While the people behind the Issue 7 green-energy initiative on Tuesday's ballot have remained largely secretive, court records reveal that two of their leaders have been mired in major personal financial problems that have dogged them for the past 14 years. John A. Clarke Jr. and his wife, Irene Gil-Llamas filed an unsuccessful multimillion-dollar bankruptcy during the 2007 housing crash. Court records from U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Ohio, show the couple being hit with more than a dozen foreclosure cases on properties they owned, including on their 5,500-square-foot, historic home on the Near East Side. Without the protection of bankruptcy reorganization, foreclosure cases against the couple stretched into late 2011, months before they began their quest to control tens of millions in taxpayer dollars.

While the people behind the Issue 7 green-energy initiative on Tuesday's ballot have remained largely secretive, court records reveal that two of their leaders have been mired in major personal financial problems that have dogged them for the past 14 years. John A. Clarke Jr. and his wife, Irene Gil-Llamas filed an unsuccessful multimillion-dollar bankruptcy during the 2007 housing crash. Court records from U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Ohio, show the couple being hit with more than a dozen foreclosure cases on properties they owned, including on their 5,500-square-foot, historic home on the Near East Side. Without the protection of bankruptcy reorganization, foreclosure cases against the couple stretched into late 2011, months before they began their quest to control tens of millions in taxpayer dollars.

News Briefs from the Columbus Dispatch - Columbus Ohio

News Briefs from the Columbus Dispatch - Columbus Ohio

Columbus News Briefs - Columbus Dispatch

News Briefs from the Columbus Dispatch - Columbus Ohio.

News Briefs from the Columbus Dispatch - Columbus Ohio.

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