Charles Clark, an Adams Township resident who helped gather signatures for a ballot referendum to reduce the number of township supervisors, said he wasn’t surprised a judge ruled against the move.

“I can’t say that I am particularly surprised,” Clark said of Butler County Judge Michael Yeager’s decision on the bid to reduce the number of supervisors from five to three.

The referendum question still will be on ballots that township voters see on Nov. 4, however there will be signs posted at township polling sites telling voters to ignore the referendum because a judge ruled against it.

Township solicitor Mike English also wasn’t surprised by the Oct. 8 ruling based on the similar one occurring for Center Township in 2013.

“Judges strive to be consistent,” Gallagher said.

He said it was important the order pointed out that ending the terms of the supervisors prematurely would disenfranchise the voters.

But Clark said he and others are frustrated because the law allows citizens to place a referendum on the ballot, yet a judge can scuttle that effort by calling the law behind the ballot question unconstitutional. That was Yeager’s conclusion in both the Adams Township case and in an identical case involving Center Township.

Clark also said he is not going to stop fighting the ruling, and he hopes that he and others can overcome the microscopic odds of success they face. That would require the state to intervene, get the ruling overturned, and allow residents to vote on the referendum.

“There is a law that allows us to put this on the ballot,” Clark said. “If no one is going to enforce it, why do we have laws on the books that aren’t enforced?”

Clark said he has written letters to all 50 Pennsylvania state senators asking for help on the issue. He said he has contacted state Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, asking him to contact the state attorney general about appealing Yeager’s ruling.

“Basically, the letter asked them to reach out to the state attorney general,” Clark said.

He said the attorney general’s office sent him a letter stating that the attorney general’s involvement in such cases is discretionary and that the office would not participate in this case because of a lack of resources.

In his letter to senators, Clark said that the law allowing citizens to seek this referendum “needs to be struck so the electorate does not become frustrated and lose faith in the system.”

He asked senators to “encourage the attorney general to step up and either defend (the law) or explain why it is indefensible.”

“The only way to legally reduce the number of supervisors is this law,” Clark said. “Basically, it was ruled unconstitutional. Now, there is technically no way to lower the number of township supervisors.”

Clark said his reasons for becoming involved in the issue were simple.

“I am an Adams Township resident that feels the board of supervisors have lost touch with the people in their community,” he said.