The City of Willowick is hosting a series of town hall meetings to inform people about the proposed charter amendment concerning rubbish collection on the November ballot.

In order to remain solvent and fill a budget hole left by the elimination of money from the state's Local Government Fund, Willowick is asking residents to allow them to charge for trash collection. But in order to do that voters must pass an amendment to the charter allowing the city council to make such a change.

Mayor Rich Bonde has said if the charter amendment fails, the city will be forced to make drastic cuts elsewhere.

Bonde will be giving multiple talks about the charter amendment. The meetings are scheduled for the following days:

Thursday, Oct. 4

Tuesday, Oct. 9

Thursday, Oct. 18

Tuesday, Oct. 23

Sunday, Oct. 28

All of the town hall-style meetings will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Willowick Community Building.

A more detailed story on local charter amendments, including Willowick's issue, is set to run on Oct. 19 in The News-Herald. For a comprehensive 2012 Election Guide, check out the News-Herald election stories in the news section of the website.

--Elizabeth Lundblad, elundblad@new-herald.com, Twitter: @NewsHLiz