Wording dooms green energy initiative
The Columbus City Council plans to vote Monday on legislation that would stop a green energy initiative from appearing on the Nov. 5 ballot.
That’s because of an opinion Friday from City Attorney Zach Klein’s office that said the city’s chief counsel mistakenly reviewed an earlier version of the petition to place the issue on the ballot, and that the correct petition is not sufficient because of contradictory language.
The chief counsel, Josh Cox, said he erroneously reviewed a 2017 draft of the petition to see that it was legally sufficient, rather than the petition that green energy group Proenergy Ohio created in 2018 and circulated for signatures.
“I stubbed my toe on this
one,” Cox said. “It’s 100% my fault.”
But Cox also said the 2018 petition contains some problematic language:
• The last provision of the title on the first page states: “to waive the competitive bidding provision of the Columbus City Codes.” On subsequent pages it reads, “to encourage the competitive bidding provisions.” Another section says that “it is not in the best interest of the city of Columbus to waive competitive bidding.”
• Another section says the ordinance will be an emergency measure, but neither of the titles in the petition makes any reference to it being an emergency.
“These are pretty blatant errors,” Cox said.
The city council passed an ordinance finding the petition legally sufficient on July 15. The new legislation that council plans to vote on Monday would repeal that legislation while finding the petition legally insufficient.
Meredith Tucker, a spokeswoman for Klein’s office, said: “Had we not caught this mistake, they would be in the same position, needing to correct the language.”
John Clarke, Proenergy Ohio’s project coordinator, said in an email: “I’m sure our attorneys will review any issues.”
Cox said Mayor Andrew J. Ginther’s office brought the inconsistency in the language to his attention.
City officials were concerned about the potential hit to the city’s operating budget if voters were to approve the initiative. It would steer $57 million in city money to green energy initiatives, including $42 million for a Columbus Clean Energy Partnership Fund that would pay for an electricity subsidy program toward green energy for Columbus residents.
The remaining $15 million would go toward efforts to promote green energy educational and training efforts, a fund to promote clean energy initiatives for minority businesses and a fund that would “promote and fund energy conservation and energy efficiency initiatives” in the city.
“We are focused on responsible, collaborative efforts to combat climate change and invest in clean energy. We oppose the proposed ballot issue because it threatens basic city services,” said Robin Davis, Ginther’s spokeswoman.
A memo Friday from Council President Shannon Hardin and Council Chief of Staff Mike Brown said the plan is also opposed by local environmental groups “due to its lack of accountability, transparency and diversion of public resources to an external party for questionable use.”