Supreme Court sides with ProEnergy Ohio on Columbus ordinance effort.
The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered Columbus City Council to move forward with consideration of an initiated ordinance sought by a group that wants the city to direct $87 million to clean energy programming.
In a decision Thursday evening, a majority of justices ruled city council “abused its discretion” late last year when it rejected a petition from ProEnergy Ohio LLC to place the matter before voters in Tuesday’s primary election.
The 5-2 decision stopped short of forcing the matter onto Tuesday’s primary ballot, but required the city council “to find the petition sufficient and proceed with the process for an initiated ordinance,” as outlined in city code. That means council would have to either adopt the ordinance or place it before voters later this year.
ProEnergy Ohio has proposed diverting $87 million in city funds to promote four separate green initiatives, including $57 million to assist residents in purchasing electricity generated from wind, solar, fuel cell, geothermal or hydropower producers. The proposal also would allocate $10 million each to an energy conservation and energy efficiency fund; a clean energy education and training fund, and a minority business development program.
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In October, the group submitted an initiative petition with the city clerk as part of the process for pursuing an initiated ordinance.
While the Franklin County Board of Elections confirmed the petition contained the requisite signatures, the city attorney’s office deemed paperwork did not meet other requirements, namely that “it did not include a title that sufficiently described the content of the proposed ordinance,” according to court documents.
ProEnergy Ohio filed suit in December, hoping to force city council to place the issue on the May 4 primary ballot.
In their majority decision Thursday, Ohio Supreme Court justices ruled the city’s issue with the petition initiative title was “problematic.”
Justice Patrick F. Fischer, writing for the majority, stated: “The proposed ordinance’s title, which is more than 150 words long as it is, already sufficiently describes the substance of the proposed ordinance…”
But justices declined to require the issue to be determined during next week’s primary. Instead, the court ordered the city to either adopt the proposed ordinance or place it on a future election ballot.
Fischer was joined by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices R. Patrick DeWine, Michael P. Donnelly and Melody J. Stewart in the decision.
Justices Sharon L. Kennedy and Jennifer Brunner dissented, with Kennedy writing separately that the majority decision went beyond the relief sought by ProEnergy Ohio.
ProEnergy has “no legal right and the council has no legal duty to place the proposed ordinance on the ballot for the May 4, 2021 election,” Kennedy wrote. “It is unnecessary for this court to decide more than that.”
@OhioCapitalBlog
Read More: Supreme Court sides with ProEnergy Ohio on Columbus ordinance effort.