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Anti-frackers are back for the fourth time with a charter amendment
Bill calls for fracking to be blocked in city
YOUNGSTOWN
Those wanting city voters to approve a charter amendment to ban fracking in Youngstown are seeking to get on the ballot for the fourth time.
The Community Bill of Rights Committee expects to provide petitions with about 1,800 signatures at 2:30 p.m. today to the city council clerk, said Susie Beiersdorfer, a committee member.
The three other ballot initiatives were rejected by city voters.
“We always get an overwhelming response from citizens; it’s a matter of getting people to the polls,” she said.
The bill calls for fracking to be banned in the city, which opponents and state officials say isn’t enforceable as those decisions are made by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
When asked why the group is seeking another ban when fracking isn’t happening in Youngstown, Beiersdorfer said, “It’s more than a fracking ban. It’s about a community’s right to allow what businesses can come into the city.”
The results at the polls get closer with each vote, but it has failed three consecutive times. In May 2013, it lost by 13.7 percentage points, by 9.7 percentage points in November 2013, and by 8.3 percentage points in May 2014.
Meanwhile, supporters of a charter amendment that would base the number of wards in the city on population — which would reduce the number from seven to five based on current population — are stepping up efforts this week to get the needed signatures to get on the Nov. 4 ballot.
To be certified for the Nov. 4 ballot, proposed charter amendments need at least 1,126 signatures. Because not every signature is valid on petitions, those wanting to get them on the ballot usually submit more than the minimum requirement.
Those supporting the ward reduction — including Councilmen Mike Ray, D-4th, and Paul Drennen, D-5th — have collected about 600 signatures.
The group will have a “drive and sign” event from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in front of the Erie Terminal Building, 112 W. Commerce St., and will be at the B&O Farmers Market from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the B&O Station Banquet Hall, 530 Mahoning Ave.
Under the group’s plan, it would take a population of at least 80,000 to keep seven wards. The city’s population in the 2010 U.S. census was 66,982 with Youngstown among the top cities in the nation to lose population during the past 60 years.
If the population is under 80,000, there would be five wards.
The amendment also requires city council to have 120 days to redistrict the city wards in a “fair and equitable manner” after each census. If council can’t, the mayor would then have 90 days for such a map.
The deadline to submit charter amendments for the ballot is Sept. 5. However, the petitions must be turned in earlier as city law requires the ballots to stay with the city council clerk for 10 days for public review and for city council to vote on putting the amendments on the ballot. Council is expected to have a special meeting Aug. 20 or 21 — it’s on summer recess until Sept. 17 — but could have another special meeting before Sept. 5 for the ward-reduction proposal.
Supporters of that proposed amendment want to have enough signatures on petitions and give it to council’s clerk by Friday, Drennen said. But that could be pushed another week or so if the efforts Wednesday and Thursday come up short, he said.
“We’ll see where we are on Friday afternoon, evaluate and see if we need more time to circulate petitions,” Drennen said.
“We need to make a big push at these two events,” said Phil Kidd, a member of the committee. “People tell us it’s long overdue.”
City council agreed last week to a new seven-ward map that makes population in each ward more equal. The city last redistricted about 30 years ago even though its charter calls for it to be done after every decennial census.
Also, council will vote, likely at its next special meeting, to put a charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot to combine its community development and economic development departments at the request of Mayor John A. McNally. That proposal would make it easier for the two departments to work closely together and coordinate planning, zoning and demolition under one office in city hall, McNally said.