Streetsboro will have a full-time person-in-charge in the mayor’s seat beginning in November 2007.

The charter amendment providing residents with a full-time mayor passed in yesterday’s election.

The Issue 27 amendment that won voters’ approval – 59.25 percent voted yes – includes a salary increase with the full-time position.

The current drafted charter addresses the increased salary for Streetsboro’s mayoral title will be set at the beginning of each term with an annual salary of 1 percent more than the highest-paid official, excluding the city’s law director.

The earned salary will be around $68,000.

Streetsboro’s mayor, historically a part-time position, earns a current annual salary of $7,400.

“I think the voters have spoken,” Streetsboro Mayor Mark J. Pavlick said, as he found out the issue’s positive result. “It looked like they went to the ballot box and made their voices be known.”

Pavlick, whose obligations as part-time mayor include helping to manage city departments, including police and fire units, and making financial decisions, said residents’ feedback prior to the election was that of surprise that the mayor was only part time.

The passing of the amendment will not affect current office holders. The new charter proposal will not occur until the 2007 election, when voters elect a new mayor for the city.

The entire Streetsboro population as a whole will be affected because residents, including those who own businesses, now have benefits of a full-time mayor, said Pete Buczkowski, Streetsboro’s president of council.

Pavlick said he believes residents thought a full-time mayoral position was the next step for the city.

Voting in a full-time mayor also benefits the city’s directors and department heads because they will be able to get quicker answers to residents’ concerns knowing their boss is just down the hall or around the corner, he said.

“I think it’s a positive step in the right direction,” Pavlick said. “For a community that’s growing so quickly, it will benefit the community a great deal.”

The population of Streetsboro is 13,900, making it the third largest city in Portage County behind Tallmadge and Aurora, according to the 2004 U.S. Census.

Contact public affairs reporter Katie Phillips at [email protected].