The more we learn about Kasich, the worse it gets. Yesterday, after lots of large animals were gunned down by police, it became clear he undid Strickland's wild animal regulations about allowing new wild animals in to the state, by allowing the executive order to expire.

 

It should either have been enacted into law by the Legislature, or allowed to expire.  Executive orders should not be used as a substitute for legislation (and yes, I know both parties do it).

People, keep in mind that the executive order was somewhat of a last minute thing by Strickland before he left office.  Then, the director of the ODNR appointed by Kasich determined that his agency did not have the legislative authority to enforce the order.  That determination is highly questionable IMO because the only explicit limitation on the broad authority of the governor to do so is if the order conflicted with existing state legislation (whcih it did not) or federal anti-trust laws.  Also, ODNR is legislatively granted broad authority to regulate animals.

 

Strickland's order did not ban ownership of exotic animals, but it did require registration by May of this year and DQ'd anyone with animal abuse convictions (which this guy did have)

You know the same thing can happen at ANY zoo. You never know when someone losses it or go off the deep end.

You know the same thing can happen at ANY zoo. You never know when someone losses it or go off the deep end.

 

This type of thing is HIGHLY unlikely for the simple fact that Zoos that accredidated by the American Zoological Society have certain procedures and regulations they must adhere to. This include, in addition to the gates for the individual exhibits, a secure perimeter. On the rare occurances when animals get free, they are typically birds, not the whole managerie. There are just too many people at a Zoo for something like this to happen. And zoo employees are all professionally trained with plenty of experiences, especially keepers and handlers.

^ No one expected what happened the other day to happen as well.

Sure.... but I personally didn't expect a guy with his past to be allowed to have so much dangerous wildlife on his property.

Sure.... but I personally didn't expect a guy with his past to be allowed to have so much dangerous wildlife on his property.

 

Yeah... you certainly wouldn't be allowed to work at a Zoo with his background, except maybe in food service. That's my point.

Ohio has some dumb laws. Allowing guns in a bar??? No smoking in public places??? No more lap dances?

http://www.wxix.com/story/15768095/ohio-governor-to-sign-exotic-pet-executive-order

^^No more lap dances???  Where did that come from?

^A stripper can't come close to you within 5 feet.

^A stripper can't come close to you within 5 feet.

 

So MayDay now has to really make it rain?  You know hes likes to putting dollars bills into G-Strings with his teeth!

Comeuppance day for Governor Kasich. 

Comeuppance day for Governor Kasich. 

 

No, he just thinks everyone else is wrong. The way he treats civil service employees speaks for itself. Think class warfare is dead? Faux elites like him sure don't.

 

But today is the day when the legal firebombs get thrown right back at 'em. I'm sure he/they will fire back and/or try an end run. If media reports are correct, they already have started because they know how today's vote will turn out. The only question is what the final tally of yes/no votes will be.

I'd like to see the breakdown of this vote by area of the state...

Marlene Quinn gets the last word.  This commercial will live in Ohio political history

AD: Marlene Quinn Speaks Out

As a registered Democrat, I am happy to see the veto referendum that would block SB5 succeeding.

 

(Tripped up on the bill, which is confusing.)

I'm guessing you voted yes on Issue 5?

Issue 2 fails

By Joe Vardon and Jim Siegel

The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 9:48 PM

 

Senate Bill 5 is dead.

 

The Republican-backed limits on collective bargaining for 360,000 public employees in Ohio were squashed by voters through a resounding defeat of Issue 2.

 

With more than 1.2 million votes counted, Ohioans were turning down Issue 2 - 62 percent to 38 percent.  The Associated Press called the election in favor of the opponents of the issue at 9:16 p.m.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/11/08/1-issue-2-election.html

 

---

And despite the governor's election day appeal!

 

Election Day Message from Governor Kasich

LOL, apparently the two sides should have paid for air writing over Xavier because clearly the robo calls, TV, youtube and radio ads, yard signs, internet banners, mailers, and I'm sure a host of other things didn't quite reach/clarify the issue for Sherman.  :wave:

heh

 

Sorry, I made a mistake while typing but already had my sheet of "yes" and "no" votes - and voted essentially against SB5. Look at Issue 48 (Cincinnati streetcar) to see how damn confusing it can be to even do a simple vote!

Okay I was confused by Hts121's comment about Sherman voting "yes" on Issue 5, but I get it now.

the ballot was very confusing.  The spanish mixed in was a terrible layout. 

the ballot was very confusing.  The spanish mixed in was a terrible layout. 

 

Yeah that made the ballot way too busy.  I heard a couple of voters around me complaining about it.

I'd like to see the breakdown of this vote by area of the state...

 

Haven't seen the official numbers yet, but I know it failed in 78 counties and passed in about five (with a few still unreported).

It only passed in a few rural counties in western Ohio and one in central Ohio

It only passed in a few rural counties in western Ohio and one in central Ohio

 

Yeah that's what I saw, too.  I think it passed in Warren County, which is exurban Cincinnati. 

 

But beyond that, this issue was a complete dud and you have to hand it to Kasich for coming up with something that was so spectacularly bad that it united people across the spectrum to defeat it with around 60% of the vote.

Yeah, the Columbus Dispatch has a map showing it passed in Delaware, Warren, Miami, Shelby, Mercer, and Holmes.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/11/08/1-issue-2-election.html

Comeuppance day for Governor Kasich. 

Photo from Governor Kasich's Statehouse news conference:

 

Quite a bit of news recently from Kasich on economic development, surprised nothing's been posted here.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2011/11/28/encouraging-signs.html

 

It makes for quite a month for Gov. John Kasich, who began working to bring and keep employers in Ohio before he even took office. On Tuesday, he visited MAC LTT, a Kent company that employs 60 people making liquid tank trailers and plans an expansion that will bring 200 more jobs.

 

A full-bore economic renaissance that will benefit the entire state depends on many complex factors, most obviously a broader and stronger economic recovery nationwide. But the initiative shown by Kasich’s team and the incentives they offer prospective employers are critically important to sealing deals.

Nearly everything referenced in that article can be found posted on UO.  Are we supposed to thank Kasich for the Marcelus shale formation?

Quite a bit of news recently from Kasich on economic development, surprised nothing's been posted here.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2011/11/28/encouraging-signs.html

Nearly everything referenced in that article can be found posted on UO.  Are we supposed to thank Kasich for the Marcelus shale formation?

Technically, it's not even an article.  It's an editorial from last Monday's Dispatch - a paper that endorsed Kasich for Governor.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/ohio_offers_tax_breaks_to_30_c.html

He has done a good job of creating jobs in Ohio, stemming the tide from recent years. Besides the SB-5 debacle, he has been one of our better governors in recent history.

 

He has done a good job of creating jobs in Ohio, stemming the tide from recent years. Besides the SB-5 debacle, he has been one of our better governors in recent history.

 

You think so? I don't know if his policies led directly to creating jobs but he's the man in charge so he will and should get credit.  The Avengers to Cleveland?  Passing a law that says we can C&C in bars/Malls?  JobsOhio? Fracking in National Parks? Delaying the construction of the casinos?

 

I know the National GOP is not happy with him at the moment for his approval rating and for turning off lifelong members of the GOP right before a crucial 2012 election race in a key swing state

Kasich managed the budget by laying people off, creating unemployment and making the recession worse.  He and the GOP did keep their continuing series of tax cuts in place.  Keeping employees is more effective than tax cuts for stimulating the economy.  Kasich is worse than Strickland.

He has done a good job of creating jobs in Ohio, stemming the tide from recent years. Besides the SB-5 debacle, he has been one of our better governors in recent history.

 

 

The SB5 debacle was huge and really can't be glossed over like that.

He has done a good job of creating jobs in Ohio, stemming the tide from recent years. Besides the SB-5 debacle, he has been one of our better governors in recent history.

The SB5 debacle was huge and really can't be glossed over like that.

 

Actually, I think it's still an open question how much SB5 will hurt Kasich.  There were portions of the law that were quite popular, and which may well return in a series of less comprehensive bills in the legislature, and which will likely pass.  It could definitely have a serious impact on Kasich if the division with the FOP and other Republican-leaning public employee unions (yes, they do exist, contrary to the GOP stereotype, which the GOP should have remembered before proposing SB5 as they did).  However, that schism may not last forever, because the Democrats may well do something to remind a large number of the alienated GOP factions why they were with the GOP in the first place.

 

What's more likely to hurt Kasich is his general hotheadedness and abrasiveness.  Or, to be more blunt, the fact that he's a complete @$$hole and, worse, is congenitally incapable of hiding that fact.

He has done a good job of creating jobs in Ohio, stemming the tide from recent years. Besides the SB-5 debacle, he has been one of our better governors in recent history.

 

You think so? I don't know if his policies led directly to creating jobs but he's the man in charge so he will and should get credit.  The Avengers to Cleveland?  Passing a law that says we can C&C in bars/Malls?  JobsOhio? Fracking in National Parks? Delaying the construction of the casinos?

 

I know the National GOP is not happy with him at the moment for his approval rating and for turning off lifelong members of the GOP right before a crucial 2012 election race in a key swing state

 

Just as a correction, SB 17 was the conceal carry expansion bill, which both the House and Senate signed off on, which went to Kasich who gave it his blessing. I completely disagree with SB 17 in its intention and implementation.

 

JobsOhio is something I can stand behind. I hold liberal viewpoints in almost every circumstance, but Strickland's record of job creation over his term was fairly poor. The global economy may have had something to do with it, but one can't say the same for Kasich in pulling for jobs in what is being called a global recession now.

 

As for fracking - it's not in national parks, which is under federal jurisdiction. It would be only for state parks and other areas maintained and supervised by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources - including nature preserves and state forests. Unfortunately, I've seen the effects of this in West Virginia in a state park (Logan) that has natural gas wells drilled throughout the park. Nothing like going for a nice day hike and coming across dirt road after dirt road and smelling natural gas in the deep forest!

 

I give Kasich, though, for balancing the budget - on the backs of the local municipalities. The Enquirer had a decent article about what some cities stand to lose with a reduction of state funding, and a lot of it was related to reduced police patrols and fire coverage, and the loss of the summer concerts in Loveland. My question was, why were some cities relying on state funding for these extra expenditures when say, corporate sponsorships could have done the job just as well?

 

He did have an overview of what to look forward to in 2012 that streamed live yesterday. Caught some of it, but a recap can be found at http://governor.ohio.gov/MediaRoom/VideoMain/tabid/110/Default.aspx?VideoId=http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/1Od_v89OPRQ.

I have mixed feelings on Kasich but to be fair, I think his budget slashing and balancing on the backs of municipalities might've been more effective had SB5 been upheld.  It would have forced more shared services and  regionalism which is long overdue in my opinion.  That evolution is still taking place, but at a snails pace.  it will be painful to some no matter how slowly or quickly it occurs, but I prefer the "ripping off a band-aid" approach.

 

I give Kasich, though, for balancing the budget - on the backs of the local municipalities. The Enquirer had a decent article about what some cities stand to lose with a reduction of state funding, and a lot of it was related to reduced police patrols and fire coverage, and the loss of the summer concerts in Loveland. My question was, why were some cities relying on state funding for these extra expenditures when say, corporate sponsorships could have done the job just as well?

 

I'm sorry, but corporate sponsorship of public services is a bad idea. Special civic events? Fine. But beyond that, if cities go begging to corporations, then corporations have too much say in public policy. That's why we have taxes -- so everybody pays a share and decisions are made through a public process. Relying on corporate sponsorship is undemocratic. Corporations already have too much political power.

 

Sorry, I was meaning corporate sponsorships for extra expenditures - in the way of summer concerts in the park in Loveland, not corporate sponsorships for fire and police (as examples). Why rely on state funding for non-essential amenities when other cities make do just fine without the extra padding?

I have mixed feelings on Kasich but to be fair, I think his budget slashing and balancing on the backs of municipalities might've been more effective had SB5 been upheld.  It would have forced more shared services and  regionalism which is long overdue in my opinion.  That evolution is still taking place, but at a snails pace.  it will be painful to some no matter how slowly or quickly it occurs, but I prefer the "ripping off a band-aid" approach.

 

How has his reduction in local budgets not "forced more shared services and regionalism" in a way that SB5 did?  From my vantage point, SB5 was designed more to allow muni's to balance their budgets without regionalist.  Defeating SB5 did not create any local funds now available which would not have been available if it passed.  If anything, the proponents of SB5 would argue quite the opposite.

 

There can be no debate that Kasich did indeed balance the state's budget on the backs of local governments and school boards.  Of course, it was no secret that he planned to do so.  He cut standard state funding, he cut the estate tax (which a lot of local gov't's depended on) and he cut other state aid programs which keep emergency responders on the beat.  I wouldn't have that big of a problem with it if he didn't go a few steps farther than he needed to so that he would have more of our money to hand out to his corporate supporters.

How has his reduction in local budgets not "forced more shared services and regionalism" in a way that SB5 did? 

 

Without SB5, all the existing collective bargaining agreements are still in place with minimum staffing levels and other protections...    how can local municipalities accomplish shared services without getting past this first?

 

Edit: I'm not saying that SB5 was the only way those changes can be made, but it sure isn't likely without.

State Senator Eric Fingerhut was examining consolidation of services for several northern Ohio cities  when he was in the legislature.  Here is a new article about a forum he was in:

 

Consolidation of governments may help Ohio

12/08/11

 

Fifty years after Nashville and Davidson County in Tennessee merged into a cohesive, consolidated government, it still has problems – lawsuits, a troubled educational system and communities who want to go back to the old way of doing things. But the city’s mayor, Karl Dean, told a Columbus audience consolidation has been worthwhile.

 

Dean was one of the panelists at a day-long conference sponsored by three influential liberal and conservative policy centers exploring the future of Ohio. The four-member panel that started the day included Michael Bell, mayor of Toledo, and Eric Fingerhut, a former Ohio lawmaker and former chancellor of the Ohio university system. It tackled the subject of smart growth for government in Ohio. Consolidation moves all the government entities in a county – city, village and county government, school districts, safety services and others –  under one metropolitan government system.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/08/consolidation-of-governments-may-help-ohio/

State law would likely need to be changed to allow the consolidation.  Is Kasich working on that?  I haven't seen any headlines.  I doubt it.

State Senator Eric Fingerhut was examining consolidation of services for several northern Ohio cities  when he was in the legislature.  Here is a new article about a forum he was in:

 

Consolidation of governments may help Ohio

12/08/11

 

Fifty years after Nashville and Davidson County in Tennessee merged into a cohesive, consolidated government, it still has problems lawsuits, a troubled educational system and communities who want to go back to the old way of doing things. But the citys mayor, Karl Dean, told a Columbus audience consolidation has been worthwhile.

 

Dean was one of the panelists at a day-long conference sponsored by three influential liberal and conservative policy centers exploring the future of Ohio. The four-member panel that started the day included Michael Bell, mayor of Toledo, and Eric Fingerhut, a former Ohio lawmaker and former chancellor of the Ohio university system. It tackled the subject of smart growth for government in Ohio. Consolidation moves all the government entities in a county city, village and county government, school districts, safety services and others   under one metropolitan government system.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/12/08/consolidation-of-governments-may-help-ohio/

State law would likely need to be changed to allow the consolidation.  Is Kasich working on that?  I haven't seen any headlines.  I doubt it.

 

"But Greg R. Lawson, a policy analyst for the conservative Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, said consolidation “is definitely not a silver bullet” and has to be done in conjunction with other efforts to control government spending. He said savings achieved from eliminating duplicative services can be lost if employee costs rise when there is “a leveling up of benefit and pay costs. It doesn’t appear it will always be the single answer.”"

 

Probably not.  Kasich would probably oppose it.  Leaving aside Lawson's policy objections, in practice Republicans tend to favor smaller and more decentralized governments.  Also, the smaller communities absorbed (perhaps semi-involuntarily) would likely lean Republican.

How has his reduction in local budgets not "forced more shared services and regionalism" in a way that SB5 did? 

 

Without SB5, all the existing collective bargaining agreements are still in place with minimum staffing levels and other protections...    how can local municipalities accomplish shared services without getting past this first?

 

Edit: I'm not saying that SB5 was the only way those changes can be made, but it sure isn't likely without.

 

With SB5, all of the existing agreements would still be in place.  It was not retroactive.  Regardless, I don't see how you think minimum staffing levels and "other protections" preclude regionalism.  If anything, regionalism would help citites meet those requirements without having to use OT.  I suppose this is yet another example of the pro SB5 folks selling it as something it was not

Redirected from the Amtrak/federal passenger rail news thread....

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,2068.msg596879.html#msg596879

 

Recalls should be limited to removing a governor for acts of malfeasance, felony convictions, etc. Just because we think a politician's politics stink or are bad news for the state isn't reason enough to warrant a recall, in my opinion. We had a Cleveland city councilman named Joe Santiago who apparently was corrupt because he was reportedly protecting bars and nightclubs where drugs, prostitution and other crimes were occurring. He was the subject of a recall effort, but hadn't been convicted of anything -- let alone charged. So my editor and I wrote an editorial saying Santiago should not be recalled. His recall effort was defeated at the ballot and rightfully so. He was not an effective councilman and his re-election was not successful at the next general election, and again, rightfully so.

 

A recall of an Ohio governor should be allowed, but it should not be used except in unique circumstances.

^ Here's the problem with that:

 

Recall means bringing the removal to popular vote. Telling the people they may not vote affirmatively unless malfeasance, etc., has been committed is pointless. They'll vote how they want to, regardless. Or at least many will, and it might result in the removal of someone who hasn't met your criteria.

 

We already have impeachment rules in place which have stipulations like you suggest. This procedure actually has a high probability of following the rules you prescribe. Much higher a probability than a recall vote. Making impeachment redundant with recall has very limited application: when the legislature refuses to impeach, but sufficient cause is there. The likelihood of this is remote, while the likelihood of abusing recall powers is much higher. Therefore recall is impractical.

Michael Douglas editorial in the Akron Beacon Journal (excerpt):

 

Kasich visited the Cleveland area last month for what he described as “just a gangbuster day.” He joined in announcing that two high-technology health-care companies, Phillips Healthcare and Steris Corp., will expand their operations, Phillips transferring its work on medical imaging from Silicon Valley. This is good, no doubt, enhancing the regional cluster around health care. The state provided a package of incentives.

 

The thing is, Ted Strickland traveled the same path a year earlier, the then governor joining with the same companies, yet, arguably, gaining more jobs for fewer state dollars.

 

Kasich touts the 83,000 jobs that he has created or saved the past year. Know that the primary tool in his hand has been the set of tax credits and baubles used by previous governors. The celebrated JobsOhio has yet to engage fully, reshaped to spur regional economic development.

 

The governor cites Ohio now among the leaders in job growth. Strickland made similar claims as the country emerged from the recession, noting, for instance, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia.

 

Oh, and Strickland designated the medical corridor Kasich championed in Cleveland a state “Hub of Innovation and Opportunity.”

...

edited for copyright reasons.  I recommend the whole editorial at:

 

http://www.ohio.com/editorial/douglas/amazing-tales-of-the-governor-1.254046