This article by Lauren Lindstrom appeared in The Toledo Blade, October 5th, 2018.

The Ohio Supreme Court on Friday again ruled against petitioners seeking to put a Lake Erie Bill of Rights on the November ballot in Toledo, marking the second time in as many days that the state’s highest judicial body has opposed the will of at least some local voters.

A citizen group called Toledoans for Safe Water in August said it had collected enough signatures to send to the ballot a measure to amend the city charter and declare the Lake Erie watershed has rights to “exist and flourish.” That signature drive marked the beginning of a legal battle that culminated Friday when the Supreme Court rejected the final effort by Toledoans for a Safe Water to get the ballot question before voters.
The Friday ruling comes a day after the same court denied a request from another group seeking to force the elections board to include on the ballot a proposal to keep the Lucas County jail in downtown Toledo. While the court’s action has effectively ensured the two citizen initiatives will not go before voters, the core issues of why they were kept from the ballot are far from settled. MORE…