State ex rel. Bolzenius v. Preisse (Slip Opinion)

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State

ex rel. Bolzenius v. Preisse, Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-3708.]

NOTICE

This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in an

advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are requested to

promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 65

South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or other

formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be made before

the opinion is published.

SLIP OPINION NO. 2018-OHIO-3708

THE STATE EX REL. BOLZENIUS ET AL. v. PREISSE ET AL.

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it

may be cited as State ex rel. Bolzenius v. Preisse, Slip Opinion No.

2018-Ohio-3708.]

Elections—Mandamus—Writ of mandamus sought to compel board of elections to

place proposed city ordinance on the ballot—Proposed ordinance attempts

to enact provisions that are beyond the scope of municipality’s legislative

power—Writ denied.

(No. 2018-1221—Submitted September 11, 2018—Decided September 14, 2018.)

IN MANDAMUS.

__________________

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} In this expedited election case, relators, six Columbus electors,1 seek

a writ of mandamus to compel respondents, the members of the Franklin County

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The relators are Sandra M. Bolzenius, Karyn A. Deibel, Connie M. Hammond, Robert R. Krasen,

William M. Lyons, and Gregory Thomas Pace.

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Board of Elections (collectively, the “board members”),2 to place a proposed city

ordinance on the November 6, 2018 ballot. If adopted, the proposal would establish

a “bill of rights” related to water, soil, and air protection and prohibit certain oil-

and-gas-extraction activities within the city. The board members excluded the

measure from the ballot, finding that the proposed ordinance is beyond the city’s

legislative power because it would, among other things, create new causes of action.

Because the board members did not abuse their discretion, we deny the writ.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

{¶ 2} Relators seek the adoption of a municipal ordinance that would

establish for Columbus residents—and for “natural communities and ecosystems”

in the city—a “Community Bill of Rights for Water, Soil, and Air Protection.”

Among the rights enumerated are rights to “Potable Water,” “Clean Air,” “Safe

Soil,” and “Peaceful Enjoyment of Home” and the “Right to be Free from Toxic

Trespass.” The proposal also would declare that “[n]atural communities and

ecosystems, including, but not limited to, wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and

other water systems, possess the rights to exist and flourish within the City of

Columbus.”

{¶ 3} In an effort to secure and protect these rights, relators’ proposal would

prohibit most hydrocarbon-extraction activities within the city and impose strict

liability on any government or corporation that violates its terms. It also

purportedly would invalidate any permit or license “issued by any state, federal or

international entity that would violate the prohibitions of this ordinance or any

rights secured by this Ordinance, the Ohio Constitution, the United States

Constitution, or other laws.” Any violation of the ordinance would be a first-degree

misdemeanor. The proposed ordinance provides that “any resident of the City of

Columbus” may “enforce the rights and prohibitions of this Community Bill of

2

The board members are Douglas J. Preisse, Kimberly E. Marinello, Michael E. Sexton, and Brad

K. Sinnott.

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January Term, 2018

Rights through an action brought in any court possessing jurisdiction over activities

occurring within the City.”

{¶ 4} On June 26, 2018, the committee formed to place the measure on the

ballot submitted its part-petitions to the Columbus city clerk. After the Franklin

County Board of Elections certified a sufficient number of valid signatures to

qualify the measure for the ballot, the Columbus City Council, on July 30, passed

an ordinance instructing the elections board to place the initiative petition on the

November 2018 ballot. Before the matter was considered by the elections board,

two Columbus electors, Loretta Settelmeyer and Robert Wall, protested the

proposed measure, arguing that it does not comply with the Columbus City

Charter’s requirements for initiative petitions and that it is outside the city’s

legislative power. The board members agreed with the latter argument and on

August 24 voted to exclude the initiative from the ballot.

{¶ 5} On August 28, relators filed this original action seeking a writ of

mandamus to compel the board members to certify the initiative petition for

placement on the ballot. On August 31, we granted a motion to intervene filed by

Settelmeyer and Wall (collectively, the “intervening respondents”).

II. ANALYSIS

A. The board members properly determined that the proposed ordinance is

outside the city’s power to enact legislation

{¶ 6} To be entitled to a writ of mandamus, relators must prove, by clear and

convincing evidence, (1) a clear legal right to the requested relief, (2) a clear legal

duty on the part of the board members to provide it, and (3) the lack of an adequate

remedy in the ordinary course of the law. State ex rel. Waters v. Spaeth, 131 Ohio

St.3d 55, 2012-Ohio-69, 960 N.E.2d 452, ¶ 6, 13. Given the proximity of the

November election, relators lack an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the

law. State ex rel. Ohio Liberty Council v. Brunner, 125 Ohio St.3d 315, 2010-Ohio-

1845, 928 N.E.2d 410, ¶ 27. To satisfy the first two requirements, relators must show

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that the board members engaged in fraud or corruption, abused their discretion, or

acted in clear disregard of applicable legal provisions. State ex rel. Jacquemin v.

Union Cty. Bd. of Elections, 147 Ohio St.3d 467, 2016-Ohio-5880, 67 N.E.3d 759,

¶ 9. Because relators make no allegation of fraud or corruption, they must show that

the board members abused their discretion or disregarded the law when they rejected

the initiative petition.

{¶ 7} In their first proposition of law, relators assert that they have a clear

right to have their proposed ordinance placed on the ballot because their initiative

petition satisfies the signature requirement and Columbus city council passed an

ordinance calling for placement of the measure on the ballot. Relators make three

basic arguments in support of their claim. First, they contend that the board members

have only a ministerial role with respect to initiative petitions, with no legitimate

statutory authority to exclude a measure from the ballot for substantive legal reasons.

Second, they argue that the separation-of-powers doctrine prevents the board

members from deciding substantive legal questions and thus renders unconstitutional

the statutory amendments introduced by 2016 Sub.H.B. No. 463 (“H.B. 463”), which

permit boards of elections to determine whether a proposed ordinance is beyond a

municipality’s legislative power. Finally, they assert that Columbus Charter 42-11

prevents the board members from making substantive legal determinations regarding

relators’ proposed ordinance. We reject these arguments.

1. R.C. 3501.11(K)(1) authorizes a county board of elections to determine

whether a proposed ordinance is beyond a municipality’s legislative power

{¶ 8} Before the General Assembly enacted H.B. 463, we interpreted

former R.C. 3501.11(K) (now R.C. 3501.11(K)(1))—which grants county boards

of elections the power to “[r]eview, examine, and certify the sufficiency and

validity of petitions”—as authority for the boards “to determine whether a ballot

measure falls within the scope of the constitutional power of referendum or

initiative.” State ex rel. Youngstown v. Mahoning Cty. Bd. of Elections, 144 Ohio

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January Term, 2018

St.3d 239, 2015-Ohio-3761, 41 N.E.3d 1229, ¶ 9. We reaffirmed that reading of

former R.C. 3501.11(K) in State ex rel. Sensible Norwood v. Hamilton Cty. Bd. of

Elections, 148 Ohio St.3d 176, 2016-Ohio-5919, 69 N.E.3d 696. In Sensible

Norwood, we concluded that under former R.C. 3501.11(K), an elections board was

authorized to exclude an initiative petition from the ballot if the initiative petition

sought to enact municipal legislation that would be beyond a municipality’s

legislative power. Id. at ¶ 9-12.

{¶ 9} H.B. 463, effective April 6, 2017, introduced new provisions related

to the authority and duty of elections boards to review the substantive terms of

proposed ballot measures. For example, the act added R.C. 3501.11(K)(2), which

requires elections boards to examine an initiative petition “to determine whether

the petition falls within the scope of authority to enact via initiative.” And it added

R.C. 3501.38(M)(1)(a), which requires elections boards to examine an initiative

petition to determine

[w]hether the petition falls within the scope of a municipal political

subdivision’s authority to enact via initiative, including, if

applicable, the limitations placed by Sections 3 and 7 of Article

XVIII of the Ohio Constitution on the authority of municipal

corporations to adopt local police, sanitary, and other similar

regulations as are not in conflict with general laws, and whether the

petition satisfies the statutory prerequisites to place the issue on the

ballot.

Importantly, H.B. 463 retained the language of former R.C. 3501.11(K),

recodifying it as R.C. 3501.11(K)(1).

{¶ 10} In State ex rel. Flak v. Betras, 152 Ohio St.3d 244, 2017-Ohio-8109,

95 N.E.3d 329, we held that R.C. 3501.11(K)(1) authorizes elections boards “ ‘to

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determine whether a ballot measure falls within the scope of the constitutional

power of referendum or initiative.’ ” Id. at ¶ 11, quoting Youngstown at ¶ 9. Thus,

without relying on the changes introduced by H.B. 463, we again held that an

elections board has the authority to determine whether a municipal initiative falls

within the municipality’s legislative power. Id. at ¶ 15.

{¶ 11} Guided by Flak, we apply our pre-H.B. 463 caselaw in this case.

Accordingly, we must determine whether the board members abused their

discretion in determining that the proposed ordinance exceeds Columbus’s

legislative power. See Flak at ¶ 9, citing Jacquemin, 147 Ohio St.3d 467, 2016-

Ohio-5880, 67 N.E.3d 759, at ¶ 9.

{¶ 12} The board member who moved to invalidate the initiative petition

cited three reasons in support of his conclusion that the proposed ordinance is outside

Columbus’s legislative power: the proposal would regulate oil-and-gas extraction

and transportation, it would regulate corporations, and it would create new causes of

action. It is not necessary for us to consider the first two reasons, because the board

members clearly acted within their discretion by rejecting the petition for the third

reason.

{¶ 13} Section 4(b) of the proposed ordinance would authorize “any resident

of the City of Columbus” to “enforce the rights and prohibitions of this Community

Bill of Rights through an action brought in any court possessing jurisdiction over

activities occurring within the City.” This provision is similar to the offending

provision in Flak that would have authorized “private citizens to enforce their rights

* * * by filing suit as a private attorney general.” Flak at ¶ 4. Like the proposal in

Flak, the proposed ordinance here would create a new cause of action—something

we have held municipalities lack the power to do. See id. at ¶ 15. Because Columbus

clearly lacks the power to enact the proposed ordinance, we hold that the board

members did not abuse their discretion in keeping relators’ proposal off the ballot.

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January Term, 2018

2. We need not reach relators’ constitutional challenges to H.B. 463

{¶ 14} Relators challenge the constitutionality of H.B. 463 on two grounds.

They argue that the statutory provisions permitting the board to conduct a

substantive review of ballot initiatives violate the separation-of-powers doctrine,

and that the bill itself violates the one-subject rule in Article II, Section 15(D) of

the Ohio Constitution. Because we have already found that the board had the

authority to exclude the proposal from the ballot under our pre-H.B. 463 caselaw,

we need not reach the constitutionality of H.B. 463 in this case. See Flak, 152 Ohio

St.3d 244, 2017-Ohio-8109, 95 N.E.3d 329, at ¶ 17 (“we do not reach constitutional

issues unless it is necessary to do so”), citing State ex rel. BSW Dev. Group v.

Dayton, 83 Ohio St.3d 338, 345, 699 N.E.2d 1271 (1998).

3. Columbus Charter 42-11 does not conflict with or supersede R.C.

3501.38(M)(1)(a)

{¶ 15} Relators also argue that Columbus Charter 42-11 overrides R.C.

3501.38(M)(1)(a) and prevents preenactment review of a proposed ordinance by

the board of elections. Relators contend that the city-charter provision conflicts

with the statute and that under the city’s home-rule authority, the local provision

controls as “a matter of local self-government.” See State ex rel. Minor v. Eschen,

74 Ohio St.3d 134, 138, 656 N.E.2d 940 (1995) (“In matters of local self-

government, if a portion of a municipal charter expressly conflicts with parallel

state law, the charter provisions will prevail”). We reject this argument because

relators’ initial premise—that the charter provision conflicts with R.C.

3501.38(M)(1)(a)—is unfounded.

{¶ 16} Columbus Charter 42-11 provides:

Council action on a petition for any proposed ordinance,

referendum, or charter amendment shall be by ordinance. No city

officer may consider the subject matter of a petition when

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determining the legal sufficiency thereof, except as required to

assure compliance with applicable provisions of this charter,

general laws of the state, or ordinance of council. Any petition and

any signatures upon the part-petitions thereof found to be sufficient

as provided herein shall be presumed to be in all respects sufficient,

unless not later than forty-five days before the election, it shall be

otherwise proven.

{¶ 17} Relators argue that Columbus Charter 42-11 conflicts with R.C.

3501.38(M)(1)(a), because the charter provision prohibits the consideration of the

subject matter of a petition while the statute requires a substantive examination.

Contrary to relators’ argument, there is no conflict between the two provisions.

Columbus Charter 42-11 requires Columbus City Council to take action on a

petition by ordinance and prohibits a “city officer” from considering the subject

matter of a petition when determining the legal sufficiency of the measure. R.C.

3501.38(M)(1)(a), in contrast, instructs “the board of elections” regarding the way

it shall examine an initiative petition when determining whether the measure

should be placed on the ballot. By their plain terms, the two provisions apply to

different political bodies carrying out different governmental roles. We therefore

reject relators’ argument.

B. Relators’ free-speech argument fails

{¶ 18} In their second proposition of law, relators assert that the decision to

exclude the proposed ordinance from the ballot violates the First Amendment to the

United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the Ohio Constitution.

According to relators, the board members impermissibly excluded the initiative

petition from the ballot based on their review of the content of the proposed

measure. We reject this argument because there is no evidence suggesting that the

board members rejected the initiative petition based on the particular message

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January Term, 2018

relators sought to convey. See Reed v. Gilbert, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 2218, 2227,

192 L.Ed.2d 236 (2015) (“Government regulation of speech is content based if a

law applies to particular speech because of the topic discussed or the idea or

message expressed”); State ex rel. Ethics First—You Decide Ohio Political Action

Commt. v. DeWine, 147 Ohio St.3d 373, 2016-Ohio-3144, 66 N.E.3d 689, ¶ 23

(stating that government action is not content-based if it “applies to all petitions,

irrespective of the substantive message the petition seeks to communicate”). The

board members voted to exclude the initiative from the ballot because Columbus

lacks the power to create causes of action. That restriction is content-neutral

because it applies to all municipal initiative proposals—not just relators’—

regardless of the proposal’s content.

C. We need not reach relators’ final argument

{¶ 19} Through their fourth proposition of law, relators ask us to require

the board members to modify the ballot-summary language prepared by

Columbus City Council. Because we deny the writ, this proposition is moot and

we need not address it.

III. CONCLUSION

{¶ 20} Applying pre-H.B. 463 caselaw, we deny the writ and hold that the

board members did not abuse their discretion in finding that the proposed ballot

measure is beyond the scope of Columbus’s legislative power.

Writ denied.

O’CONNOR, C.J., and O’DONNELL, FRENCH, DEWINE, and DEGENARO, JJ.,

concur.

KENNEDY, J., concurs in judgment only.

FISCHER, J., dissents, with an opinion.

_________________

FISCHER, J., dissenting.

{¶ 21} I respectfully dissent.

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{¶ 22} This court has not previously decided whether the statutory

amendments introduced by 2016 Sub.H.B. No. 463 (“H.B. 463”) are

unconstitutional in violation of the separation-of-powers doctrine, and a majority

of the court continues to avoid that question. In State ex rel. Flak v. Betras, 152

Ohio St.3d 244, 2017-Ohio-8109, 95 N.E.3d 329, ¶ 17, this court specifically stated

that “we leave consideration of the constitutionality of [H.B. 463] for another day.”

In State ex rel. Khumprakob v. Mahoning Cty. Bd. of Elections, ___ Ohio St.3d ___,

2018-Ohio-1602, ___ N.E.3d ___, I wrote an opinion concurring in judgment only

in which I concluded that portions of H.B. 463 are unconstitutional and that certain

pre-H.B. 463 decisions of this court had been decided in error and should be

overruled. Id. at ¶ 42 (Fischer, J., concurring in judgment only). However, in

Khumprakob, the majority once again declined to reach the constitutionality issue

and decided that case by distinguishing Flak on a factual basis. Khumprakob at

¶ 5-9.

{¶ 23} In State ex rel. Espen v. Wood Cty. Bd. of Elections, ___ Ohio St.3d

___, 2017-Ohio-8223, ___ N.E.3d ___, which this court decided before

Khumprakob but after Flak, the three justices joining the per curiam opinion agreed

with the board of elections’ determination that it had no authority to invalidate a

charter petition based on a substantive evaluation of that petition’s legality. Id. at

¶ 16. The lead opinion specifically stated that “[t]o the extent that R.C.

3501.38(M)(1)(a) authorizes and requires boards of elections to make substantive,

preenactment legal evaluations, it violates the separation-of-powers doctrine and is

unconstitutional.” Id. at ¶ 15.

{¶ 24} The constitutionality of H.B. 463 continues to be argued before this

court, and the court has not definitively settled that issue. We will eventually have

to resolve that question after conducting a substantive analysis. In doing so, I

believe that we will need to reexamine our pre-H.B. 463 caselaw to determine

whether that line of decisions is in accord with the separation-of-powers doctrine.

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{¶ 25} For these reasons, I respectfully dissent and would grant the writ of

mandamus for the reasons stated in my separate opinion in Khumprakob.

_________________

Terry J. Lodge and Jensen Silvis, for relators.

Ronald J. O’Brien, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, and Timothy A.

Lecklider, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for respondents.

McTigue & Colombo, L.L.C., Donald J. McTigue, J. Corey Colombo,

Derek S. Clinger, and Ben F.C. Wallace, for intervening respondents.

Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, L.L.P., and L. Bradfield Hughes, urging

denial of the writ for amici curiae Affiliated Construction Trades Ohio Foundation,

Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Columbus Realtors, Ohio Oil and Gas Association,

Ohio Chemistry Technology Council, and American Petroleum Institute.

_________________

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