News
Nelsonville council members want to appeal the decision over a ballot initiative to the Ohio Supreme Court
< < Back toATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The city of Nelsonville has decided to ask the Ohio Supreme Court whether backers of an initiative to change the city’s government followed the right procedure for placing it on the ballot.
A decision from the court could also provide clarity on whether the City Council has the power to repeal the initiative, which was approved last month by more than 70 percent of Nelsonville voters.
The city’s attorney, Jonathan Robe, told the council he believes it could appeal the initiative. This is based on his reading of Section 10.06(A) of the city’s charter, which says initiatives “shall be treated in all respects in the same manner as ordinances or resolutions of the same kind adopted by Council.”
The council has the power to repeal its own ordinances, so by extension it would have the same power with regard to an initiative treated as an ordinance, Robe said.
The residents who got the initiative on the ballot followed the initiative procedure outlined in the charter. The initiative will return the city to the form of government it had 30 years ago before the charter was adopted. One of the biggest differences is the city’s administration was then run by an elected mayor who was independent of the council instead of a city manager who under the charter answers to the council.
The City Council fought a monthslong legal battle to keep the initiative off the ballot. It argued the charter’s initiative process cannot be used to abolish the charter itself. The procedure for dissolving a charter, the council argued, is through a section of the state constitution that details how to amend a charter.
A state court of appeals ruled against the city and allowed the initiative on the ballot.
Robe has told the council it’s highly unlikely the Supreme Court will agree to hear the city’s appeal. But if it does and it upholds the appeals court’s decision that the charter’s initiative process was the proper way to get the initiative on the ballot, then the council has the power to repeal it, according to Robe’s interpretation.
Robe made it clear he is not advising the council to use this power, and no members of the council suggested this was something they should consider.
“Our system of government is set up so that the people, and only the people, get to decide the form of government. It shouldn’t be subject to an effective veto by the council,” Robe told the council at Monday night’s meeting. “The problem is that’s where the court of appeals left this.”
Councilmember Tony Dunfee put it this way: “No one’s trying to take anybody’s vote away.”
Robe told the council he doesn’t know yet what the cost of an appeal would be. It could be nothing if the city’s insurer picks up the tab for the legal fees, or it could be tens of thousands of dollars, he said.
The council voted 4-1 to appeal to the Supreme Court. It can later change its mind if it decides the cost is too high.
Council President Gregg Clement, who said he signed the petition in favor of putting the initiative on the ballot, said he supported an appeal because he found the language on the ballot lacking in terms of how to make the transition back to the previous form of government. He’s hoping the court can provide some guidance.
Councilmember Jonathan Flowers, the lone no vote, said of the appeal: “I really think it’s a slap in the face to the citizens.”
“I really feel that the citizens have spoken. I think what was said is they got duped,” he said, referring to comments made at a previous meeting. “I don’t think they got duped. I think they understood what they were doing.”
Even if the Supreme Court were to overturn the appeals court decision allowing the initiative to go on the ballot, Robe said he did not think the court would go so far as to overturn the results of the election.
“I think repealing it would be a very extreme measure,” he said.
This is the main reason Robe doesn’t expect the court to take up the appeal in the first place — because the election is over.
While the city pursues its appeal, the clock is ticking on the transition to the new government. This has raised a number of issues that have yet to be resolved.
The initiative calls for elections next year for a mayor and all council members. Robe told the council it doesn’t have the authority to call for these elections, and the Athens County Board of Elections says it cannot schedule these elections without direction from the City Council or some other authority.
The deadline for candidates to file their petitions is the first week of February. The board is already getting requests from Nelsonville residents who want to run for office, but it will not hand out any candidate petitions until it receives more guidance, including what the new ward boundaries will be for council members.
To assist with the transition, the City Council on Monday also voted to create an advisory commission that will be made up of residents. The commission’s role will be to look into the issues presented by the transition and advise the council on how to address them.
Residents interested in sitting on the commission must submit a letter of interest to the city clerk no later than Jan. 13, which is the date of the next council meeting. The council is expected to select the commission members at that meeting.