AUSTINTOWN Ballot effort confuses residents

Trustees had planned a press conference to clear up the strip-club issue.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Township officials are worried that some residents are confused about an effort to place the township's new strip-club resolution on the ballot.
Trustees have gotten calls from residents asking if the township, and not the strip club, is behind the effort, said township Administrator Michael Dockry. Callers also have asked if the effort is related to home rule, a limited form of government approved by the trustees in March.
Trustees were expected to hold a press conference at noon today to discuss the confusion.
Clearing up the issue
Dockry stressed that representatives for The Babylon strip club on Javit Court, not the trustees, are trying to put the resolution on the ballot.
Trustees unanimously approved the resolution Sept. 23. It requires strip club owners, strippers and other strip club employees to get a license to work in the township. It is slated to take effect Oct. 23.
Dockry added that the resolution has nothing to do with home rule.
The petitions being circulated to put the strip club resolution on the ballot list Scott Cochran as one of four petitioners. Cochran is an attorney who represents The Babylon.
Cochran couldn't be reached to comment. He has said, however, that the club may try and put the resolution on the ballot.
The other petitioners are James Barry of Kirk Road, Kyle Christy of Radcliffe Avenue, and James Adams of Signature Drive.
Dockry said that some of the confusion stems from the form of the petitions. The title of the petitions reads, "Referendum Petition (Municipality or Home Rule Township)."
That doesn't mean that the resolution was passed under home rule. It refers to the fact that home rule has been approved in Austintown.
Different petitions are used in townships that haven't approved home rule.
Blocking enforcement
The Babylon needs to collect a number of signatures equal to 10 percent of the number of voters in the last gubernatorial election to place the resolution on the ballot. Petitions state that the club wants the resolution to appear on the ballot in November 2003.
If the club collects the required number of signatures and files the petitions before Oct. 23, they will prevent the trustees from enforcing the resolution until after the November 2003 election.
Trustees have said they hope the resolution will limit the negative effects that a strip club can have on a community. Cochran has stressed that he feels The Babylon hasn't been a detriment to Austintown.
hill@vindy.com