Five things to know for Monday, Sept. 29

New legislation would require approval of levies

State Reps. Beth Lear, R-Galena, and Kevin Ritter, R-Marietta, introduced House Bill 466, which Lear said would ensure that entities that ask voters to approve a levy “go through an elected entity for approval or rejection.”

“Believe it or not, we currently have organizations quasi governmental throughout Ohio, such as library boards and health districts and others that are able to go and get their levies on the ballot, and there’s no one to take a look at their finances and say you don’t need this levy, or you shouldn’t be putting this levy on the ballot at this time,” Lear told Ohio.News. “We deserve better.

“We want to make sure every single entity that has access to your hard-earned dollars is going to have to go before an elected Board of some sort, whatever is most appropriate for their organization, and get approval or rejection,” Lear added. “And then when you see something on the ballot, you know somebody’s already done their due diligence to make sure you have the right to decide if you want to.”

Fight over probe into Cleveland council assistant

Cleveland officials will investigate a special assistant to the city council who downloaded at least 2,200 documents over several years, according to Ideastream. Steven Rys has had access to the city’s public records database since 2017.

The move apparently sparked a heated conflict between Mayor Justin Bibb and the leadership of the City Council, who say the mayor’s administration “threatened” the council’s staff, according to the Ideastream report.

Auditor: Woodville ‘unauditable’ due to bad financial records

The Auditor of State’s Office has declared the village of Woodville to be “unauditable” for the period 2022 and 2023, due to “inadequate financial records” to complete an audit.

The office informed Mayor Ty Tracy and Fiscal Officer Barb Runion, saying auditors did not have the correct monthly bank reconciliations and bank statements. Village officials have 90 days to revise their financial records and provide the details state officials need to complete the audit.

Bill would implement Juvenile Justice recommendations

State Sens. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, and Paula Hicks-Hudson, D-Toledo, introduced Senate Bill 270, a measure to implement recommendations from the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Working Group, which were presented in the July 2024 report.

The lawmakers served as legislative advisors to the 11-member working group assembled by the governor, including judges, law enforcement agents, and faith-based service providers.

Akron hires firm to review police force policies

The city of Akron is paying the Police Executive Research Forum $328,873 to conduct a review of the Akron Police Department’s use-of-force policy.

PERF will review existing policies and procedures, engage with stakeholders, and develop recommendations along with an implementation strategy. The goal is to have the final recommendations by the end of the first quarter next year.