VILLAGE OF BATAVIA, Oh. — Residents of the Village of Batavia won't be deciding the fate of their village on Election Day.
The Clermont County Board of Elections held two public hearings during its meeting Monday, deciding whether to approve the petition filed, which would place the dissolution of the Village of Batavia on the Nov 3 ballot.
The first hearing surrounded the issue of resident Jeff Bach. Attorneys for the village argued that his true residence is a home in Owensville, while his voting address was a business he owned in the village.
Bach argued that his business is his home. Eventually, the board voted to remove his name from the petition. I spoke with Chris Dennison, the deputy director of the Board of Elections, who said that the petition had one more signature than the minimum they needed. With Bach's removal, the petition then had just enough signatures.
Before the second hearing began, which would decide the fate of the petition, Board Chair Raymond Rembke addressed the court of people sitting in the Clermont County Board of County Commissioners meeting hall.
"What we are here to decide is, the law sets up certain requirements that a petition of this nature has to satisfy. If it satisfies those requirements, we have no choice; the statute says we shall put it on the ballot," Rembke said.
Then, after opening arguments, Village Solicitor Chris Moore called up his subpoenaed witnesses one-by-one. Moore and the Village argued that the petition was valid due to it being a copy of the petition filed when the Village of Amelia was dissolved, which was confirmed by Bill Albright, the petition's circulator.
The petition included the phrase: "We, the undersigned, qualified electors of the Village of Batavia of Clermont County, Ohio, petition your honorable body to forthwith provide for submission to the electors of the Village of Batavia for their approval or rejection at a special election, which shall be provided by the Counsel of the Village of Batavia, Ohio, that the Village of Batavia, Ohio, surrender its corporate powers."
Moore said that it went against the updated statute in state law, which was updated in April 2025. He specifically cited the use of phrases "special election" and "counsel".
The village also brought up several possible issues regarding certain signatures included in the petition and whether they were valid. Much of the testimony had to do with how, where and when certain signatures were obtained, how addresses were verified and if the circulator witnessed the signatures.
On the flip side, attorney Curt Hartman represented the petitioners during the hearings. He argued that the petition was properly put together and had received the necessary number of signatures. He also argued that the village had not fulfilled its burden of proof to show why the petition should not be on the ballot.
"At the end of the day, this board should liberally construe the law in favor of the power reserved to the people of Batavia vis-à-vis their own government. Therefore, I would ask the board to conclude that there were 150 valid signatures and make provision for its placement on the ballot," Hartman said.
After hours of witnesses, testimony and deliberation, the board announced its final decision just before 4 p.m.
Board member Tim Rudd motioned to reject the petition; therefore, it would not be on the ballot. Rudd cited various issues with different petitioners and their signatures as reasons why it should be rejected. The motion was seconded and approved.
Village administrator Chip Stewart sent this statement after the board announced its decision:
“We appreciate and thank the Board of Elections for its thoughtful deliberation today in reaching the right decision."
Hartman told me that he will assess the decision with his client and the parts that the board rejected. The attorney said that the issue could be taken up to the Ohio Supreme Court.
