Issue 20: Lorain County Appointive Executive Plan to alter elected government

Issue 20 What is it: The Lorain County Appointive Executive Plan would create seven districts in Lorain County each represented by an elected commissioner, who would then appoint a county executive. Ballot language: "Shall the county of Lorain adopt the form of county government known as the county appointive executive plan with a board of seven county commissioners, of which none shall be elected at large and seven shall be elected by districts, as provided for in sections 302.01 to 302.24, inclusive of the (Ohio) Revised Code, and described in the schedule and map attached to the resolution of the county commissioners dated (insert date here) under which form each county commissioner share receive annual compensation equal to sixty per cent of that provided in section 325.10 of the Revised Code?" A voter would choose either "for adoption of the county appointive executive plan" or "against adoption of the county appointive executive plan" at the ballot box. Websites: For - 7 Districts Against - Vote NO on Issue 20Backers of Issue 20, the Lorain County Appointive Executive Plan on the November ballot, say their plan will increase representation for county residents in their government. Critics call it a plan to create one-party rule in Lorain County. Voters will decide which way to go at the polls Nov. 7. The county currently is governed by a three-member Board of Commissioners. If the issue passes, it would create a new board of seven members that then appoint a county executive with powers set forth in Ohio Revised Code Section 302. Voters would not get to vote on an elected county executive, only on the board that would appoint that position. The plan to change that is backed by a group called Citizens for Equal Representation for Lorain County, including organizers Homer Taft and Brian Hoagland, who presented the proposal to the Lorain County Board of Commissioners in June. The board voted unanimously in July to place the issue before the voters. Commissioner Michelle Hung has since emerged as a critic of the plan. Commissioners David Moore and Jeff Riddell back the plan. Citizens for Equal Representation for Lorain County tried in 2014, 2015 and 2017 to get the issue on the ballot and had proposed a charter form of government similar to that in Cuyahoga and Summit counties -- currently, the only two Ohio counties not governed by a three-member board of commissioners. In a proposal that was designed by Mark Salling of Cleveland State University and Triad Research Group using 2020 Census data, the group created a map of seven districts, each containing approximately 45,000 Lorain County residents: 1. All of Amherst; Wards 4 and 8 of Lorain; all of Brownhelm Township, including the portion of Vermilion in Lorain County; Amherst Township, excluding the portion of the township within South Amherst; and most of Elyria Township; 2. The city of Oberlin, the villages of Wellington, South Amherst, Kipton, Rochester, LaGrange, and Grafton and Henrietta, New Russia, Camden, Pittsfield, LaGrange, Grafton, Brighton, Wellington, Penfield, Rochester and Huntington townships; 3. Elyria Ward 3; North Ridgeville Ward 3 and Precincts 4A, B, C, F, and G in North Ridgeville; most of Camden and Eaton townships; and Carlisle and Columbia townships; 4. Most of Elyria and a portion of Elyria Township; 5. Avon; Wards 1, 2 and Precincts 4D and 4E of North Ridgeville; 6. All of Avon Lake, Sheffield Lake, Sheffield and Lorain's Ward 1; and 7. Wards 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Lorain and all of Sheffield Township. Critics claim the districts divide up the county too much in favor of Republicans by carving up the cities of Elyria, Lorain and North Ridgeville. The plan also buries heavily liberal and Democratic Oberlin in a much more conservative district, which Riddell has already told The Chronicle-Telegram he will seek to represent in the final two years of his four-year term as commissioner. The plan, critics say, is a way for Republicans to gain one-party control over county government, with a likely 4-3 or possibly 5-2 edge on the board if the plan is approved the way the districts have been drawn. Salling and the plan's backers have said there are more independent voters in Lorain County than there are registered Democrats and Republicans combined, which could make for competitive races in the proposed districts. Proponents also have said that it would be easier and less expensive for candidates to campaign in smaller districts rather than running for one of three at-large, county-wide seats like on the current board. The proposal also calls for the seven members of the newly-formed Board of Commissioners to be paid $56,000 each. Hoagland and Taft said they envision the seven seats on the board as "part-time" elected positions that can be held by community members who will keep their regular day jobs. The increased pay for a board with seven commissioners comes to at least $392,000, or more than the total salaries of the three current commissioners combined. Critics say the new board increases the size and cost of county government at the expense of taxpayers. The plan is opposed by the Lorain County Democratic Party, whose members "vehemently oppose Issue 20, which they consider to be 'gerrymandering on a local level that will result in bigger government and increased taxes for the residents of Lorain County,'" party leaders said in a recent news release. Democratic Lorain County Auditor Craig Snodgrass and his professional organization, the majority Republican County Auditors Association of Ohio, also oppose the plan. Snodgrass said the plan creates much bigger, more-costly government -- to the tune of anywhere between $120,000 and $2 million more for taxpayers. Opposing the plan are the Lorain County Deputies Association; Lorain County AFL-CIO; the Lorain County UAW CAP Council; Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson; Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti; Rick Thomas and Rich Resendez, the two Democratic candidates who have declared as candidates for sheriff in 2024; the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio; the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association; the Ohio State Coroners Association; Ohio Recorders Association; County Engineers Association of Ohio; and Ohio Clerk of Courts Association. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.