News
A Nelsonville candidate files legal action claiming the City Council violated Ohio’s constitution
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A candidate for office in Nelsonville is asking a judge to declare that the City Council has unconstitutionally attempted to prevent residents from choosing their own form of government.
That initiative, known as Issue 23, called for abolishing the city’s charter government and returning the city to the form of government it had before the charter was adopted 31 years ago.
Andrea Thompson Hashman, who filed the legal action, is one of the candidates running for Nelsonville office under Issue 23. She is asking the judge to issue a temporary order preventing the council from enforcing its repeal of Issue 23 while her legal action is making its way through the court.
Her legal filing comes three days after the Ohio Supreme Court issued its final decision rejecting an effort by the City Council to have candidates running under Issue 23 removed from the November ballot.
As things stand now, fourteen candidates remain on the ballot as candidates for council and other offices under Issue 23 despite the repeal.
This could lead to a situation where the city has two governments, one elected under Issue 23 and one continuing under the charter, both claiming to be the rightful representatives of the city’s residents.
The City Council fought a long and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle last year to keep Issue 23 off the ballot in the first place.
After it passed, with 70 percent of the vote, the city was moving forward under Issue 23 until the council abruptly changed course last month and voted to repeal the initiative.
The council said it has the power under the charter to repeal citizen initiatives.
Thompson Hashman argues this is unconstitutional. The initiative process under the city charter is derived from a section of the Ohio Constitution that gives citizens the right to pass their own laws, according to her legal filing.
“The purpose of the power of initiative is to reserve to the people … the right to exercise their inherent or political power over the council or other legislative body as to local legislation,” according to the legal filing.
If the council can repeal an initiative, this gives council members more power than the people who elect them and undermines the intent of the initiative process, according to the legal filing.
Thompson Hashman also notes that the state constitution guarantees citizens the right to choose their own form of government, which includes the right to “alter, reform, or abolish the same, whenever they may deem it necessary.”
There are no provisions under the state constitution or state law for abolishing a city charter, so it appears the only way to do this is through initiative. But if the council can repeal an initiative it doesn’t like, then it can deprive residents of their right to alter their government, according to the legal filing.