Proposed Criteria for Residency Qualifications of City Elected Offices

Lima City Council's Human Resources Committee met Monday Evening in the Council Chambers at the Lima Municipal Center.

Tonight's meeting was called by Second Ward Councilor, Tony Wilkerson, with the focus revolving around residency requirements of candidates running for an elected office in the City of Lima. In the most recent mayoral election, the residency of Candidate Elizabeth Hardesty was challenged at the Board of Elections Office and in the court system. Now, the HR Committee has proposed a set of 11 possible criteria to prove a candidate's residency which includes, but not limited to, an address listed on a candidate's driver's license, voter registration, income tax filings, mail service, and utilities accounts. With a set of more definitive guidelines, the HR committee hopes to add a level of reassurance to the city.

"I think they should be reassured that the elected officials in this community want to make sure that we have a smooth election process going forward that we don't have questions about residency going forward," says Tony Wilkerson, Second Ward Councilor, Lima City Council.

The proposed residency requirements have been referred to City Council where they're expected to take them up at a future meeting.