FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cheryl Onesky, Public Information Specialist
(216) 241-2414, extension 221

NOACA Governing Board Approves Code of Regulations Update

On January 11, 2002, the NOACA Governing Board approved the first major update to the Agency's Code of Regulations in 11 years.

Medina County Commissioner Stephen D. Hambley, NOACA Board President during 2001, initiated the Code of Regulations review and update during his presidential term. "With new population statistics becoming available from the 2000 Census, it seemed like a good time to review the NOACA Governing Board membership to see if additional Board representatives should be added," noted Hambley. "In addition, we needed to make the language in the document more succinct, and tighten up other parts of the Code, for example, committee descriptions, their function and membership."

The Code of Regulations defines NOACA's organizational structure and serves as its governing instrument. The document describes, among other things, NOACA's mission, Governing Board membership, officers' duties, conduct of meetings, and committee responsibilities.

Adding additional members proved to be one of the most discussed points of the Code of Regulations update. The NOACA Board voted unanimously to keep constant the current 38 members. Of the 38 representatives, 11 are from Cuyahoga County, 6 from the City of Cleveland, 7 from Lorain County, 5 from Lake County, 3 from Geauga County, 3 from Medina County, and one each from the Ohio Department of Transportation, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

Because of increased populations in Lake and Medina Counties, however, the Board determined that both of these counties would receive one extra vote in cases where a "weighted vote" will be cast. Weighted voting allows NOACA members in the region's more populous counties have additional leverage, or "weight", as to be in proportion to the population they represent.

The new Code of Regulations will be circulated to the Boards of Commissioners in each of NOACA's five counties for endorsement. At the completion of this process, NOACA will implement the new Code as standard procedure.