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Campaign flier's legality reviewed by state
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - October 08, 2009)
Campaign flier's legality reviewed by state
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
A full hearing had been ordered by the Ohio Elections Commission over a campaign flier put out in Claridon Township.
Philip Richter, executive director of the elections commission, said last week that a probable-cause hearing determined that a full hearing will be needed to determine whether there was a violation of Ohio election law.
The hearing will center on a flier that questioned the actions of Trustee Mary Briggs and was written by resident William Ferritto. Ms. Briggs filed a complaint over the flier two weeks ago.
Mr. Richter said 10 statements in the campaign flier were questioned in Ms. Briggs' complaint. A probable-cause hearing conducted by a three-member panel determined that there was sufficient evidence on five of the statements to call for a full hearing. He said the five statements were being questioned for their truthfulness.
Mr. Richter said Ms. Briggs also had filed a complaint on another campaign flier compiled by resident Jeannette Grosvenor, who serves as the township's cemetery sexton.
Mr. Richter said the flier that listed Ms. Briggs' involvements with the courts, including speeding tickets and small-claims court dating back to 1996, was found not be in violation of the law, as cited by Ms. Briggs.
"The commission can only act on false statements," Mr. Richter said.
He said the law cited by Ms. Briggs dealt with a requirement that said any listing of legal involvement also provide the results of those involvements. The law only applies in the case of felonies, Mr. Richter said. "It did not meet that level."
Miss Grosvenor said she knew there was no untruthful items in her flier, because the information was taken from Web sites of the Chardon Municipal Court docket and the docket of the Geauga County Common Pleas Court. In addition, information was pulled from similar sites in Cuyahoga and Portage counties, she said.
She said it took two pages to list all of the legal actions Ms. Briggs has been involved in. "I don't care what the result was. She can't be doing much else with a list that long," Miss Gosvenor said.
"The voters ought to know how much time she spends on lawsuits," Miss Grosvenor said.
Mr. Ferritto's flier questioned whether Ms. Briggs was being honest in all her dealings, including her reimbursements from the township, reported ongoing state investigations and her accusations against fellow trustees.
Mr. Ferritto said Monday that he stands by the literature. "If you look at the (newspaper) articles and the minutes from the meetings, that's where I got my information from," he said.
He said he has retained an attorney in the matter. "I'm just an individual voter, and I'm just expressing my opinion," he said.
He said he brought his flier to the Geauga County Board of Elections before distributing it and was told it was OK. He said the flier didn't advocate for one candidate or ask people not to vote for another.
Ms. Briggs said last week she plans to further pursue legal action against Mrs. Grosvenor and would retain an attorney versed in election law to review her flier. She said, while the panel did not find it to be in violation of the law she cited, one panel member said the information was "misleading."
Mr. Richter said he could not confirm whether a panel member made that statement. "I have no recollection of that, but I can't dispute what she is saying," he said.
Ms. Briggs said she has never conducted a smear campaign against her opponents and believes those who do should be held accountable. "I've always conducted my campaign on the issues at hand and never resorted to a smear campaign, even though there was questionable conditions that could have been addressed," she said.
"The election process is ruled by law, and I adhere to that," Ms. Briggs said. "When people fail to follow the rules, my only recourse is to address these allegations as prescribed by law."
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