Dot Christenson
Project Chair
Charter Committee of Gr. Cincinnati
One hundred years ago Cincinnati citizens rose up against political corruption and amended the City Charter to adopt a Council/City Manager form of government. The new 1924 Charter replaced a patronage and spoils system with a professional city manager, competitive bidding for city contracts, a civil service system instead of bribery and nepotism, candidate selection by petition, and proportional representation voting.聽 The result was dramatic: balanced representation on City Council, Council control of the budget, elimination of previously required city employee kickbacks, and bribery for contracts. Cincinnati went from its national reputation as the worst managed city in the country to the best managed over the next decade.
Thanks to the new proportional representation (now called Ranked choice voting), the first African American, Frank A.B. Hall, was elected to Council in 1931. By 1935 the first woman was elected. Since 1924, 27 minority members have served on Council and five have been Mayor: Theodore Berry, Ken Blackwell, Dwight Tillery, Mark Mallory and Aftab Pureval.
The 1924 Charter has been amended many times. In the 1990鈥檚, the Council candidate who received the most votes became mayor. Later, mayor and Council terms increased from two to four year terms, and a separate election of the mayor was established. Recently Council terms were reduced back to two years.
The Charter Committee of Greater Cincinnati has been celebrating the Century of Charter Government with a series of programs to review Cincinnati鈥檚 unique story and increase awareness of the need for citizen participation. The kick-off event was earlier at the Cincinnati Type and Print Museum, 2703 W. 8th Street. Exhibits there show significant aspects of the history of the present Charter.聽
Remaining programs are:
October 15, 聽Roxanne Qualls, Women and Change
7 p.m. Woman鈥檚 City Club, Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church, 103 Taft Road.
November 16, Dan Hurley, The Cincinnati Story
10 a.m. Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library, 800 Vine Street