News
An initiative to change the form of government in Nelsonville is now likely headed to the ballot following an appeals court decision
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Nelsonville residents may get the chance to change their city’s government after all.
The council has been fighting a legal battle to keep the initiative off the November ballot. It argues the wrong procedure was used to submit the initiative.
An Athens County judge last week ordered the council to pass an ordinance to place the initiative on the ballot. The city appealed, which put the judge’s order on hold and cast considerable doubt on whether the initiative would make it on the ballot in time.
But Wednesday afternoon, a judge with the appellate court lifted that hold, which means the order is back in effect.
In his order last Friday, Athens County Judge George McCarthy had given the City Council until Monday at 3 p.m. to take action. Attorneys for both sides in the case said it’s unclear whether the judge will now give the council a new deadline.
The council doesn’t have to wait for one, however. It is scheduled to meet Monday night and could take up the ordinance and pass it then.
Nelsonville City Attorney Jonathan Robe said Thursday afternoon the city is considering its legal options.
With or without a new deadline, the city is under pressure to act. The appellate court judge, Michael Hess, wrote in his decision that McCarthy’s order “is currently in effect and the failure of any party to comply may be future grounds for contempt findings.”
Nelsonville residents behind the initiative were hoping for a quick decision so there would be time to get the initiative on the ballot in time for the November election.
Ballots for residents who are in the military or live overseas are supposed to be ready for mailing by Friday, so it’s clear the initiative will not be on those.
Dan Klos, the attorney representing two Nelsonville residents who challenged the council’s refusal to put the initiative on the ballot, said this will require printing supplemental ballots with the initiative on them for those voters.
Klos argues that when McCarthy ordered the city to put the initiative on the ballot, that meant for all voters, regardless of what method they use to vote.
Hess, the appellate court judge, acknowledged in his decision the city may incur some extra costs to comply with the order. He quoted from McCarthy, who wrote in his order that “any extra expense could have been avoided if Council passed an ordinance … when called upon.”
Just because the initiative may now be headed for the ballot does not mean the legal case is over. From the beginning, the dispute was not about the initiative itself but the procedure for getting it on the ballot.
Ohio residents have a constitutional right to choose their form of government. But there is no law in Ohio that spells out how to abolish a city charter, which establishes the government Nelsonville now has.
The residents behind the initiative submitted it under a provision of the charter that allows residents to place initiatives on the ballot.
The city argues the charter does not allow for initiatives that would abolish the charter itself. It argues this instead should be done under a section of the Ohio Constitution that spells out how to amend charters.
The appeals court could provide a definitive answer and establish a legal precedent that will provide guidance to residents and city leaders in other communities with a charter form of government.
And a decision from the court could affect the ultimate fate of the Nelvonville initiative. If it fails to pass, residents might try again, and everyone will know which process to follow — avoiding the legal battle that has dogged this effort.
If the initiative passes, and the appeals court were to decide it should have been processed under the Constitution, not the city charter, this could give the city, or any resident who voted against the initiative, grounds to file a challenge to overturn the vote.