A ballot initiative that would have expanded Columbus City Council and delegated most of the seats to ward representatives failed Tuesday in nearly 95 percent of city precincts.

A ballot initiative that would have expanded Columbus City Council and delegated most of the seats to ward representatives failed Tuesday in nearly 95 percent of city precincts.

The few clusters where the measure passed were scattered in a handful of neighborhoods across the city, including the University District, Franklinton and the Hilltop.

�It really seemed to resonate with folks that this particular change was not right, even if the need for change was there,� said Thomas Lee, a University District resident who campaigned for the initiative. �I don�t even really disagree with that.�

Ward representation on the council isn�t entirely dead. City officials say the idea will be considered by a charter-review commission that must deliver recommendations to the council and Mayor Andrew J. Ginther by February.

The commission is meant to be a �comprehensive review of how city council is structured,� according to a news release. Ginther spokeswoman Robin Davis said the seven-member commission will be appointed by the mayor and the council by September.

�I hope they follow through and have seen the light from the people who want representation in the city,� said Whitney Smith, co-chairwoman of Represent Columbus, which brought the ward proposal. �I�m not holding my breath. I�m not going to wait on them to fix the situation. It�s really in the hands of the people of Columbus.�

The ballot initiative would have expanded the council�s seven at-large members to 13 seats � 10 elected by voters to represent districts and three at-large members voted on citywide.

Voters resoundingly rejected that idea, defeating the initiative in 473 of 502 Franklin County voting precincts, according to unofficial totals released Wednesday by the county Board of Elections.

Nearly 72 percent of the 49,009 ballots cast in the election were against the proposal. Voter turnout was about 9 percent.

Turnout was slightly higher in some areas that voted in favor of the proposal, but the highest-turnout areas � where more than 30 percent of voters cast ballots � all defeated the proposal.

Franklinton Area Commission Chairwoman Judy Box said her neighborhood works well with the current city council makeup, but residents need to bring complaints to the commission if they want them to be addressed.

�We know how to get things done,� she said.

A pair of precincts in Franklinton that vote in Dodge Park were among those that approved the proposal, but it was by just a single vote in one of them.

Some of the highest turnout in the city was north of Ohio State University around Clintonville, where voters shot down the initiative.

Clintonville Area Commission Chairwoman Libby Wetherholt said the city is �very responsive� when the commission asks for help addressing problems.

�We sometimes don�t like their response, but we usually can manage to get someone�s ear,� she said.

Wetherholt and other area commission leaders said they want the council to look more closely at changing how it fills vacancies.

Smith said her group plans to keep pushing ballot initiatives that address council appointments, along with campaign-finance and term limits for the mayor.

Decisions about council appointments often are made without seriously considering all candidates, said Jim Griffin, South Side Area Commission chairman.

�It leaves a sour taste for a lot of people, especially for those who want to take a more active role in how decisions are made in their city,� he said.

Councilman Shannon Hardin said in July that the charter-review commission should look at how vacancies are filled as part of its analysis.

The commission will not include any elected officials or city employees, Davis said, and it will have seven public meetings.

�We�re going to have a lot of community and public input,� she said.

rrouan@dispatch.com

@RickRouan