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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.
Scott Elliott is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He writes about education, city and suburban issues, politics, business, workforce and consumer issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > August > 02 > Entry
Editorial: The Netzley phenomenon can’t happen again
State Rep. Robert Netzley used to complain about reporters in Columbus, insisting they should have to take a course in state budgeting to learn what determines how much money the state has, and the like.
But now, in the age of term limits, the members of the House of Representatives are more likely to be trying to figure out how things work than instructing others. They find themselves knowing less than senior staff members, bureaucrats, lobbyists, party leaders and sometimes even the occasional journalist.
Rep. Netzley, who died Thursday, July 29, at 87, was a phenomenon that can’t happen again, that has been outlawed.
Representing mainly Miami County, he spent 40 years in the legislature, more than anybody ever. He was chairman of the Miami County Republican Party for 42 years.
He was a thorn in the side of governors of both political parties. In a time when even the recurring Republican governor, Jim Rhodes, and, later, George Voinovich, were relative moderates, he was a staunch anti-spending, hard-right conservative.
More than most right-wingers these days, he seemed to be just a man being himself, rather than playing to organized groups such as religious fundamentalists, the gun lobby, the anti-abortion people, the talk-radio crowd or any forerunner of the Tea Party.
His basic politics reflected the conservatism of the world from which he came. But he took that conservatism further than most. His world view made few concessions to Ohio’s urban nature. He was often wrong, sometimes appalling. (He famously pushed for sterilizing parents on welfare; talk about big government.)
But unlike some other politicians on the edges of the political spectrum, he managed to carve out a role, something beyond casting votes.
He sponsored legislation to allow school districts to levy income taxes — not just property taxes. He made state officials sweat from his position on the state controlling board, a body that has to sign off on spending certain state money. He proposed big ideas, such as imposing income taxes at the county level, rather than the state; and earmarking the entire state income tax for schools (in part, because, in his time, it always grew).
He was known to sometimes find common ground with ideological foes. He had a good relationship with Democrat Rhine McLin when she was the state senator representing his House district. He worked with Democrats on welfare-reform legislation.
He came from the part of the political spectrum that was strongest in its support of term limits. But he became a victim of term limits, and was replaced by somebody just as conservative but never as effective, Diana Fessler.
One reason term limits were enacted was that a lot of people have the sense that there are a lot of Robert Netzleys, that a lot of old legislators have been around forever. It was never true. In Congress — the real target of the term-limits campaign, though term limits don’t apply there — the average House member has about nine years in; about one in seven members have been around 20 years or more. From there, the numbers drop off.
Government benefits from having a few people around who know all the games, all the predictions that have not come true, all the cycles of opinion that have come and gone. And who know that being on opposite sides doesn’t necessarily mean becoming enemies.
Some political activists today who would have liked Bob Netzley are the type to worry that if a man spends too many years in a capitol, he is likely to go soft, to become too friendly with the wrong kinds of people, to mellow. Not Bob Netzley. For better and worse, his longevity just made him a legend.
For some, of course, it’s a good thing that he couldn’t happen again. But they aren’t the people who pushed term limits.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Editorials, Martin Gottlieb, Miami Valley Politics, Ohio government, Ohio politics
Comments
By Ned Pepper
August 2, 2010 7:46 PM | Link to this
We got term limits woo hoo! If we thought they were idiots before , now with term limits that is all we have. All the big names of the past that moved Ohio forward will never happen again. And you are right, that if you want power in Columbus you need to be a lobbyist.
By Rob
August 3, 2010 9:22 AM | Link to this
We’ve had Term Limits since the creation of the Great State of Ohio…they were called “Elections”…One small point to the comment by Ned P. If you want power in Columbus, you need to “Have” a lobbyist…not be one.
By irishguy
August 3, 2010 9:26 AM | Link to this
Has the DDN ever worried about a left winger that played to organized groups like the environmentalists, the pro abortion lobby, or MoveOn.org?
By Wendy
August 4, 2010 5:28 AM | Link to this
20 years of John Boehner is too many too. He may have done some good things early on when he helped clean up gov’t but now, he’s part of the establishment and his pockets are fully lined with cash. In fact, let’s face it, the majority of people in the District never really even see him anymore and he’s proud of never bringing money home while he supports federal funds going to other states. There is something wrong with that. All we have to do is look at our local lakes, our unemployment levels and our kids who come out of college with no jobs to know that. We need to vote for Coussoule.
By Nep Pepper
August 8, 2010 2:54 PM | Link to this
Rob is right. Better to hire a lobbyist than be one. Thanks Rob for the correction!