Petition decision crowds BOE race in West Carrollton

4 running for 2, 4-year seats, no one running for an unexpired 2-year term.

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By Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer 12:35 AM Monday, October 24, 2011

WEST CARROLLTON — Two candidates hoping to win a seat with Lee Cyr on the West Carrollton Board of Education wound up running against him in the Nov. 8 election.

Earlier this year, Cyr said he planned to run for the final two years of an appointed term on the board. Instead, the Montgomery County Board of Elections decided Cyr’s petitions qualified him to run for one of two four -year terms up for election.

School Board Vice President Debbie Bobbitt also is on the ballot, making a total of four candidates running for two seats.

This turn of events surprised and disappointed challengers Jon Lewallen and Andrew Wagner.

“I was surprised to find that out,” said Wagner.

“If there was a mistake with the petitions, they should be invalidated.”

The board invalidated one of seven petitions filed by Cyr on the Aug. 10 deadline.

The box for unexpired term was checked in the statement of candidacy on the invalidated petition.

The board accepted a petition on which Cyr’s statement of candidacy was first marked for an unexpired term, then that check was scribbled out and initialed, and the box for the full term was checked.

This gave Cyr with 90 valid signatures, 15 more than required. Rejection of the corrected petition would have left him with 73 valid signatures — two shy of the minimum to qualify.

“It was an error that was corrected prior to him filing it,” said Betty Smith, deputy director of the county election board.

After the decision, Cyr was told he could withdraw and run as a write-in for the unexpired term, Smith said.

If he wins, the board will have to appoint a replacement for the rest of the appointed term Cyr was serving.

“That two-year term is going to sit there vacant again,” Lewallen said, indicating he might have sought the two-year term had he known he would have been running unopposed.

“It would be the candidates’ responsibility to find out who their opponents are,” Smith said.

The board certified Cyr, Lewallen and Bobbitt on Aug. 23, Wagner on Aug. 1.

Cyr called the decision a “nonissue.”

“I didn’t decide that. The board of elections reviewed my petitions, and certified them for a four-year term. I’m fine with their decision,” he added in an email.

Bobbitt welcomed the decision.

“He’s done a great job the last two years,” she said. “I guess the voters got what they wanted.”

“Hopefully, whoever doesn’t win will apply to be part of the appointment process,” Bobbitt added.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or lbudd@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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