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Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023
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Volume 10, Issue 32
Ballot set for general election STAFF REPORT
The ballot is set for the upcoming Nov. 7 general election in Lorain County, after the filing deadline for candidates and issues to get in front of voters passed Aug. 9 The candidates and issues will be certified at a Lorain County Board of Elections meeting at 3 p.m. Aug. 21, Director Paul Adams said. Issue numbers for the more than 40 separate Ohio constitutional amendments, tax levies, local liquor options and charter amendments will be announced at that meeting. Adams said the issues are numbered on a rotational basis. This year, the proposed reproductive rights amendment to the Ohio Constitution is likely to be Issue 1 on Nov. 7, followed by township, school district and county issues numbered in ascending order.
Aug. 8 special election final numbers also will be certified on Aug. 21. Issue 1, a proposed amendment that would have made it more difficult for citizen-led initiatives to make the ballot, was soundly defeated by Ohio voters. Lorain County residents voted down the measure. Tuesday’s final tally was 53,119 against Issue 1 to 31,489 for Issue 1, according to incomplete and unofficial results from the board of elections. Adams said there are 1,080 outstanding provisional ballots yet to be counted, along with 771 outstanding absentee ballots — not enough for a change in the final result, though both sides of the issue could gain some votes. A full list of all candidates is available on the Lorain County Board of Elections website. The Nov. 7 ballot for Amherst, Oberlin, Wellington and the surrounding townships and villages looks as follows:
Candidates
Amherst Incumbent Republican Amherst Mayor Mark Costilow is unopposed for reelection, as is Law Director Anthony Pecora, a Democrat. The Amherst city auditor’s office has two candidates vying for the unfinished term after former Auditor Derek Pittak resigned effective June 5. Councilman David Janik, D-At Large, will face Republican Brenda Phillips for the remainder of Pittak’s term through 2025. Phillips is the current interim auditor, appointed by the city’s Republican Central Committee in June. Incumbent Councilman Brian Dembinski, D-1st Ward, will face Republican challenger Kevin DeLong. Two newcomers will face off for Amherst’s 2nd Ward: Appointed Republican candidate Kristin Dickerhoff and Democrat Becky Harmych.
Incumbent Councilman Jake Wachholz, D-3rd Ward, is unopposed for reelection. Incumbent Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, D-4th Ward, withdrew from the ballot, prompting the city’s Democratic Central Committee to replace her in the running this November with Melissa Brown. Brown will face Republican Matthew Nahorn, who held the seat prior to not seeking reelection in November 2021.
Oberlin Incumbent council members Bryan Burgess, Ray English, Eboni Johnson, Michael McFarlin, Elizabeth Meadows and Kristin Peterson will face challengers Frieda Fuchs, Libni Lopez, Jessa New, Joseph Peek and Joe Waltzer for seven at-large seats. Oberlin City Council is nonpartisan and each council member serves a two-year term. Kipton
Incumbent Mayor Bob Meilander is running unopposed for reelection, as is Councilwoman Patricia Eschen. The races are nonpartisan and the terms are four years.
Rochester No one filed by Wednesday’s deadline to replace Mayor Cindy Kurpely, who announced in July that she wouldn’t be running for another term when hers expires in December. Incumbent Village Councilwoman Sue Sparks is running unopposed for reelection. A second council seat also is open with no candidates, according to the board of elections. South Amherst Incumbent South Amherst Mayor David Leshinski will face challenger Scott Jones this November. Jones is currently a member of Village Council. Incumbent council members ELECTION PAGE A3
Federal lawsuit alleges bribery, extortion in Lorain County radio contract controversy
Pedal power
DAVE O’BRIEN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
A federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland by a former county vendor on Aug. 10 accuses two Lorain County commissioners and their county administrator of bribery, extortion and racketeering during the process of canceling its contract to provide county first responders with emergency radios. The Lorain County Board of Commissioners, Republican commissioners David Moore and Jeff Riddell and County Administrator Jeff Armbruster were sued by Cleveland Communications Inc. of Parma, according to copy of the lawsuit reviewed by The Chronicle-Telegram. CCI had dismissed a months-old prior lawsuit against the board in Lorain County Common Pleas Court earlier in the day. The new lawsuit alleges “a course of unlawful and corrupt conduct involving a contract to upgrade a countywide emergency radio communications system for Lorain County to be paid for by millions of dollars in federal grant money.”
KRISTIN BAUER | The Community Guide
ABOVE: Students hit the road at Safety Town on a tractor pedal cars as officers from the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office and Wellington Police Department taught the students about road safety on Aug. 11. RIGHT: Kyle Byron-Butler, 5, of Wellington, is fit for a bicycle helmet while at Safety Town by Pam Mazzone, secretary at the Kiwanis Club of Wellington. The Kiwanis provided free bike helmets to all of the students enrolled in the Safety Town program.
Chief Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord, who reviewed the new lawsuit Thursday, said board policy is not to comment on pending litigation. “Another waste of taxpayer money for a frivolous lawsuit,” Moore wrote in a text message to a Chronicle-Telegram reporter on Thursday. “We will vigorously defend against it.” Moore claimed CCI dropped the lawsuit in common pleas court “because the decisions were not going their way,” then filed anew in federal court. Riddell said he couldn’t comment on “this obviously frivolous lawsuit” that he hadn’t seen, and questioned how a reporter saw a copy before the commissioners did. The lawsuit is a public record. Hung said she hadn’t seen the lawsuit and was only informed it had been filed as she walked out of her office at the end of the day Thursday. “I was told CCI’s initial lawsuit was dismissed, then was informed at the end of the day that it had been refiled in federal court,” she said. LAWSUIT PAGE A2
INSIDE THIS WEEK Oberlin
Sports
Wellington
Kurt Russell comes home ● A5
Amherst Girls soccer scrimmage ● A6
Back-to-school bash ● A4
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS A4 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8