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Resident tells council annexation of Miami County land denied Bethel Township residents a vote
Summary
A Huber Heights-area resident criticized the city's annexation of 300 acres in Miami County's Bethel Township and argued residents there were denied a vote on the development of 1,400 houses.
Jeff Morford, a resident who identified himself as from Miami County's Bethel Township, used the council's public-comment period to sharply criticize Huber Heights' recent annexation decisions and the process that led to them.
Morford said the city voted to accept the annexation of about 300 acres in Bethel Township and to allow construction of roughly 1,400 houses "without the approval, support, or promotion of the citizens of Bethel Township, the three elected Bethel Township trustees, or the three elected Miami County commissioners." Morford framed his remarks as a defense of voting rights and civic process, saying annexation is “the only law or procedure that I know of where all citizens affected by its outcome are not allowed to vote.”
He urged council members to consider citizens' rights and invoked multiple constitutional provisions during his remarks, citing what he described as the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and the Nineteenth Amendment in the context of voting rights. Morford told council that although annexation may be legal, he believed the action was “un-American” if it denied residents a direct vote on their future.
Council members did not take formal action in response to Morford’s remarks during the meeting. The council later continued through its business agenda; no agenda item at this meeting reported a council action reversing or altering the annexation process cited by Morford.
