'We will not forget;' Vandalia law director admits errors; residents fight housing
Jun. 19—Vandalia's city law director says he missed critical details that would have ensured residents' recent referendum petitions met Ohio Revised Code standards, so their ballot issue would have qualified for the November election.
City Law Director Gerald McDonald prepared petition forms for residents who were leading a referendum in opposition to a Vandalia housing development.
"I have made sure that (document) comports with the charter, which it does, and with the chapter in the Ohio Revised Code dealing with referendums and initiatives, which it does," McDonald said during Monday's city council meeting.
McDonald went on to say the full requirement for the circulator's attestation against election falsification — omission of which was the fatal flaw in this case — was not outlined in the section he referenced.
"What I did not do is look under 'nominating petitions for state representatives,' " he continued. "In that section, (it says) if you circulate a petition, including a referendum petition, it has to have this language on it; I did not know that was there."
McDonald offered the explanation in response to questions from Vandalia resident Tanya Brown, a member of the referendum petition committee which aimed to bring the council-approved South Brown School Road housing project to a public Election Day vote.
The development project involves plans to construct 167 single-family homes on 85 acres of land at 7848 S. Brown School Road.
Brown had asked whose responsibility it was to create the petition document and make sure it's "correct" before distribution to a requesting committee.
"Mine," McDonald answered.
Using the petition forms provided by the city, the referendum group collected a total of 797 resident signatures, 683 of which were initially found to be valid by the Board of Elections in April — in excess of the 547 total signatures required to get the issue on the ballot.
But discovery of the form's errors prompted the Board of Elections to rule the signatures invalid. The BOE further recommended the city of Vandalia give petitioners another 10 days to re-collect signatures on corrected forms.
The city, contending the issue was not a signature deficiency but rather a "legal defect in the petition format," decided against the BOE recommendation, concluding that the petition cannot proceed.
"The form given to petitioners was offered as a courtesy and was accompanied by a clear disclaimer advising petitioners to consult legal counsel regarding compliance with state election laws," the city said in a statement earlier this month.
Vandalia councilman Corey Follick asked Brown on Monday whether the committee had sought legal counsel at any time throughout the petition process, which Brown declined to answer.
Brown was one of multiple residents who addressed council Monday with concerns about the petition outcome and the development project itself.
Resident Robert Shanahan said he's concerned about the recent "built-for-rent" trend, citing increasing statistics of family homes being built with the intent to rent them out.
Based on U.S. Census data, built-for-rent single-family housing starts grew to 90,000 units in 2024 from 60,000 units in 2021, according to the National Association of Realtors.
This increase indicates a growth of BFR single-family homes from 5% in 2021 to 10% in 2023 and 9% in 2024, the NAR data shows.
"Does the Vandalia comprehensive plan or charter ordinances deal with this issue? Does the (Planned Unit Development for the project) that we're talking about deal with this?" Shanahan asked. "What's to stop a single buyer from purchasing all 167 of the proposed homes and renting them out?"
Shanahan asserted residents' opinions were ignored during council's consideration of the South Brown School Road project.
"During the final vote on the PUD, the council completely disregarded everything the citizens said during the last nine months and went ahead and not only approved the PUD, but made changes to it in direct opposition to some of our objections by adding requirements that will force all homes along South Brown School Road to be two-story."
"... The decision was made as if to say, 'We have all the power and don't you forget it,' " Shanahan continued. "Well, I can assure you, we will not forget."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Who's who in the secret group advising Trump on Iran - who has been left out of the planning?
President Donald Trump let it be known on Thursday that he will make a decision on whether to involve the U.S. in Israel's war with Iran within the next two weeks, as tensions over the question continue to divide conservatives. The president, who signed off on attack plans on Tuesday but resisted giving the go-ahead, is reportedly taking soundings from a small coterie of trusted advisers while also throwing the conversation open to fellow world leaders, as well as allies such as the hawkish Republican senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Outside of his inner circle, MAGA personalities Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Steve Bannon, and Candace Owens have been speaking out against the prospect of the U.S. wading into another prolonged Middle Eastern war. At the same time, other Trump cheerleaders on Capitol Hill and the media have made the case for intervention. Here's a look at the people Trump is listening to, according to NBC News. Vice President Vance has previously struck a non-interventionist posture on foreign wars, notably opposing American support for Ukraine. He appears to favor a diplomatic solution to the dispute with Iran, applauding Trump for showing 'remarkable restraint' and making the safety of American troops and assets his top priority. The president's White House Chief of Staff and former campaign manager is known as the 'Ice Maiden' and regarded as an important restraining presence, in place to shield Trump from his own worst instincts. A senior adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, Miller is known as an anti-immigration hardliner and one of the faces of Trump's mass deportation push. A regular talking head on conservative media loathed by liberals, Miller has reportedly been nicknamed 'Weird Stephen' behind the scenes by the president, which does not suggest he commands the level of respect to which he aspires. Once a bitter enemy of Trump and rival for the Republican nomination, the Secretary of State now has such a full plate he has been dubbed the 'Secretary of Everything.' Rubio was out quickly last week to deny American involvement in Israel's initial onslaught but has since largely left the public messaging to the president. Trump's Middle East envoy, like him, a former luxury real estate developer, has led talks with both Israel and Iran since taking office earlier this year and, like Rubio, has cut a busy figure, also serving as the president's de facto liaison with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The lieutenant general serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff boasts the tough-guy nickname 'Razin' Caine' and previously served as a counterterrorism specialist to George W. Bush's Homeland Security Council. He reportedly first befriended Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2019 and impressed him by suggesting that Isis could be stamped out within a week. 'One week? I was told two years!' Trump marvelled. The head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is a career army officer who also has a cool nickname, 'The Gorilla.' He has reportedly been granted an unprecedented amount of leeway by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He has seen an increasing allocation of resources to his areas of responsibility, which include the Middle East. The CIA Director is an influential voice, having also served in the first Trump administration. He was previously a Texas congressman and a mayor of a small town. Two names conspicuous by their absence from that list are Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell has pushed back against the suggestion that Hegseth has been sidelined. 'This claim is completely false,' he told NBC. 'The secretary is speaking with the president multiple times a day, and has been with the president in the Situation Room this week. 'Secretary Hegseth is providing the leadership the Department of Defense and our Armed Forces need, and he will continue to work diligently in support of President Trump's peace through strength agenda.' Trump is meanwhile reported to have fallen out with Gabbard for going 'off-message' after she posted a video on X attacking the 'political elite and warmongers' for 'carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers' and placing the world 'on the brink of nuclear annihilation.' Asked by CNN's Kaitlan Collins aboard Air Force One about Gabbard's statement to Congress in March that, although Iran's enriched uranium levels are at an all-time high, the expert opinion is that Tehran is not currently seeking to develop a nuclear bomb. 'I don't care what she said,' the president snapped. 'I think they were very close to having a weapon.' One Trump supporter to deny any involvement in Trump's discussions about the conflict is MAGA die-hard Laura Loomer, who attacked former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson on X on Thursday night for reporting that she was playing an advisory role, dismissing the claim as 'fake news.'
Washington Post
29 minutes ago
- Washington Post
How the Republican tax bill leaves poor kids behind
Megan Curran, Sophie Collyer and Jane Waldfogel research child poverty at Columbia University's School of Social Work. H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill, manages to be the worst of both worlds. It spends an eye-watering amount our country can ill afford and directs almost all of that money to the wealthiest while cutting critical services for low- and middle-income Americans.
Associated Press
36 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Live updates: Trump can keep the National Guard deployed in LA, appeals court rules
An appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to keep control of National Guard troops he deployed to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids. The decision halts a ruling from a lower court judge who found Trump acted illegally when he activated the soldiers over opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously concluded it was likely Trump lawfully exercised his authority in federalizing control of the Guard. It said that while presidents don't have unfettered power to seize control of a state's Guard, the Trump administration had presented enough evidence to show it had a defensible rationale for doing so and that Newsom had no power to veto the president's order.
