Legal chief faults ward ballot plan

Columbus City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer says the latest attempt to create a ward-based City Council violates city rules for ballot initiatives.

The plan, submitted April 3 by a group attempting to change the makeup of the council, would create a mix of district and at-large representatives, update campaign-finance regulations and create a public fund to finance city campaigns.

In a memo to the city clerk and the council, Pfeiffer said the proposal violates the city charter’s “single-subject

requirement” for ballot initiatives.

City law dictates that petitions must contain only one proposal and cannot address “multiple or unrelated subject matters or questions of law” if they are to make the ballot.

Generally, the proposal deals with the size and composition of the council. But Pfeiffer’s memo says other points, including campaigncontribution limits and the creation of a publicly funded campaign-finance program, violate the provision.

“He wants to change the composition of council. He also wants to address campaign finance,” Pfeiffer said of Jonathan Beard, who submitted the petition. “Those are separate and distinct subjects.”

Beard said that proponents of the change plan to review Pfeiffer’s memo before deciding whether to revise their plan.

“We presented what we think is the ideal form of the legislation, the ideal form of Columbus City Council,” Beard said. “We’ll make the decision that’s in our best interest if we should revise it or litigate it.”

Beard submitted a “precirculation petition” that tells the city that he and others plan to collect signatures in support of the plan so that it can be put to a citywide vote as a ballot issue. The group would need to gather 17,780 signatures to put the proposal on the November ballot.

If approved by voters, Beard’s plan would expand the council from seven to 13 seats, including 10 members elected from districts. The remaining three members would be elected citywide.

The plan also would cap campaign contributions to council candidates at $1,000 from individuals, corporations and political-action committees and $5,000 from political parties.

The proposal calls for creating a campaign fund for council candidates using a portion of the city’s casinotax revenue and assessments on properties receiving tax abatements. The fund would be used to match small campaign contributions to candidates, who would need to agree to a $150,000 spending limit.

Beard said the proposal is “comprehensive,” and the single-subject provision should not rule it out.

Pfeiffer said, “Campaign finance is a distinct subject matter from how a council is organized.”

Beard and others have been pushing a district system for years. In an August special election, Columbus voters rejected a similar district plan.

After that election, the city created a charter-review committee to look at the composition of the council. It concluded that the city should add two council members and divide into nine districts. Candidates would have to live in a district, but they still would be elected at large.

City officials plan to have public hearings on the charter-review committee’s proposal before the council decides whether to put the changes on the ballot.

Beard said those suggestions were an “abysmal failure” and gave rise to his most recent proposal.

“There are fundamental flaws in the way we elect candidates,” he said.