Residents in Cuyahoga County, Ohio (pop. 1.4 million; County Seat: Cleveland), the largest county in the state, voted 2 to 1 to abandon the county’s current commission form of government and adopt an elected executive structure with an 11-member county council.

Two issues appeared on the November 3 ballot: “Issue 5” asked voters to choose whether to establish a county charter commission that would study the governance options and recommend a course of action.  “Issue 6” proposed adoption of a charter that would provide for an elected county executive, an elected county prosecutor, and an 11-member county council elected by district. Residents overwhelming voted against establishment of the charter commission (243,038 to 94,383) and by a 2-to-1 margin (226,341 to 115,651) in favor of adopting the elected executive form.

ICMA President Darnell Earley (city manager, Saginaw, Michigan) and Past President David Krings (Cincinnati, Ohio) accepted the invitation of Ohio State Senator Shirley Smith (21st District) to participate in an October 28 town hall meeting at Case Western Reserve University. They provided an overview for roughly 150 residents on the various forms of county government and the importance of professional county government. Krings also participated in several interviews with local television stations the day before the meeting.

The battle to overhaul Cuyahoga county government, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has “been ugly,” and has been played out amidst racial tensions and “wide-ranging public corruption." The local branch of the League of Women Voters and the business community supported the change to the elected executive form. Senator Smith, who hosted the October 28 town hall meeting, invited ICMA to provide a balanced view of the options for county government.