Issue could be on ballot in March
The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has completed its review of
petition signatures submitted by Gary Norton, the Mayor of East Cleveland, on
Wednesday, July 15, 2015.
The Board has verified that the petitioners have reached or exceeded
the minimum required number of 559 valid signatures. Of the 1,613 signatures
submitted, 827 of the signatures (51%) were certified as valid. Ohio law
requires the signature was valid only if it was that of a registered voter who
had actually cast a ballot in the November 2013 General Election.
According to Board of Elections director Pat McDonald, elected
officials of the cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland are now responsible for
moving the annexation process forward. “There are many steps still remaining in
this process for both cities. The earliest that this issue could be on the
ballot would be the March 2016 Presidential Primary Election.”
Provided below is a brief summary of the next steps of
the annexation process, as contained in a statement released by the elections
board:
● once the certified
petition is presented to the City of East Cleveland, the City has 30 days to
appoint three commissioners who will be responsible for negotiating the terms
of the annexation with the City of Cleveland.
● The City of Cleveland
will then have 30 days to appoint its own three commissioners to negotiate
annexation terms.
● the six commissioners
will have 120 days to negotiate annexation terms. Only four of the six
commissioners must agree upon the terms in order to proceed.
● once terms are agreed
upon, both cities will have 30 days to certify the issue to the Board of
Elections.
● If the Board of
Elections receives the issue by December 16, 2015, it will be placed on the
ballot for the March 15, 2016 Primary Election. If received after December 16,
2015, the issue will be placed on the ballot for the November 8, 2016 General
Election.
If all of the requirements for annexation are met, the Cleveland City
Council has the option of putting the issue before their voters or approving
the annexation by a vote of Council.
This issue has implications that go far beyond the respective borders of Cleveland and East Cleveland. We'll tell you what they are and why in our post on Monday.
