The group known as For A Better Ohio, which has been circulating a citywide initiative petition to rule out arrest or prosecution for misdemeanor amounts of marijuana, will turn in more than 10,000 signatures to the city clerk's office on Tuesday, said Kenneth Schweickart, the group's executive director.

Two other groups that want to put issues before voters in November are scrambling for signatures as an unofficial deadline approaches this week:

Progress with Economic and Environmental Responsibility, which is seeking a moratorium on Columbus extending sewer and water lines into the watershed of the Big Darby Creek, had logged by Friday 6,900 of the 7,213 signatures needed to make the ballot, said Paul Dumouchelle, the group's president.

Police Officers for Equal Rights, which seeks to make racial profiling by police a crime punishable by up to six months in jail, has about 5,000 signatures, said James Moss, that group's president. He said he hoped to collect 9,000 signatures over the weekend.

Petitioners typically want a cushion of several thousand signatures to ensure that enough of them are valid.

Dumouchelle said he would like to turn in more than 10,000 signatures this week. If his group can't get enough, the new target could be the May 2002 ballot.

"The November deadline is our objective,'' he said. "But there's nothing in the ballot initiative process that prevents us from submitting these signatures one day after the deadline and going on the next ballot.''

The official deadline to make the November ballot is Aug. 23. But because the City Council recesses in August, petitioners know they must turn in their signatures this week to ensure enough time to make the ballot, and they are hoping to file by Tuesday.

After signatures are turned in to the city clerk, the Franklin County Board of Elections has 10 days to check them against voting records and throw out any that are not from registered Columbus voters.

If there are enough valid signatures, the City Council can take up to two weeks to approve the initiative for the ballot. The council's last meeting of the summer is July 30.

Schweickart said the vacation interferes with petitioners' ability to get enough signatures by cutting off three weeks to circulate petitions.

"They're hindering our access to government,'' he said.

Council spokesman Fred Alverson said the summer recess is not intended to trample anyone's rights.

"The tradition of an August break goes back to before City Hall was air-conditioned,'' he said. "This shouldn't catch anyone by surprise. Our entire meeting schedule was published in January.''

During the past several years, citizen-generated petitions have become more common in Columbus. In an initiative, a group of residents puts a legislative issue before the voters for approval. A referendum submits a law to a vote by residents.

In 1998, voters defeated an initiative that would have required Columbus to bridge the Olentangy River and connect Morse and Bethel roads. In 1999, voters defeated an initiative that would have rescinded tax incentives the city approved for the Polaris Centers of Commerce.

Recently citizens have successfully used referendum petitions to kill two measures passed by the City Council. In 1999, the council rescinded votes to allow a housing development near the Pickerington Ponds Wetlands Wildlife Refuge and to grant health benefits to the unmarried, live-in partners of city employees after citizen groups gathered enough signatures to place the issues on the ballot.

The last referendum to make the ballot was in 1993, when voters upheld the council's decision to allow the Mall at Tuttle Crossing to be built on the Northwest Side.

Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Author: Doug Caruso, Dispatch City Hall Reporter
Published: Monday, July 2, 2001
Copyright: 2001 The Columbus Dispatch
Contact: letters@dispatch.com
Website: http://www.dispatch.com/

Related Articles & Web Site:

For a Better Ohio
http://www.ohiohemp.org/

The Campaign To Decriminalize Pot
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10132.shtml

Students Working To Decriminalize MJ Offense
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9001.shtml

Ohio Group Writes Bill Proposal on Marijuana Use
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8263.shtml

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