Judge refuses to halt casino petition-passing

YOUNGSTOWN — A Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge today refused a request by the Mahoning County Democratic Party to stop a committee and those working on its behalf from collecting signatures for a casino-gambling issue.

Instead, Judge James C. Evans ordered the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee, the group backing the issue, and those obtaining signatures on petitions to get the measure on the November ballot to not misrepresent “the contents, purpose or effect” of the proposal.

The Mahoning County Democratic Party filed a complaint Thursday seeking to stop the circulation of petitions for the proposal.

The filing came after the party received a videotape of two people collecting signatures on behalf of the committee providing false information. The two people on the video have been fired, said Bob Tenenbaum, a committee spokesman.

Mahoning Democratic Chairman David Betras, co-counsel on the case, said the judge ordered the group to “obey the law. If this scheme were truly a good deal for Ohio, the backers wouldn’t have to lie about it to entice people to support it.”

Tenenbaum called the lawsuit “politically motivated,” and said he was pleased with the judge’s decision.

The committee has until July 1 to submit petitions to the state with about 404,000 valid signature to get the measure on the November ballot. The proposal would allow casinos to be built in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo. One of the people videotaped incorrectly said a casino could be built in Youngstown.

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