What is an Emergency?

What is an emergency?  It’s a good question, especially when you’re at a North Canton City Council meeting.  Now of course we all know what an actual emergency is, an emergency is defined by Merriam-Webster as “1: an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action, 2: an urgent need for assistance or relief.”  Since we were kids, we’ve been taught that emergencies are something that you don’t take lightly, it’s not a “state” that’s to be thrown around without caution (think the little boy who cried wolf), and you certainly don’t want to stand up in a movie theater or crowded room and yell “emergency!”

In the city of North Canton an emergency is, or should I say an ordinance is passed as an emergency when it’s for “the preservation of health, safety and peace” of the city.  When an ordinance is passed as an emergency, it can go into effect faster as it can pass with only a single reading at one council meeting and is not subject to referendum later on.  This all makes perfect sense when an ordinance that is designated as an emergency is in fact, passed for an actual emergency situation.

When City Council unanimously passed ordinance 47-13 as an emergency earlier this month, I got thinking.  What on earth do pay raises of up to 50% for our city’s part-time elected officials have to do with “the preservation of health, safety and peace” of the City of North Canton?  After doing a little research, I found that our current members of City Council have passed MORE THAN 80% of ordinances as emergencies since January 2012!  80%!  This means that nearly every single ordinance is passed as an emergency!  Kind of makes you think about that little boy who cried wolf doesn’t it?  So, what does this mean to you?  Well, as I stated above, these ordinances are referendum proof, so there is no hope of going through the process of getting them on the ballot and voting on them if the residents disagree with the legislation.  Also mentioned above, these ordinances can pass through city council with as little as one reading, giving YOU and me, the residents of the city, less time to publicly voice our opinions one way or the other at council meetings.

Now that we know what an emergency is, and just how many ordinances our City Council members are passing as emergencies, I think an appropriate question is why!  Why is North Canton City Council passing more than 80% of ordinances as emergencies?  I have my own thoughts as to why Council is doing this, and after discussing this with a number of people this week I’ve found that most agree with me.  More importantly, let me know what YOU think by commenting here or connecting with me on Facebook at fb.com/mccleaster.