Buckeye Lake mayor wants recall election canceled
BUCKEYE LAKE − Mayor Jeryne Peterson filed a complaint Thursday with the Ohio Supreme Court, seeking to cancel the Feb. 27 special mayoral recall election.
Peterson, elected in 2021, argues in the court filing that the recall election was not initiated by the village in compliance with its charter and Ohio law.
The respondents named in the complaint are the elections boards in Licking and Fairfield counties, the village of Buckeye Lake and Village Council President Linda Goodman.
Peterson alleges the Licking County Board of Elections determined on Dec. 18 that the recall petitions lacked the sufficient number of signatures and that the village charter allows 10 days for petition circulators to refile the petitions with the required number of signatures.
The mayor further alleges the petitions were filed Jan. 2, which she said is beyond the 10-day extension. Peterson objected to the acceptance of the refiled petitions.
Buckeye Lake Village Council, through solicitor Brad Nicodemus, rejected Peterson’s argument that the petitions were invalid. The village charter does to state whether weekends and holidays should be counted as part of the 10 days.
Goodman declined to comment except to say the village followed the Licking County Board of Elections procedure of not counting holidays and weekends.
Brian Mead, director of the Licking County Board of Elections, said it’s up to the village to determine the validity of the petitions, but added, “It’s very common in elections, if the filing deadlines fall on the weekend or holiday, it’s bumped to the next business day.”
If holidays and weekend days are not counted, the Jan. 2 date would have been the ninth day after Dec. 18 and the seventh day after Dec. 20, when the notice of insufficient signatures was provided, according to the village ordinance setting the election date.
Initially, 246 valid signatures from registered voters were obtained, but circulators collected 19 more signatures for a total of 265, more than the required 252, which is 15% of the village’s registered voters.
Council Clerk Samantha Torres notified the mayor on Jan. 5 that recall petition organizers collected enough additional signatures, allowing the recall effort to proceed, according to the charter.
The Jan. 5 date is the 10th day from the Dec. 20 notification of insufficient signatures, if holidays and weekends are not counted.
The mayor had five days after the Jan. 5 notification to resign and avoid the recall election and the resulting cost to the village.
The charter states: “If the clerk of council shall find the petition insufficient, the clerk shall promptly certify the particulars in which the petition is insufficient, deliver a copy of the certificate to the person who filed the petition and make a record of such delivery.
“Such person shall be allowed a period of 10 days after the day on which such delivery was made in which to make the petition sufficient. If the clerk of council finds the petition to be sufficient, the clerk shall, within five days, certify that fact to council and deliver a copy of the certificate to the person or persons whose removal is sought.”
Peterson endured a chaotic year in 2023, with complaints and resignations from village employees, unanimous censure and no-confidence votes from village council, a fight with the village solicitor and a lawsuit alleging discrimination filed by a local hotel against the village, mayor and police officials.
Peterson received 30% of the vote in 2021 to become the village’s fifth mayor elected in the past five elections.
The Ohio Supreme Court set the following deadlines: Respondents must file their answer to the complaint by 4 p.m. Monday; Peterson must file her evidence and merit brief by 4 p.m. Feb. 8; Respondents must file their evidence and merit brief by 4 p.m. Feb. 12; and Peterson may file a reply brief by 4 p.m. Feb. 14. kmallett@newarkadvocate.com 740-973-4539
Twitter: @kmallett1958