DEERFIELD TWP. — A group of residents handed in more than 1,000 signatures Thursday on a petition to let Deerfield voters decide whether they want five elected township trustees instead of three, according to Township Clerk Kristin Spiekerman .

        By law, the petition — to put the expansion initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot — must be posted at the township for 10 days and then given to the Warren County Board of Elections to verify signatures. At least 680 signatures must prove valid for the initiative to reach the ballot, Board of Elections Director Bev Moore said.

        The law allowing urban townships to have five-member boards took effect less than a year ago, and Deerfield could be the first in Ohio to consider making the change, according to the Ohio Township Association.

        “I think some will consider it,” said Michael Cochran, the association's executive director. “It's only for the largest townships.”

        Deerfield has more than 25,000 residents, slightly larger than the city of Mason, according to the 2000 Census.

        “They've got seven council members — why can't we have five trustees?” said Deerfield resident Dorette Landis, a leader of the petition drive. “We could maybe have a better balance.”

        The expansion effort also followed the current board's unpopular decision this spring to allow senior housing on township-owned property near Columbia and Montgomery roads.

        The Board of Elections will have only a couple of days to verify signatures before the Aug. 22 filing deadline, but elections officials can pre-check them from petition copies, Ms. Moore said.

        If the initiative reaches the ballot and is approved by voters, the two new seats would be up for election November 2003. One would be a four-year term and one two-year the first time. Both would be four-year terms thereafter.

        Deerfield isn't the only community potentially facing a voter initiative in November. Last week, Maineville residents submitted a petition seeking to dissolve the village.

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