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SALEM--The parks commission discussed the potential renewal of the department's 1.3-mill recreational levy ahead of the upcoming General Election Tuesday.
During the commission's October meeting Wednesday Commission President John Panezott said that there seemed to be less discussion about the renewal ahead of election day than in years prior. Commissioner Don Yeasted said he'd also noticed the decrease in discussion and that it made him nervous.
"I haven't heard many questions about it. You know, before we always heard something, 'you've got this, or why have you got that?' but I haven't heard much of anything about the renewal," Panezott said.
Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey suggested the decrease might be due to attention being pulled away by contested races for state offices, or a wider awareness of what properties and services the department is responsible for.
Parks Director Kelli Pastore said that in addition to posting signs promoting the renewal, informational pamphlets about the renewal had been passed out during the trail of treats on Oct. 18. She said that 500 had been made in preparation for the event and all had been handed out.
However, Pastore said that she'd been informed that the wording of the issue on the ballot had been unclear to some when casting their ballots during early voting.
Pastore explained that the ballot language, which reads "Proposed Tax Levy (Renewal) Salem City (Columbiana and Mahoning Counties)" does not specify that the renewal is a levy for the parks department rather than for the city at large. Yeasted agreed that the phrasing, which is mandated by the state, was unclear.
"They said to me yesterday that the way it was written on the ballot is very confusing, and she didn't even know that it was for the parks," Pastore said.
"It was confusing for me, and I think I'm pretty up to date the verbiage for all the ballots and that surprised me," Yeasted said.
Pastore suggested posting the ballot language with an explanation that it was a renewal for the parks to the department's social media to help clarify for voters, which the commissioners agreed would be a good idea. Dickey suggested that in the future when renewals are on the ballot that the department could reach out to the chairs of the Columbiana County Republican and Democratic parties for potential assistance promoting the renewal as a non-partisan issue.
The parks commission will meet next at 8 a.m. on Nov. 18.