Nelsonville faces leadership legal battle and new AI policy debate

The city of Nelsonville, Ohio, is navigating simultaneous governance disputes and new technological regulations. The Nelsonville charter council recently debated Ordinance 69-26, a proposed artificial intelligence policy designed to ensure compliance with state cybersecurity requirements. The ordinance identifies Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot as approved tools for city business, while strictly forbidding the use of xAI (Grok), Google Gemini, and Meta AI. The policy also clarifies that while substantive AI-generated work products must be kept as public records, chat sessions used merely as drafting aids are considered informal notes.

Separately, the city remains embroiled in a legal battle over its leadership structure. Andrea Thompson-Hashman, the individual elected as city auditor in November, has filed a petition for mandamus. She is seeking a court order to allow her to take office after being denied access by city officials. This legal action stems from a conflict regarding Issue 23, a citizen initiative intended to transition the city from a charter government to a statutory government. The dispute involves competing claims of legitimacy between the existing charter council and the newly elected statutory government, a matter that has previously reached the 4th District Court of Appeals and is currently under appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.