ATHENS CITY COUNCIL
Athens City Council has seven members, four who represent the city’s four individual wards and three who represent the city as a whole. There’s also the city council president. The ward representatives and the president are uncontested in this election.
The at-large seats are up for grabs.
Only one of the four candidates running for an at-large seat on Athens City Council will walk away from the election Tuesday without a seat on council.
In addition to two incumbents, the three seats are challenged by newcomers Troy Gregorino, the booking manager at Donkey Coffee & Espresso, and Jennifer Cochran, a local massage therapist who has been serving in an interim position on council since Elahu Gosney stepped down this summer.
Councilwoman Chris Knisley, D-at large, is currently the chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee, which oversees the city’s general fund.
The other incumbent, Councilman Steve Patterson, D-at large, is a member of the City and Safety Services Committee. He’s also a psychology professor at Ohio University.
Gregorino, an Independent, previously told The Post he thought an Independent on council could be a welcomed change with new perspectives.
Cochran, a Democrat, said in a previous Post article that she hopes to broker a better relationship between OU students and Athens residents.
ISSUES ON THE BALLOT:
Issue 1: Proposed Tax Levy Replacement, County of Athens
A replacement of a tax in Athens County for emergency medical services operation and maintenance, at a rate not exceeding .5 mill for each dollar of valuation.
That amounts to five cents for each $100 of valuation, for five years, starting in 2014.
Issue 2: Proposed Electric Aggregation, County of Athens
Ballot language reads, “Shall the County of Athens have the authority to aggregate the retail electric loads located in the County of Athens, and for that purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt out?”
But a note on the Athens County Board of Elections’ website, citing the Ohio Revised Code, said all voters in the cities of Athens and Nelsonville and the villages of Albany, Amesville, Buchtel, Chauncey, Coolville, Glouster, Jacksonville and Trimble could not vote for Issue 2.
“If you cast a vote on Issue 2 it will not be counted,” the message said.
Issue 3: Proposed Electric Aggregation City of Athens
Athens City Council made the decision to put electric aggregation on the November ballot and, if passed, it could mean huge changes for how Athens residents get their energy.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio describes aggregation as a process of a government entity, state or local, joining with its citizens to buy natural gas and/or electricity for the city.
This would give the city control to sell the resource at a lower cost to residents.
A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.
Click here to view a sample ballot.
@eockerman
eo300813@ohiou.edu
This story has been modified from its original version. An earlier version of the story said the tax levy would not exceed $500,000 for each dollar of valuation; it should have read .5 mill for each dollar of valuation.
