Ohio: Oh 15

This in via e-mail from:

Toledo COBRA PAC, Nine is Fine committee and Councilmen Webb and Waniewski Wish Detroiters Good Luck in Effort to Bring District Representation To Detroit City Council

Statement:

We wish Detroiters the best of luck for the successful validation of their petitions to reorganize the Detroit City Council. They desire to have an election changing from nine at-large members to 7 districts and 2 at-large.

Their website contains reasons the switch will benefit the residents of Detroit, all very similar to the benefits Toledo will reap if voters vote Yes on ISSUE 2 to reorganize our council. Link.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Strickland's Folly

Ohio Budget Short on Dollars for Slow Train to the Past

It's a Question of Priorities

by John Michael Spinelli

August 5, 2009

COLUMBUS, OHIO: Two weeks ago Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and his Director of Transportation (DOT) were among the gaggle of governors attending the high-speed rail summit in Chicago, where a pack was entered into by eight Midwest governors to form a united front for purposes of garnering as much of President Barack Obama's $8 billion in high speed rail funding as possible. With his DOT Director Jolene Molitoris in tow, Strickland became a signatory to a Midwest agreement to promote regional passenger rail and Ohio’s 3C Corridor, an approximately 270-mile trip plan to re-establish passenger trains connecting Cincinnati to Cleveland via Dayton and Columbus that's conservatively estimated to cost a cool $1.

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of the Youngstown area has been in federal prison on a corruption conviction since 2002, but he hasn't been forgotten by the Democratic National Committee. At least his famous hairpiece hasn't.

Of 18 school issues on the statewide ballot, seven were approved, a 39 percent passage rate.
Voters turned down 11 tax requests, including one in South-Western schools.

The results come on the heels of a new two-year state budget which cuts state aid to 60 percent
of Ohio school districts.

Renewal levies those seeking to continue existing taxes fared best yesterday with 4 out of 5
passing statewide.

School levies generally have the lowest passage rates in August elections. This year's 39
percent passage rate was the highest since August 2003 when 48 percent of levies were approved by
voters.

The average passage rate in August elections over the past decade is 34 percent.