Early voting hours are available on the BOE website, at www.montgomery.boe.ohio.gov. Ballots for absentee and overseas voting for military personnel are also available by request.
Election-day voting will be held in a single location at Golden Gate Park, located at 545 Upper Lewisburg Salem Road in Brookville, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The political action committee Brookville Citizens for Keep It Rural filed petitions in October to recall Brookville Mayor Chuck Letner and Vice Mayor James Zimmerlin.
Jaime Iaquinta, treasurer for Brookville Citizens for Keep It Rural, said last month that residents had lost trust in the leadership of Letner and Zimmerlin.
Iaquinta alleged the two leaders would “laugh in people’s faces for questions they’ve had” at council meetings, and said residents are concerned about increased development in the city of just under 6,000 people.
Credit: Casey Laughter
Credit: Casey Laughter
“We decided we’d had enough of the disrespect and there needed to be a change in leadership; we wanted to send a very clear message to the mayor and vice mayor, as well as the rest of council, that they will be held accountable,” Iaquinta said.
Letner said the accusation of laughing at residents is “totally false,” and Zimmerlin asserted that development is necessary for thriving cities.
“New development, both commercial and residential, is a critical lever needed to keep municipalities financially solvent, support the small business community, and to prevent us from having to ask residents to pass additional tax levies,” he said in November, noting Brookville voters’ rejection of three separate roads/parks levies in recent years.
The special January election will cost the city an estimated $16,000, according to City Manager Jack Kuntz.
If voters approve the recall of both Letner and Zimmerlin, the remaining members of Brookville’s city council would select replacements to fill the unexpired terms for the remainder of 2025, Kuntz said.
These replacements, and any other interested candidates, would then be required to run for office during the November 2025 election.
“Mr. Zimmerlin’s term already expires at the end of 2025 and (he’s not) eligible to run again because of term limits for city council (per) the city’s charter, so that position will be on November’s ballot regardless,” Kuntz said. “The remaining time left of Mr. Letner’s unexpired term would also be included in the November election.”
Zimmerlin and Letner filed multiple appeals to halt the recall efforts, first to the board of elections. But BOE Director Jeff Rezabek said the appeal would need to be made through the city, in accordance with Brookville’s charter.
Kuntz said the leaders then filed a protest of the special election with the city, but that too was quashed.
“The city’s charter does not provide a process for the city council to hold a protest hearing,” Kuntz said Thursday.
Letner and Zimmerlin subsequently submitted a complaint for declaratory judgment against the Board of Elections in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court asking a judge to rule that the BOE has legal authority and obligation to hold a formal protest hearing.
The filing also alleges the recall petitions were circulated illegally by two residents of Clay Twp., not Brookville.
Letner and Zimmerlin requested a temporary restraining order to prevent the election from taking place until the issue is settled in court. However, Judge Mary Montgomery ruled against that request.
Montgomery additionally filed a notice of intent to dismiss the complaint, stating it fails to adequately argue a claim for declaratory judgment.
The attorney for Letner and Zimmerlin has until Dec. 20 to submit to the court further reason the suit should not be dismissed.
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