Loveland, Ohio – There will be 3 elected to a 4-year term of Loveland City Council on November 5, and as of Monday evening 3 have submitted sufficient signatures on Nominating petitions to be placed on the ballot. Current Mayor Kathy Bailey, incumbent Kent Blair, and on his second try, Andy Bateman, have all have qualified.
Bateman told Loveland Magazine last week that he had submitted sufficient signatures to the Hamilton County Board of Elections (BOE) and that the signatures have been validated. He ran a distant 5th is his first try to be on City Council in the 2017 election.
All three are guaranteed victory if no one else files to run.
Current Councilwoman Angie Settell’s term ends this December.
Blair is 2-year incumbent
Blair is running for the seat he was appointed to when former Mayor Mark Fitzgerald quit office on August 14, 2017 after petitions were circulated putting his recall and his council seat on the ballot. The petition recall effort could have resulted in a head-to-head race, Fitzgerald vs. Neal Oury who circulated the petitions.
Up until August 18, of 2017, Blair was one of nine candidates on the ballot for four City Council seats. Blair removed his name from consideration so he would not take votes away from Rob Weisgerber, Ted Phelps, Neal Oury, or Tim Butler. It was a pre-arranged deal, under a possible scenario if Fitzgerald’s seat was not going to be on the ballot. After a ruling by the City Attorney, Mayor Bailey was allowed to appoint Blair to the seat that was still open in January of 2018.
Weisgerber, Phelps, Oury, and Butler were elected in 2017.
Word on the street is that former Councilwoman Pam Gross has picked up petitions from the BOE, however, that would not necessarily mean that Gross is running. She may or not circulate petitions, or she may have picked up the petitions for someone else who is interested in being on Council. Gross also ran in 2017 to keep her seat however was roundly defeated for re-election, finishing behind Bateman.
Loveland School Board race
No one has yet filed petitions to be a member of the Loveland Board of Education. There are 2 open seats for 4-year terms. Current Board Vice-President Kathy Lorenz is, however, gathering signatures. Word on the street is that current Board President Art Jarvis is also collecting signatures.
The deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions to the BOE, either in the City Council Race or for a School Board seat is Aug 7.
Loveland City Council will ask voters to approve a revised Charter on November 5 and the Loveland Board of Education is expected to place a Bond Issue on the ballot.
