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The Athens County Board of Elections votes to put an initiative on the ballot that would change Nelsonville’s government
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A proposal to change the form of government in Nelsonville will appear on the November ballot, something city leaders have been fighting to prevent.
At an emergency meeting Thursday, the Athens County Board of Elections agreed in a unanimous vote the initiative had more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The board’s vote follows a monthslong legal battle between the City Council and two residents who support the initiative.
The initiative, if approved by Nelsonville voters, would abolish the city charter and return the city to the government it had 30 years ago. The city then had an elected mayor who ran day-to-day operations and was independent of the council. Under the charter adopted in 1994, the city’s administration is run by a city manager who is hired, and can be fired, by the council.
The initiative includes a one-year transition period to make the switch back to the previous government structure.
Council members acknowledge the residents of Nelsonville have a constitutional right to choose their own form of government. However, they argued the residents behind the initiative followed the wrong procedure.
The initiative was pursued under a section of the city charter that allows for initiatives. The residents who proposed it gathered enough signatures, which under the charter meant the council was required to pass an ordinance to place it on the ballot.
The council refused, arguing the charter does not allow for initiatives to abolish the charter itself. Instead, the council argued, initiatives to abolish a charter should be done under a section of the Ohio Constitution that specifies how to amend a charter.
Two residents took the city to court, and an Athens County judge ordered the council to place the initiative on the ballot. The city appealed, but the appeal was dismissed on procedural grounds.
The county judge again ordered the council to take action and the city appealed this order. This time, the appellate court told the city it needed to comply with the judge’s order or risk being found in contempt of court.
The council passed an ordinance Monday sending the initiative to the county elections board. In his order, Judge George McCarthy also instructed the board to determine whether the initiative had enough signatures under the section of the Ohio Constitution for amending city charters.
The signature requirement under this section is 10 percent of the number of votes in the previous general election, a lower threshold than the 15 percent requirement under the city charter. McCarthy had ruled that given the conflict between the Constitution and the charter, the Constitution prevailed.
The elections board had already certified in August the initiative had received 180 valid signatures. In the 2023 election, 930 Nelsonville voters voted, meaning the initiative needed only 93 signatures.
Greg Smith, a former Nelsonville council member and one of the residents who sued the city in this case, said after the board’s decision he supports the initiative because he believes too much power is concentrated into the hands of the council.
Smith said he would rather see power split between the council and a mayor who is independent of the council.
Meanwhile, the legal case remains in the appellate court, where the city plans to continue pressing its argument that an initiative to dissolve a charter must be pursued under the Constitution.
Nelsonville City Attorney Jonathan Robe has said a decision one way or another will provide some much-needed clarity given there is no law in Ohio that specifically addresses how residents are to abolish a charter.