President Of Council

[jay]

Another Idea

If a mayor leaves office before the end of term, hold a special non-partisan election to pick a replacement.

[Towntalk]

For those who don't know what redunancy means in my use of the word:

Redundancy is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or (more commonly) a group of employees for business reasons, such as when certain positions are no longer necessary or when a business slow-down occurs. Originally the term referred exclusively to a temporary interruption in work, as when factory work cyclically falls off. The term however nowadays usually means the permanent elimination of a position, requiring the addition of "temporary" to specify the original meaning.

This could also apply to some city workers as well.

[Towntalk]

I can see a specified line of succession for the President of the United States, but for Mayors? Now really, how vital is the Mayor to the future of the city? Give the Mayor a top hat, striped pants, a frock coat, and a pretty wide sash to wear over his shoulder with a nice big button saying MAYOR, and any blame fool could do the job, and the same holds true with the president of city council.

As I've said before, what we need is a City Manager to run the day to day business of the city and make the Mayor and president of council redundant. Or make the Mayor position purely ceramonial with council flipping a coin to see who will be Mayor at the next ribbon cutting event.

[jay]

I guess the suggestion was that the President of Council should not be the next in line to become mayor.

[Towntalk]

In Congress the Speaker of the House rarely presides over the House, and never attends committee meetings. The President of the Senate is the Vice President but he rarely presides over the Senate. The same is true of the state legislature. Why are you so bent on making so many changes in Council? Who would preside over Council if there wasn't a presiding officer?

[jay]

Some are starting to question the need for a President of Council in Youngstown.  This position is not responsible to any ward or group of residents.  The President of Council is not required to attend council committee meetings.  The President of Council is only required to preside over the twenty or so regular council meetings held each year.  As we know, the President of Council becomes the mayor if the serving mayor resigns.
(note: the President of Council did not attend the special council meeting on March 28)

Question
How would you change the President of Council position?