Collica will face Council President Gary Rivers in the mayoral race.
Glenda Enders, deputy director of the board of elections, said the board usually doesn't go back on its decisions.
"When the board makes a decision, the decision is final," Enders said. "The only way to challenge it is by going to court."
Rivers and Mayor Sally Henzel where the two top vote getters in the May primary, and Collica was third. According to the charter, the two top candidates are supposed to move on to the November election, but Henzel later dropped out of the race.
The board of elections voted to put Collica on the ballot after Collica and his lawyer contended Collica became the second highest vote getter after Henzel dropped out. The board's legal representative, Chief Assistant Portage County Prosecutor Denise Smith, said at the time of the vote that the Ohio Revised Code and the Streetsboro City Charter were silent on the issue of what to do, and the board had discretion on the decision.
Streetsboro Law Director James Martin has prepared an opinion opposing the board's decision. Martin's opinion cites case law in Ohio, the "sore loser" statute and Streetsboro City Charter language.
Councilman Steve Kolar said Monday the opinion was going to be forwarded to the board of elections, and the city would wait for a response.
Kolar has complained that the board of elections gave Martin only about an hour and a half to give his opinion on the issue, leaving him insufficient time. In a letter Kolar attached to Martin's opinion, Kolar states that Martin told Board of Elections Director Lois Enlow before the vote that "in the time available he could not produce a written document."
Enders said, however, that she began leaving messages for Martin the day before the vote, just after Collica and his lawyer brought the matter to the board.
Kolar and Councilman Gary Cross have said the board did not have sufficient information to make a decision on the matter, and they want the board to look at Martin's latest opinion in detail.
"I truly believe the outcome of your decision would have been different if this important information were available to you," Kolar wrote in his letter.
"We need to continue to look at the integrity of the charter," Cross said. He added that he would like the board's decision to be looked into, even if it's after the election is over.
Rivers has said he will not personally challenge the board's decision,
but he wouldn't mind if someone else would. Rivers said he is going
focus his efforts on the election and letting Streetsboro voters know
why he is the better candidate.
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