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GREEN —
The Green City Council held two additional meetings this week regarding two charter amendment petitions.
On Sept. 4, council met and voted 6-0 in a favor of a petition that, if passed on the ballot, will prohibit casino gaming, horse racing, games of chance or gambling devices in the City of Green except for non-profit charitable purposes. The Summit County Board of Elections verified the needed signatures for the petition.
However, council was not able to vote on the petition for a charter amendment change that would require the city law director position to change from an appointed position to an elected position. The petition was 20 valid signatures short of the needed 901 for the board.
Joel Helms of Green initiated the petition and gathered 1,028 signatures, but the board of elections verified only 881 signatures as valid. Helms then presented a supplemental list at the Tuesday meeting with an additional 30 signatures for the board to verify. After the board of elections verified the signatures, council was required to meet and vote on the resolution before the Sept. 7 deadline.
So, council met for a second time Sept. 6.
Council member Gerard Neugebauer explained council’s and administration’s review of the additional signatures.
“When these signatures were submitted to the Summit County Board of Elections, one of the officials there raised the question about the legality of the supplementing the signatures,” Neugebauer said.
The Ohio Revised Code states that separate petition papers must be filed at the same time as one entity. The city spoke with a state election attorney, who advised council that the statutes that allow supplemental petitions for statewide issues do exist, but these provisions do not apply to local election issues. It was their opinion that city council did not have the right to consider the additional petitions submitted.
“It’s the opinion of this official that this does not meet the requirements to go on the ballot,” Neugebauer said.
Council President Joel Reed agreed.
“In my discussions with Mr. Pruneski, (law director), he indicated that based on his conversation with the attorney general’s office, and in his review of the revised code statutes, that council is prohibited from sending this to the board of elections based on the fact that we did not have the 901 signatures the first time they were submitted,” he said.
After some discussion, council voted unanimously against the resolution regarding the petition.
The next meeting is Sept. 11, 7 p.m. at the Central Administration Building, 1755 Town Park Blvd.
The Green City Council held two additional meetings this week regarding two charter amendment petitions.
On Sept. 4, council met and voted 6-0 in a favor of a petition that, if passed on the ballot, will prohibit casino gaming, horse racing, games of chance or gambling devices in the City of Green except for non-profit charitable purposes. The Summit County Board of Elections verified the needed signatures for the petition.
However, council was not able to vote on the petition for a charter amendment change that would require the city law director position to change from an appointed position to an elected position. The petition was 20 valid signatures short of the needed 901 for the board.
Joel Helms of Green initiated the petition and gathered 1,028 signatures, but the board of elections verified only 881 signatures as valid. Helms then presented a supplemental list at the Tuesday meeting with an additional 30 signatures for the board to verify. After the board of elections verified the signatures, council was required to meet and vote on the resolution before the Sept. 7 deadline.
So, council met for a second time Sept. 6.
Council member Gerard Neugebauer explained council’s and administration’s review of the additional signatures.
“When these signatures were submitted to the Summit County Board of Elections, one of the officials there raised the question about the legality of the supplementing the signatures,” Neugebauer said.
The Ohio Revised Code states that separate petition papers must be filed at the same time as one entity. The city spoke with a state election attorney, who advised council that the statutes that allow supplemental petitions for statewide issues do exist, but these provisions do not apply to local election issues. It was their opinion that city council did not have the right to consider the additional petitions submitted.
“It’s the opinion of this official that this does not meet the requirements to go on the ballot,” Neugebauer said.
Council President Joel Reed agreed.
“In my discussions with Mr. Pruneski, (law director), he indicated that based on his conversation with the attorney general’s office, and in his review of the revised code statutes, that council is prohibited from sending this to the board of elections based on the fact that we did not have the 901 signatures the first time they were submitted,” he said.
After some discussion, council voted unanimously against the resolution regarding the petition.
The next meeting is Sept. 11, 7 p.m. at the Central Administration Building, 1755 Town Park Blvd.
