This article by Tom Henry appeared in The Toledo Blade on June 22nd, 2019.
The so-called “rights of nature” movement that led to the high-profile Lake Erie Bill of Rights in Toledo has now moved west over to Williams County in the form of an effort aimed at limiting water withdrawals from the Michindoh Aquifer.
The Williams County Alliance, a citizens group battling Pioneer Mayor Ed Kidston’s effort to divert water from that aquifer to three Toledo-area suburbs and other communities east of it, is filing petitions this week for a Nov. 5 vote on a proposal to have Williams County become recognized as Ohio’s third charter county.
Only two of the state’s 88 counties are charter counties, Cuyahoga and Summit counties. The rest are statutory counties, which means much of the local government’s authority falls under the auspices of state rules and regulations. Charter counties, in theory, have more home rule authority.
But the underlying purpose of the ballot initiative appears to be as much about trying to keep Michindoh Aquifer water within its natural nine-county region as it is about doing a makeover of Williams County government.
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