MAHONING COUNTY Board rules on petitions of candidates

An Austintown candidate accused another of lying.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Lisa Oles, a candidate for Austintown trustee, had a tough time letting it go.
She had just been told by members of the Mahoning County Board of Elections that they were rejecting protests filed by Judi Viets, a supporter of hers, seeking to get two of her opponents kicked off the Nov. 4 general election ballot.
"You're opening up a whole can of worms," Oles told the board Thursday, moments before one decision went against her.
In the other case, she accused an opponent and a man who signed the opponent's nominating petition of lying and election falsification even after both testified that his signature wasn't a forgery.
Viets had filed protests with the elections board seeking to remove Linda Marie Roca and Donna J. Buzulencia from the ballot. If they were disqualified, there would have been three candidates left seeking the four-year trustee seat: Oles, incumbent Rich Edwards and Samuel Swoger III.
Printed name
In Roca's case, one of the 25 valid signatures on her nominating petition came from Ashley Jenkins of Huntmere Avenue, who printed her name. If Jenkins' name were not accepted, Roca wouldn't have enough valid signatures to remain on the ballot.
"As a candidate, I have made a conscientious effort to follow the rules of this board of elections and the secretary of state," Oles said. "I would expect other candidates in this room to follow the same rules."
Jenkins testified in front of the elections board that she printed her name on Roca's petition because her handwriting is sloppy. She had signed her name on her voter registration last year.
Mark Munroe, elections board chairman, said the law is quite clear that a person must sign their name on nominating petitions and not print it. But the other three board members didn't agree, and voted to keep Roca on the ballot.
Wrong address
Oles and Viets didn't fare any better in their protest against Buzulencia. They claimed that the signature of Joseph Brooks of Brockton Drive on Buzulencia's petition is a forgery, and his address is incorrectly listed. Brooks told the board that he signed the petition, and acknowledged he mistakenly put Mahoning Avenue as his address.
"Unless Mr. Brooks is incoherent, how can he live on Brockton Drive since 1968 and not know what his address is?" Oles said in response. "...You don't make mistakes like that. I have never incorrectly written my address."
Brooks' signature wasn't considered valid by the elections board before Thursday's meeting because of the incorrect address. But Oles and Viets wanted the board to pursue election falsification charges because of the signature, and to remove Buzulencia as a candidate.
When specifically asked if Buzulencia and Brooks lied after they testified about the signature, Oles said they did.
Even if Brooks' signature were a forgery, under election rules it would have made invalid only the signatures that were on the petition sheet he signed, said Michael Sciortino, Mahoning election board director. Buzulencia still would have had enough valid signatures on other petitions to remain on the ballot.
Poland Twp. candidate
Also at Thursday's hearing, the board ruled to keep Catherine Stacy on the ballot as a Poland Township clerk candidate. Lisa M. Reardon, another clerk candidate, had filed a protest over Stacy's eligibility.
Martin E. Yavorcik, Reardon's attorney, said the board would be permitting Stacy to commit a felony by keeping her on the ballot. Stacy resigned as township clerk in February after the Ohio Ethics Commission and the county prosecutor determined it was improper for her to hold that job and be the police department's secretary. She is suing to get her clerk's job back.
The elections board said their responsibility is to determine if nominating petitions are valid, and not the legitimacy of Stacy's candidacy should she be forced to choose between the clerk's job and the secretarial position. The board unanimously agreed to reject Reardon's protest.
Other rulings
The board also:
UReinstated Lori Yanacos-Clark as a Canfield township trustee candidate, and Patricia Neely as a Campbell school board candidate. Both had moved, and the elections board didn't have a record of their current addresses, which they listed on nominating petitions. The board ruled that the candidates' addresses' being in question wasn't enough to keep them off the ballot.
URefused to reinstate Oliver Weaver as a Youngstown school board candidate, Berlin Trustee James Brown as a candidate for re-election, and Michael Berry as a Campbell school board candidate, and denied an appeal from the Youngstown Sports Grille in Boardman to get back on the ballot for a liquor option request. All were removed because of a lack of valid signatures except Brown, who failed to sign one of his declarations of candidacy.
UAccepted withdrawals of appeals from James Boyd, a Youngstown school board candidate, and Michael Sabatine, a Sebring school board candidate, who were earlier removed from the ballot.
skolnick@vindy.com