YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Board of Elections rejected the candidacy of five potential candidates for elected office, but will wait on the fate of John White, who filed as an independent candidate for Youngstown mayor, until a hearing next week.

The eligibility of White as a Youngstown mayoral candidate has been in question for months with city Law Director Lori Shells Simmons ruling he wasn’t eligible in a June 27 legal opinion because of a city charter violation.

The board of elections voted 4-0 Tuesday to schedule a 4:30 p.m. Monday hearing to weigh evidence about White’s eligibility. White insists he is eligible for the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

Kennth D. Myers, White’s attorney, said after Tuesday’s board meeting that he is “very encouraged” about the hearing. “It means that they’re taking the arguments that I made seriously enough to basically flesh (them) out and to allow me to argue why he should be on the ballot.”

If the board determines White is not eligible, Myers said he hasn’t ruled out taking legal action to get his client on the ballot.

The city charter reads: “The mayor shall be an elector and resident of the city for the five years immediately preceding the mayor’s election, and not less than 30 years of age.”

White registered to vote Feb. 5, 2021, and first voted May 4, 2021.

The 2021 registration means White hasn’t been an elector of Youngstown for the five years immediately before this year’s election, Shells Simmons determined.

Shells Simmons wrote in a legal opinion to Tom McCabe, board director, “Since it is undisputed White registered to vote 5 February 2021, and has not the requisite five years as an elector, he is disqualified from being an eligible mayoral candidate in the November 2025 election.”

White was found to not be eligible to run in the 2021 election by the board of elections for the same reason – as well as for voting in the Democratic primary after filing as an independent.

Myers sent the elections board an email Monday that had a copy of an email he sent May 5 to Shells Simmons that states “a common-sense reading of that section is that a person has to be 1) an elector for five years and 2) a resident of the city for five years. If the framers of the charter had intended for the requirements to be 1) an elector of the city for five years and 2) a resident of the city for five years, they would have written it that way.”

Shells Simmons disagreed, writing: “The city determines the five year requirement applies to both elector and resident based upon well-established statutory construction principles. The Writing Center, Georgetown University Law Center, has a Guide to Reading, Interpreting and Applying Statutes, which reads ‘(a)nd’ typically signifies a conjunctive list, meaning each condition in the list must be satisfied. Therefore, hypothetically, the drafters of the charter should have written ‘a resident for five years and an elector’ if the intent was to apply the time limit to only residency.”

Board Chairman David Betras said Tuesday: “I would like to vet a little bit more than just sit here and try to make a snap decision.”

The board voted Tuesday to not certify the candidacy of Aleesha Foster as an independent candidate for Youngstown mayor.

Foster didn’t date the statement of candidacy on any of her nominating petitions and didn’t sign one of them. Also, she needed at least 134 valid signatures and submitted petitions with only 139 signatures. The board determined Foster had a little more than 40 valid signatures — well short of the minimum number needed to get on the ballot.

The board certified the independent candidacy of Derrick McDowell, founder of the Youngstown Flea, for mayor.

Democrat Jamael Tito Brown is seeking his third four-year term in the Nov. 4 election.

CAMPBELL CANDIDATES

The board of elections on Tuesday also rejected the candidacy of three people who were seeking city council seats in Campbell, including two incumbents, because of issues with their nominating petitions.

Timothy J. O’Bryan, who represents the 1st Ward, failed to date and sign one of his petitions so all the signatures on it were invalid. He needed at least 25 valid signatures to qualify. With the one petition tossed, he had only 23 valid signatures.

Robert Stanko, who represents the 4th Ward, failed to sign and date his petitions before seeking signatures, which is a “fatal flaw” under state law, McCabe said. Stanko signed and dated them after an elections employee told him he failed to do so, which isn’t permitted, McCabe said.

O’Bryan and Stanko were running unopposed.

Also, Mary Janek, who wanted to run for the 3rd Ward council seat, failed to identify what ward seat she was seeking on her petitions, making them invalid, McCabe said.

That leaves Ryan J. Young, who was recently appointed to the position, as the only candidate running for the 3rd Ward seat.

Campbell candidates who weren’t certified Tuesday have the option of running as write-ins in the Nov. 4 general election, McCabe said.

That is because they were filing to run in a Sept. 23 runoff with the top two candidates for each position advancing to the general election. Because no more than two candidates filed for any position, the runoff isn’t needed, but still counts as an election, McCabe said.

The board discussed the candidacy of Dennis Puskarcik, who is running for council president, because of issues with his petitions. But the members agreed to certify his name to the ballot.

POLAND COUNCIL

The board also declined to certify the candidacy of Kelsey Moreton for a seat on the Poland Village Council.

Moreton failed to fill out the circulator’s statement on her nominating petitions and didn’t put the date on one of them, McCabe said. When that was pointed out to her as she submitted them to the board, Moreton added the information, which isn’t permitted, McCabe said.

The board also considered the candidacy of Becky Rudzik for Poland council and chose to certify her to the ballot.

With Moreton not certified, there are five candidates running for four council seats in Poland on the Nov. 4 ballot.

POSSIBLE LAWSUIT

Betras said the board of elections’ location at the Oak Hill Renaissance Center isn’t in compliance with requirements by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. Betras said if the county commissioners don’t decide by Aug. 29 what will be done with the board’s location, he recommended the board file legal action against the commissioners.

Betras has long objected to the conditions at the board, saying it isn’t in compliance with the secretary of state’s directive on fire suppression, fire alarms and keeping ballot machines in restricted areas.

“We can’t get this building in compliance,” he said.