Commission accepts clerk's finding that West Dayton hospital petition lacked required signatures; petitioners press case

The Dayton City Commission on Wednesday voted to adopt the clerk's report that found the citizens' initiative petition to create a publicly funded hospital in West Dayton was invalid because it did not include the required 1,250 valid signatures from Dayton voters.

The clerk's report, filed for the record at the meeting, followed a review by the Montgomery County Board of Elections. Board officials told the commission they had examined the submitted petition and returned a statement attesting to the number of valid signatures; the Board reported 869 valid signatures, short of the 1,250 threshold the city charter requires.

The finding drew a large public hearing. Representatives of the Clergy Community Coalition (CCC), which sponsored the petition, said the group had collected thousands of signatures in two rounds and that their efforts reflect ongoing health-care access problems in West Dayton. Bishop Clarence Cox and other coalition members disputed a fiscal life-cycle cost analysis presented to the commission and urged a phased or smaller-scale approach that would restore local obstetrics, emergency and preventive services.

The commission heard a summary of a life-cycle cost assessment prepared by Wolpert, which estimated high construction, staffing and long-term maintenance costs for a 300-bed, 750,000-square-foot hospital over 40 years. The Wolpert presenter said labor would drive most of the lifetime cost and that alternatives such as enhanced outpatient, home-based and phased facilities could be more feasible.

Petition backers said the Wolpert analysis used an inappropriate comparator and did not reflect their vision for a phased, community-driven facility. Bishop Cox said the CCC never demanded a MetroHealth-scale hospital and called the consultant's numbers a 'false representation.' Other witnesses at the hearing described high infant and maternal mortality rates and local life-expectancy gaps they said resulted from the loss of Good Samaritan Hospital.

After the public presentations and questions from commissioners, the commission voted to adopt the clerk's finding. The motion to accept the clerk's recommendation passed with three votes in favor and two abstentions. Mayor Jeffrey J. Mims Jr., Commissioner Matt Joseph and Commissioner Shaw voted yes. Commissioners Fairchild and Turner-Sloss recorded abstentions. The commission did not put the proposed ordinance on the ballot because the petition was found insufficient under city charter rules.

The record the commission adopted notes the procedural steps for initiative petitions: city charter time frames, the clerk's referral to the Board of Elections for signature verification, and the option for petitioners to collect new signatures if the commission had failed to act in the statutory period. In this case the commission acted within the charter window and adopted the clerk's report.

Petitioners at the meeting urged further discussions with the city about smaller, phased investments and about directing professional feasibility and needs assessments toward concrete interim steps to expand services in West Dayton. Several commissioners said they would be willing to continue conversations with petitioners and health-care partners on alternative solutions to address the community's maternal, infant and primary-care gaps.

Votes at a glance: - Motion: Accept the Clerk of Commission's finding that the petition is invalid (lacked 1,250 valid Dayton voter signatures). Mover: (motion on record). Outcome: approved. Vote: Mayor Jeffrey J. Mims Jr. — yes; Commissioner Matt Joseph — yes; Commissioner Shaw — yes; Commissioner Fairchild — abstain; Commissioner Turner-Sloss — abstain.

The commission also recorded that, were it to have found the petition valid, the next steps would have included either adopting the proposed ordinance within 30 days, or, if it failed to act, allowing petitioners 20 days to collect supplemental signatures to place the measure on the ballot.