CANFIELD — City residents have received three mailings, each from a different source, about the charter amendments to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.

The first charter amendment deals with the terms of office for city council.

Voters in 2012 approved electing council members to two-year terms at a maximum of four consecutive terms. In 2018, the issue was back on the ballot to raise the limit back to four years per term.

A second amendment would give voters the right to recall the city manager. In past meetings, council has mentioned the city manager is hired by council and is not a political position.

The third ballot issue involves a charter amendment that would prevent the use of time and taxpayer dollars to influence the political decision of city employees.

The first letter to surface was at a public meeting earlier this year.

At a special meeting of council on Sept. 25, all ballot candidates and issues for the city were discussed, including the three charter amendments.

Prior to that meeting, a letter was sent to all city voters. Dated Sept. 20, 2021, it came from Utility Workers Union of America Local 425, AFL-CIO President Cliff Deem. That letter made some allegations about intimidation of union members.

Six city public works employees voted to join the UWUA in September 2019. They are still trying to negotiate their first contract.

The Sept. 20 letter from Deem stated, “…on June 29, 2021, city Manager Wade Calhoun threatened to fire all union employees in the Public Works Department, for no reason other than their support for their union and because the UWUA has supported amendments to the city charter that would expand the democratic rights of Canfield voters.”

Deem’s letter continued: “Ten days later, a second city official ordered employees to attend yet another mandatory meeting, this time with a group of uniformed Canfield police officers — on work time, in a city work area, and in the presence of public works supervisors — so these police officers could provide ‘formal notice’ to our members why UWUA should not support the charter amendments.”

COUNCIL RESPONDS

Those allegations prompted city council to respond with its own letter to voters. A letter dated Sept. 30 was sent to city residents.

In that letter, city council wrote: “That letter from the UWUA contains inaccurate and incomplete information regarding conduct and proceedings of the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations.”

It stated the UWUA does not represent all city employees, only the six in the public works department. It also stated, “The City has not been found to have engaged in any misconduct with respect to labor negotiations.”

That letter was signed by Mayor Richard Duffet and council members John Morvay, Charles Tieche, Bruce Neff and Anthony Nacarato. They asked any resident who wanted to discuss the UWUA letter to contact any of the council members.

On Oct. 4, a third group called Citizens for a Better Canfield entered the fray, supporting the three charter amendments.

“We are long-term taxpayers and voters in the city of Canfield,” it read, “Although we typically stay out of politics, we are writing to explain why we support three proposed charter amendments on the November ballot that will give Canfield voters a bigger voice in how our city government operates.”

The letter was signed by residents Matthew Warren, Frank Micchia, Shirley Baker and Anthony Stratis.

RESIDENTS’ LETTER

The letter gave reasons for each of the three ballot issues starting with the one that prohibits the city from using “taxpayer dollars to influence political decisions.”

Regarding voters right to recall the city manager, the residents’ letter stated: “That doesn’t mean that the current or any future city manager will be removed, only that the possibility should exist to ensure greater accountability of the city manager to the voters.”

On term limits, Citizens for a Better Canfield said four terms of two years would give a council person eight years to accomplish an agenda. Currently it allows for 16 years.

Morvay said during last month’s council meeting that he hopes voters will do their research and become informed on the charter amendments before heading to the polls.

jtwhitehouse@vindy.com