Charter proponents appeal Board of Elections ruling
Citizens group fights decision not to place a county charter issue on the ballot
Members of Sustainable Medina County turn in petitions to create a county charter at the Board of Elections office, but those petitions containing more than 6,000 signatures were later ruled invalid by the board, which is now facing an appeal of that decision. Photo by GLENN WOJCIAK
MEDINA – A visiting judge was scheduled to hear an appeal July 18 on the decision by the Medina County Board of Elections to invalidate petitions submitted by a group seeking to have a county charter issue placed on the November ballot.
Terry Lodge, attorney for the committee that submitted petitions to place a county charter issue on the ballot, asked the Medina County Board of Elections to establish the validity of the petitions before a judge in Common Pleas Court.
“We believe the board’s conclusion that the petition does not adequately provide for an alternative form of county government, and that it contains provisions that are outside the initiative power because they are not within a county’s authority to enact, and not supported by law, are arbitrary, capricious and otherwise are not lawful,” Lodge said in a letter to the Board of Elections and County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson.
The Board of Elections voted 3-1 July 10 not to certify the petitions circulated by the group Sustainable Medina County despite the fact they contain more than the proscribed number of signatures normally required to place an initiative before voters.
It’s the third straight year that the group has circulated petitions to place a county charter issue on the ballot only to have it rejected by the Board of Elections or the Ohio Secretary of State.
Lodge said the decision to ask the Board of Elections to defend its decision in court was one of the remedies recommended by the Ohio Supreme Court in response to appeals made about the charter issue rulings in previous years.
Medina County Common Pleas Court Judges Chris Collier and Joyce Kimbler both recused themselves from the case filed July 13 by Lodge.
The Board of Elections voted to deny certification of the charter petitions on the recommendation of Assistant County Prosecutor Mike Lyons, who cited several technical issues and a new Ohio law that seems to empower boards of elections to reject initiative petitions on their apparent merits and not solely on the number of valid signatures contained on the petitions.
Lyons cited a lengthy letter he wrote to the board of elections outlining his reasoning when he encouraged board members to reject the charter petitions. Lodge asked for a copy of the letter but was turned down by Thompson, who said the letter is an attorney-client communication and therefore is not subject to Ohio public records law.
The proposed charter would not replace the county commissioners and other elected officials, but would create home rule provisions and a so-called bill of rights that charter proponents think could empower elected officials to regulate large pipeline projects and natural gas wells that threaten the environment.
A summary of the charter proposal states: “We hereby declare that we deem it necessary to alter the current statutory county government in order to guarantee to all the people their equal protection and benefit.”
Kathie Jones, one of the petitioners for a county charter, said, “The right to alter or reform our own government is enshrined in our state constitution. How can we alter or reform our government, when that same government tells us we are disallowed from altering or reforming it? The absurdity only makes sense when we look at who objects to our charters: the oil and gas industry allies in our own Boards of Elections, and as seen the last two years in Secretary of State Husted. The false veneer of democracy is exposed.”
Terry Lodge, attorney for the committee that submitted petitions to place a county charter issue on the ballot, asked the Medina County Board of Elections to establish the validity of the petitions before a judge in Common Pleas Court.
“We believe the board’s conclusion that the petition does not adequately provide for an alternative form of county government, and that it contains provisions that are outside the initiative power because they are not within a county’s authority to enact, and not supported by law, are arbitrary, capricious and otherwise are not lawful,” Lodge said in a letter to the Board of Elections and County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson.
The Board of Elections voted 3-1 July 10 not to certify the petitions circulated by the group Sustainable Medina County despite the fact they contain more than the proscribed number of signatures normally required to place an initiative before voters.
It’s the third straight year that the group has circulated petitions to place a county charter issue on the ballot only to have it rejected by the Board of Elections or the Ohio Secretary of State.
Lodge said the decision to ask the Board of Elections to defend its decision in court was one of the remedies recommended by the Ohio Supreme Court in response to appeals made about the charter issue rulings in previous years.
Medina County Common Pleas Court Judges Chris Collier and Joyce Kimbler both recused themselves from the case filed July 13 by Lodge.
The Board of Elections voted to deny certification of the charter petitions on the recommendation of Assistant County Prosecutor Mike Lyons, who cited several technical issues and a new Ohio law that seems to empower boards of elections to reject initiative petitions on their apparent merits and not solely on the number of valid signatures contained on the petitions.
Lyons cited a lengthy letter he wrote to the board of elections outlining his reasoning when he encouraged board members to reject the charter petitions. Lodge asked for a copy of the letter but was turned down by Thompson, who said the letter is an attorney-client communication and therefore is not subject to Ohio public records law.
The proposed charter would not replace the county commissioners and other elected officials, but would create home rule provisions and a so-called bill of rights that charter proponents think could empower elected officials to regulate large pipeline projects and natural gas wells that threaten the environment.
A summary of the charter proposal states: “We hereby declare that we deem it necessary to alter the current statutory county government in order to guarantee to all the people their equal protection and benefit.”
Kathie Jones, one of the petitioners for a county charter, said, “The right to alter or reform our own government is enshrined in our state constitution. How can we alter or reform our government, when that same government tells us we are disallowed from altering or reforming it? The absurdity only makes sense when we look at who objects to our charters: the oil and gas industry allies in our own Boards of Elections, and as seen the last two years in Secretary of State Husted. The false veneer of democracy is exposed.”