Streamlining the People out of the Process

You may have seen our email last week (“A Stunning Overreach”) about the Worthington Charter Review Commission—an unelected, appointed body that is seeking to overturn the results of a previous vote of the Worthington public.

The Commission’s recommendations tip the balance of power away from the residents and toward developers.

They call it “streamlining.”

We call it the erosion of democracy. They’re “streamlining” the residents out of the process.

We strongly urge you to submit a comment to the Commission, telling them to change course. Submit your comment to the commission by going to the link below, and scrolling down on the page to get to the comment form. The comment period closes Monday, June 22 at noon.

https://worthington.org/2466/Proposed-Charter-Amendment-Recommendatio

You can also send a comment to the Commission via email:
CharterReview@worthington.org

Your comment can be brief and simple. Just make sure you make your position clear.

If you’d like to learn more before commenting, please read on, and/or see our top four posts here:
https://projectcommunityparkworthington.com/news/ There you’ll find links to an online version of this email, our email from last week, a statement from Keep Worthington Beautiful, and a letter that former Councilman Mike Duffey sent to the Commission.

In 2015, Worthington voters passed Issue 38 (Keep Worthington Beautiful), making the right of referendum viable in our city by providing 60 days for such an effort. The referendum process enables residents to put a city council decision on the ballot for the voters to decide. This is a foundation of good governance, part of our system of checks and balances.

The Commission is recommending cutting in half the number of days citizens have to organize and conduct a referendum, from 60 days to a mere 30 days. This effectively places the right of referendum out of the reach of the voters. 60 days isn’t easy. 30 days is virtually impossible. Developers proposing undesirable projects for Worthington know that. That’s why they fought hard against Issue 38 in 2015.

Fortunately the residents prevailed, but now the Commission, in an unacceptable overreach, wants to throw out Issue 38.

Click here to send your thoughts to the Charter Review Commission by Monday at noon. Or send an email to them: CharterReview@worthington.org

They’re recycling the same baseless myths from 2015—that a 60 day referendum period spells doom and gloom for Worthington. They argue that Worthington should blindly follow referendum standards other cities have set for themselves, without citing any evidence whatsoever for their nebulous claim that Worthington’s stronger standards have hurt us.

The facts show otherwise. In the years since Issue 38 passed in 2015:

• city revenue is up 50%
• our rainy day fund has tripled
• widespread development continues: Stafford Village, Cotter House, Granby Place, Gateway, and soon, Crawford Hoying on West Wilson Bridge Rd.

Good development proposals are not deterred by our robust right of referendum. If Worthington’s viable right of referendum has served to deter unwanted development, then the system is working as it should.

Here’s why all this matters for supporters of the Project Community Park Worthington (PCPW) vision: any residential development on the UMCH property, including the 500+ unit proposal from Lifestyle Communities, will require zoning changes. Such decisions, made by our city council, are effectively permanent—once something is built, it’s built.

We certainly hope that our city council would not grant a zoning change to green-light such irresponsible development, but if they do, it’s crucial that the residents have a viable way to put such a decision on the ballot for the voters to decide.

This Tuesday, June 23, the commission will hold its last meeting (4:30 PM at City Hall), and finalize its recommendations. The comment period closes Monday, June 22 at noon. Submit your comment here:

https://worthington.org/2466/Proposed-Charter-Amendment-Recommendatio

The voters of Worthington have spoken: we established a robust, viable right of referendum in 2015 when we passed Issue 38, and it has served Worthington well. Let’s not let the Charter Review Commission to interfere with this vital tool of democracy.

We at Project Community Park Worthington would love to hear from you about this as well—send a message to info@projectcommunityparkworthington.com if you’d like to let us know what you’ve said to the Commission.