The Ohio Elections Commission, by vote of two to one, last week dismissed a complaint that the Batavia Board of Education had published false and misleading information about an upcoming tax proposal.
The decision came after two members of the panel, Chuck Calvert and John Mroczkowski, said they thought the material in question was misleading. At that point, the commission’s executive director recommended dismissal, saying he didn’t believe it could be proved the board had intentionally tried to mislead the public.
Calvert repeated his opinion that the material was misleading and urged the school board to correct it. He then moved that the complaint be dismissed. Mroczkowski voted with Calvert, and the third panel member, Martin Park, voted not to dismiss.
At issue were statements by the school board to support a ballot request for 10.3 mills in additional property taxes. The money would go to build two new schools and expand the high school, all on a single site near the Ford plant. Voters will decide whether to approve the new taxes in a special election Aug. 5.