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Commission reviews advisory-question authority and nomination signature rules in Article 10
Summary
The commission discussed a provision clarifying that only charter municipalities may place advisory questions on ballots and reviewed petition-nomination signature and qualification provisions.
At its April 2025 meeting, the Sunbury City Charter Review Commission reviewed proposed edits to Article 10 covering advisory ballot questions and petition nominations for elected office.
Staff member Rebecca noted a recent case in Central Ohio in which a municipality sought to place a nonbinding advisory question on the ballot — for example, asking residents, “Do you want to have a community center?” Rebecca said case law limits the authority to place advisory questions in some circumstances, and she cited Article 18, Section 3 (Powers of Self Government) as the relevant authority for charter municipalities.
Commissioners also discussed candidate-nomination petitions. The draft language in 10.01(f) requires 25 signatures for petition nominations. A commissioner asked whether other qualifications — such as residency duration, prohibitions related to felony convictions, or tax delinquency — were stated elsewhere in the charter. Rebecca pointed the commission to section 3.02, which the commission already includes in the charter text and which sets qualifications for elected office. Rebecca and commissioners said state law also contains disqualifying provisions for convicted felons.
No formal change to the draft was adopted at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to confirm cross-references to section 3.02 and to ensure the proposed ballot-question language aligns with the legal limits on advisory questions for charter municipalities.
