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Supporters of a Nelsonville ballot initiative disbanding the city charter turn their attention to the Court of Appeals

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — The fate of a ballot initiative that would disband Nelsonville’s charter government now rests with the Fourth District Court of Appeals.

Supporters of the initiative have asked the appeals court to order Nelsonville City Council to meet and send it to the Board of Elections. Their request comes after the City Council appealed a similar order from the Athens County Court of Common Pleas last week.

At the heart of the case is the question: What do Nelsonville voters have to do to disband the city charter?

Supporters Greg Smith and Vicki McDonald have argued they followed the charter’s rules for submitting an initiative and collected enough signatures. At that point, they contend, the City Council should have sent it to the Board of Elections to place on the ballot, which the charter requires.

“There is no discretion on the City Council’s part to withhold their duty to approve that language,” said Smith and McDonald’s attorney, Dan Klos.

In a court filing last week, the city contended the charter’s rules can’t be used to install a new form of government. The Ohio Constitution grants voters the right to make that determination, but the process to do so is different from what the initiative’s supporters did.

An excerpt of a filing by attorneys representing Nelsonville City Council. The filing argues that the Nelsonville charter does not enable residents to create a petition ending said charter.
In this excerpt of a court filing, attorneys for Nelsonville City Council argue residents cannot use the mechanisms of the city charter to install a new form of government.

An Athens County judge did not seem persuaded by the city’s arguments and ordered the council to meet and advance the initiative last week. That prompted the city to appeal, which halted the trial court proceedings.

There’s virtually no chance the case will be resolved by the state’s filing deadline Wednesday for initiatives. However, because ballots won’t be printed for another few weeks, supporters have suggested in their latest motion that there may still be time to put the issue before voters in November — if the court rules quickly in their favor.

If the initiative does make the ballot and voters approve it, Nelsonville would go back to having an elected mayor instead of a council-appointed city manager.

Council seats would also be divided by ward, and new elections for each council member would have to take place.

Nelsonville city attorney Jonathan Robe said the city will file its response with the appeals court next week.