As Introduced

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
S. B. No. 280


Senator Seitz 


A BILL
To amend section 3735.27 of the Revised Code to 1
change the composition of certain metropolitan 2
housing authorities.3


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1.  That section 3735.27 of the Revised Code be 4
amended to read as follows:5

       Sec. 3735.27.  (A) Whenever the director of development has 6
determined that there is need for a housing authority in any 7
portion of any county that comprises two or more political 8
subdivisions or portions of two or more political subdivisions but 9
is less than all the territory within the county, a metropolitan 10
housing authority shall be declared to exist, and the territorial 11
limits of the authority shall be defined, by a letter from the 12
director. The director shall issue a determination from the 13
department of development declaring that there is need for a 14
housing authority within those territorial limits after finding 15
either of the following:16

       (1) Unsanitary or unsafe inhabited housing accommodations 17
exist in that area;18

       (2) There is a shortage of safe and sanitary housing 19
accommodations in that area available to persons who lack the 20
amount of income that is necessary, as determined by the director, 21
to enable them, without financial assistance, to live in decent, 22
safe, and sanitary dwellings without congestion.23

       In determining whether dwelling accommodations are unsafe or 24
unsanitary, the director may take into consideration the degree of 25
congestion, the percentage of land coverage, the light, air, 26
space, and access available to the inhabitants of the dwelling 27
accommodations, the size and arrangement of rooms, the sanitary 28
facilities, and the extent to which conditions exist in the 29
dwelling accommodations that endanger life or property by fire or 30
other causes.31

       The territorial limits of a metropolitan housing authority as 32
defined by the director under this division shall be fixed for the 33
authority upon proof of a letter from the director declaring the 34
need for the authority to function in those territorial limits. 35
Any such letter from the director, any certificate of 36
determination issued by the director, and any certificate of 37
appointment of members of the authority shall be admissible in 38
evidence in any suit, action, or proceeding.39

       A certified copy of the letter from the director declaring 40
the existence of a metropolitan housing authority and the 41
territorial limits of its district shall be immediately forwarded 42
to each appointing authority. A metropolitan housing authority 43
shall consist of members who are residents of the territory in 44
which they serve.45

       (B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (C), (D), or46
(E), or (F) of this section, the members of a metropolitan housing 47
authority shall be appointed as follows:48

       (a)(i) In a district in a county in which a charter has been 49
adopted under Article X, Section 3 of the Ohio Constitution, and 50
in which the most populous city is not the city with the largest 51
ratio of housing units owned or managed by the authority to 52
population, one member shall be appointed by the probate court, 53
one member shall be appointed by the court of common pleas, one 54
member shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners, 55
one member shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of 56
the city that has the largest ratio of housing units owned or 57
managed by the authority to population, and two members shall be 58
appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous city 59
in the district.60

       (ii) If, in a district that appoints members pursuant to 61
division (B)(1)(a) of this section, the most populous city becomes 62
the city with the largest ratio of housing units owned or managed 63
by the authority to population, when the term of office of the 64
member who was appointed by the chief executive officer of the 65
city with the largest ratio expires, that member shall not be 66
reappointed, and the membership of the authority shall be as 67
described in division (B)(1)(b) of this section.68

        (b) In any district other than one described in division 69
(B)(1)(a) of this section, one member shall be appointed by the 70
probate court, one member shall be appointed by the court of 71
common pleas, one member shall be appointed by the board of county 72
commissioners, and two members shall be appointed by the chief 73
executive officer of the most populous city in the district.74

       (2) At the time of the initial appointment of the authority, 75
the member appointed by the probate court shall be appointed for a 76
period of four years, the member appointed by the court of common 77
pleas shall be appointed for three years, the member appointed by 78
the board of county commissioners shall be appointed for two 79
years, one member appointed by the chief executive officer of the 80
most populous city in the district shall be appointed for one 81
year, and the other member appointed by the chief executive 82
officer of the most populous city in the district shall be 83
appointed for five years.84

       If appointments are made under division (B)(1)(a) of this 85
section, the member appointed by the chief executive officer of 86
the city in the district that is not the most populous city, but 87
that has the largest ratio of housing units owned or managed by 88
the authority to population, shall be appointed for five years.89

       After the initial appointments, all members of the authority 90
shall be appointed for five-year terms, and any vacancy occurring 91
upon the expiration of a term shall be filled by the appointing 92
authority that made the initial appointment.93

       (3) For purposes of this division, population shall be 94
determined according to the last preceding federal census.95

       (C) For any metropolitan housing authority district that 96
contained, as of the 1990 federal census, a population of at least 97
one million, two members of the authority shall be appointed by 98
the legislative authority of the most populous city in the 99
district, two members shall be appointed by the chief executive 100
officer of the most populous city in the district, and one member 101
shall be appointed by the chief executive officer, with the 102
approval of the legislative authority, of the city in the district 103
that has the second highest number of housing units owned or 104
managed by the authority.105

       At the time of the initial appointment of the authority, one 106
member appointed by the legislative authority of the most populous 107
city in the district shall be appointed for three years, and one 108
such member shall be appointed for one year; the member appointed 109
by the chief executive officer of the city with the second highest 110
number of housing units owned or managed by the authority shall be 111
appointed, with the approval of the legislative authority, for 112
three years; and one member appointed by the chief executive 113
officer of the most populous city in the district shall be 114
appointed for three years, and one such member shall be appointed 115
for one year. Thereafter, all members of the authority shall be 116
appointed for three-year terms, and any vacancy shall be filled by 117
the same appointing power that made the initial appointment. At 118
the expiration of the term of any member appointed by the chief 119
executive officer of the most populous city in the district before 120
March 15, 1983, the chief executive officer of the most populous 121
city in the district shall fill the vacancy by appointment for a 122
three-year term. At the expiration of the term of any member 123
appointed by the board of county commissioners before March 15, 124
1983, the chief executive officer of the city in the district with 125
the second highest number of housing units owned or managed by the 126
authority shall, with the approval of the municipal legislative 127
authority, fill the vacancy by appointment for a three-year term. 128
At the expiration of the term of any member appointed before March 129
15, 1983, by the court of common pleas or the probate court, the 130
legislative authority of the most populous city in the district 131
shall fill the vacancy by appointment for a three-year term.132

       After March 15, 1983, at least one of the members appointed 133
by the chief executive officer of the most populous city shall be 134
a resident of a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. 135
At least one of the initial appointments by the chief executive 136
officer of the most populous city, after March 15, 1983, shall be 137
a resident of a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. 138
Thereafter, any member appointed by the chief executive officer of 139
the most populous city for the term established by this initial 140
appointment, or for any succeeding term, shall be a person who 141
resides in a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. If 142
there is an elected, representative body of all residents of the 143
authority, the chief executive officer of the most populous city 144
shall, whenever there is a vacancy in this resident term, provide 145
written notice of the vacancy to the representative body. If the 146
representative body submits to the chief executive officer of the 147
most populous city, in writing and within sixty days after the 148
date on which it was notified of the vacancy, the names of at 149
least five residents of the authority who are willing and 150
qualified to serve as a member, the chief executive officer of the 151
most populous city shall appoint to the resident term one of the 152
residents recommended by the representative body. At no time shall 153
residents constitute a majority of the members of the authority.154

       (D)(1) For any metropolitan housing authority district that 155
is located in a county that has, according to the most recent 156
federal decennial census, a population greater than seven hundred 157
thousand but less than nine hundred thousand, the members of the 158
metropolitan housing authority shall be selected as follows:159

       (a) One member shall be appointed by the probate court.160

       (b) One member shall be appointed by the court of common 161
pleas.162

       (c) One member shall be appointed by the board of county 163
commissioners.164

       (d) Two members shall be appointed by the mayor of the most 165
populous city in the district, subject to approval by city 166
council. At least one of the initial appointments by the mayor 167
shall be a resident of a dwelling unit owned or managed by the 168
authority. Thereafter, any member appointed by the mayor of the 169
most populous city for the term established by the initial 170
appointment, or for any succeeding term, shall be a person who 171
resides in a dwelling unit owned or managed by the authority. If 172
there is an elected, representative body of all residents of the 173
authority, the mayor of the most populous city shall, whenever 174
there is a vacancy in the resident term, provide written notice of 175
the vacancy to the representative body. If the representative body 176
submits to the mayor of the most populous city, in writing and 177
within sixty days after the date on which it was notified of the 178
vacancy, the names of at least five residents of the authority who 179
are willing and qualified to serve as a member, the mayor of the 180
most populous city shall appoint to the resident term one of the 181
residents recommended by the representative body. At no time shall 182
residents constitute a majority of the members of the authority.183

       (e) One member shall be nominated by the township association 184
of the county. The board of county commissioners shall accept or 185
reject the nominee.186

       (f) One member shall be nominated by the municipal league of 187
the county. The nominee shall not be a resident of the district's 188
most populous city and shall represent a city that is 189
substantially impacted as described in division (I) of this 190
section. The board of county commissioners shall accept or reject 191
the nominee.192

       (2) At the time of the initial appointment of the authority 193
described in division (D)(1) of this section, the member appointed 194
by the probate court shall be appointed for a period of four 195
years; the member appointed by the court of common pleas shall be 196
appointed for three years; the member appointed by the board of 197
county commissioners shall be appointed for two years; one member 198
appointed by the mayor of the most populous city in the district 199
shall be appointed for one year, and the other member appointed by 200
the mayor of the most populous city in the district shall be 201
appointed for five years; the member nominated by the township 202
association of the county shall be appointed for the same number 203
of years as the nonresident member of the authority appointed by 204
the mayor of the most populous city in the district; and the 205
member nominated by the municipal league of the county shall be 206
appointed for the same number of years as the resident member of 207
the authority appointed by the mayor of the most populous city in 208
the district. 209

       After the initial appointments, all members of the authority 210
shall be appointed for five-year terms, and any vacancy occurring 211
upon the expiration of a term shall be filled by the authority 212
that made the initial appointment or nomination. 213

       (E)(1) For any metropolitan housing authority district 214
located in a county that had, as of the 2000 federal census, a 215
population of at least four hundred thousand and no city with a 216
population greater than thirty per cent of the total population of 217
the county, one member of the authority shall be appointed by the 218
probate court, one member shall be appointed by the court of 219
common pleas, one member shall be appointed by the chief executive 220
officer of the most populous city in the district, and two members 221
shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners.222

        (2) At the time of the initial appointment of a metropolitan 223
housing authority pursuant to this division, the member appointed 224
by the probate court shall be appointed for a period of four 225
years, the member appointed by the court of common pleas shall be 226
appointed for three years, the member appointed by the chief 227
executive officer of the most populous city shall be appointed for 228
two years, one member appointed by the board of county 229
commissioners shall be appointed for one year, and the other 230
member appointed by the board of county commissioners shall be 231
appointed for five years. Thereafter, all members of the authority 232
shall be appointed for five-year terms, with each term ending on 233
the same day of the same month as the term that it succeeds. 234
Vacancies shall be filled in the manner provided in the original 235
appointments. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring 236
prior to the expiration of the term shall hold office as a member 237
for the remainder of that term.238

       (E)(F)(1) One resident member shall be appointed to a 239
metropolitan housing authority when required by federal law. The 240
chief executive officer of the most populous city in the district 241
shall appoint that resident member for a term of five years. 242
Subsequent terms of that resident member also shall be for five 243
years, and any vacancy in the position of the resident member 244
shall be filled by the chief executive officer of the most 245
populous city in the district. Any member appointed to fill such a 246
vacancy shall hold office as a resident member for the remainder 247
of that term. If, at any time, a resident member no longer 248
qualifies as a resident, another resident member shall be 249
appointed by the appointing authority who originally appointed the 250
resident member to serve for the unexpired portion of that term.251

       (2) On and after the effective date of this amendment252
September 29, 2005, any metropolitan housing authority to which 253
two additional members were appointed pursuant to former division 254
(E)(1) of this section as enacted by Amended Substitute House Bill 255
No. 95 of the 125th general assembly shall continue to have those 256
additional members. Their terms shall be for five years, and 257
vacancies in their positions shall be filled in the manner 258
provided for their original appointment under former division 259
(E)(1) of this section as so enacted.260

       (F)(G) Public officials, other than the officers having the 261
appointing power under this section, shall be eligible to serve as 262
members, officers, or employees of a metropolitan housing 263
authority notwithstanding any statute, charter, or law to the 264
contrary. Not more than two such public officials shall be members 265
of the authority at any one time.266

       All members of an authority shall serve without compensation 267
but shall be entitled to be reimbursed for all necessary expenses 268
incurred.269

       After a metropolitan housing authority district is formed, 270
the director may enlarge the territory within the district to 271
include other political subdivisions, or portions of other 272
political subdivisions, but the territorial limits of the district 273
shall be less than that of the county.274

       (G)(H)(1) Any vote taken by a metropolitan housing authority 275
shall require a majority affirmative vote to pass. A tie vote 276
shall constitute a defeat of any measure receiving equal numbers 277
of votes for and against it.278

        (2) The members of a metropolitan housing authority shall act 279
in the best interest of the district and shall not act solely as 280
representatives of their respective appointing authorities.281

       (I) "Substantially impacted" as used in division (D)(1)(f) of 282
this section means a city within a metropolitan housing authority 283
that, based on the percentage of housing units that are subsidized 284
housing, is in the top one-third of cities within the county.285

       Section 2.  That existing section 3735.27 of the Revised Code 286
is hereby repealed.287