On February 18th, 2025, the Wilmington Charter Steering Committee hosted a public meeting at the Murphy Theatre for its ‘Let’s Charter Our Success’ campaign. The campaign is intended to answer community questions and consider the benefits of becoming a charter city. The meeting featured a public forum and a question-and-answer session with Dave Kennedy, the city manager of Loveland, Ohio.
Like Wilmington, Loveland has several city parks, a bike trail, and a historic downtown. Loveland and Wilmington are also similar in size, as Wilmington’s population is roughly 12,000, and Loveland’s is roughly 13,000. Loveland adopted their charter in 1961 and has revised it five times since.
Dave briefly explained the difference between charter and statutory cities. He stated that a statutory city, like Wilmington, must follow the governance rules set forth by the Ohio Revised Code. However, a charter city can personalize its rules for governance to best fit the needs of the individual city. Dave stated, “It’s written by the people of the town. That’s the key and it’s changed by the people of the town. It’s the true constitution of the community.”
Dave stressed tailoring a city’s charter to its needs to best serve the city’s goals. He referred to a charter document as the “most power of the people document there is,” because of the level of specification a city is able to include in the document.
Currently, Loveland has a Council-Manager Plan for their government. Their charter features a city manager who is hired by city council. Their mayor presides over council meeting and the position is mostly ceremonial, according to Dave. The city manager oversees the daily operations of the city full-time. According to Dave, the city sets goals every 1–2 years and he is evaluated on his performance in achieving those goals. If he does not achieve those goals, then he can be terminated at any time.
Dave mentioned Loveland’s intense focus on seeking out grants to fund projects within the city. He mentioned during the public meeting that he has brought in more grant money than his salary each year. According to the City of Loveland, Dave has applied for and received over six million dollars in grants that helped improve the city. According to Dave, he has been able to look at, revitalize, and seek out grants for every aspect of the city through his position. During the meeting, Dave cited a specific example of a new parking lot that will be almost completely funded by grant money.
Dave has worked in public service for 40 years. He has been the city manager of Loveland since 2014. According to Dave, he has worked for diverse communities, spending many years trying to build a charter in New Richmond, a town of 3,000, before transitioning to work in Loveland. When asked why the charter initiative failed in New Richmond, Dave stated that the specifics of a charter were unclear to residents and public education surrounding the initiative was not communicated successfully.
In response to local concerns that Wilmington would lose its identity through the adoption of a charter, Dave stated that he believed the opposite. He emphasized, “It’s the only format [of government] you’re ever going to have to cater it to what you do need.” Dave also responded to the confusion that voting to change Wilmington into a charter city would make it a “sanctuary city.” He clarified that charter cities are not sanctuary cities at all.
Dave also spoke about the process of adopting a charter. He explained that to begin the city votes on adopting a charter and the charter commission at the same time. If an individual votes in favor of a charter city, they would also elect at least 15 residents of the city to sit on a charter commission. Those 15 individuals would draft the charter. After the passage of the charter and the election of the commission, the commission members would have to create and customize the charter to the city’s needs within a year of their election. Once the charter is drafted, it would then be mailed to every current registered voter in city limits.
Several residents and local business owners were in attendance at the public Steering Committee meeting, in addition to local political leaders Jim Rankin, Chair of the Clinton County Republican Central Committee, and Michael Allbright, Chair of the Clinton County Democratic Central Committee.
The current members of the Steering Committee for the eventual City of Wilmington Charter Commission include: Bruce Saunders, President of the Clinton County Trails Coalition; John Wirmel, Pastor at Wilmington Assemble of God; Sydney Murtland, Assistant Director of the Clinton County Homeless Shelter; and others. The Steering Committee is seeking to represent the voice of a diverse group of key community stakeholders. The Steering Committee is open to additional members who live within city limits with the following background: Local Business, Public Education, Finance, Legal, Agriculture, and Political.
The next public meeting for the ‘Let’s Charter Our Success’ campaign is scheduled for May 13th from 7pm to 8pm at the Murphy Theatre. To learn more or watch past recordings, visit wilmingtoncharter.com.