CHARTER
OF THE
CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

ARTICLE XII - GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 78.   ORDINANCES CONTINUED IN FORCE.

All ordinances and resolutions in force at the time of the taking effect of this Charter, not inconsistent with its provisions, shall continue in full force and effect until amended or repealed.

SECTION 79.   CONTINUANCE OF PRESENT OFFICERS.

All persons holding office at the time this Charter is adopted, shall continue in office and in the performance of their duties until provision shall have been otherwise made in accordance with this Charter for the performance or discontinuance of the duties of any such office. When such provision shall have been made the term of any such officer shall expire and the office be deemed abolished. The powers which are conferred and the duties which are imposed upon any officer, board or department of the city under the laws of the state, or under any city ordinance or contract in force at the time of the taking effect of this act shall, if such office or department is abolished by this Charter, be thereafter exercised and discharged by the commission, officer, board or department upon whom are imposed corresponding functions, powers and duties by this Charter or by any ordinance or resolution of the city thereafter enacted.

SECTION 80.   CONTINUANCE OF CONTRACTS AND VESTED RIGHTS.

All vested rights of the city shall continue to be vested and shall not in any manner be affected by the adoption of this Charter; nor shall any right or liability, or pending suit or prosecution, either in behalf of or against the city, be in any manner affected by the adoption of this Charter, unless otherwise herein expressly provided to the contrary. All contracts entered into by the city or for its benefit prior to the taking effect of this Charter shall continue in full force and effect. All public work begun prior to the taking effect of this Charter shall be continued and perfected hereunder. Public improvements for which legislative steps shall have been taken under laws in force at the time this Charter takes effect may be carried to completion in accordance with the provisions of such laws.

SECTION 81.   INVESTIGATION.

The city commission, or any committee thereof, the city manager and any advisory board appointed by the commission for such purpose, shall have power at any time to cause the affairs of any department or the conduct of any officer or employee to be investigated; and for such purpose shall have power to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers and other evidence; and for that purpose may issue subpoenas or attachments which shall be signed by the president or chairman of the body or by the officer making the investigation, and shall be served by any officer authorized by law to serve such process. The authority making such investigation shall also have power to cause the testimony to be given under oath to be administered by some officer authorized by general law to administer oaths; and shall also have power to punish as for contempt any person refusing to testify to any fact within his knowledge, or to produce any books or papers under his control, relating to the matter under investigation.

SECTION 82.   OATH OF OFFICE.

All officers before taking office shall take the oath of office prescribed by law; but the oath of office of city commissioner shall be in writing and be filed with the clerk of the city commission and shall contain the assertion that in his candidacy for nomination and election he has not violated any provisions of Section 5 of this Charter.

SECTION 83.   AMENDMENT OF CHARTER.

Amendments to this Charter may be submitted to the electors of the city by a two-thirds vote of the city commission, and shall be submitted to such electorate when a petition is filed by ten percent (10%) of the registered voters in the municipality at the last regular municipal election of the city, setting forth any such approved amendments as received by the city commission. The ordinance providing for the submission of any such amendment shall require that it be submitted to the electors of the city at the next regular municipal election if one shall occur not less than sixty (60) nor more than one hundred twenty (120) days after its passage; otherwise, it shall provide for the submission of the amendment at a special election to be called and held within the time aforesaid. Not less than thirty (30) days prior to such election the clerk of the City Commission shall mail a copy of the proposed amendment to each elector whose name appears upon the poll or registration books at the last regular municipal or general election. If such proposed amendment is approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon, it shall become a part of the Charter at the time fixed therein.

SECTION 84.   SAVING CLAUSE.

If any section or part of a section of this Charter proves to be invalid or unconstitutional, the same shall not be held to invalidate or impair the validity, force, or effect of any other section or part of a section of this Charter, unless it clearly appears that such other section or part of a section is wholly or necessarily dependent for its operation upon the section or part of a section so held unconstitutional or invalid.

SECTION 85.   WHEN CHARTER TAKES EFFECT.

For the purpose of nominating and electing officers and all purposes connected therewith and for the purpose of exercising the powers of the city as provided herein, this Charter shall take effect from the time of its approval by the registered voters in the municipality at the last election of the city. For the purpose of establishing departments, divisions, and officers and distributing the functions thereof, and for all purposes, it shall take effect on the first day of January, 1966.

SECTION 86.   GENERAL DISQUALIFICATIONS

No member of the city commission, the city manager or any other officer or employee of the city, shall driectly or indirectly be interested in any contract, job, work or service with or for the city; nor in the profits or emoluments thereof, nor in the expenditure of any money on the part of the city other than his fixed compensation; and any contract with the city in which any such officer or employee is, or becomes, interested may be declared void by the city commission.

No member of the city commission, or the city manager or other officer or employee of the city shall knowingly accept any gift, frank, free ticket, pass, reduced price or reduced rate of service from any person, firm or corporation operating a public utility or engaged in business of a public nature within the city, or from any person known to him to have or to be endeavoring to secure a contract with the city. But the provisions of this section shall not apply to the transportation of policemen or firemen in uniform or wearing their official badges, when the same is, or may be, provided by ordinance.

SECTION 87.   POLITICAL ACTIVITY.

Neither the city manager nor any person in the employ of the city, except elected officials, shall take any active part in securing, or contribute any money toward, the nomination or election of any candidate or candidates for the office of city commissioner or mayor, except to answer such questions as my be put to them and as they may desire to answer.
(Amended 5-7-02.)

SECTION 88.   PENALTIES.

The provisions of the last two preceding sections shall not be considered exclusive, but as an addition to any other provision of the general laws of the state applicable to the case; and a violation of any provisions of either of such sections shall subject the offender to removal from his office or employment, and to punishment by a fine of not exceeding one hundred dollars.

SECTION 89.   MEETINGS.

All meetings, except executive sessions, of the City Commission and other boards, commissions, and committees of the City are open to the public. The City Commission and other boards, commissions, and committees of the City shall comply with Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22 as presently in effect, or hereafter enacted.
(Amended 5-8-90.)

SECTION 90.   RESTRICTION OF CITY COMMISSION'S URBAN RENEWAL POWERS.

This section repealed by the voters May 4, 1971.

SECTION 91.   RESTRICTION OF CITY COMMISSION'S FAIR HOUSING POWERS.

The city commission of The city of Springfield shall not enact any ordinance regulating the sale, renting, leasing, subleasing, listing, advertisement, transfer, assignment or financing of real property (other than the furnishing of facilities and lodging in establishments of public accomodation) referable to consideration of race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry unelss such measure shall first have been submitted to and approved by the electors of The City of Springfield, Ohio. The procedure for the submission of such plan to the electorate shall be the same as those provided in Sections 50, 51 and 52 of the Charter of The City of Springfield for the submission to the electorate of an initiated ordinance. Any such ordinance in effect at the time of adoption of this section automatically shall cease to be effective until approved by the electors as provided above.
(Amended 11-7-67.)

SECTION 92.   POLICE AND FIRE DIVISIONS.

The city commission shall have the sole duty and right to classify, reorganize and abolish positions, by ordinance, in the Police and Fire Divisions and such duty and right shall not be delegated to any City official or department. On the date of enactment of this section, all positions and ranks in the Police and Fire Divisions shall be as classified on January 1, 1970, and any change therein shall be made only as set forth in this section. In providing for the classification of the personnel of the Police and Fire Divisions, the City Commission shall not abolish any position until a vacancy shall have occurred therein.
(Enacted 11-3-70.)

SECTION 93.   FIRE DIVISION; FIRE PROTECTION AND EMERGENCY SERVICES MANPOWER.

There is established within the government of The City of Springfield a Fire Division. The Fire Division shall protect the lives and property of hte people in case of fire and shall perform emergency medical and/or [sic] rescue services in The City of Springfield, and shall be the sole and exclusive, publicly-funded enterprise providing these services.

The said Fire Division shall consist of:

1. No fewer than 127 firemedics and/or [sic] firemedics/paramedics, including a Fire Chief of the Fire Division.
2. In addition to the above described 127 firemedics and/or [sic] firemedics/paramedics, such additional officers and employees as are established by ordinance and law.

Each firemedic and/or [sic] firemedic/paramedic in the Fire Division shall be a paid, full-time employee of the city of Springfield who is assigned to that position for no fewer than forty (40) hours per week who is pursuing or who has successfully completed a firefighter training program approved and established pursuant to Ohio law.

The City Manager shall fill firemedic and/or [sic] firemedic/paramedic vacancies no later than twenty-one (21) days after a vacancy in said position occurs.

The foregoing provision shall become effective and a part of the Charter of The City of Springfield on the thirtieth (30th) day after approval by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
(Amended 11-6-90.)

SECTION 94.   FEES AND ASSESSMENTS.

No fees or assessments can be made by the City Commission for the operation, collection or disposal of residential refuse. No fees or assessments can be made by the City Commission for the operation or maintenance of street lights.

All fees and assessments related to residential refuse or street lights must be presented by the City Commission to the electorate in a general election.
(Enacted 5-5-87.)

SECTION 95.   POLICE DIVISION; SPECIAL ASSESSMENT FOR ADDITONAL PERSONNEL.

There shall be levied an additional tax for the benefit of The City of Springifeld, Ohio, at a rate of three (3) mills for each one dollar ($1.00) of valuation, which amounts to thirty cents ($0.30) for each one hundred dollars ($100.00) of valuation, which shall be for the specific purpose of hiring, training, maintaining and supporting twenty-four (24) additional sworn, full-time police officers within the Springifeld Police Division.

The Levy shall remain in effect for a period of five (5) years upon the approval by a majority of the electors voting thereon and shall be renewable in five (5) year increments by a majority of the electors voting thereon, and shall commence in tax year 1990, first half.

The City shall have accomplished the hiring of these additional police officers specified herein no later than December 31st, 1992. After December 31st, 1992, and for the duration of this assessment, the Springfield Police Division shall consist of no fewer than one hundred and twenty-four (124) full-time sworn police officers, and a minimum of six (6) such officers shall be assigned ot the narcotics unit. Only a person who is pursuing, or who has successfully completed, an appropriate police officer training program approved and established pursuant to state law, shall hold one of hte one hundred and twenty-four (124) police officer positions stated herein.

All monies generated by this assessment and received by the city of Springfield shall be placed in a separate interest-bearing fund, and any and all interest accrued remain in such fund. Any monies withdrawn from this fund by The City of Springfield shall be used only for the specific purposes stated herein, namely:   hiring, training, maintaining, and supporting twenty-four (24) additional sworn full-time police officers within the Springfield Police Division.

The foregoing provision shall become effective and a part of the Charter of The City of Springfield on the thirtieth (30th) day after approval by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
(Enacted 5-8-90.)

SECTION 96.   POLICE DIVISION; SPECIAL ASSESSMENT FOR ADDITONAL PERSONNEL.

There shall be levied a renewal tax for the benefit of The City of Springfield, Ohio, at a rate of three (3) mills for each one dollar ($1.00) of valuation, which amounts to thirty cents ($0.30) for each one hundred dollars ($100.00) of valuation, which shall be for the specific purpose of hiring, training, maintaining, and supporting at least twenty-four (24) sworn, full-time police officers within the Springfield Police Division.

The levy shall remain in effect for a period of six (6) years upon the approval by a majority of the electors voting thereon, and shall be renewable in six-year increments by a majority of the electors voting thereon, and shall commence in tax year 1995, first half.

For the duration of this assessment, the Springfield Police Division shall consist of no fewer than one hundred and twenty-four (124) full-time sworn police officers, and a minimum of six (6) such officers shall be assigned to the Narcotics Unit. Only a person who is pursuing, or has successfully completed, an appropriate police officer training program, approved and established pursuant to State law, shall hold one of the one hundred and twenty-four (124) police officer positions stated herein.

All monies generated by this assessment and received by The City of Springfield shall be placed in a separate interest-bearing fund, and any and all interest accrued remain in such fund. Any monies withdrawn from this fund by The City of Springfield shall be used only for the specific purposes stated herein, namely:   hiring, training, maintaining, and suporting twenty-four (24) sworn, full-time police officers within the Springfield Police Division. Any monies withdrawn from this fund by The City of Springfield shall be used only for the specific purposes stated herein, namely:   hiring, training, maintaining, and supporting twenty-four (24) sworn, full-time police officers within the Springfield Police Division. No moneys withdrawn from this fund by The City of Springfield may be used to pay for the salaries or benefits of the first one-hundred (100) sworn, full-time police officers within the Springfield Police Division, unless such position has become necessary to support officers hired pursuant to the May, 1990, police levy, or this levy.

The foregoing provision shall become effective and a part of the Charter of The City of Springfield, Ohio, on the thirtieth (30th) day after approval by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
(Enacted 5-2-95.)

SECTION 97.   POLICE DIVISION; SPECIAL ASSESSMENT FOR ADDITONAL PERSONNEL.

There shall be levied a renewal tax for the benefit of The City of Springfield, Ohio, at a rate of three (3) mills for each one dollar ($1.00) of valuation, which amounts to thirty cents ($0.30) for each one hundred dollars ($100.00) of valuation, which shall be for the specific purpose of hiring, training, maintaining, and supporting at least twenty-four (24) sworn, full-time police officers within the Springfield Police Division.

The levy shall remain in effect until such time as it is amended or repealed pursuant to Section 83 of the Charter upon the approval of a majority of the electors voting thereon, and shall commence in tax year 2001, first half.

For the duration of this assessment, the Springfield Police Division shall consist of no fewer than one hundred and twenty-four (124) full-time sworn police officers, and a minimum of six (6) such officers shall be assigned to the Narcotics Unit. Only a person who is pursuing, or has successfully completed, an appropriate police officer training program, approved and established pursuant to State law, shall hold one of the one hundred and twenty-four (124) police officer positions stated herein.

All monies generated by this assessment and received by The City of Springfield shall be placed in a separate interest-bearing fund, and any and all interest accrued remain in such fund. Any monies withdrawn from this fund by The City of Springfield shall be used only for the specific purposes stated herein, namely:   hiring, training, maintaining, and suporting twenty-four (24) sworn, full-time police officers within the Springfiedl Police Division. Any monies withdrawn from this fund by The City of Springfield shall be used only for the specific purposes stated herein, namely:   hiring, training, maintaining, and supporting twenty-four (24) sworn, full-time police officers within the Springfield Police Division. No moneys withdrawn from this fund by The City of Springfield may be used to pay for the salaries or benefits of the first one-hundred (100) sworn, full-time police officers within the Springfield Police Division, unless such position has become necessary to support officers hired pursuant to the May, 1990, police levy, the May, 1995 police levy, or this levy.

The foregoing provision shall become effective and a part of the Charter of The City of Springfield, Ohio, on the thirtieth (30th) day after approval by a majority of the electors voting thereon.
(Enacted 5-8-01.)

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