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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2007 > October
October 2007
How much DOES that levy cost?
A woman called me this week concerned about what she sees as misleading property tax levy campaigns.
She said signs and advertisements for levies ought to tell people what the levies will cost. Instead, she accurately pointed out, signs for the Montgomery County Human Services levy make no mention of the millage amount, nor the cost. Instead signs simply urge voters to vote yes on Issue 20 - “help that works.”
She’s right. It is the rare levy sign that gives any real detail about the issue. And if cost is mentioned in ads or presentations by levy supporters, they tend to calculate the smallest possible amount. Along the lines of: “This levy will cost you just $5 a month if you own a $50,000 home.”
And campaigns typically don’t say much about the total cost of an existing levy that is being changed so that it brings in additional money. Most just talk about how much the increase is, rather than the bottom line for the taxpayer, which is what the total bill will be.
So what do you think? Should levy campaigns do more to inform voters of how much a “yes” vote will cost them?
Compuware makes payment
Compuware Corp. chipped in $300,000 to help defray $3 million the state of Ohio has paid out in costs associated with the theft of data containing Social Security numbers and other sensitive information. The company used to be a contractor on the OAKS system, the state’s new payroll and accounting system. The $300,000 payment, however, is not admission of any liability in the incident, said Ohio Department of Administrative Services spokesman Ron Sylvester. And the state agreed not to hold it against Compuware when considering it for future work.
The data storage device containing sensitive information on more than 1 million people and businesses was stolen from a state intern’s car in June.
Brown wants CPSC chief to step down
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called Tuesday for acting Consumer Product Safety Commission Acting Chairman Nancy Nord to step down in the aftermath of the recall of more than 20 million toys this summer and fall.
Brown, speaking on a conference call organized by the progressive Campaign for America’s Future, was reacting in part to a New York Times story published today that reported that Nord has balked at legislation that would increase the penalties for safety violations and make it easier for the government to publicize reports of faulty products.
“This administration’s resistance to act to protect families is at best shameful,” he said, saying under Nord’s leadership “unfortunately we’ve seen a lot more inaction than action.”
Brown, whose comments were echoed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said that Nord’s response to the wave of recalls has been “underwhelming.” and said she spends most of her time making sure the agency isn’t scrutinized or held accountable.
His comments came the same day that Consumer Reports magazine found high levels of lead on toy blood pressure cuffs that come with Fisher-Price toy medical kits.
Update: Here’s Brown’s full statement on Nord:
“One thing I’m sure of: it’s time for Nancy Nord to step aside. She’s the acting chairperson, but unfortunately we’ve seen a lot more inaction than action. It’s time to put a Chairperson in place who is not satisfied with ‘we’re doing the best we can.’ We need a chairperson who fights for the authority and resources the CPSC needs to do the job it is supposed to do.
“Ms. Nord’s response to the wave of product recalls has been underwhelming. She is fighting efforts to make more information available to the public about product hazards; She is opposing protections for whistleblowers who identify shoddy products, even if it is not her agency, but the Department of Labor, that has lead responsibility for addressing whistleblower complaints’.
“And most importantly, in the face of recall after recall after recall, Ms. Nord has offered no plan that would adequately equip the CPSC to do its job. She spends most of her time trying to make sure her agency isn’t scrutinized or held accountable for shortcomings in product safety oversight. We need a product safety chairperson who understands their job is to protect consumers, not corporations.”
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Mmmm, tater tots
Does a tater tot taste better if your boss gives it to you off his lunch tray? Since he’s on a low-carb diet, Gov. Ted Strickland pawned off tater tots from his lunch Friday to his staff. “There was mass consumption of tater tots in the governor’s office this afternoon, which I sadly missed,” confirmed Strickland press secretary Keith Dailey. “They were delicious tater tots from our own Statehouse cafeteria.” But Dailey tattled that Strickland isn’t strictly adhering to the diet. “The governor is on an Atkins diet but he had a buttered biscuit with jelly this morning that was full of carbs,” Dailey said. Maybe the governor just doesn’t like tater tots as much as biscuits.
Huh? What did Obama say?
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama delivered a 40-minute speech Friday to several hundred supporters assembled at the Columbus Convention Center. Too bad few people could clearly hear it because the acoustics were terrible. Applause and cheers bounced off the cement floor and crowd noise often drowned out Obama. It didn’t help that his microphone was closer to his belly button than his mouth. The event was staged well enough that Obama ended the speech promptly at noon, in time for television stations across the state to go live with a recap of …whatever he said.
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Don Mottley packs his bags
Former State Rep. Don Mottley won’t challenge Kettering Councilwoman Peggy Lehner in a Republican primary race for the 37th Ohio House seat.
In fact, he’s leaving Montgomery County, after living here for a half-century.
But Mottley is not ruling out running for office - perhaps even the Congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio - from his new home in Columbus.
“I wish Don the very best in whatever he chooses to do in Columbus,” said Lehner, who was endorsed in July by the Montgomery County Republican Party central committee. “He was a good stage legislator and he would’ve been a formidable foe in the primary.”
Mottley on Thursday confirmed that he is now a registered voter in Franklin County. He’s engaged to be married in January to Marianne White of Columbus. She’s a former senate staffer now working for the Ohio Department of Education. She and Mottley have dated for 7 years, with him commuting from West Carrollton to his law offices in Columbus and Cincinnati.
Maintaining a residence in one city makes more sense, said Mottley, but he admits, “My first choice was always to run for re-election to my old House seat in Montgomery County.”
Mottley is not sure if a State House seat in his new district is an option for him because the Franklin County Republican Party has already endorsed Bill Schuck for the 22nd Ohio House District. But Mottley said no one is endorsed for Pryce’s 15th Congressional District seat.
“No one in authority has asked me to consider that,” Mottley said. “I’m mindful that Republicans don’t have a candidate yet for that seat.”
Following a “no-primary battles” edict from the state party, the Montgomery County Republican Party central committee in July endorsed for local House seats slated to open up due to term limits. They picked Lehner over Mottley and Miami Twp. Trustee Deborah Preston for the seat now held by House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering.
Mottley had questioned the endorsement because he believed three people who voted for Lehner were ineligible based on their place of residence. However, Party Chairman Greg Gantt said there was no party mechanism for Mottley to pursue a challenge of the endorsment and Mottley decided against filing residency challenges with the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
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Yet another Ohioan weighs in on the presidential race…
Ohio state Sen. Bob Schuler, R-Sycamore Twp., has become the latest Ohioan to throw his weight behind former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney’s bid for the presidency.
Schuler, who has represented the 7th Senate district since 2003, joins state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls and state Rep. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, as well as Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Navarre, in backing Romney.
Romney leads in fundraising in Ohio among presidential candidates, but recent polls by Quinnipiac University indicate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., holds a solid lead over all other presidential comers in polls.
Gingrich Meets with House Republicans
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., met on Tuesday with members of the Ohio House Republican caucus while Gingrich was in Columbus for some other meetings, said Karen Tabor, spokeswoman for Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering.
“It went really well,” Tabor said.
Gingrich, who led the Republican takeover of the U.S. House in 1994, also met privately with Husted - speaker-to-speaker -, Tabor said.
Gingrich had considered seeking the Republican nomination for president next year but on Sept. 29 announced that he preferred to continue being a “citizen activist”, running his American Solutions organization.
He was quoted as saying that an analysis of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law indicated he couldn’t continue as head of that organization while exploring a campaign for the White House.
“American Solutions is in the early stages, I think, of becoming a genuine national citizens movement,” Gingrich told reporters, according to a Washington Post story. “To walk out of it just as it’s getting launched struck me as absolutely irresponsible.”
Do you think Gingrich should run for president?
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Mary Wiseman appointed to bench
Gov. Ted Strickland appointed Dayton area attorney Mary Wiseman to the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on Monday. Wiseman, 45, an attorney with Coolidge Wall Co., will replace Judge John Kessler, who is scheduled to retire at the end of the month. She’ll take the bench Nov. 5, according to Strickland’s office. Wiseman, a Democrat, served on the Dayton City Commission from 1999 to 2002. “Mary is an experienced attorney and public servant who will bring great value to the court,” Strickland said. Earlier this year, Strickland appointed Frances McGee to a vacancy on the bench.
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Accusations made over sign in Miami Twp. trustee race
The Miami Twp. firefighters’ union is crying foul over the removal of a political candidate’s sign from a firefighter’s private vehicle while it was parked at a township fire station.
An inquiry by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office is expected to be completed this week and “on the surface it certainly appears that no criminal offense took place,” said Major Greg Laravie, of the sheriff’s office.
Jim Baber, president of the Miami Twp. Career Firefighters Local 2951, said firefighter Chad Gemin’s truck had a magnetic sign promoting Mike Laycox in his bid to unseat township trustee Charles Lewis. Laycox, a nurse and athletic trainer who volunteers with the fire squad, is endorsed by the union.
The union believes removing the sign violated Gemin’s right to free speech and will file a grievance over it, Baber said.
Township Administrator Greg Hanahan said the signs were “plastered” on vehicles parked on township property Oct. 14 and the next day department heads were told that township policy prohibited those types of signs and they were to be removed. “We’ve never permitted political signs to be placed on township property,” Hanahan said. “It’s all about trying to keep everything fair and equal to everybody.”
When the sign was spotted on Gemin’s vehicle Oct. 15, Hanahan asked Asst. Township Administrator Greg Rogers to remove it. Hanahan said the sign was returned to Gemin with a copy of township policy and a note saying he could face disciplinary action.
Hanahan said the decision to remove the sign was based on legal advice from the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s office, which later modified that opinion to say private vehicles could display signs as long as they were not used as billboards. Gemin is now permitted to display the sign, Hanahan said.
Laycox said it is unfortunate that the sign was removed.
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Coalition Launches Campaign for Paid Sick Leave
A coalition of more than 100 labor, religious and social action groups and individuals on Monday rolled out its campaign to require that Ohio workers be able to earn seven paid sick days per year to care for themselves or a child, spouse or parent.
The proposal would apply to companies with 25 or more employees.
Because “illness is a fact of life,” millions of Ohio workers must choose between their jobs or taking care of themselves or a sick family member, Dale Butland, spokesman for the Coalition for Healthy Families said at a Columbus news conference on Monday morning. A second news conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. Monday in Dayton at Mt. Enon Baptist Church, 1501 W. Third St.
Butland said that 42 percent of Ohio’s private sector workers - about 2.2 million people - have no paid sick days.
The coalition plans to turn in petitions in late December with 120,683 valid signatures asking the legislature to enact the sick leave legislation. If the legislature doesn’t act within four months, the group can gather the same number of signatures to put the issue on the November 2008 ballot, when Ohioans also will be choosing a new president. The group already has gathered 140,000 signatures and plans to have even more before turning them in. Signatures above the required number are needed in case some signatures are thrown out.
“Our intent has nothing to do with electoral politics,” said Butland.
Ty Pine of the National Federation of Independent Business’ Ohio previously has called the effort “anti-small business” and “anti-worker.”
However, at the Columbus news conference, Heather Geissler, owner of Challenger Aviation Products in Vandalia said her company provides seven sick days and the policy helps keep workers happy and the work place healthy. Because her company has only seven employees, it would not be covered by the proposed legislation.
Information on the campaign is available at: www.sickdays.org
From Hall to here
Former U.S. Rep. Tony Hall’s office turns out to have been a bit of an incubator for county government. Not only is Montgomery County Commissioner Dan Foley a former Hall employee, but the three Democratic county commissioners this year hired a Hall aide as commission clerk and his former chief of staff as the county’s lobbyist.
Hall, a Democrat who represented the 3rd District from 1978 to 2002, left Congress to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. He left that job in 2005.
Hall hired Foley right out of college when Foley, who had a political science degree, was doing a local Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) project.
“It was like graduate school in political science,” said Foley, who did constituent work and helped with hunger programs from 1988 to 1991 in Hall’s Dayton office.
Foley, former county clerk of courts, and Judy Dodge, former recorder, were elected to county commission last November and, with incumbent Commissioner Debbie Lieberman, formed the county commission’s first Democratic majority since 1992. Commissioners earn about $84,000 annually.
Earlier this year county commissioners replaced long time Commission Clerk Juanita Hunn, who retired, with Carol Prewitt, who is paid $56,666 annually.
Prewitt was Hall’s caseworker from 1995 to 2002.
Commissioners also replaced the county’s longtime political lobbyists with Rick Carne, who spent nearly 19 years working for Hall.
Carne, was Hall’s district director and, later, chief of staff. When Hall stepped down Carne ran unsuccessfully for Hall’s seat against Republican Mike Turner, who now represents the 3rd District.
Rick Carne Consulting handles the county’s economic development lobbying at the state and federal level and is paid $87,000 annually.
“Carol is very professional and as far as Rick, he’s a great lobbyist because he was there and he worked on the Hill and has connections with everybody,” said Lieberman said.
Hobson for state Senate?
Rep. David Hobson has made it clear he doesn’t know what his next move will be after he retires from Congress at the end of 2008. But his spokeswoman says some Republicans in his district want him to run for the state Senate seat he held before he came to Congress - and he hasn’t said no yet.
“He indicated to me he hasn’t ruled anything out,” said Hobson spokeswoman Sara Perkins.
Hobson, R-Springfield, announced his retirement plans last Sunday, and within a day, state Sen. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, announced that he would seek Hobson’s open seat. Austria has served the 10th district since 2000, but could not run for another term because of term limits.
Hobson served in the state Senate from 1982 to 1990. The district includes Clark, Greene and Madison counties.
Currently, former Greene County Commissioner W. Reed Madden and state Rep. Chris Widener of Springfield, are the Republican candidates seeking the open 10th district seat. Democrat Clark County Commissioner Roger Tackett is also seeking the seat.
Romney Names State Director for Ohio
Republican Mitt Romney has named David Gallagher, a University of Dayton graduate, as Ohio director of Romney’s presidential campaign.
Although the Ohio primary is not until March 4, Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, and other presidential candidates have been raising money in the state and making occasional campaign stops. Romney met with reporters Wednesday in Columbus.
Gallagher, 29, “will be critical in growing Gov. Romney’s already strong grassroots organization in Ohio,” a campaign press release said.
Gallagher, who grew up in the Dayton area, has worked for the Ohio Republican Party and for former Republican U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine as well as on campaigns in Nevada, the release said.
In the release, Gallagher said Romney “has the experience needed to bring conservative change to Washington.”
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Voinovich, Brown want post office named after Gillmor
U.S. Sens. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Wednesday introduced a bill to name the U.S. Post Office in Tiffin, Ohio, after Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Old Fort, who died in September from injuries sustained in a fall down the stairs of his Arlington, Va. townhouse.
“While this small token will never truly show how much we appreciate him, I hope his family will have a sense of how much he was admired and will be missed by so many people,” Voinovich said.
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Strip Club Issue Heads to Federal Court
Owners of adult businesses, including strip clubs, went to federal court in Cleveland on Wednesday in a new effort to block a state law regulating strip clubs and other adult entertainment businesses. U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver declined to issue an immediate order blocking the law. Oliver ordered both sides in the case to submit briefs on Thursday morning and said he would try to have a decision later that day.
The lawsuit was filed on the same day that Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner formally notified backers of a ballot issue on the strip club law that they had fallen short of getting the required signatures to get a referendum on the strip club law on the Nov. 6 ballot.
In a separate legal action, backers of the ballot issue asked the Ohio Supreme Court to order Brunner to certify that they had filed enough signatures to get on the ballot. This lawsuit said that under the Ohio Constitution all signatures submitted after Sept. 27 should have been counted toward the 241,366 needed to qualify for the ballot. Brunner ruled that the issue backers fell short of the 241,336 signatures needed.
Jeff Ortega, Brunner’s spokesman, said that it’s Brunner’s position that the law takes effect once she certifies that the signatures fell short.
The federal lawsuit charges that the strip club regulations “violate the United States and Ohio constitutions because they are unconstitutionally broad, unconstitutionally vague and trample on the rights of free expression guaranteed by the First Amendment,” according to a press release. The lawsuits seeks a temporary and permanent injunction blocking the law.
“It’s unAmerican to limit free speech just because it offends the moral code of a small but noisy group of censors,” said Luke Liakos, president of the Buckeye Association of Club Executives, a trade association for adult businesses.
The law prohibits touching between dancers and customers and requires adult entertainment businesses to close between midnight and 6 a.m. It allows clubs with liquor licenses to stay open until last call, with nudity banned after midnight.
Enforcement of the law had been on hold pending the possible ballot issue.
Ohio SEIU State Council Endorses Edwards
The Ohio Service Employees International Union (SEIU) State Council has endorsed Democrat John Edwards for president. The council represents 27,000 members from SEIU District 1199 and SEIU Local 3.
The Ohio endorsement came as SEIU locals in nine other states - Iowa, Washington, Michigan, Idaho, Montana, California, West Virginia, Minnesota and Oregon - also endorsed Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina. The 10 state locals represent more than 920,000 working families, an SEIU press release said.
In the race for the Democratic nomination, Edwards trails U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois in fundraising and in most polls. To win the nomination, Edwards must “do well” and “probably win” the Iowa caucuses, said Dave Regan, president of SEIU District 1199.
Leaders of the SEIU state locals that endorsed Edwards “are going to put our heads together” to figure out how to best help him in Iowa and other states with early primaries and caucuses, said Regan.
Romney Raises Most from Buckeye Contributors
Republican Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, raised the most money in Ohio of all presidential candidates during the first nine months of this year. Romney took in $1,107,501 from Buckeye contributors, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were almost neck-and-neck for second place. Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, had contributions of $677,359 and Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, had contributions of $667,631.
Rounding out the top 10 based on contributions from Ohioans were: Republican Rudolph Giuliani, former New York mayor - $491,600 Democrat John Edwards, former U.S. senator from North Carolina - $428,931 Republican John McCain, U.S. senator from Arizona - $256,913 Democrat Bill Richardson, New Mexico governor - $192,040 Republican Ron Paul, U.S. House member from Texas - $77,301 Republican Fred Thompson, former U.S. senator from Tennessee - $65,100 Republican Sam Brownback, U.S. senator from Kansas - $54,161
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Romney, Obama Headed to Ohio
Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama are bringing their presidential campaigns and fundraising efforts to Columbus.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, on Wednesday, is scheduled to hold a briefing for reporters at 4:15 p.m. at the Ohio State University Airport and then attend a fundraiser in suburban Powell hosted by former Nationwide chairman Dimon McFerson.
Contributions for the general reception are $1,000 a person. State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, a Romney backer, said there also will be a VIP event at $2,300 a person.
Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, is scheduled to be in Columbus on Friday, Oct. 26 for a “Countdown to Change” fundraiser at the Columbus Convention Center. General admission is $25 and student admission $15. Doors open at 10:30 a.m.
Ohio’s 2008 presidential primary is not until March 4 so Romney, Obama and other candidates so far have not spent much time campaigning here, concentrating instead on states with early primaries and caucuses. The candidates, however, continue to raise money from Ohio contributiors.
Strickland to root for the Indians tonight
Gov. Ted Strickland and his chief of staff, John Haseley, will be at Jacobs Field tonight, cheering the Cleveland Indians in game three of the American League Championship Series. The governor will not be wined and dined at the stadium by big wigs and muckety-mucks. Instead, he’ll be sitting behind somewhere home plate, sitting in $115 seats, said Press Secretary Keith Dailey. The governor bought the tickets at face value from a friend.
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Hobson unsure about post-Congressional career
Rep. David Hobson may have decided to retire, but he has not decided what he’ll do after he leaves office at the end of 2008.
“I don’t really know,” he said, asked about his future plans in an interview Monday. “You can’t really make any job deals until you’re out.”
He said when he first started thinking about retirement, he considered becoming a public defender or lawyer, but he’s worried he hasn’t done enough to keep his license up. “I don’t want to be sued by not knowing enough law,” he said.
He said he’s “not going to lobby” because he’s “not into that,” but said he hopes to do something “where I can keep helping people one way or another.”
Pressed about whether he’d retire two years ago, Hobson told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer “I think my kids are afraid that if I’m at home, I’ll drive my wife nuts.”
Hobson said that concern hasn’t changed.
“My kids are still worried about that,” he said.
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Austria announces bid for Hobson’s seat
State Sen. Steve Austria Monday morning formally entered the open Seventh Congressional District race, making his announcement one day after Rep. David Hobson, R-Springfield, announced his plans to retire at the end of this term.
Austria, R-Beavercreek, currently represents the 10th senate district, a seat previously held by Hobson, but is prevented from seeking another term for that office because of term limits. He has served as Senate Majority Whip for the past three years. Previously, he served as state representative from 1998 to 2000. So far, he’ll face retired Air Force Lt. Col. John Mitchel of Beavercreek in the Republican primary.
Austria’s wife, Eileen, is Hobson’s longtime district director.
In a release announcing his run, Austria called Hobson “a friend and mentor” and said he would seek the retiring congressman’s advice as he embarked on his bid.
“While no one can ever replace Dave Hobson in Congress, I believe that my service in the Ohio Legislature and in leadership positions over the past nine years has provided me with a great training ground to begin my campaign for U.S. Congress,” Austria said.
Democrats running for the seat include Dave Woolever, a Circleville pizzeria owner, and Bill Conner, a Beavercreek retiree who ran in 2006 and garnered 38 percent of the vote. But the state party is hoping Gene Kelly, who has been Clark County Sheriff since 1987, will decide to run. UPDATE: Kelly said Monday afternoon that he planned to continue his bid for re-election as Clark County Sheriff.
Among other Republicans, State Rep. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, said he was looking at the race for Hobson’s seat but is right now focused on running for the seat to be vacated by Austria at the end of 2008. Clark County GOP chairman Dan Harkins was also among the Republicans being mentioned as a possible candidate.
The seventh congressional district includes all of Clark, Greene, Fayette, Pickaway, Fairfield and Perry counties as well as parts of Ross and Franklin counties.
Regula’s retirement raises questions about Hobson’s future
The announcement last week that longtime Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Navarre, is retiring has renewed questions about Rep. David Hobson’s political plans.
Hobson, R-Springfield, elected in 1990, turns 71 on Oct. 17. He has hinted that he is wrestling with the decision, and told Congress Daily last week that the death of Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Old Fort, earlier this summer deeply affected him. He told the publication that he planned to make a decision within two weeks.
This wouldn’t be the first time he’s weighed retirement. In 2000, he sold his Alexandria condominium in preparation for stepping down. But then he became chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. The job reenergized him, and he kept running.
Earlier this year, Hobson said he still felt he was being effective - he’s been the lone Republican on several congressional delegation trips headed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., including a controversial trip to Syria. And he’s also fared well despite his move from majority to minority of the House Appropriations Committee, garnering earmarks for Springfield and Dayton in a handful of House funding bills.
Earlier this summer, political blog www.daytonos.com posted an entry saying Hobson would retire. At the time, Hobson denied it, saying, “As of now, I’m running.”
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Convicted Felons Gather Signatures for Strippers
Strippers and strip club owners got another jolt of bad news Friday when officials at the Trumbull County board of elections in Warren reported that 14 convicted felons were used to gather signature for a ballot issue on strip club regulations. They gathered 447 signatures which will have to be thrown out. Two convicted felons were used to gather five signatures in Perry County. Those also will be thrown out. Ohio law prohibits convicted felons from gathering signatures. The rejected signatures further reduces the chance the issue will make the Nov. 6 ballot. “We knew it was going to be close anyway. This is bad news for us,” said Sandy Theis, spokeswoman for backers of the ballot issue, the “Vote No on Issue 1 Committee.” Backers of the issue last Friday turned in an additional 230,843 signatures in an effort to put a referendum on the ballot on a state law regulating strip clubs and other adult entertainment businesses. The first batch of signatures turned in earlier fell nearly 116,000 short of the 241,336 required to get the issue on the ballot and fewer than a third of the original signatures turned out to be valid. The validation rate on the new signatures would have to be about 50 percent to come up with enough to get on the ballot. Rokey W. Suleman II, deputy director of the Trumbull County Board of Elections, said the name of one petition circulator caught his attention and he confirmed the person was a convicted felon and then checked other names and found the additional convicted felons. He said he didn’t know how many signatures would have to be thrown out. Also, he said it looked like some of the signatures were written “in the same hand.” Theis said that the agency hired to gather the signatures was given guidelines saying convicted felons shouldn’t be used. The law, which is on hold pending the ballot issue, prohibits touching between strippers and customers and limits club hours.
Turner, Sugar Creek Twp. boy appear on Fox News
The 17-year-old Carroll High School junior who unwittingly launched a political firestorm over whether or not flags flown over the U.S. Capitol could be sent with dedications invoking God appeared on Fox’s “Hannity and Colmes” Thursday night with the congressman who helped overturn that policy.
Andrew Larochelle, a Sugar Creek Twp. resident, appeared with Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, whose letter protesting the policy of the Architect of the U.S. Capitol ultimately helped push the architect to overturn that policy.
Under the U.S. Capitol flag program, which began in 1937, constituents can request flags from their congressmen or senators. The flags come with a certificate of authenticity that states when the flag was flown, who it is for, and often include personal messages.
Turner protested the policy after Larochelle requested a flag with the phrase “God, family and country” in the certificate that accompanied a flag he planned to give to his grandfather, Marcel Larochelle, commemorating Andrew Larochelle’s becoming an Eagle Scout. The flag came back without the reference to God. The architect referenced official policy as the reason for declining to include the reference to God.
After Larochelle told Turner about the omission, Turner wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that was ultimately signed by more than 160 lawmakers. He also introduced a bill aimed at forcing the Architect to overturn the policy.
“It’s been a great relief to finally get here,” Larochelle said.
Turner said the issue was about more than the flag. He said the Architect of the Capitol has custodial care of the Capitol, where “In God We Trust” is inscribed on walls.
The policy barring religious references in certificates accompanying flags, he said, was “a selectively enforced policy and it’s good that it was struck down.”
“We have respect for multiculturalism we have here,” Turner said. “But that responsibility shouldn’t come at the cost of losing our heritage and roots.”
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Flag policy overturned
Acting Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers has revised a policy that bars the acknowledgment of God in certificates accompanying flags flown over the Capitol.
In a statement issued Thursday at 2:30 p.m., Ayers acknowledged that a 2003 policy banning the use of religious or political expressions were “inconsistently applied,” and said he has decided that “it is inappropriate and beyond the scope of this Agency’s responsibilities to censor messages from Members.” He said the architect’s role is to certify that the flags are flown over the U.S. Capitol and “any messages on the flag certificates are personal and between a member of Congress and his or her constituents.”
Under new policy, no restrictions are placed on the accompanying certificates except for one - the dedications must be limited to 300 characters.
Under the U.S. Capitol flag program, which began in 1937, constituents can request flags from their congressmen or senators. The flags come with a certificate of authenticity that states when the flag was flown, who it is for, and often include personal messages.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, protested the policy after one of his constituents, 17-year-old Andrew Larochelle of Carroll High School in Dayton requested a flag with the phrase “God, family and country” in the certificate that accompanied a flag he planned to give to his grandfather, Marcel Larochelle, commemorating Andrew Larochelle’s becoming an Eagle Scout.
The flag came back without the reference to God. The architect referenced official policy as the reason for declining to include the reference to God.
Turner sent a letter protesting the policy to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., early this week which was signed by nearly 175 lawmakers from both parties. And he also introduced a bill - named after Andrew Larochelle - to overturn the policy in the architect’s office.
Jessica Towhey, a spokeswoman for House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., said Boehner does not yet have details on the change. Boehner also sent a letter to Pelosi protesting the policy, and the two spoke this morning about the policy.
“He’s pleased that the speaker and her appointees agree that this policy should be scrapped, but he’s waiting to see the full details,” Towhey said. “Congressman Boehner is not going to accept anything less than full restoration of the House tradition which was letting expressions of God and expressions of religion on these certificates.”
Pelosi, who earlier this week expressed support for the policy, said Thursday the architect’s office decided to change the policy on its own. “I don’t think that the Architect’s office should be in the role of censoring what members want to say on those documents,” she said.
Turner, in a statement, called the decision “a great victory for American traditions, religious freedoms and freedom of expression.”
Turner to appear on ‘Hannity and Colmes’ Thursday
Rep. Mike Turner’s quest to get the Architect of the Capitol to allow references to God on the certificates of authenticity accompanying flags flown over the Capitol has made him a regular on cable news.
He appeared Tuesday night on CNN’s “Glenn Beck” show, as well as on “Fox and Friends.” And Wednesday night, he’s scheduled to appear at 9:10 p.m. EST on Fox’s “Hannity and Colmes.” UPDATE: Turner is now scheduled to appear on the program on Thursday night.
Turner, R-Centerville, who ordinarily avoids cable networks and doesn’t himself subscribe to cable, is going on all these shows to push the Architect of the U.S. Capitol to change current policy that calls for the omission of references to “God” on the certificates of authenticity that accompany flags flown over the Capitol.
Under the U.S. Capitol flag program, constituents can request from their lawmakers flags flown over the U.S. Capitol. The flags are sent to constituents with a certificate of authenticity that often includes personal messages.
But under a policy first officially imposed in 2003 but unofficially imposed as far back as the 1970s, the architect of the Capitol - which administers the program - bars references to religion and politics from the certificates.
Turner entered the fray after a constituent’s message to his grandfather, which included the phrase “God, family and country,” came back without the reference to God.
Kyle Anderson, a spokesman for the Committee on House Administration, which advises the Architect of the Capitol, said the policy has “not been applied on a consistent basis.” He said the committee is working on clarifying the policy in conjunction with the Architect’s office.
Turner also announced Wednesday that he has introduced a bill to change current policy in the architect’s office. Within a day, it had 40 cosponsors. The bill is named after the constituent who first brought the issue to his attention.
Turner has also sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., protesting the policy.
What do you think of the policy?
Poll: Clinton leads Giuliani in Ohio
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has a solid lead among Democrats in Ohio, and is increasing her lead over former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in important swing states, according to a new poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The institute is tracking three swing states - Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania - and finds Clinton is doing well in all three states.
In Ohio, she tops Giuliani 46 to 40 percent - a slight decrease from the Sept. 6 poll, which found her lead 47 to Giuliani’s 40 percent.
But her support in Ohio is also deep. Seventy-four percent of her supporters said they are not likely to change their mind.
“The news just keeps getting better for Sen. Clinton,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Among other Ohio findings:
Clinton handily beats Republicans Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., also beat those fellow Republicans, plus Giuliani, in possible 2008 presidential matchups.
Clinton leads in a Democratic primary matchup with 47 percent. Nineteen percent prefer Obama and 11 percent prefer Edwards, according to the poll.
Only 11 percent of Republicans polled believed Giuliani has the nomination “locked up.” But 43 percent of Ohio Democrats think Clinton does.
Do you believe the poll reflects how your friends and neighbors plan to vote?
Ohio Dems Post Rules for Convention Delegate Candidates
The Ohio Democratic Party now is accepting applications for candidates to be delegates to the Democratic National Convention next Aug. 25-28 in Denver, the party announced Tuesday. Application forms are available at www.ohiodems.org where the delegate selection process and delegate selection plan also are outlined. Being a convention delegate “is one of the most patriotic things a Democrat can do,” Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said in a press release. There are 92 district delegates and 16 district alternates, the release said. They will be selected at a Congressional District Caucus in each congressional district on Jan. 3, 2008, the release said. Completed forms can be faxed to 1-877-THE-DEMS, the release said
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State Rep. Shannon Jones Endorses Romney
State Rep. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for president, Romney’s campaign announced Tuesday. “Unlike any other candidate, Gov. Romney has laid out a comprehensive strategy to prevent a nuclear Iran,” Jones said in a press release. “He understands that the best ally for peace is a strong America and he is the best choice to keep us safe from the threat of terrorist-sponsored regimes.” Romney said in the release that Jones, a first-term legislator from Warren County, would be an “important part of my team in Ohio, making sure voters know my vision to create a stronger economy, stronger military and stronger families.” Jones joins state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, who earlier endorsed Romney.
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Boehner wants $50,000 in 30 days
House Minority Leader John Boehner has seen Hillary Clinton in action, and he’s telling voters in a new fundraising letter that “we can’t afford her.”
The letter, sent Oct. 3 by John Boehner for U.S. Congress, asks voters for a minimum of $135 in hopes of returning Republicans to the majority of Congress next year.
“I’m working night and day, moving heaven and earth and doing my utmost to make sure the 11th Congress is led, not by Nancy Pelosi, but by a Republican!” he writes.
Boehner, R-West Chester, also writes that he wants to raise $50,000 in the next 30 days.
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One ‘lovely wife’ backs another
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has not endorsed any of the Democratic contenders for President, but his wife, Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist Connie Schultz, has.
She told reporter Chelsea Ross of progressive publication ‘In These Times’ this week that she backs Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. for president.
“Do I think she’s a perfect candidate? No,” Schultz, who writes for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, told the publication. “But here’s the thing: I’ve been voting since I was 18, and I’ve voted for an awful lot of men, none of them were perfect. Some of them were real bozos, but they were the best that was offered. I don’t need Hillary to be perfect. I have a lot of confidence in her and lot of faith in her ability to lead this country.”
Schultz, who wrote a book, “…and His Lovely Wife: A Memoir From the Woman Beside the Man,” about her experiences on the campaign trail, has made it clear that while she and her husband share the same progressive philosophy, they are not always in lock-step.
And that’s the case this time. Brown has yet to push a particular candidate.
“He has not endorsed anyone,” said spokeswoman Bethany Lesser.
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Voino and Turner simpatico on Iraq
Remember how Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, vociferously backed a bill tasking the Defense Department with coming up with a plan for getting out of Iraq?
Well, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, today got on board in the Senate, introducing a companion bill to Turner’s House bill.
The bill, introduced by a handful of senators including Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., would require the Defense Department to report on the status of redeployment planning within 60 days of congressional enactment, with updates every 90 days thereafter.
The bill does not identify a timeline for actually moving troops from Iraq, but has been heralded by supporters as the beginning of compromise on Iraq. Detractors say it’s too weak, and doesn’t actually do anything to end the war.
The identical House version, sponsored primarily by Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii and John Tanner, D-Tenn., passed the House this week 377-46. Turner rallied support for the measure in the House Armed Services Committee earlier this summer and managed Republican debate on the measure on the floor of the House.
Turner has argued that it’s important for both parties to begin to reach agreement on Iraq - an assertion that Voinovich, who has shopped around his own bills aimed at compromise on the war, has also made.
What do you think of this measure?
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Ohio congressman backs Dodd
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, considered a Democratic up-and-comer in Ohio, said today he is endorsing Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. for President.
“Chris Dodd has the clarity, conviction and record of action that I believe makes himt he best choice to be the next President of the United States,” Ryan said on the liberal Ed Schultz radio show.
Ryan represents a northeast Ohio district that includes all or parts of Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage and Summit counties.
Ryan is the second Ohio congressional Democrat to announce an endorsement. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Cleveland, has backed Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Who would you endorse?
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Voinovich foreclosure bill passes House
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio in May introduced a bill that would change an existing tax penalty that forces people to pay income tax when they are forced to foreclose or have part of their mortgage loan forgiven.
On Thursday, a similar version of that bill passed the House 386-27. Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., was the sole Ohioan to oppose the bill.
The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act is aimed at keeping people facing foreclosure from getting hit again by a hefty tax bill. The tax burden also hits those trying to work it out with their lender whose loan is partially forgiven.
The Bush administration says while it backs the general idea of the bill, it believes the relief should be temporary to help homeowhners during the “current mortgage market transition period.” The Democratic measure allows borrowers to avoid the tax hit if the debt forgiven by a bank is debt on a primary residence.
A Voinovich spokesman said the senator is pushing the initiative in the Senate Finance Committee, and also working on a compromise with the administration.
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Bush nixes S-CHIP expansion
President Bush just vetoed a $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, roughly a week after Reps. David Hobson, R-Springfield, and Mike Turner, R-Centerville, supported the expansion, as did Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Today’s veto is the fourth of the Bush presidency.
Bush argues that the expansion is too vast and will move children currently on private insurance to government insurance. Reps. John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., Jim Jordan, R-Urbana and Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, supported that stance in last week’s vote, as did Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who argued that financing for the program was based on a budget gimmick that might not work.
Here’s what Brown had to say about the Bush veto:
“By abandoning these children - children who are already eligible for CHIP but not yet enrolled - he has shown that on this issue he is neither compassionate nor conservative. These children need to receive preventive care in the doctor’s office instead of acute care in the emergency room.”
He also lamented the cost of the program - $7 billion a year - compared to the cost of the war, which he says is $3 billion a week. “I’m just real disappointed,” he said. He said he’s hopeful that Congress musters up enough votes to override Bush’s veto.
Do you agree with Bush’s veto?
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Identity theft bill picks up steam
A bill aimed at protecting Ohioans against identity theft picked up endorsements Tuesday from AARP Ohio, the Ohio Newspaper Association, and the Ohio County Recorders’ Association, according to state Sen. Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond. “While we all share a concern about protecting the personal identities of Ohioans from this growing crime, all of these groups came to the table with very different perspectives and concerns,” Niehaus said. “I am proud that we were all able to work together and that the bill before us has earned their support.” The bill would allow consumers to place a freeze on their credit reports for no more than a $5 fee. It would also require public offices that put records online to redact Social Security numbers, drivers’ license numbers, bank and credit account numbers and other sensitive data.
Strippers Hit the Streets
More than 1,000 temporary workers were hired to make a last ditch push this week to collect enough signatures to put the new stripper law on the Nov. 6 ballot. Backers of a statewide referendum fell 115,906 short of the necessary 241,336 valid signatures from registered voters in their first petition push. After being told they didn’t have enough, they were given an additional 10 days to collect more. The new deadline is Friday. “We don’t want to give up. There’s just too much time and money involved and it’s too important,” said Sandy Theis, spokeswoman for the Vote No on Issue 1 Committee. The committee includes strippers and club owners who want voters to reject the new law, which bans touching between dancers and patrons and forces adult businesses without liquor licenses to close between midnight and 6 a.m.
Political Odd Couple Takes on Payday Lenders
State Rep. Bill Batchelder, a conservative Republican from Medina, and Rep. Bob Hagan, a liberal Democrat from Youngstown, have joined forces to crack down on payday lenders. On Monday they jointly introduced legislation to cap the annual interest rate for payday loans of up to $800 at 36 percent. Now, the annual interest rate is 391 percent. “The high amounts of interest people are paying for these kinds of loans are not ever going to allow them to become financially free,” Batchelder said in a prepared statement. Darryl Dever, lobbyist for the Ohio Financial Service Centers Association, said imposing the interest rate cap would put payday lenders out of business. “You have to evaluate it on what it is, a two week loan - 15 percent (interest) over two weeks. That’s the real way to look at it. That’s the way customers look at it,” Dever said. The Batchelder-Hagan proposal is the first of several bills expected to be introduced to regulate the industry. Supporters of tougher regulations say that problems occur because borrowers take out multiple short-term loans and become trapped in debt. House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, believes there needs to be some sort of regulation for the industry and is reviewing proposals, said Karen Tabor, Husted’s spokeswoman. Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland also believes more regulation is needed and supports an interest rate cap, said Keith Dailey, Strickland’s spokesman. Besides capping the interest rate, the Batchelder-Hagan bill would: establish the maximum number of loans per customer allowed within a year or other time period; provide incentives for banks and other lenders to make small loans and expand the responsibilities of the consumer finance education board to promote small loan counseling and education for borrowers. The number of payday loan outlets in the state has grown from 107 in 1996 to 1,562 last year - more than the combined number of McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s restaurants in Ohio -, according to a report Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland-based research group.
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