North COAST’s Deerfield Levy Letter to Trustees

The following letter was sent to Deerfield Township Trustees on April 28, 2013.

Dear Township Trustees,

We are writing to express concerns about your decision to place a levy on the August ballot. North Coast agrees Public Safety is the top priority of Township Government but we have concerns with the path the Trustee’s are taking.

 It doesn’t take a cynic to suspect the timing of the August levy election is designed to reduce voter participation. For good reason, C.O.A.S.T. believes these types of spending measures should only be voted on at regularly scheduled general or primary elections. The logic is simple politicians shouldn’t be able to sneak a tax increase by the voters. Elections, at least where taxes are at stake, should be timed to maximize voter participation.

In fact over the last few elections in Warren County, the evidence is clear: Nov. 2012 76.35% turnout compared to Aug .2012 11.40% Nov. 2011 55.86% turnout compared to Aug. 2011 18.58%

If the Trustee’s have justification for this levy you shouldn’t hesitate to put it before the voters when the maximum number of people can vote on it. That’s what democracy is about. Moreover, the Township would incur additional costs of around $ 31,000 to hold this special election. It would require each Township polling place to be staffed, special election ballots to be printed and counted. It would be far better to spend this $31,000 on public safety than a special election designed to suppress voter turnout.

Since the deadline for the August election is May 8th at 4:00, North Coast leadership is respectfully requesting the Trustee’s to do the right thing and stop this special election.

Best Regards,

North Coast Leadership