§ 23-1     Campaign Financing Laws

The Council shall provide by ordinance for limitations on campaign contributions made to the campaign committees for all candidates in all primary, regular and special elections for the office of Mayor and the office of member of Council.  The Council shall by ordinance provide penalties for exceeding the campaign contribution limitations and an appeal process for persons alleged to have violated the campaign contribution limitations.  (Effective November 4, 2008) 

§ 23-2     Comprehensive Disclosure Rules—Repealed  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 23-3     Fair Campaign Finance Commission—Repealed  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 23-4     Penalties—Repealed  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 23-5     Appeals Process—Repealed  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 23-6     Review of Campaign Financing Laws—Repealed  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 23-7     Passage of Legislation—Repealed  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 24     Powers, Terms and Vacancies

 The legislative powers of the City, except as reserved to the people by this Charter, shall be vested in a Council, each member of which shall be elected from a separate ward.  Members of Council shall be elected for a term of four years and shall serve until their successors are chosen and have qualified.

 If at any time, the office of a member is vacant by reason of non-election, death, resignation, removal of residence from the ward represented or from any other cause whatsoever, except when the vacancy is caused by a recall petition, the vacancy shall be filled by the Council for the unexpired term; provided, however, that if the vacancy occurs at any time which is more than two years before the next regular Municipal election, the person selected by the Council to fill the vacancy shall hold office until the person’s successor is elected at special municipal elections to be held in accordance with this section and is qualified.  If a general election is to be in the City held upon a date not less than 160 days nor more than one year after the occurrence of the vacancy, the special municipal election shall be held at the general election and a special primary election to nominate candidates for the vacancy shall be held on the eighth Tuesday prior to the general election.  Otherwise, the aforesaid special municipal elections shall be held on the first Tuesday after one hundred days from the day on which the vacancy first occurs, at which time the primary election shall be held, and on the eighth Tuesday following the primary election, at which time the final special municipal election shall be held, and all the provisions in this Charter contained as to nomination and election of candidates for member of Council at regular Municipal elections shall apply to the special municipal elections.  The person so elected shall hold office for the unexpired portion of the term in which the vacancy in the office of member of Council occurred and until the person’s successor is elected and qualified and shall assume office immediately upon election and qualification.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 25     Dividing the City into Wards

The Council not later than April 1, 2009, shall redivide the City into wards based on the City’s population as of February 15, 2009 as determined by estimated population figures compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau or other reliable source as determined by the Council as of that date.  The number of wards shall be an odd number between a maximum of 25 wards and a minimum of 11 wards using the following table that reflects a ratio of one ward for every 25,000 people based on the estimated population figures:

If the City’s population is: The City shall be divided into the following number of wards:

More than 575,000………………………………………………. 25
575,000 or less but more than 525,000………………….. 23
525,000 or less but more than 475,000………………….. 21
475,000 or less but more than 425,000………………….. 19
425,000 or less but more than 375,000………………….. 17
375,000 or less but more than 325,000………………….. 15
325,000 or less but more than 275,000………………….. 13
275,000 or less ……………………………………….…………… 11

The wards so formed shall be as nearly equal in population as may be fair and equitable, composed of contiguous and compact territory, and bounded by natural boundaries or street lines.  When any territory is annexed to the City the Council shall by ordinances declare it a part of the adjacent ward or wards. 

If the Council fails or neglects to redivide the City into wards by April 1, 2009, the Mayor shall within 7 days thereafter submit to Council the plan for redividing the City into wards using the above table to determine the number of wards, which division plan of the Mayor shall become effective until the next decennial Federal census when the wards shall be reapportioned as provided in Section 25-1.

The members of Council to be elected under the terms herein shall be elected at the regular Municipal election on November 3, 2009, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 3 of the Charter of the City of Cleveland.  The division of the City into wards existing at the time of the adoption of this amendment shall continue until changed as provided herein.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 25-1     Reapportionment of Wards

Commencing with the Federal census decennially taken in the closest proximity to January 1, 2010, and following each subsequent Federal decennial census the Council within sixty days after proclamation by the Secretary of State stating the population of the cities of Ohio as determined by any such Federal census shall reapportion the wards of the City, provided however that if the proclamation occurs in any year when the City conducts a regular Municipal election and the proclamation of the Secretary of State occurs less than 120 days before the date for filing nominating petitions for the election under Charter Section 8, the reapportionment of wards under this section shall not be effective for the regular Municipal election in the year of the proclamation and shall be effective for the next regular Municipal election four years thereafter and all subsequent elections for City offices until the next decennial Federal census.  The number of wards shall be an odd number between a maximum of 25 wards and a minimum of 11 wards using the following table that reflects a ratio of one ward for every 25,000 people based on the estimated population figure contained in the proclamation of the Secretary of State:

If the City’s population is: The City shall be divided into the following number of wards:

More than 575,000………………………………………………. 25
575,000 or less but more than 525,000………………….. 23
525,000 or less but more than 475,000………………….. 21
475,000 or less but more than 425,000………………….. 19
425,000 or less but more than 375,000………………….. 17
375,000 or less but more than 325,000………………….. 15
325,000 or less but more than 275,000………………….. 13
275,000 or less ……………………………………….…………… 11

The wards so formed shall be as nearly equal in population as may be, composed of contiguous and compact territory, and bound by natural boundaries and street lines.

If the Council fails to reapportion the wards within the sixty day period herein provided, the Mayor shall within fifteen business days thereafter submit to Council a plan for the reapportionment of the wards.  The Council shall within ten business days after receiving the Mayor's plan, reapportion the wards as herein provided.  If the Council does not reapportion the wards within this latter ten business day period, the reapportionment plan of the Mayor shall become effective until the next decennial Federal census when the wards shall be reapportioned as herein provided.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 36     Emergency Measures

 All ordinances and resolutions shall be in effect from and after thirty (30) days from the date of their passage by the Council except as otherwise provided in this Charter.  The Council may by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to the Council, pass emergency measures to take effect at the time indicated in the emergency measure.  An emergency measure is an ordinance or resolution for the immediate preservation of the public peace, property, health, or safety, or providing for the usual daily operation of a Municipal department, in which the emergency is set forth and defined in a preamble.  Ordinances appropriating money may be passed as emergency measures, but no measure making a grant, renewal or extension of a franchise or other special privilege, or regulating the rate to be charged for its services by any public utility, shall ever be so passed.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 50     Signing Petition

 Each signer of a petition shall sign his or her name in ink or indelible pencil, and shall place on the petition paper after the signer’s name his or her place of residence by street and number, or by other description sufficient to identify the place, and give the date when the signature was made.  The signatures to any petition paper need not all be appended to one paper but on each separate paper the circulator shall indicate the number of signatures contained on the petition, and shall sign a statement made under penalty of election falsification that the circulator witnesses the affixing of every signature, that all signers were to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief qualified to sign, and that every signature is to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief the signature of the person whose name it purports to be.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 51     Filing Petition

 All papers comprising a petition shall be assembled and filed with the Clerk of the Council as one instrument by no later than 4:00 p.m. on a regular business day of the office of the Clerk.  Within ten (10) days from the filing of a petition the Clerk shall ascertain whether it is signed by the required number of qualified electors. Upon the completion of the Clerk’s examination the Clerk shall endorse upon the petition a certificate of the result thereof.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 57     Ordinance Certification and Submission for Vote

 Upon receipt of the certificate and certified copy of the proposed ordinance, the Clerk shall certify the fact to the Council at its next regular meeting.  If an election is to be held not more than six months nor less than sixty (60) days after the receipt of the Clerks certificate by the Council, the proposed ordinance shall then be submitted to a vote of the electors of the City.  If no election is to be held within the time aforesaid, the Council may provide for submitting the proposed ordinance to the electors of the City at a special election to be held not sooner than sixty days after the receipt of the Clerk's certificate.  If a supplemental petition, signed by five thousand (5,000) qualified electors, in addition to those who signed the original petition, be filed with the Clerk asking that the proposed ordinance be submitted to the voters at a time indicated in such petition, the Council shall provide for a special election at the time.  The sufficiency of any such supplemental petition shall be determined, and it may be amended in the manner provided for original petitions for proposing ordinances to the Council.  If no other provision be made as to the time of submitting a proposed ordinance to a vote of the electors of the City, it shall be submitted at the next election.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 59     The Referendum

 No ordinance passed by the Council, unless it be an emergency measure, shall go into effect until thirty (30) days after its final passage by the Council.  If at any time within said thirty (30) days, a petition signed by electors equal in number to ten percent (10%) of the total vote cast at the last preceding regular Municipal election of the City be filed with the Clerk of the Council requesting that the ordinance, or any specified part thereof, be repealed or submitted to a vote of the electors, it shall not become operative until the steps indicated herein have been taken.  The petition shall be prepared and filed in the manner and form prescribed in the foregoing sections of this Charter for an initiative petition for an ordinance.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 64     Referendum on Emergency Measures

Ordinances passed as emergency measures for the immediate preservation of the public peace, property, health, or safety and providing for the refinancing of bonds, notes or other securities of the City shall not be subject to referendum.  Otherwise, emergency measures shall be subject to referendum in like manner as other ordinances, except that they shall go into effect at the time indicated in the ordinances.  If, when submitted to a vote of the electors of the City, an emergency measure be not approved by a majority of those voting thereon, it shall be considered repealed as regards any further action thereunder; but the measure so repealed shall be deemed sufficient authority for payment in accordance with the ordinance, of any expense incurred previous to the referendum vote thereon.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 66     Form of Ballots; Election Results

 Ordinances, or parts thereof, submitted to vote of the electors in accordance with the initiative and referendum provisions of this Charter shall be submitted by ballot title.  There shall appear upon the official ballot a ballot title, which may be distinct from the legal title of the proposed or referred ordinances, and which shall be a clear, concise statement, without argument or prejudice, descriptive of the substance of the ordinance, or part thereof.  The ballot title shall be prepared by the committee of petitioners if for an initiated ordinance, and in all other cases by the Director of Law.  The ballots used in voting upon the ordinance, or part thereof, shall have below the ballot title thereof the two following propositions, one above the other, in the order indicated: "For the ordinance" and "Against the ordinance."  The elector of the City shall record the elector’s vote for or against the ordinance or part of an ordinance, if part only of an ordinance is submitted in the manner prescribed by general law.  Any number of ordinances or parts thereof, may be voted upon at the same election and may be submitted on the same ballot, but the ballot used for voting thereon shall be for that purpose only.  If a majority of the electors of the City voting on any ordinance, submitted in accordance with the initiative provisions of this Charter, shall vote in favor thereof, it shall thereupon become an ordinance of the City.  If an ordinance or part of an ordinance, submitted in accordance with the referendum provisions of this Charter, be not approved by a majority of those voting thereon, it shall be deemed repealed.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 108     Authorization of Contracts

 (a) All contracts involving any expenditure in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) shall first be authorized and directed by ordinance of Council, provided that the Council may increase the expenditure limit contained in this section above fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) by passage of an ordinance receiving a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Council.  Except as provided in divisions (b) and (c) of this section, when so authorized and directed, the director of the department involved shall make a written contract with the lowest and best bidder after advertisement once a week for two consecutive weeks in the City Record.

 (b) When authorized by ordinance passed by the Council and in accordance with the applicable laws, competitive bidding and advertisement are not required for the City to enter into contracts for the purchase of supplies, services, materials and equipment through employment of cooperative purchase arrangements with other governmental agencies.

 (c) When authorized by ordinance passed by the Council, competitive bidding and advertisement are not required for the City to enter into contracts for any purpose for which contracts may be awarded by a municipal corporation without advertisement or competitive bidding under the general laws of the State of Ohio.

 (d) There shall be no splitting of orders to avoid the effect of this section, and any contract made contrary to or in evasion of the provisions of this section shall be illegal and void.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 115-1     Office of Professional Standards

 There shall be in the office of the executive head of the police force an Office of Professional Standards, consisting of one or more investigators appointed by the executive head of the police force, an administrator, and the Police Review Board.  The executive head of the police force may designate an officer of the police force to administer the Office of Professional Standards, or an employee appointed to the position of Professional Standards Administrator in conformity with the civil service provisions of this Charter.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 115-2     Police Review Board

 The Police Review Board shall consist of seven (7) members appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the Council.  The five members of the Police Review Board holding the office as of the effective date of this section may continue in office for the remainder of their terms.  Two additional members shall be appointed for terms commencing on August 8, 2009.  Terms of office for members of the Police Review Board shall be for four years.  Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as original appointments for the unexpired term.

 The executive head of the police force may remove any member of the Board, upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.

 Members of the Board shall receive compensation as may be established by the Council.

 The Mayor shall designate annually one member of the board to serve as its chair.

 The Board shall appoint personnel as its staff as it deems necessary.

 Failure of the Council to act on a mayoral appointment within thirty (30) days of its submission shall constitute approval of the appointment.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 121     Appeal to Civil Service Commission

 Any person in the classified service, who is suspended for more than three (3) days, demoted, or dismissed from the service of the City, may file a written appeal from the decision to the Civil Service Commission within ten days from and after the date of the suspension, demotion, or dismissal.  The director of the department involved, upon notice from the Commission of the appeal, shall transmit to the Commission a copy of the charges and proceedings.  The Commission shall set the appeal for hearing within thirty days from and after the filing of the same with the Commission, and may affirm, disaffirm or modify the judgment of the director, and the judgment of the Commission in the matter shall be final.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 126     Division into Classified and Unclassified Service

 The civil service of the City is hereby divided into the unclassified and classified service.

 1. The unclassified service shall include:

(a) All officers elected by the people.

(b) All directors and assistant directors of departments.

(c) The Clerk of Council.

(d) The Chief of Police, four Deputy Chiefs of Police, and twelve Commanders of Police.

(e) The members of all boards or commissions appointed by the Mayor and of advisory boards appointed by the director of a department.

(f) The secretary to the mayor and one secretary for each director of a department.

(g) Executive Assistants to the Mayor and Special Assistants to the Mayor, provided, however, that there shall be no restrictions as to their duties or assignments.

(h) Temporary employees for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days and seasonal employees for a period not to exceed one hundred and eighty (180) days.

(i) Students enrolled in a recognized educational institution and in a course of training in preparation for an administrative or professional career in the public service and employed upon the recommendation of the official in charge of personnel administration as student aides for training purposes without limitation as to assignment or duties.

(j) School crossing guards.

(k) Members of the auxiliary police force.

 2. The classified service shall comprise all positions not specifically included by this charter in the unclassified service.  There shall be in the classified service three classes to be known as the competitive class, the noncompetitive class and the general labor class.

(a) The competitive class shall include all positions and employment for which it is practicable to determine the merit and fitness of applicants by competitive tests.

(b) The noncompetitive class shall include all positions requiring specialized training, or skills requiring certifications or licensure, and qualifications of a scientific, business, managerial, professional or educational character, as may be determined by the Commission.  The fitness of applicants in the non-competitive class shall be based on the applicant’s knowledge, skills and abilities relative to the qualifications for the position.

(c) The general labor class shall include semi-skilled and unskilled labor positions for which it is impractical to give competitive tests.  The positions shall be filled from a registration list established and maintained by the Commission.  The Commission shall register applicants for positions in the general labor class either continuously or at times as there are vacancies to be filled, provided, however, that no registration may be accepted until public notice of the intention to so accept registrations shall be made by the Commission.  Priority of registration shall determine an applicant's place on the registration list, provided the applicant meets required standards as to age, citizenship, physical fitness and residence as established by the Commission.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 130     Eligible Lists; Temporary Appointments

 Eligible lists created by the Commission shall remain in force not longer than two years.  In the absence of an appropriate eligible list, any place may be filled temporarily, without test, for the period limited by the civil service rules, but not exceeding one year.  During such period the Commission shall hold the necessary tests for filling any such place permanently.  With the consent of the Commission, persons may be temporarily employed for transitory work without test, but no such employment shall continue for more than sixty days, or be renewed.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§131-1 Employees Hired Without Test before August 6, 2008

 Employees in the classified service who were hired in their current position on or before August 6, 2008 and who serve in that position for 90 consecutive days or longer without test by the Commission, who meet the qualifications for that position, and who have an employment record that is satisfactory shall become regular employees in that position without test.  Any employee who becomes a regular employee in his or her position under this section is not eligible to apply for any other position in the classified service without test and compliance with all other provisions of the laws of the City of Cleveland and rules promulgated by the Commission.  (Effective November 4, 2008)

§ 167     Public Improvements

 Public improvements of all kinds may be made by the appropriate department, either by direct employment of the necessary labor and the purchase of the necessary supplies and materials, with separate accounting as to each improvement so made, or by contract duly let to the lowest responsible bidder after competitive bidding, either for a gross price, or upon a unit basis for the improvement, or by contract containing a guaranteed maximum and stipulating that the City shall pay within such maximum the cost of labor and materials, plus a fixed percentage of profit to the contractor. Public improvements may also be made by combining the design professional contract with the public improvement contract, in a manner similar to a design-build or engineer, procure, construct (EPC) contract, and be awarded on the basis of the best proposal, taking into consideration the engineering and design, the construction method(s), the proposed design and construction costs, the total life-cycle costs, the qualifications of the proposed design professional and the construction firm(s), and the other objectives of the project.

 The Council shall by ordinance determine by which of the foregoing methods any improvement shall be made.  Contracts may provide a bonus per day for completion of the contract prior to a specified date, and liquidated damages to the City to be exacted in like sum for every day of delay beyond a specified date.  (Effective November 4, 2008)