Charter change initiative defeated by 54-vote margin
By DAVID S. OWEN
By a 54-vote margin Pickerington voters turned down Issue 9, the proposed amendment to the city's charter to preserve its right to annex land or conform its boundaries, during Tuesday's primary election.
Unofficial final results from the Fairfield and Franklin County boards of election show 1,143 voters (51.2 percent) voted against the charter change and 1,089 voters (48.8 percent) voted for the change.
''We are real pleased that the electorate got a chance to find out the facts on this issue and we're looking forward to working hard on economic development opportunities with Violet Township, Bloom Township, Lancaster, and Canal Winchester,'' said Pickerington Councilman Jeff Fix, who opposed the proposed charter amendment from the start.
Also opposing the issue were Pickerington councilmen Keith Smith, Heidi Riggs and Cristie Hammond, and Mayor David Shaver.
The rejection of the proposed amendment means the city can choose to negotiate away its right to annex land or form a so-called ''paper township'' as a condition for an economic development agreement with another municipality.
''I am very pleased that the voters have voted in favor of it, and I think it will be a bright future that will encourage commercial development outside of our boarders,'' Smith said.
''It's a message from our voters and this sends a message to other political entities, and they will want to work with us,'' Riggs said.
''This is all about bringing commercial development to Pickerington,'' she said.
Issue 9 came to life in January after City Council passed a proposed economic development agreement with Violet Township in a 4 -3 vote. The agreement waived the city's rights to annexation for an extended period of time.
Concerned residents and the councilmen who voted against the agreement -- Ted Hackworth, Michael Sabatino and Brian Wisniewski -- drafted a referendum to overturn the agreement and began the initiative petition drive for the charter change.
The three councilmen and the other residents spent a couple of weekends in January gathering signatures for both the referendum and the initiative petition to get the issues on the ballot.
''We fought a good fight, and its hard when your mayor and a fair amount of council signed and sent a letter to voters saying if it passed it would cost the city millions of dollars which isn't true,'' Wisniewski said.
''They don't have anything to back it up ... and when you have a mayor that is willing to lie, what can you do?'' Wisniewski said.
''We're weren't willing to do that, we told the truth, but it's hard to win an election when someone is using scare tactics and that's what they did, they scared the voters into voting 'no,' '' he said.
''I am going to sit back and wait for them to pick the money off of the trees, and have the dump truck back in and unload the money,'' Wisniewski said.
''The issue is not about the tactic, its about the result,'' Fix said.
''It will take time until we see significant revenue ... but we're in a good position to do it now,'' Fix said.
By Concerned about the lies
By DAVID S. OWEN
By a 54-vote margin Pickerington voters turned down Issue 9, the proposed amendment to the city's charter to preserve its right to annex land or conform its boundaries, during Tuesday's primary election.
Unofficial final results from the Fairfield and Franklin County boards of election show 1,143 voters (51.2 percent) voted against the charter change and 1,089 voters (48.8 percent) voted for the change.
''We are real pleased that the electorate got a chance to find out the facts on this issue and we're looking forward to working hard on economic development opportunities with Violet Township, Bloom Township, Lancaster, and Canal Winchester,'' said Pickerington Councilman Jeff Fix, who opposed the proposed charter amendment from the start.
Also opposing the issue were Pickerington councilmen Keith Smith, Heidi Riggs and Cristie Hammond, and Mayor David Shaver.
The rejection of the proposed amendment means the city can choose to negotiate away its right to annex land or form a so-called ''paper township'' as a condition for an economic development agreement with another municipality.
''I am very pleased that the voters have voted in favor of it, and I think it will be a bright future that will encourage commercial development outside of our boarders,'' Smith said.
''It's a message from our voters and this sends a message to other political entities, and they will want to work with us,'' Riggs said.
''This is all about bringing commercial development to Pickerington,'' she said.
Issue 9 came to life in January after City Council passed a proposed economic development agreement with Violet Township in a 4 -3 vote. The agreement waived the city's rights to annexation for an extended period of time.
Concerned residents and the councilmen who voted against the agreement -- Ted Hackworth, Michael Sabatino and Brian Wisniewski -- drafted a referendum to overturn the agreement and began the initiative petition drive for the charter change.
The three councilmen and the other residents spent a couple of weekends in January gathering signatures for both the referendum and the initiative petition to get the issues on the ballot.
''We fought a good fight, and its hard when your mayor and a fair amount of council signed and sent a letter to voters saying if it passed it would cost the city millions of dollars which isn't true,'' Wisniewski said.
''They don't have anything to back it up ... and when you have a mayor that is willing to lie, what can you do?'' Wisniewski said.
''We're weren't willing to do that, we told the truth, but it's hard to win an election when someone is using scare tactics and that's what they did, they scared the voters into voting 'no,' '' he said.
''I am going to sit back and wait for them to pick the money off of the trees, and have the dump truck back in and unload the money,'' Wisniewski said.
''The issue is not about the tactic, its about the result,'' Fix said.
''It will take time until we see significant revenue ... but we're in a good position to do it now,'' Fix said.
By Concerned about the lies
