Youngstown ward-reduction amendment will be on fall ballot

YOUNGSTOWN — City council agreed to place a charter-amendment proposal in front of voters to reduce the number of wards in Youngstown from seven to five.

By its votes today, council agreed to approve the proposal as legislation that wouldn’t be subject to collecting signatures on petitions, said Law Director Martin Hume.

A group — that includes Councilmen Mike Ray, D-4th, and Paul Drennen, D-5th — had submitted petitions with about 1,700 signatures.

To get on the ballot, the committee would have needed at least 1,216 of the signatures to be valid.

At council’s special meeting today, the legislative body approved two ordinances regarding the ward-reduction charter amendment for the Nov. 4 election.

One, sponsored by Ray and Drennen, had council back the charter amendment and another, sponsored by Mayor John A. McNally, had council approve moving the petitions to the board of elections to count signatures, Hume said.

While five of the seven council members don’t support the ward reduction, both proposals passed by 6-1 votes.

If approved by voters on the Nov. 4 ballot, council would eliminate two of its seats. It would take effect with the 2015 election.

Under the proposal, council would have 30 days after the certification of the Nov. 4 ballot to redistrict from seven to five wards. If council failed to do so, the mayor would have 14 days to redistrict.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com