Residents say Board of Elections certified petition; council debates whether to put charter amendment to voters

Residents who helped gather a citizen petition told the council on Aug. 6 that the Board of Elections had certified their signatures and that they expect the issue to go to the voters. "When citizens do their part and the Board of Elections validates the signatures, reaching for technical arguments to block the ballot starts looking like departing from the trust you’ve been given by the voters you represent," said Tim Sloneker (online commenter).

Amy Humbert and Lorie Blankenship told Council that petitioners collected 334 signatures and that the County Prosecutor had relied on Ohio Supreme Court precedent when reviewing signature thresholds. Residents urged Council to rescind recent ordinance action and allow a public vote to avoid additional legal expenses. Several speakers said they felt the City was spending taxpayer dollars to fight citizens who followed the lawful petition process.

Council members described a legal disagreement over how to interpret "electors" for the Charter requirement. Councilman Nichols explained his view that the Charter’s reference to 10% of the electors must be read consistently with the Charter and his oath to defend it; he said defining electors only as those who voted in the last election would create inconsistencies. Councilman Roark and Council Member Butts said they would have voted to allow the petition to go to voters and argued the Board of Elections certification merited placement on the ballot.

Mayor Perry noted the City had been served the same day and said he reviewed the petition names against voter history; he concluded that under his interpretation the petition fell short of the threshold. The legal dispute over interpretation was reported as heading to the Ohio Supreme Court for resolution rather than being settled at the meeting.