Elections board bumps Saffold, Radtka as independent candidates
Warren, Lordstown candidates see efforts falter as independents
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WARREN -- The Trumbull County Board of Elections certified 12 independent candidate petitions for the Nov. 7 ballot and rejected two at its meeting Tuesday.
The bipartisan board reviewed each petition to ensure all requirements were met. The board vetted the signatures that the candidates presented and made sure that the petitions were filled out correctly. The board also made sure that all candidates had dissociated themselves from any political party, a requirement for any independent candidate.
The board rejected Cheryl Saffold, the 6th Ward councilwoman in Warren, in her petition to run as an independent candidate for mayor.
Mark Alberini, board chairman, said Saffold was rejected as she had not shown that she had, in good faith, disaffilliated herself with the Democratic Party, according to a report from the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office.
"Currently, Miss Saffold is serving on the Democratic Party Central Committee, which is a partisan, party-affiliated position," Aberini said. "In addition to that, she serves on the Trumbull County Democratic Party Executive Committee, and to this point, no party officers have received any letter or correspondence (from Saffold) requesting to be removed from any of those positions or to disaffilliate herself from the Democratic Party."
Alberini said the board and the prosecutors did not see enough intentional dissociation from Saffold for her to be eligible to run independently.
Saffold disagreed with the board and said she plans to appeal its decision.
"I made a good-faith effort to disaffiliate myself from the Democratic Party prior to filing my petition as an independent candidate for mayor," she said. "My appeal will unequivocally prove my overall intent to become an independent."
Along with Saffold, Ronald Radtka, a village councilman in Lordstown, had his independent candidate petition for Lordstown Village Council rejected as well.
Radtka did not fill out the nomination petition section of one of his part-petitions, resulting in insufficient ballot signatures. In the nomination petition section, candidates provide their names, what office they are running for, the name of the municipality in which the candidate is running, and the election term in which they are running. Radtka did not complete the required section on one of his petitions, invalidating any signatures that it had gained.
Board members said they regretted that Radtka's independent candidacy would not be on the November ballot. But, as several board members noted, any candidate who applies must follow the Ohio Revised Code.
"If you're going to file, you have to do the job correct," board member Arno Hill said.
Radtka said that it was a mistake and that he did not plan to appeal the board's decision.
"It was just a mistaken oversight," Radtka said. "It was regrettable, but accidents happen I guess."
The only other candidate whose petition was questioned by the board was Amy Jo Giovannone, who had filed to run for Niles City Council 3rd Ward as an independent. The board received two letters that questioned Giovannone's status as an independent candidate.
Giovannone properly disaffiliated herself from the Republican Party in January, prior to filing her candidacy. The concern noted in the letter was in regard to Giovannone working as a polling location supervisor as a Republican during the primary election in May.
Alberini said that the prosecutor's office had not yet fulfilled the board's request to investigate Giovannone's role in the primary election and how that would impact her disafilliated status.
Because the board did not yet have the opinion of the prosecutors office, it voted to certify Giovannone to the November ballot with the understanding that a hearing would be held at a later date so that both parties, Giovannone and the county, could provide evidence for review of her independent status.
Giovannone said that she did not vote for a party in the last election and that she believes her independent status is secure.
"I'm well aware of all of the opposition's dirty politics that they've been throwing at me since even the primary that I wasn't even in," Giovannone said. "I disaffiliated with the party connection prior to filing. All the way back before the primaries. Even before the primary people running had put in their petitions, I had disaffiliated and resigned from the party. I'm extremely clear and on the up-and-up."
The hearing dates for Saffold and Giovannone were not determined at the meeting Tuesday.
The following candidates had their independent filings accepted:
• Todd Johnson for Warren City Council 1st Ward;
• Geo Kuriatnyk for Niles mayor;
• Andrew T. Cvetkovich for Niles Council at-Large;
• Lea K. Dotson for Warren Council 6th Ward;
• Robert S. Bond, Mark R. McGrail, Jaclyn L. Woodward and Danielle Nicole Watson for Lordstown mayor;
• William L. Blank for Lordstown Village clerk;
• Lamar Lee Liming for Lordstown Village Council;
• Stanley Czeck for Lordstown Board of Public Affairs.