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Candidates can begin filing to run for one-month terms on council in Nelsonville, with one exception
By: Joshua Hoerner
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Nelsonville residents can now obtain petitions to run for a one-month term to solve the city’s upcoming “December problem.”
But there is a caveat for potential candidates: Those already running for a City Council seat starting in January cannot also run for the December term.
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 3513.052, candidates are not eligible to run for two or more municipal offices on the same ballot.
“Since the charter is still in effect for the one-month term, that is an office,” Brooks said. “And then the new office, new term for January 1st is an office. Those provisions apply in this situation because of the differentiation between the offices of charter … and new statutory seats.”
The city’s December problem comes from ballot initiative Issue 23 passing last November. The initiative abolishes the city’s charter form of government at the end of this year and returns it to a statutory form starting next year.
However, all but one of the current council members’ terms ends on Nov. 30, and the new statutory council won’t take office until Jan 1. Nancy Sonick is the lone council member whose term extends past Nov. 30, but she plans to resign at the end of November.
This would leave the city with no council for the month of December.
At the Athens County Board of Elections meeting last Wednesday, the board decided there will be two separate offices on the November ballot. Candidates will select if they would like to run for the two-year term starting Jan. 1, or if they want to run for a one-month term beginning and ending in December.
So far, the only candidates who have expressed interest in the one-month term are three who are already running for the two-year term. But with the code section coming to light last week at the board meeting, they legally can no longer do both.
One candidate says he plans to challenge this. Councilmember Cameron Peck said he plans on arguing his case in front of a judge.
“What I’m going to be doing is reaching out to attorneys because I want to file this motion,” Peck said. “If I can’t find an attorney that I can afford or that will work with me … I am going to go down there as a simple blue-collar councilman and I’m going to file me a motion.”
Peck has already filed a petition to run for the two-year term. He has until Aug. 25 to get an exemption to run for the December-only term as well. That is the deadline for write-in candidates.
Meanwhile, the Ohio League of Women Voters has helped Nelsonville residents develop a proposed ward map.
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 731.01, the city will have seven council seats under the new statutory government, with four positions elected by wards and three seats elected at-large.
Nelsonville does not have wards under the current charter government.
It’s expected the proposed ward map will be presented to the council in July. But the council will not approve it because the city’s attorney said it has no authority under the charter to create wards. It will be up to the new council taking office in January to approve the wards.
Nevertheless, one candidate for the new statutory council filed a petition with the Board of Elections to run for the third ward.
Because there are no wards, the board will have to decide whether to let this candidate run for a ward that does not yet exist or have him run as an at-large candidate.
“We are going to have a hard time checking (that petition) because of the validity of the signatures on that petition, because there’s no wards currently established,” Brooks said.