Sebring charter amendment won't make Nov. ballot


YOUNGSTOWN

A citizen-initiative charter amendment in Sebring to fire the village manager without a severance package will not be on the Nov. 8 ballot because of a mistake with one of the petitions.

Corey Hughes, a former Sebring street department worker who led the effort, failed to write in “38,” the number of signatures he collected on one petition.

That’s considered a “fatal error” under state law and resulted in the rejection of that petition, according to Mahoning County Board of Elections Director Joyce Kale-Pesta.

Without that petition, only 86 signatures were determined by board employees to be valid. To get on the ballot, the proposal needed 97 valid signatures.

However, because of Sebring’s village charter, its clerk of council could have allowed the proposal to be approved, Kale-Pesta said.

Meanwhile, the elections board Wednesday certified every other issue submitted to it by last week’s deadline to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Before the board could vote, however, a Shell gas station at 2209 Wilson Ave. in Campbell withdrew two liquor options.

The board would have rejected the proposal for not having the proper paperwork if the business didn’t withdraw the petitions, Kale-Pesta said.

Read more about the matters in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.