Rival Nelsonville City Councils are weighing their next steps
By: Haley Richardson
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Two rival City Councils in Nelsonville are considering opposing solutions to solve their legal issues.
The previous council operates under Nelsonville’s charter, a legal document dictating how city government operates. In November 2024, voters passed Issue 23, a ballot initiative to change the city’s government by abolishing the charter and establishing a partisan council and independent mayor.
However, last August the council repealed Issue 23, which led to several rounds of litigation. As of now, a judge has not ruled on the repeal’s validity, and it remains in effect.
During Monday night’s meeting of the charter council, former council member and mayor-elect Jonathan Flowers read a letter demanding Police Chief Devin Tolliver hand over the keys to City Hall.
Flowers was among several candidates who ran under Issue 23. Despite the repeal, they were allowed to remain on the ballot, and the Athens County Board of Elections certified their election wins.
Flowers read, “Your continued refusal to allow the duly elected government to function constitutes an unlawful interference with my office and a deprivation of rights under color of law.”
If he did not gain access to City Hall, Flowers threatened legal action.
Former Nelsonville Law Director Matthew Voltolini represents Flowers. He said he and attorneys for the other statutory candidates plan to file lawsuits challenging the repeal of Issue 23.
“Our goal is to force the courts to address the issue at hand, rather than to decide on procedural issues, which is what has happened thus far,” Voltolini said.
It is unclear when they will file, but Voltolini acknowledged they need to take action soon.
“We don’t have a lot of time to spare because … the quote unquote government in power … is spending money hand over fist and is binding the city to the contracts that may or may not be valid,” Voltolini said. “The longer this goes on, the worse it becomes for the city of Nelsonville.”
At the end of Monday night’s meeting, Councilmember Nic Joseph Saul suggested an ordinance to propose a charter commission tasked with drafting a new city charter.
Joseph Saul’s petition follows the procedure outlined in the Ohio Constitution. If approved, her ordinance would be submitted to the Athens County Board of Elections and then two questions would be put on the ballot: One would ask voters if they were in favor of electing a 15-member charter commission and the other would ask them to elect commissioners.
However, it is unclear when Joseph Saul’s ordinance could be put on the ballot, as Article 18, Section 8 of the Ohio Constitution states charter commissioners can be elected during the upcoming municipal election, which is not until 2027.
With pending lawsuits from the Issue 23 council members hanging over the charter council, Joseph Saul said she is worried about timing.
“I don’t know if it’s right to wait until 2027 to do something, even though it would give us a lot of time to talk about what we want to do,” she said.
If the voters support a charter commission, Joseph Saul said she hopes the city will take the chance to implement positive changes to its government.
“We all really need to take this for the opportunity that it is and not get complacent in the status quo but continue to seek (and) organize lawful and accessible reform,” Joseph Saul said.