Label
Council Members Melden, Komives, Gadus, Hartman, Hobbs, McPherson, Whitman, Williams, Sarantou and Moline
Title
A Resolution asserting Toledo City Council's opposition to create an illegal August special election and to urge citizens to vote NO on Issue 1 to maintain Ohioans’ freedom to place constitutional amendments on the ballot.
Summary
WHEREAS, Ohioans have had the right to amend their Ohio Constitution through a simple majority for over 110 years; and
WHEREAS, Ohioans voted to grant themselves with a simple majority the freedom to place Constitutional Amendments directly on the ballot in response to a legislature that had become one of the most disrespectful in the country and refused to heed the will of the people; and
WHEREAS, Issue 1 would end majority rule in Ohio by raising the threshold for passage of a constitutional amendment to 60 percent, thus giving 40 percent of the voters the ability to block the will of the majority; and
WHEREAS, Issue 1 would undermine the sacred principle of one person one vote; and
WHEREAS, Ohioans have not abused the right to place constitutional amendments on the ballot, with just 71 citizen-initiated amendments on the ballot since 1913; and
WHEREAS, the Ohio General Assembly all but outlawed August special elections during Lame Duck session in December 2022 with the passage of HB 458; and
WHEREAS, the legislature has called for a low-turnout special election for Issue 1 on August 8, at the behest of special interests and out-of-state donors that will waste millions of precious Ohio tax dollars; and
WHEREAS, the process to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot is already an onerous task, requiring the collection of hundreds of thousands of valid signatures from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties; and
WHEREAS, by including the need to collect a certain threshold of signatures from all 88 counties almost guarantees that only extremely wealthy out of state interests will be able to afford to try to amend our Ohio constitution; NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Toledo:
SECTION 1. That Toledo City Council opposes the Ohio legislature’s creation of an illegal August special election.
SECTION 2. That Toledo City Council believes that citizens should vote NO on Issue 1 to maintain Ohioans’ freedom to place constitutional amendments on the ballot, uphold the sacred principle of “one person, one vote”, and curtail this blatant power grab by the Ohio legislature.
SECTION. That this Resolution shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest period allowed by law.
Adopted: July 18, 2023, as an emergency measure: yeas 11, nays 0.
Attest:
Gerald E. Dendinger Matt Cherry
Clerk of Council President of Council
Approved: July 18, 2023
Wade Kapszukiewicz
Mayor