Rossford voters won’t get to decide Nov. 5 whether the city should remain a part of TARTA.The
Wood County Prosecutor’s Office has issued an opinion to the county Board of Elections that because
petitions calling for the city to withdraw were not certified in time, the resolution cannot be placed
on the November ballot.Left unsettled is whether, given a two-year timeline in state law that allows
members to withdraw, it could appear on next year’s ballot.Rossford City Council voted in June to remain
a member after years of complaints from residents and members of council over the regional transit
system’s poor service and cost to the city.In the end a majority of council decided public
transportation is needed, and the city was too small to provide it.Some residents, however, disagreed.
They felt the decision should be made by residents, not council, just as the decision to join TARTA had
been.Donald Montague, one of those behind the petition drive, said he was disappointed by the
prosecutor’s ruling, which was signed by Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson and Assistant
Prosecuting Attorney Linda Holmes.He said the petitioners felt they had met the timelines as they
understood them and provided sufficient signatures. While the petitions were submitted to the city
before the deadline, there was not enough time for the full process to run its course.City Administrator
Ed Ciecka said earlier this month that city officials drove the petitions back and forth between the
city offices in Rossford and the Board of Elections in Bowling Green, to cut down on the time they would
be in transit.Montague said that the group still hopes “to get this matter before the electorate.”He
said the group had been hoping that Holmes would declare a moratorium to stop the clock on the timeline
established by state law.The ruling reads: “We will address a follow-up question as to whether this
initiative can be placed on the 2014 general election ballot after the ninety day filing deadline.”The
legislation, sponsored by State Sen. Randy Gardner, gave municipalities two years to decide whether they
wanted to stay in. That period expires at the end of the year.