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Ohio Supreme Court orders frack ban onto Nov. ballot
YOUNGSTOWN
The Ohio Supreme Court agreed with Youngstown that the Mahoning County Board of Elections lacks authority not to certify an anti-fracking charter amendment and ordered it placed on the Nov. 3 ballot.
In a 7-0 decision Thursday, the court ruled the board does “not have authority to sit as arbiters of the legality or constitutionality of a ballot measure’s substantive terms. An unconstitutional amendment may be a proper item for referendum or initiative. Such an amendment becomes void and unenforceable only when declared unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction.”
“We’re pleased the court did what we thought was the law and glad citizens will have an opportunity to vote on the proposed charter amendment,” said city Law Director Martin Hume. “This was about the separation of powers. The board made a decision that should be the responsibility of the judicial branch.”
The city filed a writ of mandamus with the high court Aug. 28, two days after the board voted not to certify the citizen-initiative charter amendment. The city contended the board acted “illegally” by refusing to put the issue on the ballot.
The board said it largely based its decision on a Feb. 17 Supreme Court decision that the Ohio Constitution’s home-rule amendment doesn’t grant local governments the power to regulate oil and gas operations in their limits, and that Ohio law gives the Department of Natural Resources the exclusive authority to regulate oil and gas wells.
“While opinions were expressed at our meeting that the issue was unenforceable and unconstitutional, we did not make that determination,” said Mark Munroe, elections board chairman. “The Supreme Court had already made that determination in the [Feb. 17] case. As a result, we felt the petitions that were circulated were invalid. However, the [court has] ruled and [has] brought additional clarity to the right of initiative process to amend city charters.”
The board will meet shortly to put the charter amendment back on the ballot, Munroe said.
David Betras, elections board vice chairman and an attorney, said, “The court is saying that if people want to put on city charter amendments against same-sex marriage or separate but equal, we have to put it on the ballot and then let a court overturn it. Any constitutional right they want to violate, we can’t deny that.”
The city also named Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted in the court filing. The Supreme Court wrote that Husted had no involvement in this matter and wrote that “any relief against him would therefore be premature at best.”
There were numerous organizations and labor unions that submitted court filings in support of the board of elections. That included the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, the Ohio Gas Association, the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, the Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO Labor Council and 17 local labor unions.
FrackFree Mahoning Valley has placed the “Community Bill of Rights,” which would ban fracking in the city, among other things, on the city ballot twice in both 2013 and 2014. It failed all four times.
“Going on the ballot five times is an abuse of a valuable privilege,” Munroe said.
Shortly after the city filed a writ of mandamus with the Supreme Court, six city residents did the same. The court hasn’t ruled on that case, but it’s likely to make a decision shortly.
“Citizens have a right to petition their government, and the board or the secretary of state can’t say something is unconstitutional before the voters vote for it,” said Susie Beiersdorfer, a FrackFree member.