Proposed Xenia charter amendments to increase public input, address hiring problems
Jan. 19—XENIA — Residents will vote on the first amendments to the Xenia charter in nearly 25 years, changes that leaders anticipate will address the city's staffing issues and allow for greater public participation.
The amendments will bring the charter, functionally Xenia's city constitution, up to date with the modern world, law director Donnette Fisher said. Three amendments are slated for the May 2022 election, with three more planned for the November election, as the city slowly rolls out the first major updates to the document since 1998.
Among the biggest changes include standardizing the city's legislative processes, establishing certain boards and commissions, and updating recordkeeping regulations to acknowledge the existence of the internet. For ordinances, legislative acts that are meant to be more permanent than a city council resolution, the charter would require a public hearing in order to be enacted.
"It brings it into consistency with every other city in Ohio," Fisher said. "Any changes in Xenia city code that a citizen wants to address, the only opportunity they have right now is during audience comments. You have a right to come in and speak and the charter commission felt pretty strongly on that."
The charter amendments also supersede obsolete state hiring practices that have resulted in increased difficulty hiring for police, fire, paramedics, and other civil positions, Fisher said, a problem that isn't unique to Xenia.
"For civil service 20 years ago, we would have 200-300 applicants. Now you're lucky if you get 10. Most state civil service laws have not kept up with and do not recognize the issues cities are having with hiring people. It just has not kept up."
Under home rule, city charter can supersede state civil service laws, which state cities must fill positions based on merit. While Xenia still fully intends to hire competitively for those roles, the changes allow the city to take better advantage of college pathway programs that place graduates directly in law enforcement and paramedic jobs.
"Before, 'competition' always meant a written exam," Fisher said. "We can still do it that way, but we can also look at other avenues now."
The city plans to host a series of town halls in the next few months to educate people on the proposed changes.
Xenia formed the citizen-led charter review commission in November 2018, and finished its proposed revisions in 2021, rewrites that touched nearly every article in the document. The commission also outlined their reasoning for each proposed change in a document available on the city's website, which is one of the best resources for any citizen that has questions, Fisher said.
