The Portage County Board of Elections has ruled that Streetsboro City Council candidate Matt Bross did not file a criminal conviction disclosure form within the time required by the city charter, knocking Bross off the fall ballot for a Council at-large seat.
After a hearing the morning of March 22, the elections board accepted the challenge by Carmen Laudato, who said Bross filed his city-required disclosure form Feb. 13 after filing candidate petitions with the county elections board Feb. 6.
Streetsboro charter requires the form be filed with the city Council clerk within five days of petitions being filed.
Bross said he believed the time frame referred to business days, rather than calendar days. However, Laudato testified at the hearing that the charter does specifically count “calendar days” in some places but not in this case.
The elections board decision means five candidates will go on to the November general election for three at-large Council seats: Timothy J. Claypoole, Jeffrey M. Allen, Stephen Michniak, Sandy Smith-Fischer and Brett M. McClafferty.
For more, see Wednesday’s Gateway News.
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