On Monday, February 11, 2019, 5:00 pm, Columbus City Hall, the People of Columbus will request that Columbus City Council pass an ordinance to place the Columbus Community Bill of Rights (CCBOR) initiative on the May 2019 ballot, giving the people a chance to finally vote on this important law protecting the community’s drinking water.   On Jan 23, 2019, the Ohio Supreme Court (OHSC) reversed their prior decisions that enabled the Ohio Boards of Elections to prevent citizen-led ballot initiatives from proceeding to the ballot, based on their review of the content.  These prior decisions are what kept the CCBOR off the November 2018 ballot.    Based on two recent decisions involving citizen lead initiatives in Toledo, Ohio,  Maxcy vs Saferin http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2018/2018-Ohio-4035.pdf  and

State vs Abernathy http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2019/2019-Ohio-201.pdf, the CCBOR community group sent Columbus City Council a letter today (copy attached) asking them to vote to place the CCBOR on the May 2019 ballot.   “City Council has the power to advocate for local democracy, to let the peoples’ voices be heard. The Toledo City Council did this for their residents, even after the BOE and the Ohio Supreme Court initially decided to keep LEBOR off the ballot, and the people of Columbus expect the same from our elected representatives.” Bill Lyons, Columbus State Math Professor, CCBOR co-organizer   “It’s about Safe Water for our Kids. It’s about Democracy.  It’s about the Columbus City Council members doing what’s best for Columbus.” Karyn Deibel, Trager Practitioner, CCBOR volunteer. “The people of Columbus have been waiting for a chance to vote on this initiative for over 4 years.”

For more information on the proposed initiative go to: https://www.columbusbillofrights.org/Resources/BillOfRights