Gahanna Charter Review Commission Meeting Summary – April 1, 2026 (source materials dated March 26, 2026)

The Gahanna Charter Review Commission convened in Council Chambers at Gahanna City Hall to hear invited presentations from a City Council member and a Planning Commission member, review its proposal inventory, and handle routine items. The requested meeting timestamp is April 1, 2026, 14:15 UTC; however, the agenda, minutes, and transcript consistently date the meeting as Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 6:30 p.m., with adjournment at 7:38 p.m. All seven commission members were present: Ethan Barnhardt (Chair), Carrin Wester (Vice Chair), Jamie Belisle, Edward A. Hill Jr., Richard Maxwell, Raymond J. Mularski, and Karen Reynolds. Jeremy A. VanMeter served as Clerk of Council. No charter amendment proposals were voted on or formally adopted during this meeting.

Consent Calendar

• No additions or corrections to the agenda were offered.
• Approval of the March 12, 2026 Charter Review Commission minutes: motion by Mularski, seconded by Belisle, passed 7-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Pat Francisco, 234 Shull Avenue, Gahanna, stated that she had driven a golf cart on city streets for several years after being told no ordinance prohibited it, but was later stopped by police and told she could no longer do so. She said the cart was street-legal, with mirrors, turn signals, brake lights, and a license plate.
• Chair Barnhardt referred the matter to City Attorney Tamilarasan, who explained that the issue falls under the city traffic code, not the charter. Tamilarasan stated she is currently conducting the annual criminal and traffic code review and offered to provide her contact information to Francisco for further discussion.

Discussion Items

• City Councilmember Michael Schnetzer Presentation: Schnetzer thanked the Commission and expressed support for Gahanna’s current strong-mayor structure, describing it as an effective and balanced system that maximizes voter influence. He stated that his nearly two decades in municipal finance and experience underwriting more than 10,000 project financings showed no objective correlation between a municipality’s form of government and its financial performance or bond rating. He identified reserve policies, dedicated capital revenue, multi-year financial planning, and prudent budgeting as more important factors.
• Schnetzer cautioned against moving to a council-manager form of government, saying it would concentrate executive authority under Council and reduce direct accountability to voters. He added that if the Commission pursued such a change, it should also consider reducing Council terms from four years to two years, noting two-year terms existed historically until a change around 2013 or 2014.
• Schnetzer questioned Article 22’s automatic five-year Charter Review Commission requirement, noting Gahanna has conducted seven charter reviews since 1996 and adopted 123 charter amendments in the city’s 65-year history, compared with 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He cited the more than $300,000 cost of a mayoral primary election in 2023 as an example of costly unintended consequences from a prior charter amendment. He suggested eliminating the fixed schedule in favor of as-needed reviews or Council-defined targeted scopes.
• Schnetzer also recommended reviewing Section 4.12 on abstentions and removal for consistency with Section 4.07 on due process. He cautioned against putting a strategic plan in the charter, stating that quality strategic plans can be six-figure expenditures and are better handled through ordinances. He suggested considering periodic performance audits from the Ohio Auditor of State’s office instead.
• In response to questions, Schnetzer said an ad hoc Charter Review Commission could be convened through a public City Council ordinance with mayoral approval. City Attorney Tamilarasan noted that the charter already provides multiple amendment routes: Council action, citizen initiative, and the five-year Commission, plus the ability to create ad hoc ordinance-based commissions.
• Planning Commission Chair Sarah Pollyea Presentation: Pollyea, chair of the Planning Commission and the Property Appeals Board, presented proposals intended to improve clarity, transparency, and consistency without changing Gahanna’s form of government. She stated that many of the practices she described already occur and would be codified in the charter. She referenced comparable communities including Upper Arlington, Dublin, and Westerville; under questioning, she acknowledged those are council-manager cities and that she had not identified a strong-mayor city with similar provisions.
• Pollyea’s four main proposals were: (1) Council approval for the purchase, sale, or transfer of city-owned real property; (2) Council legislative review of development agreements involving city-owned land or significant municipal commitments; (3) requiring zoning decisions to state the basis for the decision on the record, such as consistency with the comprehensive plan and compatibility with surrounding land uses; and (4) Council authorization of major contracts above thresholds established by ordinance, excluding routine administrative purchasing.
• Pollyea also proposed updates to Section 11.02 regarding the Planning Commission: replacing fixed missed-meeting removal with a percentage-based standard such as attending at least 75% of meetings; eliminating automatic removal based solely on consecutive absences; defining or delegating the definition of excused absences with guidance such as illness, family emergencies, or work obligations; and clarifying just-cause removal, including due process protections such as notice and an opportunity to respond.
• During Q&A, Pollyea said she intentionally did not define “significant” so the charter could remain flexible. She expressed general support for eliminating the Board of Zoning and Building Appeals (BZBA), suggesting appeals could go to municipal or common pleas court, and explained that the Property Appeals Board is ordinance-based and mainly handles sidewalk appeals. She opposed including a strategic plan in the charter, agreeing it was better suited to ordinances. Commissioner Maxwell stated he saw the zoning transparency proposal as potentially redundant because decisions are already public; Pollyea acknowledged that perspective and deferred to the Commission’s judgment.
• Proposal Inventory Review: Chair Barnhardt reviewed the spreadsheet of charter amendment proposals received to date and said he would update it to include items from the evening’s presentations and the memorandum received by email the prior Friday. Vice Chair Wester thanked him for organizing the inventory, saying it would assist future review.

Correspondence and Actions

• Correspondence file 2026-0061 was noted for the record with no discussion.

Key Outcomes

• The Commission approved the March 12, 2026 minutes by a 7-0 vote.
• Chair Barnhardt referred Pat Francisco’s golf cart question to the City Attorney for follow-up under the traffic code.
• No charter amendments were adopted, prioritized, or formally recommended at this meeting; it served as an informational and listening session.
• Councilmember Schnetzer was asked to share his presentation notes, and Planning Commissioner Pollyea will email her written proposals and comparative materials to Clerk VanMeter for the record.
• The proposal inventory will be updated and distributed before the next meeting.
• The next meeting is scheduled for April 9, 2026; Councilmember Merisa Bowers had confirmed attendance, and no other additional speakers had confirmed at adjournment.