manner as other ordinances.  If the provisions of two or more ordinances adopted or approved at the same election conflict, the ordinance or resolution receiving the highest affirmative vote shall prevail.

THE RECALL

SECTION 48.  APPLICATION.
 (EDITOR’S NOTE: The provisions of Section 48 were repealed on November 7, 2000.)

SECTION 49.  RECALL PROCEDURE.
 The procedure to effect the removal of any elected officer of the City shall be initiated by the filing of a petition, with the Clerk of the Council, demanding that the question of removing such officer or officers be submitted to the electors.  Such petition shall be signed by the electors of the Municipality equal in number to at least twenty-five (25) percent of the total number voting at the last regular election of municipal officers in which the office of Mayor is contested but all signatures to such petition need not be appended to one paper.
(Amended 11-7-00.)

SECTION 50.  HOW PROCURED.
 Petition papers shall be procured only from the Clerk of the Council, who shall keep a sufficient number of such blank petitions on file for distribution as herein provided.  Prior to the issuance of such petition papers an affidavit shall be made by one or more qualified electors and filed with the Clerk of Council, stating the name of the member or members of the Council, whose removal is sought.  The Clerk of the Council, upon issuing any such petition papers to an elector, shall enter in a record, to be kept in his office, the name of the elector to whom issued, the date of such issuance and the number of papers issued and shall certify on each paper the name of the elector to whom issued and the date of issue.  No petition paper shall be accepted as part of the petition unless it is so issued and bear such certificate and unless it be filed as provided herein.

 
15                                                     The Recall                                                  Sec.  55

SECTION 51.  SIGNATURES, REQUIREMENTS OF.
 Each signer of a recall petition shall sign his name in ink or indelible pencil and shall place after his name his place of residence by street and number.  To each such petition paper there shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator thereof, stating the number of signers to such part of the petition, and that each signature appended to the paper was made in his presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.

SECTION 52. FILING.
 All papers comprising a recall petition shall be assembled and filed with the Clerk of the Council, as one instrument, within thirty days after the filing with the Clerk of the Council of the affidavit stating the name of the member or members of Council whose removal is sought.

SECTION 53.  NOTICE.
 At the expiration of said period of thirty days, the Clerk of the Council shall certify upon such petition whether the signature of electors thereto amount in number to at least twenty-five (25) percent of the voters voting at the last regular municipal election of officers.  If such signatures do amount to such percent, he shall at once serve notice of that fact upon the member or members of the Council designated in the petition, and also deliver to the election authorities a copy of the original petition with his certificate as to the percentage of voters voting at the last regular municipal election of officers who signed the same, and a certificate as to the date of his said notice to the member or members of the Council designated in the petition.
(Amended 11-8-77.)

SECTION 54.  RECALL ELECTION.
 If a member or members of the Council, or any of them, designate in the petition, file with the Clerk of the Council within five days after said notice from the Clerk of the Council, his or their written resignation, the same shall be irrevocable and the Clerk of the Council shall at once notify the election authorities of the fact and the election authorities shall forthwith order and fix a day for holding a recall election for the removal of those not resigning.  Such election shall be held not less than sixty nor more than ninety days after the expiration of the period of five days last mentioned, at the same time as any other general or special election held within such period; but if no general or special election be held within such period the election authorities shall call a special recall election.

SECTION 55.  ROTARY BALLOTS.
 The ballots at such recall election shall conform to the following requirements: With respect to each person whose removal is sought, the question shall be submitted: "Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of Member of the Council by recall?" Immediately following each such question there shall be printed on the ballots the two propositions:
 "For the recall of (name of person)."
 "Against the recall of (name of person)."
 Provided that rotating ballots, as provided in Section 33, shall be used in such recall elections, in so far as the provisions of said Section 33 are applicable thereto.
 Immediately to the left of each of the propositions shall be placed a square in which the electors, by making a cross mark (X), may vote for either of such propositions.
 
Sec.  56                                                   CHARTER                                                 16

SECTION 56.  FILLING OF VACANCIES.
 In any such election, if a majority of the votes cast on the question of removal of any member of the Council are affirmative, the person whose removal is sought shall thereupon be deemed removed from office upon the certification of the official canvass of that election to the Council and the vacancy caused by such recall shall be filled by the remainder of the Council according to the provisions of Section 6 of this Charter.
 If, however, an election is held for the recall of more than three members of the Council, candidates to succeed them for their unexpired terms shall be voted upon at the same election, and shall be nominated by petitions signed, date and verified in the manner required for petitions presenting names of candidates for regular municipal elections and similar in form to such petitions, and filed with the election authorities at least thirty days prior to such recall election.  But no such nominating petition shall be signed or circulated until after the time has expired for signing the copies of the petition for the recall, and any signatures thereon antedating such time shall not be counted.

SECTION 57.  COUNTING THE VOTE.
 Candidates shall not be nominated to succeed any particular member of the Council; but if only one member of the Council is removed at such election, the candidate at such election receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to fill the vacancy; and if more than one member of the Council is removed at such election, such candidates receiving the highest number of votes equal in number to the number of members of the Council removed shall be declared elected to fill the vacancies; and among the successful candidates, those receiving the greater number of votes shall be declared elected for the longer terms.

SECTION 58.  EFFECT OF RESIGNATIONS.
 No proceedings for the recall of more than three members of the Council at the same election shall be defeated in whole or in part by the resignation of any or all of them, but upon the resignation of any of them the Council shall have power to fill the vacancy until a successor is elected, and the proceedings for the recall and the election of successors shall continue and have the same effect as though there had been no resignation.

SECTION 59.  MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
 Except as herein otherwise provided, no petition to recall any member of the Council shall be filed within six months after he takes office.  No person removed by recall shall be eligible to be elected or appointed to the Council for a period of two years after the date of such recall.  The Clerk of the Council shall preserve in his office all papers comprising or connected with a petition for a recall.  The method of removal herein provided is in addition to such other methods as are, or may be, provided by general law.
 
17                                                     Appropriations                                               Sec.  61

APPROPRIATIONS

SECTION 60.  THE ESTIMATE.
 The fiscal year of the City shall begin on the first day of January of each year.  On or before the 15th day of November of each year the Mayor shall submit to the Council an estimate of the expenditures and revenues of the City departments for the ensuing year.  This estimate shall be compiled from detailed information obtained from the several departments on uniform blanks to be furnished by the Mayor and approved by the Council.  The classification of the estimate of expenditures shall be as nearly uniform as possible for the main functional divisions of all departments, and shall give the following information:
 (a) A detailed estimate of the expense of conducting each department, as submitted by the department over the signature of the director thereof.
 (b) Expenditures for corresponding items for the last two fiscal years.
 (c) Expenditures for corresponding items for the current fiscal year including adjustments due to transfers between appropriations, plus an estimate of expenditures necessary to complete the current fiscal year.
 (d) Reasons for proposed increase or decrease in such items of expenditure compared with the current fiscal year.
 (e) A detailed inventory of supplies and material on hand and the value thereof at the date of the preparation of the invoice.
 (f) A separate schedule for each department showing the things necessary for the department to do during the year, and which of any desirable things it ought to do if possible.
 (g) Increase or decrease of requests compared with corresponding appropriations for the current fiscal year.
 (h) A statement for the Director of Finance of the total probable income of the City from taxes for the period covered by the Mayor's estimate.
 (i) An itemization of all anticipated revenue from services other than tax levy.
 (j) The amounts required for interest on the City's debt and for sinking funds as required by law.
 (k) The total amount of outstanding City debt with a schedule of maturities of bond issues.
 (l) Such other information as is required by the Council or that the Mayor may deem advisable to submit.
 (m) The recommendation of the Mayor as to the amounts to be appropriated with reasons thereof in such detail as the Council may direct.
 The Mayor shall submit the estimate proper to the Council and at least three hundred copies thereof shall be printed, for distribution to citizens who may call for them.  Copies of the estimate shall also be furnished to the newspapers of the City and to the two newspapers having the largest circulation in Cuyahoga County, and the public library in the City of East Cleveland.

SECTION 61.  APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE.
 Upon receipt of such estimate the Council shall at once prepare an appropriation ordinance, in such manner as may be provided by ordinance or
 
Sec.  61-F                                                 CHARTER                                                 18

resolution, using the Mayor's estimate as a basis.  Provision shall be made for public hearings upon the appropriation ordinance before a committee of the whole, and public notice shall be given of such hearing.  The Council shall not pass the appropriation ordinance until ten days after such public hearing nor before the first Monday in January.
 Section 61-A contained in Ordinance No. 3340, adopted by vote 8-9-38, no longer effective.
 Section 61-B contained in Ordinance No. 3534, adopted by vote 5-14-40, no longer effective.
 Section 61-C contained in Ordinance No. 3873, adopted by vote 5-9-44, no longer effective.
 Section 61-C contained in Ordinance No. 4017, adopted by vote 5-7-46, no longer effective.
 Section 61-D contained in Ordinance No. 4475, adopted by vote 11-7-50, no longer effective.
 Section 61-E contained in Ordinance No. 5535, adopted by vote 5-5-64.

SECTION 61-F.  LIMITATION ON RATE OF TAXATION.
 The aggregate amount of taxes that may be levied by the Council of the City of East Cleveland without a vote of the people on any taxable property assessed and listed for taxation according to value for all purposes of the City of East Cleveland, shall not in any one year exceed twelve and seven-tenths (12.7) mills for each one dollar ($1.00) of assessed valuation.  Of said total maximum levy, an amount shall first be annually levied sufficient to pay the interest, sinking fund and retirement charges on all notes and bonds of the City issued without the authority of the electors, and then an amount shall be levied annually sufficient to pay the costs of, and the accrued liabilities on, the Police and Firemen's Disability and Pension Funds, but not to exceed in any year six-tenths (0.6) mills per one dollar ($1.00) of assessed valuation.  Of the remaining portion of said total maximum levy, an amount not to exceed two (2.0) mills may annually be levied to provide funds for the construction, improvement or acquisition of permanent improvements as now defined in Section 133.01 of the Revised Code of Ohio, and the balance thereof not to exceed ten and one-tenth (10.1) mills may annually be levied for the purpose of paying the current operating expenses of the City.  The limitations of this section shall apply only to taxes levied on property in the City of East Cleveland listed and assessed for taxation according to value and shall not be construed as limiting the power of the Council to levy, without a vote of the electors, any other taxes now or hereafter authorized by the Charter of the City of East Cleveland or the Constitution and laws of the State of Ohio.
(Amended 11-4-69.)

SECTION 62.  TRANSFER OF FUNDS.
 Upon request of the Mayor the Council may transfer any part of an unencumbered balance of an appropriation to a purpose or object for which the appropriation for the current year has proved insufficient, or may authorize a transfer of money to be made between items appropriated to the same office or department.
 By the votes of three-fourths of all the members elected thereto, the Council may at any time transfer all or a portion of one fund, or a balance remaining therein, to the credit of one or more funds, whether such funds were raised by taxation or otherwise; provided, however, that transfers from funds raised by a special levy, bond issued or loan, may be made for temporary purposes only, and, when such temporary purposes have been accomplished, the amount of such temporary transfer shall be returned to the original fund from which the transfer was made.
(Amended 4-29-24.)
 
19                                                     Appropriations                                               Sec.  66

SECTION 63.  UNENCUMBERED BALANCES.
 At the close of each fiscal year the unencumbered balance of each appropriation shall revert to the respective fund from which it was appropriated and shall be subject to future appropriation.  Any accruing revenue of the City not appropriated as hereinbefore provided, and any balances at any time remaining after the purposes of appropriation shall have been satisfied or abandoned, may be from time to time appropriated by the Council to such uses as will not conflict with any uses from which such revenues specifically accrued.  No money shall be drawn from the treasury of the City nor shall any obligation for the expenditure of money be incurred except pursuant to the appropriations made by the Council.

SECTION 64.  PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.
 No warrant for the payment of any claim shall be issued by the Director of Finance until such claim shall have been approved by the director of the department for which the indebtedness was incurred and by the Mayor.  And such officers and their sureties shall be liable to the Municipality for all loss or damage sustained by the Municipality by reason of the corrupt approval of any such claim against the Municipality.  Whenever any claim shall be presented to the Director of Finance he shall have power to require evidence that the amount claimed is justly due and is in conformity to law and ordinance and for that purpose he may summon before him any officer, agent or employee of any department of the Municipality, or any other person, and examine him upon oath or affirmation relative thereto.

SECTION 65.  CERTIFICATION OF FUNDS.
 No contract, agreement or other obligation involving the expenditure of money shall be entered into, nor shall any ordinance, resolution or order for the expenditure of money be issued by the Council, or be authorized by any officer of the City, unless the Mayor and Director of Finance shall first certify in writing to the Council or to the proper officer, as the case may be, that the money required for such contract, agreement, obligation or expenditure is in the treasury, to the credit of the fund from which it is to be drawn, and not appropriated for any other purpose, which certificate shall be filed and immediately recorded.  The sum so certified shall not thereafter be considered unappropriated until the City is discharged from the contract, agreement or obligation.

SECTION 66.  MONEY IN THE FUNDS.
 All moneys actually in the treasury to the credit of the fund from which they are to be drawn, and all moneys applicable to the payment of the obligation or appropriation involved that are anticipated to come into the treasury before the maturity of such contract, agreement, or obligation, from taxes, assessments or license fees or from sales of services, products or by-products of any City undertaking, and moneys to be derived from lawfully authorized bonds sold and in process of delivery, for the purpose of such certificate shall be deemed in the treasury to the credit of the appropriate fund and shall be subject to such certification.
 
Sec.  67                                                   CHARTER                                                 20

SECTION 67.  FINANCIAL REPORTS.
 The Council shall have furnished them on the first day of each calendar month a monthly balance sheet showing in detail all receipts and expenditures of the City for the preceding calendar month, and the aggregate receipts and expenditures of each department shall be published by the Council in such manner as to provide full publicity.  At the end of each fiscal year the Council shall have printed an annual report in pamphlet form giving a classified statement of receipts, expenditures and liabilities of the City; a detailed comparison of such receipts and expenditures with those of the fiscal year preceding; a summary of the proceedings of the Council and a summary of the operations of the administrative departments for the previous twelve calendar months, a copy of this report shall be furnished the State Bureau of Accounting, the Public Library and any citizen of the City who may apply therefor at the office of the Director of Finance.

SECTION 68.  SINKING FUNDS.
 The Sinking Fund Commission shall consist of the President of the Council and two other citizens to be appointed by the Council.  The President of the Council shall be the president, and the Director of Finance shall be the secretary, of the Sinking Fund Commission.  The Sinking Fund Commission shall manage and control the sinking fund in the manner provided by general law until otherwise provided by ordinance.
 The Sinking Fund Commission shall invest all moneys received by them in bonds of the United States, the State of Ohio, or of any municipal corporation, school, township, or county in such State, or in notes and certificates of indebtedness of the City of East Cleveland, and shall hold in reserve only such sums as may be needed for effecting the purposes for which the sinking fund was created and is maintained.
(Amended 4-29-24.)

IMPROVEMENTS - CONTRACTS

SECTION 69.  LIMITATION OF ASSESSMENTS.
 In levying special assessments to pay any part of the cost of any public work or improvement, the Council shall not exceed any limitation as to the amount thereof which is now prescribed by the general laws of the State applicable to municipalities.  Unless for special reason which shall be stated in the ordinance levying an assessment or providing  for the issue of bonds to pay any part of the cost of any such improvement to be made pursuant to contract, no such ordinance shall be passed, or assessment levied, or money borrowed, until sealed competitive bids for the labor and material have been received and the approximate cost of the improvement determined.

SECTION 70.  SEWER, WATER AND GAS CONNECTIONS.
 Before paving or otherwise surfacing or resurfacing any street or alley of the City, the Council shall determine the time within which sewer, water, gas, or other connections shall be constructed, and shall give notice thereof to the persons or corporations required  to make the same, and, if such persons or corporations fail to make any such connection when so required, no permission to make the same shall thereafter be granted within five years from the completion of any such street improvement, unless with the consent of four members of the Council, expressed by resolution adopted at a regular meeting of the Council, and stating the reasons therefor and the conditions under which the same shall be made.  Nothing  herein shall be construed to prohibit the Council from providing that such connections may be made by the City and the cost thereof assessed against the lots and lands specially benefited thereby.
 
21                                                Improvements - Contracts                                    Sec.  72

SECTION 71.  STREET SPRINKLING AND CLEANING SIDEWALKS.
 The Council may provide by ordinance or resolution for the sprinkling of streets or parts of streets with water, or treating the same with oil, or other dust preventive, and for removing snow and ice from the sidewalks of the City, and for assessing the cost thereof against the abutting property if not paid for by the owners of said property within the time  specified in such ordinance or resolution.  The Council may also provide by ordinance or resolution for the removal of noxious weeds and rubbish on property within the City and for assessing the cost of such removal against the owner of such property if not paid for by such owner within the time specified by such ordinance and resolution.

SECTION 72.  CONTRACTS.
 The Mayor may make any contract or purchase supplies or material, or provide labor for any work in any department, not involving more than Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars or the amount stipulated by State law, whichever amount is the greater.  When any expenditure within any department other than the compensation of persons employed therein, exceeds Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars or the amount stipulated by State law, whichever amount is the greater, such expenditure shall first be authorized and directed by ordinance of the Council, and when so authorized and directed the Mayor shall make a written contract with the lowest and best bidder after advertisement for not less than two nor more than four consecutive weeks in a newspaper having a bona fide daily general circulation of 20,000 copies or more within Cuyahoga County, Ohio.  All bids shall be sealed and shall be opened at twelve o'clock noon on the last day for filing the same by the Mayor at his office in the City of East Cleveland, Ohio, and be publicly read by him.  Each bid shall contain the full name of every person or company interested in the same, and shall be accompanied by a sufficient bond or certified check on some solvent bank that if the bid is accepted a contract will be entered into and the performance of it properly secured.  If the work bid for embraces both labor and material, they shall be separately stated with the price thereof.  The Mayor shall report all the bids to the Council at its next regular meeting and shall recommend which, if any, bid shall be accepted.  The Council regardless of the recommendation of the Mayor, may reject any or all bids.  No such contract shall be entered into by the Mayor until the approval thereof by the Council has been first had and obtained.
 The contract shall be between the Corporation and the bidder, and the Corporation shall pay the contract price in cash.  Where a bonus is offered for completion of a contract prior to a specified date, the Corporation may exact a pro rata penalty in like sum for every day of delay beyond the specified date.  Where there is reason to believe there is collusion or combination among bidders, the Mayor shall reject the bids of those concerned therein.
 Whenever it becomes necessary in the opinion of the Mayor in the prosecution of any work or improvement under contract to make alterations or modifications in such contract, such alterations or modifications shall only be made by such Mayor after the same have been authorized by resolution or ordinance of the Council; but such resolution shall be of no effect until the price to be paid for the work and material, or both, under the altered or modified contract, has been agreed upon in writing and signed by the contractor and the Mayor on behalf of the corporation.  And no contractor shall be allowed to recover anything for work or material, caused by an alteration or modification unless such contract is made as aforesaid; nor shall he, in any case, be allowed, or recover for such work and material, or either, more than the agreed price.
 
Sec.  73                                                   CHARTER                                                 22

 The Council may authorize, in specific cases, expenditures of the funds of the City in amounts exceeding the limit hereinabove stated, without bidding, for the acquisition of real estate, for the discharge of non-contractual claims against the City, for personal services, for the joint use of facilities or exercises of powers with other political subdivisions, for the product or services of public utilities (including those municipally operated) or in the case of urgent emergency, for the immediate protection of public property or public safety.
(Amended 11-8-77.)

SECTION 73.  TIME OF MAKING CONTRACTS.
 The Council shall not authorize or enter into any contract which is not to go into full operation during the term for which all members of such Council are elected.

SECTION 74.  BIDS IN EXCESS OF ESTIMATE.
 No contract shall be awarded upon bids which as a whole, or in aggregate, if bids for parts of the work are taken, exceed the estimate for the improvement contemplated.

SECTION 75.  CONTRACTS - WHEN VOID.
 All contracts, agreements or other obligations entered into and all ordinances passed or resolutions and orders adopted contrary to the provisions of the preceding section shall be void.

FRANCHISES

SECTION 76.  GRANTS LIMITED.
 No grant, or renewal thereof, to construct and operate a public utility in, on, under or above the streets and public grounds of the City shall be made by the Council to any person, persons, association, or corporation in violation of any of the limitations contained in this Charter.

SECTION 77. PERIOD OF GRANTS.
 No such grant shall be made for a longer period than twenty-five years.  No such grant shall be renewed earlier than two years prior to its expiration unless the Council shall by vote of at least four of its members first declare by ordinance its intention of considering a renewal thereof.  All grants of the right to make extensions of any public utility shall be subject as far as practicable to the terms of the original grant and shall expire therewith.

SECTION 78.  ASSIGNMENT.
 No such grant shall be leased, assigned or otherwise alienated except with the express consent of the Council.

SECTION 79.  EXTENSION BY ANNEXATION.
 It shall be provided in every such grant that upon the annexation of any territory to this City the portion of any such utility that may be located within such annexed territory and upon the streets, alleys or public grounds thereof, shall thereafter be subject to all the terms of the grant as though it were an extension made thereof.
 
23                                                          Franchises                                            Sec.  84

SECTION 80.  CONSENTS.
 No consent of the owner or property abutting on any highway or public ground shall be required  for the construction, extension, maintenance or operation of any public utility by original grant or renewal, unless such public utility is of such a character that its construction or operation is an additional burden upon the rights of the property owners in such highways or public grounds.

SECTION 81.  REGULATIONS.
 The Council shall at all times control the distribution of space in, over, under or across all streets or public grounds occupied by public utility fixtures.  All rights granted for the construction and operation of public utilities shall be subject to the continuing right of the Council to require such reconstruction, relocation, change or discontinuance of the appliances used by the utility in the streets, alleys, avenues and highways of the City, as shall in the opinion of the Council be necessary in the public interest.

SECTION 82.  FORFEITURES.
 If any action shall be instituted or prosecuted directly or indirectly by the grantee of any such grant, or by its stockholders or creditors, to set aside or have declared void any of the terms of such grant, the whole of such grant may be thereupon forfeited and annulled at the option of the Council, to be expressed by ordinance.  All such grants shall make provision for the declaration of a forfeiture by the Council for the violation by the grantee of any of the terms thereof.

SECTION 83.  PAVING AND SPRINKLING.
 The Council by resolution may require the owner or operator of any railway, railroad or spur track lying within the street limits to lay, maintain and renew the pavements between the rails, and the tracks, and for a distance of one foot outside of the tracks, and to remove snow and ice therefrom, and to sprinkle the roadway to a width of not more than fifty feet, and upon failure of any such owner or operator to comply with the provisions of such resolution after sixty days notice to the person having charge or management of such railway, railroad or spur track in the City, the City may do said work directly or by contract, as in the case of other improvements, at the expense of the owner or operator of such tracks, and all such expenses shall be reported by the Mayor to the Council, and shall be charged against such owner or operator and be a lien upon all the real estate and lease hold interest of such owner or operator within the County of Cuyahoga, and such charge and cost, together with a penalty of twenty-five dollars for each and every day of failure on the part of such owner or operator to comply with the requirements of such resolution, may be collected in any court of competent jurisdiction, or the lien enforced in the manner provided by law.

SECTION  84.  ACCOUNTS AND REPORTS.
 Every person or corporation operating a public utility within the City limits, whether under a grant heretofore or hereafter obtained, shall keep and maintain at some place within the County of Cuyahoga suitable and complete books of account, showing in detail the assets, financial obligations, gross revenue, net profits and all the operations of such utility which are usually shown by a complete system of bookkeeping.  Each person or corporation, operating under a City franchise, within sixty days after the end of each of its fiscal years, unless the Council shall extend the time, shall file with the Council a report for the preceding fiscal year showing the gross revenue, the net profits, expenses of repairs, betterments and additions, amount paid for salaries, amount paid for interest and discount, other expenses of operation, and such other information, if any, as the Council from time to time may prescribe.  The Council may also prescribe the form for such reports.
 
Sec.  85                                                   CHARTER                                                 24

 It shall be the duty of each person or corporation to furnish the Council such supplementary or special information about its affairs as the Council may demand; and the Council, or its authorized representative, shall at any and all reasonable times have access to all the books, records, and papers of each and every person or corporation, with the privilege of making copies of same or any part thereof.  The duties herein prescribed may be specifically enforced by appropriate legal proceedings; and in addition, each such person or corporation, for failure to comply with the provisions of this section, shall be liable to the City of East Cleveland, Ohio, in the sum of twenty-five dollars per day of such failure, to be recovered in a civil action in the name of the City.

SECTION 85.  GRANTS NOT INCLUDED.
 Revocable permits for laying spur tracks across or along streets, alleys or public grounds, to connect a steam or electric railroad with any property in need of switching facilities shall not be regarded as a grant within the meaning of this Charter, but may be permitted in accordance with such terms and conditions as the Council may by ordinance prescribe.

SECTION 85-A.  CITY PLANNING COMMISSION.
 The Council of the City of East Cleveland shall establish and appoint a City Planning Commission consisting of five (5) members consisting of the Mayor, who shall act as Chairman, two (2) members of the Mayor's staff to be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the Council, and two (2) citizen members who shall be appointed by the Council who shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified.  The two citizen members shall be qualified electors of the City and shall not be employees of the City.  The term of the citizen appointed members shall be for two (2) years except as to the first appointments provided for hereunder in which one of the citizen appointees shall be appointed for a term of one (1) year only.  Vacancies of the City Planning Commission by citizen appointees shall be filled by the Council by appointment for the unexpired terms.  The Mayor shall have the power to remove and replace staff appointees with the approval of the Council.  The City Engineer shall act as Secretary.  The City Planning Commission shall be the platting commission, and all the powers and duties provided by law for platting commissioner or commissioners shall upon the appointment of said City Planning Commission under this Charter, be deemed transferred to such Commission.  The City Planning Commission shall have the powers and duties to make plans and maps of any portion of the City.
 Such plans and maps shall show the Commission's recommendations for the general location, character and extent of streets, alleys, ways, viaducts, bridges, subways, boulevards, parkways, parks, playgrounds and other public grounds, ways and open spaces; the general location of public buildings and other public property; the general location and extent of public utilities and terminal, whether publicly or privately owned or operated, for water, light, sanitation, transportation, communication, power and other purposes; and the removal, relocation, widening, narrowing, vacating, abandonment, change of use of or extension of such public ways, grounds, open spaces, buildings, property, utilities, or terminals.  The City Planning Commission shall systematically plan the relocation and development of the City of East Cleveland and shall make recommendations to the Council of the City of East Cleveland concerning the location, character and extent of a comprehensive plan for the progress and the proper development of the City of East Cleveland.
 
25                                                          Franchises                                          Sec.  85-B

 The Commission shall have the power to recommend the preservation of historical land marks and works of art, the removal, relocation and alterations of such works belonging to the Municipality and the design of any bridges, viaducts, street fixtures or public structures or appurtenances.
 The power and duties of the City Planning Commission shall be to make recommendations to the Council, and the Council of the City of East Cleveland shall have full power and authority to accept, modify, change and otherwise adopt or refuse to adopt the recommendations of the City Planning Commission, and nothing herein contained shall be construed as authorizing or intending to transfer the complete control of the parks, streets, bridges, viaducts and other public property from the exclusive control of the Council of the City of East Cleveland.
(Amended 11-7-72.)

SECTION 85-B.  DISTRICTING OR ZONING.
 The Council of the City of East Cleveland shall by ordinance provide for the districting or zoning of the City of East Cleveland to promote the public health, safety, convenience, comfort, morals, prosperity and general welfare, including the promotion of home ownership, the protection of residence sections, the prevention of congestion, the increasing of trade and industrial efficiency, the conservation of property values, the assurance of adequate light and air, and the limitation, control and regulation of buildings in the City in accordance with a well established plan of use, height, size and area for all property and its development in the City of East Cleveland.
 Districting and zoning shall include provisions to regulate, restrict and specify the locations of trades, industries, apartment houses, dwellings and other use of property, the number of square feet of lot area per family, the size of buildings or parts thereof, the location and size of side, front and rear yards, and the height of buildings; shall provide for the division of the City into use districts, height districts and area districts; shall provide for the alignment or setback of buildings and other structures; and shall provide maps showing said districts and structure alignment or setback.
 Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the Council in the exercise of all the powers to zone or re-district now or hereafter authorized by the Constitution or statutes of the State of Ohio.
 The plan or plans providing for the control, limitations and regulations of building lines or setback building lines may be incorporated in a separate ordinance as part of the zoning plan and subject to all of the Board of Zoning Appeals provisions of this Charter.
 The districting or zoning ordinance shall provide for a Board of Zoning Appeals which shall consist of the Mayor, who shall act as Chairman, the Director of Health, the Chief of the Police Department, the Chief of the Fire Department, all of whom shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified, and a member of the Mayor's staff, other than the City Engineer, to be appointed by the Mayor, with the approval of the Council.  The City Engineer shall act as Secretary.  All meetings of the Board of Zoning Appeals shall be public.  Public notice shall be given of hearings on any appeals from the decisions of department heads by the posting of a notice on the bulletin board in the main entrance of the City Hall for a period of at least three (3) days, together with such additional notice, if any, that the Board of Zoning Appeals shall deem necessary.  The Board of Zoning Appeals shall keep minutes of its proceedings.
 
Sec.  86                                                   CHARTER                                                 26

 The Board of Zoning Appeals shall determine all matters properly presented to it and where practical difficulties and unnecessary hardships shall result from the strict compliance with or the enforcement of the provisions of the districting or zoning ordinance, the Board of Zoning Appeals shall have the power to grant variances in harmony with the general intent of the ordinance and to secure the general welfare and substantial justice in the promotion of the public health, comfort, convenience, morals, safety and general welfare of the City of East Cleveland.  The Council of the City of East Cleveland shall have the power to approve, amend, modify or reverse any decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals if the Council finds that the decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals is contrary to the purpose and intent of the provisions of the districting or zoning ordinance.
 The Council of the City of East Cleveland may from time to time amend, repeal or adopt any or all of the provisions of the districting or zoning ordinance, but no amendment, repeal or adoption shall be passed until the Council shall have held a public hearing thereon and shall have given at least five (5) days notice of the time and place thereof in a newspaper of general circulation in the Municipality, and during said five (5) days the text or a copy of the text of such amendment, repeal or adoption, together with the maps or plans or copies thereof forming part of or referred to in said ordinance, measure or regulation, shall be on file with the Clerk of the Council for public examination and a copy of the text of such amendment, repeal or adoption shall be placed on the bulletin board in the main entrance of the City Hall.
(Amended 11-7-72.)

SECTION 86.  GENERAL PROVISIONS.
 Nothing in this Charter contained shall operate in any way, except as herein specifically stated, to limit the Council in the exercise of any of its lawful powers respecting public utilities, or to prohibit the Council from imposing in any such grant such further restrictions and provisions as it may deem to be in the public interest, provided only that the same are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter or the Constitution of the State.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SECTION 87.  GENERAL LAWS TO APPLY.
 All general laws of the State applicable to municipal corporations now or hereafter enacted, and which are not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, or with ordinances or resolutions hereafter enacted by the Council, shall be applicable to this City and all officers and departments thereof; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Charter shall be construed as limiting the power of the Council to enact any ordinance or resolution not in conflict with the Constitution of the State of with the express provisions of this Charter.
(Amended 5-6-52.)

SECTION 88.  ORDINANCES CONTINUED IN FORCE.
 All ordinances and resolutions in force at time of the taking effect of this Charter, not inconsistent with its provisions, shall continue in full force and effect until amended or repealed.
 
27                                                  Miscellaneous Provisions                                  Sec.  93

SECTION 89.  CONTINUANCE OF PRESENT OFFICERS.
 All persons holding office at the time this Charter goes into effect shall continue in office, and in the performance of their duties until provision shall have been otherwise made in accordance with this Charter for the performance or discontinuance of the duties of any such office.  When such provision shall have been made the term of any such officer shall expire and the office be deemed abolished.  The powers which are conferred and the duties which are imposed upon any officer, commission, board or department of the City under the laws of the State, or under any City ordinance or contract in force at the time of the taking effect of this act shall, if such office, commission, board or department is abolished by this Charter, be thereafter exercised and discharged by the officer, commission, board or department upon whom are imposed corresponding functions, powers and duties by this Charter or by any ordinance or resolution of the Council thereafter enacted.

SECTION 90.  CONTINUANCE OF CONTRACTS AND VESTED RIGHTS.
 All vested rights of the City shall continue to be vested in the City and shall not in any manner be affected by the adoption of this Charter; nor shall any right or liability, or pending suit or prosecution, either in behalf of or against the City, be in any manner affected by the adoption of this Charter, unless otherwise herein expressly provided to the contrary.  All contracts entered into by the City or for its benefit prior to the taking effect of this Charter shall continue in full force and effect.  All public work begun prior to the taking effect of this Charter shall be continued and perfected thereunder.  Public improvements for which legislative steps shall have been taken, under laws in force at the time this Charter takes effect may be carried to completion in accordance with the provisions of such laws.

SECTION 91.  INVESTIGATION.
 The Council, or any committee thereof, Mayor and any advisory board appointed by the Council for such purpose, shall have power at any time to cause the affairs of any department or the conduct of any officer or employee to be investigated; and for such purpose shall have power to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers and other evidence; and for that purpose may issue subpoenas or attachments which shall be signed by the president or chairman of the body or by the officer making the investigation, and shall be served by any officer authorized by law to serve such process.  The authority making such investigation shall also have power to cause the testimony to be given under oath administered by some officer authorized by general law to administer oaths; and shall also have power to punish as for contempt any person refusing to testify to any fact within his knowledge, or to produce any books, or papers under his control, relating to the matter under investigation.

SECTION 92.  OATH OF OFFICE.
 Every officer of the City shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation, to be filed and kept in the office of the Clerk of the Council, that he will in all respects faithfully discharge the duties of his office.

SECTION 93.  HOURS OF LABOR.
 Except in case of extraordinary emergencies, not to exceed eight hours shall constitute a day's work, and not to exceed forty-eight hours a week's work, for workmen engaged on any public work carried on or aided by the Municipality, whether done by contract or otherwise.  The Council shall, by ordinance, provide for the enforcement of the provisions of this section.
 
Sec.  94                                                    CHARTER                                                 28

SECTION 94.  AMENDMENTS.
 Amendments to this Charter may be submitted to the electors of the City by a four-fifths vote of the Council, and shall be submitted by the Council when a petition signed by ten (10) percent of the total number of voters voting at the last regular election of municipal officers of the City, setting forth any such proposed amendment, shall have been filed in the manner and form prescribed herein for the submission of ordinances by an initiative petition.  The amendment shall be submitted to the electors at the next regular municipal election if one shall occur not less than sixty (60) nor more than one hundred and twenty (120) days after its passage; otherwise, it shall provide for the submission of the amendment at a special election to be called and held within the time aforesaid.  Not less than thirty (30) days prior to such election the Clerk of the Council shall mail a copy of the proposed amendment to each elector whose name appears upon the registration or poll books of the last regular municipal or general election, or the full text of the proposed Charter amendment shall be published once a week for not less than two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the City, or in a newspaper of general circulation if no newspaper is published therein, with the first publication being at least fifteen (15) days prior to the election at which the amendment is to be submitted to the electors, whichever method the Council shall elect.  If such proposed amendment be approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon, it shall become a part of the Charter at the time fixed therein.
(Amended 11-7-72.)

SECTION 94-A.  CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION.
(Repealed 5-7-85.)

SECTION 95.  SAVING CLAUSE.
 If any section or part of a section of this Charter is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, it shall not invalidate or impair the force or effect of any other section or part of a section of this Charter, except in so far as such other section or part of a section is dependent for its operation upon the section or part of a section so held invalid.

SECTION 96.  WHEN CHARTER TAKES EFFECT.
 For the purpose of nominating and electing officers, holding and conducting all municipal elections, and determining and establishing the right to vote at said elections, this Charter shall take effect from the time of its approval by the electors of the City; and for all other purposes, it shall take effect on the 1st day of January, 1918.

ABOLISHMENT OF THE COMMISSION  AND OFFICE OF CITY MANAGER

SECTION 97.  ABOLISHMENT OF CITY COMMISSION AND OFFICE OF CITY
    MANAGER.
 The office of City Manager and each and every office of member of the Commission, including the offices of President and Vice-President of the Commission, and the Commission itself established heretofore by Sections 3 and 8 of the Charter of the City of East Cleveland, are hereby abolished, dissolved, and divested of all power to act on behalf of or in the name of the City of East Cleveland or otherwise as heretofore invested therein by the aforesaid charter, by law, or otherwise.  Presently elected members of the Commission shall be entitled to the salary established for their office for the balance of the elected term in which they are presently serving,
 
29                                                            The Council                                        Sec.  99

except to the extent that any of such members are appointed or elected to other office or employment with the City and receive compensation therefor from the City, which compensation shall be a complete set-off against any compensation due under this section or otherwise for salary or compensation as a member of the Commission.
(Adopted 5-7-85.)

THE COUNCIL

SECTION 98.  THE COUNCIL; POWERS; ELECTION AND TERM OF OFFICE.
 A. Council - Powers: The legislative power of the City, except as limited by this Charter, shall be vested in a Council consisting of five members.  Commencing with the regular municipal election to be held in the year 2001, three members of Council shall, in each case, be resident of and elected from each of the three wards of the City, which currently are established and existing pursuant to the general election laws of the State of Ohio and may from time to time be changed pursuant to such laws, and two of whom shall be elected at large.  When not prescribed in this Charter, or determined by Council, such powers shall be exercised in such manner as may or hereafter be provided by the general laws of the State of Ohio.

 B. Council - Election and Term of Office: The terms of all members elected to Council shall be for four years, starting January 1, 2002, following their election, and they shall serve until their successors are chosen and qualified; provided, however, that Council members elected in the year 2001 to an at large membership by receiving the second highest number of votes and to a ward membership by receiving the third highest number of votes in their respective categories (in cases of a tie in the respective categories, there shall be a special election in the year 2002 for the sole purpose of determining which members of the respective categories shall serve four-year terms) shall be elected for a two-year term expiring in the year 2003 and the two Council members elected in 2003 and their successors shall thereafter serve for four-year terms.  The candidates for election to the vacancies in the office of Council member receiving the highest number of votes at such regular elections shall be declared elected.
(Amended 11-7-00)

SECTION 99.  QUALIFICATION OF MEMBERS.
 Each member of the Council, for at least one year immediately prior to his or her election shall have been, and during the term of office shall continue to be, a resident of the City of East Cleveland, Ohio, and shall have the qualifications of an elector therein.  No person shall be a member of Council who holds any employment with the City of East Cleveland, the East Cleveland Board of Education, or other incompatible public employment or holds other public office except that of notary public or member of the State Militia.
 Any member becoming guilty of gross misconduct or malfeasance in office, being convicted of a c