Lorain County voters strongly opposed Issue 20 on Nov. 7, which if passed, would have added four county commissioners to the three-member board as well as many other changes.
Issue 20 was called the Lorain County Appointive Executive Plan, Lorain County Seven Districts and placed on the ballot earlier this year by Lorain County commissioners.
According to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections, 66,083 residents voted against changing the form of county government and 31,606 cast in favor.
“Certainly, it’s been on my mind very much in the last few months since this was passed,” said Lorain County Auditor Craig Snodgrass, who has actively campaigned against the issue.
The plan called for an increase from three commissioners to seven county commissioners, each elected in segregated districts of the county.
Each of the districts would have included approximately 45,000 residents.
The proposed Lorain County Appointive Executive Plan also would have allowed the seven-commission board to appoint a county executive to make decisions on their behalf.
“The electorate has spoken,” Snodgrass said. “They’re obviously satisfied with the form of government we’ve had for almost 200 years.
“Hopefully, now we can put this to rest and work together to move our county forward.”
Snodgrass pointed out that Issue 20 would have allowed the commissioners to create a department of finance, department of law and a department of corrections under Ohio law.
Creating the three departments would’ve reduced the elected authority, of not only Snodgrass, but the county prosecutor and the sheriff.
“The costs of this new form could add millions of dollars in costs and create a bigger government,” Snodgrass said.
Other opponents of Issue 20 spoke Nov. 7.
“As your duly elected Lorain County commissioner, I advocated for the residents right to make the decision to keep the form of County government that has served them well for nearly 200 years,” said Commissioner Michelle Hung. “The campaign finance reports show that big donor money attempted to hijack your political voice.
“Thank you to all who worked, networked and educated to stop the expansion of your County government.”
Community activist Aden Fogel also was pleased with the outcome of the vote.
“With Lorain County Auditor Craig Snodgrasss, Commissioner Michelle Hung, Ron Adkins, president of the Lorain County AFL-CIO and the overwhelming number of informed and conscious voters in our corner, there was never a shred of doubt that this wasn’t going to go down as one of the biggest failures in Lorain County election history,” Fogel said. “The next step is for our state representatives to repeal this sham law to insure that this blatant waste of resources and tax payer dollars never happens again in the future.”
