VOTER INFORMATION: Polling times, locations
The Blade recommends ...
Here is a summary of The Blade’s recommendations in Tuesday’s general election.
Incumbents’ names are capitalized.
MAYOR
Sandy Drabik Collins
CITY COUNCIL
District 1:
TYRONE RILEY
District 2:
MATTHEW CHERRY
District 6:
LINDSAY WEBB
District 3:
Peter Ujvagi
District 4:
YVONNE HARPER
BALLOT PROPOSALS
Ohio
Issue 1: Creates a bipartisan, public process for drawing state legislative districts: YES
Issue 2: Prevents the use of ballot initiatives to create economic monopolies: YES
Issue 3: Legalizes marijuana in Ohio for medical and recreational purposes: NO
Lucas County
Issue 11: Renews for 10 years a 1-mill levy for Toledo Zoo capital improvements: YES
Ottawa Hills
Issue 13: Authorizes a controlled bow-hunting program for whitetail deer: NO
Toledo mayoral race: Debate, Conversations with the Candidates, and candidate profiles
Babies, bikers, ballots: Candidates wrap up campaign’s final weekend
Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson went to four churches before arriving at an early-voting center to kiss babies and cast her vote; Mike Bell rolled on his Harley with 800 fellow bikers for the annual Bikers of Northwest Ohio Toy Run, and Carty Finkbeiner promised to give away half his mayoral salary for a new program.
Mike Ferner, Sandy Spang, and Sandy Drabik Collins each spent much of the sunny day knocking on doors, targeting key voting neighborhoods in Point Place and West Toledo.
Opal Covey, the Republican and evangelist who captured national attention for “speaking in tongues” on television news stations and online, among other things, said she was not campaigning Sunday so she could stay home in case a national media organization called for an interview. READ MORE
Voters will select Toledo’s mayor for the next two years on Tuesday — an unexpected task mandated in the city charter after the death of Mayor D. Michael Collins in February.
And with seven candidates vying in the single election, with no primary, every vote is being fought for. STORY
Ohioans mull marijuana legalization
COLUMBUS — Two issues on this week’s ballot stand alone, but the fate of one may depend on the other.
Ohio is about to make a historic decision on Issue 3. Should the state become the first east of Colorado to legalize marijuana for recreational, medical, and commercial purposes?
But state voters also have a decision to make on Issue 2. Should private individuals have the right to etch their own commercial monopolies into the Ohio Constitution? STORY
Oregon, O.H. schools seeking new levy funding
Renovation of elementary school classrooms and offices plus additions to the junior-senior high school would be provided for by a pair of school levies on Tuesday’s ballot in Ottawa Hills.
A school levy proposal in Oregon, meanwhile, is for operating expenses, and school officials have said sports and other extracurricular activities could be cut if it doesn’t pass.
Those two items stand most prominently among school-related taxes on Toledo-area Election Day ballots. STORY
Ottawa Hills to vote on deer-cull proposal
Topping the suburban issues on this year’s Lucas County ballot is a vote in Ottawa Hills on a proposal for a controlled bow hunt to thin out the village’s deer herd.
The proposed deer cull in Ottawa Hills has been a contentious issue for years, with residents torn over whether the deer population within the 2.5-square-mile village has resulted in undue safety risks to motorists and excessive property damage to homeowners.
This year’s ballot proposal largely mirrors one that was narrowly defeated by voters in 2010, the big difference being that the proposal back then would have authorized sharpshooters to kill deer while this one would authorize bow hunters to do that. STORY
Zoo tax renewal among local issues
Area voters will decide a number of money requests on their ballots Tuesday, including a measure for the Toledo Zoo.
The zoo is asking Lucas County residents to renew a 10-year, 1-mill capital improvement levy to take effect in 2017. The current levy expires next year. STORY
Monroe city voters to consider new fire station
MONROE — Voters in southeast Michigan will decide tax proposals for issues that include funding for public transportation and fire station construction, while some communities will elect mayors and council members.
The city of Monroe wants voters to approve a 20-year, 0.5-mill new property tax to finance construction of a fire and paramedic station to replace the Central Fire Station at 75 Scott St.
The full levied tax would cost the owner of a $150,000 home, with a taxable value of $75,000, about $38 a year. STORY
Mayoral, council races on tap around NW Ohio
Voters in Fremont, Bowling Green, Tiffin, Port Clinton, and Napoleon will have choices when it comes to picking their mayors this week.
The Tuesday ballot is bursting with contested races throughout the region, including battles for mayor’s offices and council seats. STORY
Toledo-area communities face decisions on mayors, councils
Oregon City Council is one of the many suburban communities that could see major changes on their governing body with the coming election.
Eight candidates are seeking Oregon’s four council seats. Seven Sylvania residents are running for that city’s five available council seats. Perrysburg has nine candidates for four seats, and Maumee has six candidates for four seats. STORY
Trio of candidates in running for pair of TPS board positions
Both Toledo school districts feature competitive races for school board seats on Tuesday, though one district has a more crowded field.
The Toledo Board of Education race has three candidates for two seats, one of which was vacated by Cecelia Adams, who was appointed in April to fill the late Jack Ford’s Toledo City Council seat. The Rev. Randall Parker III was appointed to Ms. Adams’ seat; he will compete for a seat against Perry Lefevre and Stephanie Eichenberg. STORY
4 incumbents try to defend seats in votes for Toledo City Council
Four incumbent Toledo district councilmen will be challenged for their seats in Tuesday’s election.
Council seats on the ballot are for Districts 1, 2 , 3, 4, and 6, currently held by Tyrone Riley (D., 1), Matthew Cherry (D., 2), Mike Craig (D., 3), Yvonne Harper (D., 4), and Lindsay Webb (D., 6). STORY
Voters in Ohio weigh overhaul of redistricting
COLUMBUS — On Tuesday, voters will be asked for the third time in a decade to overhaul the inherently political process of how Ohio redraws state legislative districts every 10 years.
Voters said “no” the first two times. This time a broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, and business, labor, government watchdog, and voting-rights groups that have often aligned on opposite sides of the issue have come together to urge voters to say “yes” on Issue 1.
Many are already looking ahead at a similar bipartisan approach with congressional remapping if this one affecting only state House and Senate maps passes. STORY
Fate of Ballville Dam goes before Fremont residents
A contentious battle over the removal of the Ballville Dam over the Sandusky River in Fremont is among a long list of questions before voters in northwest Ohio on Tuesday.
Through a referendum that withstood a challenge that reached the Ohio Supreme Court, opponents of the dam’s demolition are asking voters to reverse Fremont City Council’s 4-3 decision to remove the aging dam.
Fremont Mayor Jim Ellis has been a strong proponent of eliminating the dam at a cost estimated at $7 million, while a group of residents has opposed it in part because of the potential environmental impact of releasing sediment trapped behind it. STORY
First Published November 2, 2015, 3:14 p.m.
