Vote yes on Issue 1? Sorry, you've got the wrong number

A same-sex marriage ban is expected to be Issue 1.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- There are a dozen billboards and 1,000 fliers in Mahoning County urging residents to "Vote Yes on Issue 1."
The campaign is designed to get the support of county voters for a 0.5 percent permanent sales tax to replace a five-year sales tax that will expire Dec. 31.
The words "Vote Yes on Issue 1" take up about half of each billboard and are in large letters on the fliers.
The problem is the sales tax won't be Issue 1.
Issue 1 will be a statewide constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages or any type of civil unions or the legal privileges of marriage to any unmarried couple.
Because of the state issue, the sales tax proposal becomes Issue 2, said Michael Sciortino, Mahoning County Board of Elections director.
"I understand that the [sales tax committee] is already advertising, and billboards are up, but there can't be two Issue 1s," he said.
The dozen billboards, which cost about $18,000, will be replaced for about $1,500 by Lamar Advertising, the company that owns the billboards, said Greg Sherlock, coordinator for the pro-sales tax committee, The Citizens to Continue the Progress.
The old billboards will be torn down and new Issue 2 signs will be replaced by the middle of next week, Sherlock said.
"There may be some confusion with people driving by the signs next week, and seeing Issue 2, and thinking, 'I thought it was Issue 1,'" Sherlock said. "We can't do anything subtle around here."
The group will also print new fliers that say "Vote Yes on Issue 2," Sherlock said. The new fliers will cost a few hundred dollars, he said.
Besides the old fliers having the wrong issue number, there are other problems with it. It says the issue will not "effect" senior citizens instead of "affect." Also, if seniors purchase products or services that are taxable, it will affect them.
Ban issue
The pro-sales tax group knew there was a danger that the same-sex ban issue would get on the November ballot, Sherlock said. But if the group waited much longer for the matter to be cleared up, it would have had problems getting access to the billboards it wanted, Sherlock said.
"It could have been a lot worse," he said.
That's because the committee hasn't ordered yard signs or started its media advertising campaign, Sherlock said.
The committee wants to raise $100,000 for the campaign, and has raised less than half of that as of Friday, Sherlock said.
A five-year renewal of the 0.5 percent sales tax was defeated in the March primary. Instead of trying for another five-year renewal, the board of county commissioners voted to put a proposal to make the tax continuous on the November ballot.
This 0.5 percent sales tax generates about $13 million annually, about 25 percent of the county's annual general fund income. There is also another 0.5 percent sales tax which expires in 2007.
Supporters of the ban on same-sex marriages collected about 144,000 signatures, and it needs just 42,321 valid signatures to get on the November ballot, said Carlo LoParo, a secretary of state spokesman. Approval to get the amendment on the November ballot could come from the Ohio Secretary of State's Office as early as next week, he added.
skolnick@vindy.com