July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Pettus not taking name off ballot (10/17/07)
By By ROBERT BANSER-
Despite questions about whether or not he lives in the correct district, Dunkirk City Council candidate Raymond Pettus Sr. is persisting to keep his name on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general election.
Local Democratic leaders are continuing to back him in his efforts, as well.
Pettus is listed on the Dunkirk city election ballot as the only candidate for the District 4 city council seat.
He is running unopposed, as there is no independent or Republican candidate in that race.
Originally, Pettus ran for the Democratic party's nomination for mayor in the spring primary. He lost that contest to Ron Hunt.
Later in the summer Democratic party officials selected him as the party's candidate for the District 4 council seat. No candidate for either party filed for the District 4 seat prior to the May primary.
District 4 includes much of the northeast section of Dunkirk, and Pettus lives at 125 S. Third St.
The voting district boundary lines in some sections of the city are jagged and Pettus lives in District 3 - less than two blocks from the District 4 line - where there are already two other candidates running: Incumbent Democrat A. Craig Faulkner and Republican challenger Charmaine O'Conner.
Messages left with Pettus seeking comment for this story were not returned, but the chairman of the Richland Township Democratic Party said the issue is "much ado about nothing."
At one time the four voting precincts in Dunkirk corresponded with the four council districts.
Several years ago county officials reduced the number of precincts from four to two, combining Dunkirk council Districts 1 and 2, and Districts 3 and 4 into precincts No. 1 and No. 3.
Consequently, Pettus is in the precinct for Districts 3 and 4, but just about a block away from being in District 4.
Sound confusing? It gets worse.
Dunkirk Democratic party chairperson Pam Bunch said as far as she was concerned Pettus' name should remain on the ballot, and she strongly disagrees with the interpretation of the situation by Jay County Clerk Jane Ann Runyon, a Republican who feels Pettus should withdraw from the race due to the residency question.
Runyon said that according to state election laws, she has no authority to force Pettus to withdraw. However, following the election his residency in the proper district could be challenged with a civil lawsuit.
Runyon said that if Pettus is elected then forced to resign because of a court challenge, she is not sure whether the Democratic or Republican parties would have the right to name a replacement. Republican Connie Whetsel currently holds the District 4 seat, but did not run for re-election.
"I don't know what's going to happen with this ... It may not be settled until after the election," Bunch said, adding that Pettus is very interested in becoming a city council member.
Gerald Kirby, chairman of the Democratic Party in Richland Township, said, "I don't know what the uproar is all about."
Kirby, a Redkey resident, recalled that in the early 1990s county officials combined four precincts into two, designated as No. 1 and No. 3, basically dividing the city into its east and west sides. "In my opinion that eliminated precincts two and four," Kirby said, putting Pettus into the precinct which now covers districts 3 and 4.
"How can you determine residency for a precinct that doesn't exist?" Kirby said, referring to the old voting precinct 4.
Kirby said that the ordinance setting up the four districts dates back to the 1980s, and was gerrymandered - the setting up of boundaries in some cases block by block, based on where certain party members lived.
"If you see the legal descriptions of these boundaries, you'd be amazed," Kirby said.
"How can you require someone to live in a precinct that doesn't exist anymore?" asked Kirby.
At one time Dunkirk Precinct 4 was probably the most Democratic precinct in Jay County, "but now No. 4 doesn't even exist anymore," Kirby said.
"I think this thing in Dunkirk is much ado about nothing. It defies logic," Kirby added.
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Local Democratic leaders are continuing to back him in his efforts, as well.
Pettus is listed on the Dunkirk city election ballot as the only candidate for the District 4 city council seat.
He is running unopposed, as there is no independent or Republican candidate in that race.
Originally, Pettus ran for the Democratic party's nomination for mayor in the spring primary. He lost that contest to Ron Hunt.
Later in the summer Democratic party officials selected him as the party's candidate for the District 4 council seat. No candidate for either party filed for the District 4 seat prior to the May primary.
District 4 includes much of the northeast section of Dunkirk, and Pettus lives at 125 S. Third St.
The voting district boundary lines in some sections of the city are jagged and Pettus lives in District 3 - less than two blocks from the District 4 line - where there are already two other candidates running: Incumbent Democrat A. Craig Faulkner and Republican challenger Charmaine O'Conner.
Messages left with Pettus seeking comment for this story were not returned, but the chairman of the Richland Township Democratic Party said the issue is "much ado about nothing."
At one time the four voting precincts in Dunkirk corresponded with the four council districts.
Several years ago county officials reduced the number of precincts from four to two, combining Dunkirk council Districts 1 and 2, and Districts 3 and 4 into precincts No. 1 and No. 3.
Consequently, Pettus is in the precinct for Districts 3 and 4, but just about a block away from being in District 4.
Sound confusing? It gets worse.
Dunkirk Democratic party chairperson Pam Bunch said as far as she was concerned Pettus' name should remain on the ballot, and she strongly disagrees with the interpretation of the situation by Jay County Clerk Jane Ann Runyon, a Republican who feels Pettus should withdraw from the race due to the residency question.
Runyon said that according to state election laws, she has no authority to force Pettus to withdraw. However, following the election his residency in the proper district could be challenged with a civil lawsuit.
Runyon said that if Pettus is elected then forced to resign because of a court challenge, she is not sure whether the Democratic or Republican parties would have the right to name a replacement. Republican Connie Whetsel currently holds the District 4 seat, but did not run for re-election.
"I don't know what's going to happen with this ... It may not be settled until after the election," Bunch said, adding that Pettus is very interested in becoming a city council member.
Gerald Kirby, chairman of the Democratic Party in Richland Township, said, "I don't know what the uproar is all about."
Kirby, a Redkey resident, recalled that in the early 1990s county officials combined four precincts into two, designated as No. 1 and No. 3, basically dividing the city into its east and west sides. "In my opinion that eliminated precincts two and four," Kirby said, putting Pettus into the precinct which now covers districts 3 and 4.
"How can you determine residency for a precinct that doesn't exist?" Kirby said, referring to the old voting precinct 4.
Kirby said that the ordinance setting up the four districts dates back to the 1980s, and was gerrymandered - the setting up of boundaries in some cases block by block, based on where certain party members lived.
"If you see the legal descriptions of these boundaries, you'd be amazed," Kirby said.
"How can you require someone to live in a precinct that doesn't exist anymore?" asked Kirby.
At one time Dunkirk Precinct 4 was probably the most Democratic precinct in Jay County, "but now No. 4 doesn't even exist anymore," Kirby said.
"I think this thing in Dunkirk is much ado about nothing. It defies logic," Kirby added.
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