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Updated 2:53 PM Wednesday, November 11, 2009

An interesting thing happened in Cuyahoga County on Election Day last week.

Voters there overwhelmingly passed Issue 6, a plan to reshape the structure of county government there. Its passage — and the rejection of a competing issue that would have delayed county reform — demonstrates “the electorate’s widespread dissatisfaction with the existing county government and its desire for immediate change,” according to the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

If you think that last sentence could also be said of voters in Butler County, you may be interested in learning more about the new charter that will soon govern Cuyahoga County and will replace the traditional form of government that nearly every other county in Ohio, including Butler, has maintained.

According to the Plain Dealer, the new structure includes:

• Replacing the three-member county commission with an 11-member county council, each representing a geographic district.

• The election of a county executive who will run day-to-day operations.

• Consolidating several elective offices, including auditor, treasurer and recorder, into an appointed chief financial officer.

• Other elective offices, such as engineer, sheriff, coroner and clerk of courts, will become appointed positions as well.

We are anxious to see how Cuyahoga County’s new form of government works out, and whether constituents prefer it, because we have often observed that Ohio’s form of county government needs to be modernized and de-politicized. That form of government — with several elected officeholders running independent fiefdoms — may have worked well in past eras, but can become less accountable and more dysfunctional than a municipal government, especially when one political party dominates county government, as has occurred here and in Cuyahoga County.

The circumstances that set the stage for Issue 6 in Cuyahoga County — federal agents raiding the county building and the homes of two county leaders in a pay-to-play investigation — might seem familiar to voters in Butler County where a former auditor awaits sentencing on federal fraud charges, a former county commissioner has been investigated by the FBI and indicted on political corruption charges, and at least one current county commissioner is under investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission on allegations of nepotism.

Now Butler County residents are witnessing the spectacle of the county commissioners — who are attempting to balance a dire 2010 budget — ineffectively coaxing the elected officeholders to cut their projected budgets. To put it mildly, they aren’t getting much cooperation from some officeholders.

Unfortunately, while voters often proclaim that they’re ready to shake up county government, this highly politicized structure doesn’t lend itself to widespread change. Voters here tend to vote for Republican candidates, so as long as the county Republican Party holds the key to who runs for office, there’s little opportunity for voters to effect significant change.

That’s why we believe Butler County residents should have a keen interest in how the experiment in Cuyahoga County works out. It could show voters the way to finally shake up and de-politicize county government here.

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The Summit County Charter was originally adopted by the voters at an election on November 6, 1979 and is very similar to Cuyahoga. There is a great commentary at: http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2...

Paul Nenni
6:51 AM, 11/13/2009

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Let's see...this puts All the money, all the jobs, all the power, all the oversight, and all the chance of being caught under the control of one small centralized group of people. Condidering what we're starting to find out about our leaders, this doesn't seem like such a bright idea after all.

thisIsABadIdea
6:27 PM, 11/12/2009

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appointed administrator with an ELECTED Chief Administrative Officer. How is that a reduction of politics? Consider some of the more "notorious" folks who have either run for, or held, elected office in Butler County. Now imagine them being in charge of the daily operations of this massive organization. There may be - and should be - valid reforms to the function of county govt. A major improvement starts with giving real authority to a professional, appointed staff - not more elected officials.

observer
12:39 PM, 11/12/2009

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The Cuyahoga County proposal will, doubtless, "shake up" government. To the extent that bloggers and Op/Ed writers consider that an end unto itself, it is a success. What it will NOT do, however, is de-politicize anything. The proposal EXPANDS the total number of county elected officials. It places functions that have been at the core of conflict in Butler County UNDER the control of a group of elected officials, removing any semblance of autonomy. This "form" of government replaces an...

observer
12:32 PM, 11/12/2009

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