Toledo, OH: At a meeting held on Monday, December 10, to certify the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) to the special election ballot in February, the Lucas County Board of Elections instead received a written protest which will be the subject of a contested hearing on December 20. A Columbus law firm filed the challenge on behalf of Josh Abernathy of 247 Plymouth Street, Toledo, to keep the LEBOR off the ballot. The Columbus firm, McTigue and Colombo LLC has represented corporate, labor and governmental clients in other cities, including Columbus and Bowling Green, in attempts to keep citizen initiatives off ballots.
The basis for the protest is that the Board of Elections and Ohio Supreme Court already decided this matter and the BOE cannot vote on it a second time. However both the BOE and the Ohio Supreme Court decided that another Toledo citizen initiative, “Keep the Jail Downtown”, could not go on the ballot, but Toledo City Council ordered that measure to be placed on the ballot for the February special election, and faced no ballot protest.
Hilary Tore, an organizer with Toledoans for Safe Water (TSW), commented, “Obviously we’re disappointed, but not surprised. This is a trend we see occurring in communities across Ohio working to pass local laws that assert the people’s right to self-govern. We’re not intimidated and we’re not going away. We’ll keep fighting for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights - we have everything to lose if we don’t.”
The campaign for the Lake Erie Bill of Rights will continue as planned despite the protest filed against the initiative. “It’s imperative that we keep going - now more than ever, said Markie Miller, also a TSW organizer. “We have a responsibility to protect our community and the lake. We cannot and will not sit back and be silent as our rights are withheld and the rights of nature are halted. At some point our access to safe water has to take priority over corporate profit.”
Mike Ferner, coordinator of Advocates for a Clean Lake Erie, said, "Our group will likely have to go back into Federal Court a second time to try and compel the US EPA to enforce the Clean Water Act and who knows if that will be successful. The Lake Erie Bill of Rights, a new approach to protecting the environment, should be supported by everyone who says they want a healthy Lake Erie. The courts and the legislature have failed us so far. It's time for new ideas."
The Lake Erie Bill of Rights, a first-in-the-nation specific Ecosystem Rights of Nature initiative by the people, will enshrine in the Toledo City Charter that the Lake Erie watershed and ecosystem have legal rights to exist and flourish. TSW is part of a movement to advance a new legal framework for addressing environmental issues by giving citizens standing to sue major polluters on behalf of Lake Erie in civil court, enabling citizens to directly challenge pollution and harm to their drinking water before the harm occurs.
The initiative was drafted by TSW working with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) as a result of frustration felt by Toledoans after years of inaction by the government on reversing the pollution and destruction of Lake Erie. Since 2006, CELDF has partnered with dozens of communities across more than 10 states to enact Rights of Nature laws. It currently works in Nepal, India, Cameroon, Colombia, Australia, and other countries. The introduction of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights will establish Toledo as a leader in the growing national movement embracing Community Rights and Rights of Nature.
Contact Toledoans for Safe Water
Markie Miller, organizer
Crystal Jankowski, organizer
419-482-8470
Contact Advocates for a Clean Lake Erie
Mike Ferner, coordinator
419-729-7273
