Lorain County 'seven districts' plan soundly defeated by voters on Tuesday

The Lorain County Appointive Executive Plan, also known as the "seven districts" plan and Issue 20 on Tuesday's ballot, was rejected by voters. Voters defeated the plan to expand the three-member county Board of Commissioners by a tally of 66,083 votes against the plan, or 68 percent, to 31,606 votes for the plan, or 32 percent, according to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections. The plan would have increased the number of commissioners to seven, each of whom would have been elected from a district representing approximately 45,000 Lorain Countians. All but two of Ohio's 88 counties have a three commissioners. Only Cuyahoga and Summit counties have county councils with elected county executives. Issue 20 would have allowed the seven-member board to appoint a county executive to make decisions, similar to the existing county administrator position. Commissioners David Moore and Jeff Riddell, both Republicans, are longtime supporters of expanding the board. Commissioner Michelle Hung, also a Republican, voted with Moore and Riddell to put the matter to the voters in July, then campaigned against Issue 20. "As your duly elected Lorain County commissioner, I advocated for the residents right to make the decision to keep the form of county government that has served them well for nearly 200 years," Hung wrote in a statement to The Chronicle-Telegram on Tuesday. "The campaign finance reports show that big donor money attempted to hijack your political voice. Thank you to all who worked, networked and educated to stop the expansion of your county government." Brian Hoagland, a member of the Citizens for Equal Representation and a Democrat, called the result of Tuesday's election "disappointing" and said he "felt bad" for county residents. "It was not about our group, it was about our citizens voting on it, and tonight they did just that," he said. Citizens for Equal Representation managed to get the issue on the ballot after several failed attempts, and Hoagland said an expanded board of commissioners would have taken "the ridiculous politics" out of board business. "I can rest knowing I spoke up for something I truly believed in, got it on the ballot and educated residents on the facts," Hoagland said. "I stressed facts, spoke the truth, and ran a clean campaign. It's unfortunate that our opposition didn't do the same." Residents "made a decision based on false rhetoric and lies," Hoagland said, while he was trying to "make government better for Lorain County." "We gave it a good try," he said. Messages seeking comment were left for Moore and Riddell on Tuesday. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on X, formerly Twitter.