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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > March > 26
Friday, March 26, 2010
Kevin Riley: Concerned big brother has front-row view of history
Last week one of our journalists had a front-row seat — literally — at President Barack Obama’s signing of the health-care reform bill.
It wasn’t one of our reporters who routinely cover big stories and controversies. Rather, it was an editor whose family became part of the story — presenting him with a difficult set of personal and professional decisions and a rare glimpse at history.
The long and acrimonious debate about the health-care bill has been a major story for us, one that demanded careful attention to the views of all sides. Experts seem to agree that the president ultimately got the bill passed after shrewd political maneuvers and some events that resonated with the public.
One of those events was a letter from a single northeast Ohio woman who wrote that, as a 16-year cancer survivor, she had been forced to struggle between paying her health-insurance premiums and keeping her family home.
Obama chose to highlight the woman’s predicament as a concrete example of the need for health-insurance reform. Her name is Natoma Canfield, and her brother, Ken Canfield, works as an editor at the Dayton Daily News.
Actually, he more than just works here. Ken’s been with us for nearly 33 years. He’s worked in just about every department, and he’s mentored many of our editors. He is one of the people who will always challenge us to present a big story fairly — a pro whose advice is sought and trusted.
As the health-care controversy was reaching its political climax, the 58-year-old resident of Washington Twp. and his family were absorbing devastating news. Between the time his younger sister wrote her letter and the White House contacted her about participating in an event in Strongsville near her home, Natoma was diagnosed with leukemia. Ken was focused on helping her.
“You’ve got a doctor with you in the hospital room,” Ken said. “And the White House calls.”
The president decided to come to Ohio as part of his final push for the bill. Because Natoma was receiving chemotherapy and unable to meet with Obama, she asked Ken to introduce the president on her behalf. He declined, believing that would be inappropriate for a journalist.
He did attend the event in support of his sister, sitting in the crowd near big-name politicians. Ken didn’t buttonhole them, but did manage to get introduced to new Browns President Mike Holmgren. A lifelong Cleveland Browns fan, Ken asked him to do something fast about his floundering team.
Because Natoma could not attend, Ken and another of his three sisters, Connie Anderson, were later invited to attend the bill-signing ceremony at the White House. Connie had introduced Obama at his Ohio rally.
Again, Ken struggled as he tried to determine the right thing to do. He pointed out that throughout all of this: “I never spoke in favor or against anything.”
In the end, he decided to go — to represent his sister.
When he describes the scene in the East Room of the White House, you can see the journalist come out as he identified story angles and specific scenes.
And you could see him as an average American who was witnessing history up close, a privilege no matter your political views.
But mostly, he was a big brother, with a sick kid sister on his mind.
“I loved watching history, but I was sad,” he said. “I wish she could have been there.” He called her, but she was too ill to talk.
Natoma is a lifelong Republican, and Ken said he believes her illness and her story have served a “greater good.”
He knows that our nation is divided over health-care reform, and the emotions will remain high. But his worry is for Natoma.
“If I can believe what I heard, we have half of Washington praying for my sister,” he said.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns, Health Care, Kevin Riley, Locals in national affairs
Editorial: Embarrassing report begins county’s repair work
Montgomery County had to investigate how it was possible that the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance were getting paid for providing social services and weren’t being held to account.
As it turns out, the problem was deeper than just these particular groups not being checked on.
This week county Administrator Deborah Feldman told commissioners that on-site visits weren’t done in 66 percent of the instances where it is required as a condition of getting county social service money.
The finding is embarrassing.
This is not one of those times where anyone can say the rules were made to be broken — not when the county has touted its monitoring and delivery of care for the needy as a national model.
It’s not just the Montgomery County government that’s been damaged by a weak system of checks and balances. The do-good organizations that the county turns to — indeed relies on — to work with poor children, help people get jobs, assist the elderly to stay in their homes and more have taken a hit. They fear that the voters — the taxpayers who have consistently supported the essential county Human Services Levy — now have doubts about their integrity and their quality of work.
Many of the organizations are doing better work than they will ever get credit for. Often, unsung people on the front line in helping others are the difference between success and failure for an individual, and sometimes even the difference between life and death.
Montgomery County is in the vanguard among communities that try to protect the vulnerable. Many places all across the country don’t have the array of services or agencies that we have. Many don’t tax themselves as much. Some have not set out to create a local safety net that is much bigger than, say, just ensuring the distribution of federal food stamps.
The local tradition didn’t generate spontaneously and doesn’t sustain itself automatically.
It’s fostered by elected officials who consciously choose not to rail against the poor and who instead recognize that the disadvantaged are among us and that local government is best positioned to help move people away from dependency to self-sufficiency.
It’s fostered by volunteers who simply believe in doing their share to help the less fortunate.
It’s fostered by the people who are paid modestly to help those who, through bad luck or mistakes, are struggling.
Montgomery County itself has made mistakes. Ms. Feldman did the right thing by quickly acknowledging a problem, investigating it and reporting publicly on the depth of the mistake.
The trick now is to recover and get people rededicated to making sure that those who would take advantage of a good system can’t ever drag it down.
Permalink | Comments (34) | Post your comment | Categories: Editorials, Ellen Belcher, Montgomery County, Social Services
