City of Hornell Charter Revision Commission Final Report 1 ...

C. Solicitation Of Recommended Charter ChangesAs one of its first acts, the Commission opened a dialogue with the Mayor andother City officials to solicit input regarding problems with the City administration andthe City Council. The Commission received input from Mayor Shawn Hogan andChamberlain Tolly Pelych with regard to the position of Chamberlain. Currently theposition is an elected position and both officials asked the Commission to review whetherthe City would be better served if the position was changed to an appointed positionsimilar to that of the Director of Public Safety or Director of Public Works. Thesepositions are appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the majority of the City Councilin office.The Commission was also asked to review the form of government currently usedand explore whether other forms of government such as the City Manager form or theStrong Mayor ­ Administrator form would better serve the City in the future. However,because of the complexity of that issue and the need to facilitate the process to allow thevoters to be heard on the Chamberlain issue, the Commission decided to focus itsattention on the issue of changing the position of Chamberlain from an elected office toan appointed position.The Commission sought the advice of City Auditor Wayne Drescher, of Drescher& Malecki. Mr. Drescher looked at other municipalities with a similar population andbudget as Hornell. Only one of the cities he reviewed had an elected treasurer who heldthe position for over 20 years. Four other cities had appointed positions of treasurer. Mr.Drescher agreed that an appointed position with minimum qualifications would be betterfor the City.2