Anti-fracking advocates to announce another ballot effort Monday

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The third time wasn’t the charm. Neither was the fourth or fifth.

So members of the Youngstown Community Bill of Rights Committee are pinning their hopes that on the sixth try, residents vote to ban shale gas development within the city limits.

Committee members announced Friday that they have collected the required number of signatures to place the proposed charter amendment on the November ballot.

The group plans a news conference at 1:30 p.m. Monday in front of city hall before delivering petitions to the clerk of city council.

“Greater numbers of people are becoming more fully informed, aware – and concerned as time goes on,” Susie Beiersdorfer, committee member, said in a news release. “I believe this response is related to the large body of newly released scientific studies that point to documented risks associated with shale gas development. Increasingly, the citizens of Youngstown want to affirm their right to local self-government and local control over protecting their family’s and their community’s health, safety and well-being.”

Read more about the effort in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.