Explanation
On May 19, 2017, petitioners Jonathan C. Beard, Willis E. Brown, Suzanne M. Patzer, Walter M. Penn, Joseph C. Sommer, and Asad Z. Shabazz filed with the City Clerk a pre-circulation copy of a petition for a proposed amendment to the Charter of the City of Columbus, titled “To enact electoral system and related administrative changes to Columbus City Council by amending Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 41, and 46 of the Charter to create ten city council districts, establish nomination requirements for candidates from districts, provide for election of council members from districts, reduce the number of council members elected at-large to three, regulate growth in council staffing, change the process for mid-term appointments to vacant council seats, create term limits, establish contributions limits for council elections, and provide public access television for council elections.” Following this, on February 6, 2018, petitioners filed with the City Clerk a petition for said amendment. Petitioners filed 1,169 part-petitions containing 42,414 signatures.
On February 23, 2018, the City Attorney advised this Council that the subject petition fails to comply with Section 42-2 of the City Charter, which sets forth the requirements as to form for each petition for a proposal initiated by a citizen. Specifically, the City Attorney opined that the petition violates the single-subject requirement of Section 42-2(d) by including multiple separate and distinct proposals in a single petition.
On February 23, 2018, the Franklin County Board of Election certified its examination of the part-petitions, as required by Section 42-9 of the City Charter. The Board of Elections found that the total number of valid signatures exceeds the standard as defined in Section 45 of the Charter (“equal to not less than ten percent of the total vote cast at the last preceding municipal election”).
Based on the foregoing, this Council finds that the petitioners’ fail...
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