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Q Referendum Signatures Validated

Cuyahoga County validates petition signatures

Opponents of a plan to use public money to help fund the renovation of Quicken Loans Arena have collected enough signatures to put the issue before Cleveland voters.  The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections today verified that the group collected more than 13,000 valid signatures -- twice as many as are required to put the referendum on the ballot.  

“So now that the numbers are there, the clerk will certify it back to us at our next meeting in September,” says City Council President Kevin Kelley, “and between now and then we’ll consider what our different options are.”

Kelley says there are a number of issues to consider.

“What exactly the charter requires us to do. When would it be done by? What would the cost of a special election be?  Does it have to be a special election?  Is there a way to not make it a special election?  So there’s many things to think through.”

Four councilmen last week asked Kelley to move up the next city council meeting in order to meet a deadline to get the issue on the November ballot.  

If the issue goes to a special election, it could cost the city roughly $760,000.  Kelley could not say how the city would pay for a special election.

 

Editor's note: According to the Cleveland city charter, there must be sixty days between the day the city clerk certifies a petition and election day.  We incorrectly identified the deadline to get the issue on the November ballot as a Board of Elections requirement.

Annie Wu is the deputy editor of digital content for Ideastream Public Media.