A Stunning Overreach: The Worthington Charter Review Commission

Greetings neighbors,

We wanted to alert you to a troubling overreach occurring in our city government that will have a direct impact on Project Community Park Worthington (PCPW)’s mission.

Summary: there is an unelected, appointed body, the Worthington Charter Review Commission, that is seeking to overturn the results of a previous vote of the Worthington public.  Their conduct is highly inappropriate and sets a dangerous precedent.  

As you know, PCPW advocates for a signature, multi-use community green space at the United Methodist Children’s Home (UMCH) property, for the benefit and enjoyment of all—enhanced by restaurants, commerce, and housing that is harmonious with our community.

Any residential development on this property, including the 500+ unit proposal from Lifestyle Communities, will require zoning changes. Zoning decisions made by our city council are of great importance because they are effectively permanent—once something is built, it’s built.

The right of the citizen referendum (taking an issue to the ballot) regarding rezoning laws helps to ensure that only high quality and appropriate projects will be approved in Worthington. In 2015, Worthington voters passed Issue 38, the Keep Worthington Beautiful charter amendment. This strengthened our right of referendum by giving residents a reasonable number of days (60) to organize and conduct a referendum effort following a city council zoning decision.

We have seen that high quality developers, who propose projects that will enhance and not degrade our community, voice no complaints or worries about our right of referendum. In fact, they appreciate it since it will help to protect their investment once it is built in Worthington.

Unfortunately, our right of referendum is now in danger of being virtually eliminated.

The 11-person Charter Review Commission (selected by the City Manager and City Council) is proposing a change that would significantly weaken the voices of Worthington residents: they want to cut in half the numbers of days (from 60 to 30) that the public currently has to organize a citizens’ referendum.

Note that the number of valid signatures needed to put a referendum on the ballot is 35% of the number of votes cast in Worthington the last gubernatorial election. The Charter Review Commission is recommending “no change” to this 35% standard that was set by the Ohio legislature in a party-line vote last year (up from 10% in the past).

In other words, the Charter Review Commission recommends that the citizens of Worthington have just 30 days to organize, to engage the public, and then collect and submit roughly 3,000 valid signatures. This is a path so steep that it places the right of referendum out of reach of the voters.

We would lose a vital tool of our democracy.

This weakening of the ability of voters to make their voices heard on important local decisions is, in itself, unacceptable. But what is also disconcerting is the way it’s being done: the Charter Review Commission, an unelected, appointed body, is essentially legislating. That’s inappropriate. Furthermore, they are legislating with the goal of overturning a previous vote of the public.

This is a stunning overreach, and is contrary to the restrained conduct of prior Charter Commissions, which focused on apolitical, administrative recommendations.

If you want to understand these issues more fully, please read two recent documents written by our fellow citizens. With permission of the authors, we’ve put both documents on our website.

The first is a letter written by Mike Duffey directly to the Commission, in which he puts into historic perspective the actions of the current commission. You can read his letter here:
https://projectcommunityparkworthington.com/2026/06/letter-mike-duffey-to-the-charter-review-commission/

The second document is a statement by the Keep Worthington Beautiful campaign leaders, which provides an illuminating critique of the current process and the vested interests that are seeking to diminish the voice of the residents. You can read it here:
https://projectcommunityparkworthington.com/2026/06/keep-worthington-beautiful-message-on-the-2026-charter-review-commission/

This is a quickly evolving situation. As we consider next steps, we hope you will read up, get informed, spread the word, and be ready to take action if needed.

Stay tuned.