Ohio Municipal League
175 South Third Street
Suite 510
Columbus, Ohio 43215

614-221-4349 Office
614-221-4390 Fax

email:
Legislative Inquiries
John Mahoney
General Inquiries
info@omunileague.org

For email inquiries to the OML, it would be most helpful if you would include your name, position, city or village you represent. 

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OML E- BULLETIN
If you would like to sign up for the E-Bulletin, send an email here: info@omunileague.org
 In the e-mail, indicate that you would like to be taken off the paper Bulletin list.

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS BULLETIN TO YOUR COUNCIL, DEPARTMENT HEADS & STAFF

JOHN P. COLEMAN DIES

We at the League are extremely sad to announce that John P. Coleman, Executive Director of the League for 38 years prior to his retirement in 1994, passed away Thursday night. John was 77.

For many of us at the League and for many current and past municipal officials throughout Ohio, John's death marks the passing of someone who helped define modern Ohio city and village government. When John arrived in Columbus to become the second Director of the Ohio League in 1956, the organization was just three years old and the legislature was ruled by the rural "Corn Stalk Brigade." It was in that arena that John established his reputation as a reliable, intelligent, honest advocate for the cities and villages of Ohio. It was upon that reputation and John's extraordinary ability to be a gentleman in all situations that the League grew and endured as a strong voice for Ohio's municipalities.

John's dedication to municipal government extended to his own adopted home of Worthington, where he served 32 years on council until his retirement in 1995. For 26 of those years, John guided the growth of that city through his leadership as President of Council. On the national level, John served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities for three terms.

While certainly John's passing marks the end of a special individual contribution to municipal government, for many of us John's loss is much, much more. It marks the passing of a very gentle person who taught many of us much about the art of governance, the art of leadership, the art of lobbying and the art of living a decent life with a sense of humor. John was one of those unique individuals who instinctively and effortlessly cared about people. He will be sorely missed.

A memorial service will be held for John on Monday, January 24. For time and location, please, call the League's office (614-221-4349).

BILLS, TO BE HEARD AND NOT HEARD

HB 483, which would have the state do collections of the municipal income tax for electric utility companies under DeReg, will be heard a 1:30 p.m. after House session on Wednesday of this week in House Hearing Room 018. This may be the only opportunity for opponent testimony on this bill in the House. We need witnesses to oppose this legislation. If you wish to testify, please, let us know.

Despite rumors to the contrary, HB 477, which makes several changes in the municipal income tax, will not be heard in the Senate Ways and Means Committee this week.

Two bills which mandate municipal membership into a "one-call-before you dig" utility system will be up for opposition testimony this week. Testimony on the House version of this "OUPS" legislation will be heard in the House Local Government and Townships Committee on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. in House Hearing Room 121. In the Senate, a companion piece of legislation on this issue will be heard in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, after Senate Session in the Senate South Hearing Room.

TIME TO CALL YOUR LEGISLATOR (AGAIN) ABOUT CABLE LEGISLATION

Time-Warner/AOL and their minions are busy stomping around the General Assembly pushing one form or another of their legislation (HB 188 and SB 67) to "level the playing field" (no, this does not include applying prevailing wage and the open meetings laws to private cable companies) in their desperate struggle to stay in business in competition with the few Ohio cities who are entering the cable business.

Now is the time for you to call your legislators and let them know of your opposition to this legislation. There will be opportunities to testify against this legislation and to know what version of this bill the General Assembly will be considering, but your grass-roots contact with your legislators is important now!

RECENT OHIO SUPREME COURT CASES OF INTEREST TO MUNICIPALITIES

In Harp v. City of Cleveland Hts. (2000), 87 Ohio St.3d 506, decided on January 19, 2000, the Court rules that a "political subdivision can be held liable under R.C. 2744.02(B)(3) for injuries that result when a tree limb falls upon a public road from adjacent land that is also within the political subdivision’s control." In State ex rel. Myers v. Brown (2000), 87 Ohio St.3d 545, decided on January 19, 2000, the Court ruled that the statutes "do not permit the village mayor to appoint a nonelector as clerk-treasure when the appointment is temporary rather than permanent." Please consult your legal counsel regarding the applicability of these cases to your community. The complete text of the Court’s decisions may be found on the Supreme Court’s web site through www.ohio.gov.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The Municipal League will soon be having our Legislative Conference. The event will be held Wednesday, March 15, 2000 in Columbus, Ohio. The Conference will be divided into two segments. The first segment will be a seminar on how to lobby your elected officials and will run from 9:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m. at the Hyatt on Capitol Square. The seminar will be led Joel Blackwell, aka, The Grass Roots Guy.

The second segment of the Conference will be a Legislative Luncheon which will be held in the Statehouse Atrium and will start at approximately 11:45 a.m. and run until 1:15 p.m. This would be a great opportunity to put all those new lobbying techniques to work. We hope that you can attend the day's events. A registration packet containing more information will soon be in the mail.

E-MAIL CHANGE

Just a note to let everyone know that the League has changed its address. Our new email is omunileague@copper.net.

BEAR WITH US

We are in the process of updating all the municipal officials mailing list, this is a long timely process, however, you can expedite this process by returning your updated municipal roster. We mailed these to your clerk or clerk of council the first of the year. You may mail it to the OML offices or fax to 614/221-4390.

COMMITTEE HEARING SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF JANUARY 24

SENATE WAYS & MEANS, After Session, South Hearing Rm.

SB 193 UTILITY EXCAVATIONS (Blessing) Provides for the establishment and operation of a single, statewide, one-call notification system as a means of preventing or minimizing damage to subsurface facilities as a result of excavations occurring in this state. (3rd Hearing-Proponent)

HOUSE COMMERCE & LABOR, 7 p.m., Rm. 121

HB 434 CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION (Buehrer) Requires statewide certification of specified contractors and makes additional modifications to the Construction Industry Certification Law. (3rd Hearing)

HOUSE WAYS & MEANS, After session, Rm. 018

HB 483 ELECTRIC UTILITY TAXATION (Mottley) Prescribes a uniform set of procedures for municipal taxation of electric companies. (3rd Hearing Proponent- Possible vote)

HOUSE LOCAL GOVERNMENT & TOWNSHIPS, 4 p.m., Rm. 121

HB 531 CEMETERY FEES (Hollister) Exempts certain political subdivisions from the requirement of paying a cemetery registration fee and makes changes to the law governing fees for the issuance of burial permits. (3rd Hearing - Possible vote)