Warren voters to decide on charter

Facing a choice of 28 candidates for 15 commission seats

WARREN -- City voters will decide in May whether Warren establishes a charter that will outline how its government should be run.

Simultaneously, city voters will determine the 15 city residents hoping to serve on the commission that will write the charter, if the charter is approved by the majority of the primary voters.

Trumbull County Board of Elections officials do not expect this primary election to have a large voter turnout.

Nevertheless, in this election cycle, Warren voters may determine the majority of those who will serve on the city council, due to lack of declared Republican candidates running for seats.

Stephanie Penrose, elections board director, expects turnout in the county to be about 15 percent -- though she predicts 20 percent in Warren because of the city's charter amendment issue and Democratic mayoral race, as well as a Democratic municipal court race.

Independent candidates still have an opportunity to turn in the required number of signatures to get on November's ballot.

CHARTER VOTE

If there is not a majority vote for the charter, then the votes for the charter members will not be used.

If the majority of Warren primary voters support a charter, however, then the top vote-getters for the commission will work together to write the charter.

There are 28 people seeking election to the commission.

Names of candidates were delivered to the board of elections by Tina Milner, the head of Warren Deserves Better, and Vince Flask, a former member of Warren City Council and currently the city's elected auditor.

Milner and others have been working for more than a year to educate residents about establishing a charter and gathering support for a commission.

Flask noted there was not an organized effort to find candidates to run for commission seats.

Once those seeking to maintain the current statutory form of city government put the word out for candidates, people came forward to submit their names and collect the necessary signatures to run for the commission seats.

CANDIDATES

• Names of candidates seeking election to the commission submitted by Milner are former Warren Mayor Henry J. "Hank" Angelo, Clarence Artman, Dan Crouse, Steve Duran, Diane Filkorn, Sher-ree Glover, Alex McCaskey, Ken Perrine, Gary Stephens, Steven Turner, David Walker, James Walker, Rhonda Williamson-Bennett, John Woods and Milner.

• Candidate names submitted by Flask are Michael T. Homlitas, Shawn C. Carvin, Daniel J. Sferra, Anthony A. Iannucci Jr., Donald W. Emerson Jr., John D. Homlitas, Denise M. Rising, Dennis Blank, Kathy A. Moody, Dimitrios Aggelis, Robert A. Plant, Matthew H. Martin and Margaret A. Chiarella.

UP TO A YEAR

Members of the charter commission will have up to a year to write a charter and have it placed it before the voters. The commission, if successful in creating a charter, must place it on the ballot by March 19, 2024.

If the commission takes a full year to write and place the charter's language on the ballot, the city will be required to hold a special election for the vote.

The city will pay for that vote.

The recommended form of city government would be established by members of the charter commission. It could be very similar to the existing statutory form of a weak mayor, strong council -- with some operational changes.

Commission members also could propose major changes that could increase the power of council to have greater input in the creation of contracts with vendors and contracts with city union employees.

It also could move the positions of mayor, auditor, treasurer and law director from individual elected positions to appointed positions. It could require some hires in some departments to have specific degrees or specialized certifications.

Proposals also could change the size of council and determine whether all council members should be at-large or ward representatives. The commission proposal also could reduce the power of the mayor's office or eliminate it completely to establish a city manager position.

The city manager would do the day-to-day operation of the city. The city manager would not be required to live in the city.