CHILLICOTHE -- "In October, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner came before the Controlling Board and asked members to approve almost $2 million in funding for a statewide test of voting machines. The proposal received considerable debate amidst concerns from some members, including myself, that the results of these tests could be biased and would once again force counties to change their voting systems. You may recall some of the folks Brunner wanted to hire had blogged and made public statements that some of the voting machines selected by Ohio counties were fatally flawed. One researcher said: 'I don't think that electronic voting machines can ever be made secure.' After delaying the request for two weeks, I asked Brunner in public and private about her intentions behind the study. She said the voting machine tests were designed to find ways to strengthen safety measures and the intent was not to replace voting systems. With this assurance and a few other compromises, funding for the report was approved. Just recently, Brunner announced the results of the voting machine tests uncovered 'critical security failures' which could impact the state's election process and issued a series of recommendations for fixing the problems. While it is important we continue to shore-up our elections process and strengthen voting machine security, I have serious reservations about many of Brunner's recommendations. However, if her report is used, the impact of each proposal should be weighed carefully," Senator John Carey, Chillicothe Gazette.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio's chief elections officer says she wants to use the March 4 primary as a test of her plan to replace schools, churches and other neighborhood polling places with a smaller number of more centralized voting centers. The concept could be tested in two or three counties before it is adopted statewide for the November presidential election, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said. Voting centers could be located at shopping centers, libraries or other places with enough parking, and they would ease the crush of voters on Election Day by allowing voters to cast ballots up to 15 days before an election, Brunner said. 'By lessening the number of polling places but increasing the number of days, we're meeting that demand but we're also providing greater convenience for people,' she said," Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- "In a decision hailed by the business community and decried by trial lawyers, the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday upheld a controversial 2004 state law limiting damages for pain, suffering, and other non-economic damages in product liability and other lawsuits... 'The chamber of commerce wanted a specific business-focused court, and they got the court they paid for,' said Catherine Turcer, director of the Money in Politics Project with government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action.
'I wasn’t surprised, but it is very sad to think a court can flip that dramatically, and all it takes is an enormous amount of money,' she said," Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.
CLEVELAND -- "The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union yesterday urged the Cuyahoga County elections board to skip making a planned switch to a new voting system for the March 4 presidential primary, warning that doing so would violate state law. Meanwhile, the county's elections director, Jane Platten, warned that the new tabulation system will mean final vote counts from the county may not be possible on election day. She did not say how long it might take. Elections board member Rob Frost, Cuyahoga County's Republican chairman, said, 'What I understand she is saying is that we might not have results at the earliest until the wee hours of the morning.' " M. R. Kropko, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio's major news organizations and a coalition of left-leaning groups are protesting the Ohio Supreme Court's proposal to limit public access to certain information in court files, saying democracy depends on openness in the judicial branch. Lawyers for the news organizations, which include The Dispatch, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland and The Cincinnati Enquirer, and for groups including the Ohio League of Conservation Voters, Ohio Citizen Action and the Ohio Environmental Council weighed in on the proposed curbs on public access to court information in letters filed Friday and Saturday," James Nash, Columbus Dispatch. Published December 25.
Dec 20: Legal wrangling over pay-to-play
COLUMBUS -- On December 5, Judge John F. Bender declared Ohio's new pay-to-play law (HB 694) unconstitutional because of a surprising clerical error--the previous governor, Bob Taft, had failed to sign the correct version of the bill. On December 17, the Attorney General filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the matter is moot. The Attorney General argued that the legislature, believing HB 694 to be law during the budget debate, amended it. The attorneys for the plaintiffs (United Auto Workers Local 402, United Auto Workers Region 2B, Ohio State United Auto Workers Community Action Program Council, United Auto Workers Ohio State Political Action Committee, Ohio AFL-CIO, Ohio AFL-CIO Voter Education Fund, Charles Hayden, and the Ohio Education Association) responded with the argument that amending the law is not the same as enacting the law and that, in fact, the law was never enacted in the first place.
CLEVELAND -- "Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is on the brink of owning an election. If it goes well, more power to the state's chief elections officer. If things go wrong, Brunner will get - and deserve - the lion's share of the blame. That's because Brunner wants the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to take a breathtakingly huge gamble with the March 4 presidential primary election. Absentee balloting in that election begins in 50 days. The election itself is in 75 days. Nevertheless, Brunner is pressuring the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to dump its new $21 million computer voting system, spend millions on a new system and have that new system in place in a matter of a few weeks. What's more, Brunner wants this to happen in a county with a long and documented history of bungling elections," Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Private investigators among opponents of court's privacy plan
COLUMBUS -- "Private investigators are speaking out against proposed curbs on public access to court records, warning that more job applicants with checkered pasts will be hired if investigators are denied specific information about people.
The investigators say rules proposed by the Ohio Supreme Court to limit access to certain types of court records will make it difficult to distinguish problem applicants from others with the same name but clean pasts. Last month, the state's highest court unveiled a proposal to allow portions of court files to be declared off-limits to the public if certain conditions are met. One condition is if making the file public would jeopardize an individual's privacy rights," James Nash, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "One government watchdog said meetings among key players might be needed sometimes, but always end up leaving the public on the outside peering in. 'These have significant policy implications and implications for our pocketbooks,' said Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action. 'We may not understand how they came up with it because they engaged in all of this arm-wrestling behind closed doors.' Husted said he is holding the private sessions 'because we were being criticized for not meeting enough,' " Aaron Marshall, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "The Federal Communications Commission, overturning a 32-year-old ban, voted Tuesday to allow broadcasters in the nation's 20 largest media markets to also own a newspaper. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was joined by his two Republican colleagues in favor of the proposal, while the commission's two Democrats voted against it. Martin pushed the vote through despite intense pressure from House and Senate members on Capitol Hill to delay it. The chairman, however, has the support of the White House, which has pledged to turn back any congressional action that seeks to undo the vote," John Dunbar, Associated Press.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said yesterday that the initial cost estimate of her recommendations to overhaul the state's election system by next fall would be about $31 million. But even as Brunner put a price on replacing voting machines and other proposed changes, new concerns surfaced: The only type of high-speed ballot scanner Brunner wants to use in November's presidential election that is approved in Ohio was decertified Monday in Colorado because of problems, including a failure to process large numbers of ballots adequately. And some national and state voting-rights groups are criticizing Brunner's proposals, arguing that her solutions could disenfranchise thousands of poor, elderly, minority and other voters while creating new security risks," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio needs to make changes to its election system in time for the presidential election next fall, Gov. Ted Strickland says, even as some county elections officials and others worry it's impossible to do that and still have a smooth election. Responding to a study last week that concluded all voting systems used in Ohio have critical security flaws, Strickland said yesterday that although there might not be enough time to address the findings before the March 4 primary, the state must act by the time voters go to the polls in the fall,' " Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Democratic and Republican leaders weighed in yesterday taking opposing views on Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's top-to-bottom review of the voting systems used in Ohio that recommends overhauling state elections. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean praised the report by Brunner, a Democrat elected last fall. But Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert T. Bennett blasted the report as 'nothing more than Jennifer Brunner throwing a bone to the activist groups that seek to undermine Ohio's election system,'" Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch. Published December 14.
COLUMBUS -- Vote of no confidence, Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch. Published December 15.
COLUMBUS -- "All of the voting systems used in Ohio have 'critical security failures' that make them vulnerable to tampering and unreliable, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner concluded after a thorough review of the systems. The findings apply both to the electronic touch-screen machines used in 58 of Ohio's 88 counties, as well as the optical-count paper ballot systems used in the others. The $1.9 million testing found risks ranging from minor to severe and concluded that while higher levels of sophistication were needed in some cases to taper with vote results, 'fairly simple techniques' sometimes could be used. For example, it's possible to use a magnet and a personal digital assistant to tamper with the paper audit trail connector on a touch-screen machine, Brunner said. 'The results underscore the need for a fundamental change in the structure of Ohio's election system to ensure ballot and voting system security while still making voting convenient and accessible to all Ohio voters,' Brunner said in a release this morning unveiling the report," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
DAYTON -- "When one thinks about the problems Ohio has had in managing its elections, one thinks about Kenneth Blackwell and the controversies that surrounded him as secretary of state; or about the transition from punch-card machines to high-tech ones; or about the special issues that result from the state's thin margins and decisive role in some presidential elections. But a study by professors at Ohio State University's law school points to another problem. Basically, it says that political players in Ohio aren't quite as nice as in some other states," Dayton Daily News.
Dec 12: Statehouse update
State lawmakers: No criminal checks on us COLUMBUS -- "Ohio needs criminal background checks on prospective dentists, veterinarians, marriage therapists, dietitians and embalmers. But not state legislators, state legislators decided yesterday," Jim Siegel, Columbus Dispatch.
Senate votes to honor salamander as state amphibian COLUMBUS -- "The Ohio Senate voted yesterday to crown the spotted salamander as the official state amphibian, dealing a harsh blow to the hopes and dreams of the once-hyped bullfrog," Jim Siegel, Columbus Dispatch.
Legislators call it quits COLUMBUS -- "State legislators wrap up their 2007 session today - leaving undone major bills including foster care reforms inspired by the August 2006 murder of 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel. Of 676 bills introduced in the Ohio House and Senate this year, only 31 have been signed into law. But there's still one more year left in the session before all those bills die in the GOP-controlled Statehouse," Jon Craig, Cincinnati Enquirer
Group gets 268,000 signatures for sick day petition COLUMBUS -- "The campaign to require that Ohio workers be able to earn seven paid sick days per year cleared a major hurdle on Tuesday. Ohioans for Healthy Families, the group pushing the issue, turned in petitions with about 268,000 signatures from registered voters to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner who will send them to county boards of election to be validated," William Hershey, Dayton Daily News.
DAYTON -- "The 2000 presidential election — with its messy conclusion — led to big changes in election practices, most notably in the widespread adoption of new voting machines. But one reform that seemed obvious never got made: a change in the way postelection fights are handled. In 2000, the president was essentially chosen on a 5-4 vote by the U.S. Supreme Court, with all the justices voting the same way they are widely presumed to have voted on Election Day. That didn't look good. Neither did the court's written decision. It provided no rationale to speak of. Think now about Ohio and its state elections. There's a Democratic secretary of state — the top election official in the state — and there's an all-Republican (elected) Supreme Court. If your instincts tell you that situation is a recipe for disaster, some experts come along now to confirm your instincts," Dayton Daily News.
DAYTON -- "Among the many controversies about how elections are run in Ohio has been the matter of 'provisional ballots.' These are cast when there is a question about a person's eligibility to vote. The ballots are later vetted for their legitimacy. For various reasons, Ohio has a disproportionate number of such ballots these days. In 2004, for example, 159,000 were cast, compared to only 43,000 in Illinois and 6,000 in Michigan. Now an academic organization called Election Law @ Moritz, at the Ohio State University Law School, is out with a yearlong study (these statistics come from it) that argues that having so many provisional ballots is a serious situation," Dayton Daily News.
Experts say a Web search, using nonpartisan groups, will help voters.
• factcheck.org: A searchable, indexed file on political statements and claims.
• concordcoalition.org: Fiscal matters, including Social Security issues.
• cbo.gov: Congressional Budget Office, federal budget matters.
• opensecrets.org: Lets you trace contributions to candidates.
• www.fec.gov: Lets you search database of the Federal Elections Commission.
CLEVELAND -- "You don't need to be a detective to find the truth in political advertising. Common sense, a little skepticism and some legwork will help separate fact from fiction in the expected onslaught of television commercials for
the 2008 elections. In the six months leading up to the last presidential
election, the candidates, national parties and a host of independent special interest groups paid for 501,259 TV spots across the country, according to studies by the University of Wisconsin. Largely
because Ohio again will be a political battleground, TV viewers should expect to see thousands of ads leading up to the March 4 primary election. How do you find the truth? 'Clearly, you're not going to get the full story from the political candidate any more than you'd get the full story from just the prosecutor or just the defense attorney in a criminal trial,' said Brooks Jackson, director of factcheck.org, which calls itself a nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer advocate for voters sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. 'These guys are advocates. They are not trying to educate you. They are trying to persuade you.' " V. David Sartin, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
CINCINNATI -- "A former Cincinnati corporate executive and political leader is returning to his home town Thursday as part of his nationwide campaign for public financing of federal elections. John Rauh, who was president of Cincinnati's Charter Committee from 1969 through 1976, moved to New Hampshire about 20 years ago, where he ran unsuccessfully twice as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. After that experience, the former Cincinnatian founded Americans for Campaign Reform, recruiting several former U.S. senators - Democrats Bob Kerrey and Bill Bradley and Republicans Alan Simpson and Warren Rudman - to carry his message to the public and in the halls of Congress. The message, Rauh said in an interview Monday, is simple: Special-interest influence on politicians could be a thing of the past if campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate and the presidency were conducted under a voluntary public financing system," Howard Wilkinson, Cincinnati Enquirer.
In Columbus: Dec. 12, 4:30 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 125 E. Broad St.
In Cincinnati: Dec 13, 12:00 pm at Christ Church Cathedral, 318 E. Fourth St.
COLUMBUS -- "Candidates who withdraw 60 days before an election can guarantee that their name won't appear on the ballot, according to a policy adopted yesterday by the Franklin County Board of Elections. In general and nonpresidential-primary elections, candidates must withdraw at least 60 days before an election, and 45 days before a presidential primary, said Matthew Damschroder, director of the elections board. The policy comes after confusion in the Nov. 6 election, when Jay G. Perez, a Democratic candidate for Franklin County Municipal Court judge, withdrew from the race 39 days before the election. His name still appeared on the ballot," Garrett Downing, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "From the office of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to Ohio's 88 county boards of election, a common prayer is being said: 'God, please let the 2008 presidential election in Ohio be a blowout.' If the election is close in the state that once again could decide the presidency, elections officials fear that the world's media will descend on Ohio, as they did in 2004, and breathlessly tell stories asking, 'What went wrong in Ohio?' Heading into the election year, Brunner and others are working to restore the integrity of the election process and the accuracy of the vote following a 2004 election marred by concerns about partisanship, confusion over election rules and lawsuits," Joe Hallett, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio has joined a pilot project to include voter-registration forms with change-of-address packs from the post office when residents move. The state Controlling Board waived competitive bidding this week for the Ohio Secretary of State's office to spend $210,000 during the next two years using a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to have Imagitas Inc. and Integrated Graphic Solutions of Akron provide the forms. The project will target 45 counties in Ohio, including 20 counties in the Columbus market area; six Indiana counties; and 10 counties in Kentucky. Starting Feb. 1, every household in those areas that completes a change-of-address notification form through the U.S. Postal Service will receive two voter-registration forms," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Public access to government records repeatedly has come under assault in recent years, and another attempt to erode this crucial right has been introduced in the Ohio House. House Bill 272, sponsored by Rep. Thomas F. Patton, R-Strongsville, would ban the broadcast of recordings of 911 calls, allowing news media access only to transcripts of the calls. The bill was introduced in response to an 11-year-old Ohio Supreme Court ruling that said 911 tapes are public records and that transcripts aren't enough to satisfy an open-records request. Law-enforcement officials also would like to expand the bill to ban public access to explicit crime-scene photos," Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "A new state law restricting campaign contributions from those seeking to do business with government and extending those limits to labor unions was unconstitutionally enacted, a Franklin County judge has ruled. Catherine Turcer, of government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action, called the ruling a 'stumbling block.' 'It's not that corruption in the state of Ohio disappeared because there was a changing of the guard,' she said. 'We still need this pay-to-play law. I believe the legislature will tackle it, but it probably won't include the portions that involve collective bargaining,' " Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.
COLUMBUS -- "The Ohio Supreme Court should reject proposals now before it that would seriously erode the state's open-records law and hamper the public's right to know. What started as an attempt by the high court to deal with the information demands of the Internet devolved into an appalling grab bag of legal excuses to keep Ohioans from knowing what's going on within their court system, particularly with regard to juvenile offenders. The court is currently accepting public comment on the proposals, made by a court-appointed committee in a process under way for five years. The justices are under no obligation to accept the rules, which are so vague and sweeping as to be of dubious constitutionality," Toledo Blade.
COLUMBUS -- "A Franklin County judge has ripped away new limits on public officials' contracts with businesses and unions who gave them campaign contributions. Government officials, as well as vendors, will be relieved by the ruling because of the problems they have had trying to follow House Bill 694, said Brad Cole, a senior policy analyst from the County Commissioners Association of Ohio. For example, it was not clear to local officials, including those in Franklin County, whether they could legally sign some routine contracts or purchase orders if campaign contributions from vendors were involved. Those fears led Franklin County commissioners to delay purchases and nearly shut down some government operations this year," Jim Siegel and Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
CLEVELAND -- "Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is pushing officials in the state's largest county to decide soon whether they will use their touch-screen voting machines in the March 4 primary, enhance them or replace them with paper ballots. 'The last thing they should do is to have the decision made by default because they don't act,' Brunner said yesterday. What happens in Cuyahoga County matters statewide because determining a winner of the presidential race in Ohio next year could hinge on Cuyahoga's results," Mark Niquette, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
WASHINGTON -- "The critical swing state of Ohio didn’t benefit from the home field advantage in a new study that looked at the election processes in five upper Midwest states – Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Three election law professors at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State determined that the Buckeye State’s highly centralized election system bore the most significant problems of the five. The three presented their findings – and their nonpartisan book 'From Registrations to Recounts: The Election Ecosystems of Five Midwestern States' – during a forum held today at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank," Ariel Alexovich, New York Times.
CLEVELAND -- "Debate continues over the Ohio Supreme Court's plan to adopt new rules governing access to court records, with at least one critic worried that the proposed rules fly in the face of constitutional law. Until Dec. 19, the high court is accepting public comments and criticism to help refine the rules regarding access to court records until they are be formally adopted, a process that may begin as early as next spring, said Chief Justice Thomas Moyer," Associated Press.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio should scrap its current system in favor of one in which a nonpartisan, appointed statewide director would oversee elections in the state, according to a study by election law experts at Ohio State University. The study by professors at OSU's Moritz College of Law said Ohio had 'the most significant problems' of five Midwestern states studied. The other states were Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Leaving election administration in the hands of an elected secretary of state leaves the system open to claims of partisanship, the study concluded.
'As we look ahead to the 2008 election, Ohio remains tethered to an administrative structure - an elected chief election officer - in which political activities or allegations of partisan election administration at the top could continue to undermine public confidence,' the professors wrote," Mark Rollenhagen, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Citizen Action today called for deeper reforms of the state’s election administration after a new study found the Buckeye state had the weakest electoral system among five large Midwestern Great Lakes states. 'The problems that gave Ohio a black eye in 2004 ran much deeper than one election or one administration,' said Catherine Turcer, director of the Money and Politics Project at Ohio Citizen Action, and a former member of the Ohio Secretary of State’s Help American Vote Act State Planning Commission. The study found that Ohio has not resolved issues with mishandling of ballots and recounts, the accuracy of voting equipment and the state’s continuing failure to produce a statewide voter database as mandated by Congress. One growing problem – pervasive to all the states studied – was what Ohio State researchers called 'vendor dependency,' leaving too much responsibility to vendors of voting equipment. 'Of all the things to outsource, democracy isn’t one of them,' said Turcer," Catherine Turcer, Money in Politics Project of Ohio Citizen Action.
NEW YORK -- "How safe is your right to vote? Former Justice Department official and voting rights lawyer David Becker, who worked under both President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton, alleges a systematic effort to deny the vote to hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of Americans. In a revealing interview with NOW's David Brancaccio, Becker openly worries that the 2008 election will not be free and fair. Is our government part of the solution, or part of the problem?" NOW on PBS.
CINCINNATI -- "Roughly 100 Hamilton County absentee ballots cast in the Nov. 6 election were not counted, according to the Board of Elections. The mistake was discovered this week as the elections board prepared ballots for automatic recounts in the six close races, including the Northwest Schools levy, which passed by three votes. It is unclear exactly how many of the uncounted ballots, if any, were cast in the school levy's precincts. The Elections Board has called a special meeting for 8 a.m. today and will rescan all of the more than 200,000 ballots cast, including around 29,000 absentee ballots. It is expected to take all day today and part of Saturday. The amended total will be posted on the elections board Web site," Jessica Brown, Cincinnati Enquirer.
COLUMBUS -- "Prosecutors charged a former Franklin County elections official yesterday with profiting from contracts he helped set up. Michael R. Hackett Jr., who retired as deputy director of the Board of Elections in November 2005, is accused of having an illegal interest in a company that sold Franklin County $785,000 worth of voting-machine storage carts during his watch. Prosecutors say Hackett also illegally took a $5,000 consulting job with another contractor that trained poll workers. That money came from a $182,000 contract submitted to the Board of Elections while Hackett worked there. A third count charges that Hackett lied to the Ohio Ethics Commission about his ties to the cart company, SST Systems, when he asked for a conflict-of-interest ruling in 2005," Barbara Carmen and Robert Vitale, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "A company accused of violating privacy laws would be in charge of mailing voter registration forms to Ohioans who move to a new address under a proposal by the state's top elections officer. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is expected to ask a state panel Monday to award a Massachusetts company $161,700 over a two-year period to handle the pilot program, which would send welcome packets that contain the voter forms to residents who move in 45 counties. Imagitas Inc., which was awarded a state contract in 2005 to send vehicle registration notices, has been sued by motorists in Ohio and five other states alleging that advertisements it places in mailings violate privacy laws preventing the disclosure of drivers' personal information, such as names and addresses, for marketing or solicitations," Stephen Majors, Dayton Daily News.
CLEVELAND -- "Being concerned about Cuyahoga County's ability to count votes in the coming presidential election is no longer good enough. Based on what's happened in the last 23 days, it may be time to panic. Twice on the night of the Nov. 6 election, the computer software crashed the system, delaying the unofficial count until the next day. Then, as Board of Elections officials prepared this week for recounts in some local contests that involved only a few thousand votes, workers found damaged ballots and unreadable printouts in many of the touch-screen voting machines. This latest problem added 12 hours to the time it took for this tiny recount. If it were to happen in the presidential election, vote board Director Jane Platten acknowledged that the recount could take more than a week. That's why County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora had a point when he said, 'God help us if we have to depend on Cuyahoga County as the deciding factor with regard to making the decision of who the next president of the United States is," Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "New Hampshire's decision last week finally setting January 8, 2008, as the date for its presidential primary means that the country is barely a month away from the opening of the 2008 election season. With absentee voting to begin in just a few weeks, this is the perfect time to ask how well our election systems will withstand the pressures they will face in 2008. For the past year and a half, Election Law @ Moritz has conducted a comprehensive study of the election systems of five key Midwestern states: Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. The results of this study, From Registration to Recounts, will be released in both hard copy and electronic formats on December 4, one week from today. The results provide both some encouraging signs and some persistent reasons for concern," Steven F. Huefner, Daniel P. Tokaji, and Edward B. Foley, Election Law @ Moritz.
CLEVELAND -- "A recount after next year's presidential election could mean disaster for Cuyahoga County based on problems discovered Tuesday with paper records produced by electronic voting machines. More than 20 percent of the printouts from touch-screen voting machines were unreadable and had to be reprinted. Board of Elections workers found the damaged ballots when they conducted a recount Tuesday of two races, which involved only 17 of the county's 1,436 precincts. The recount lasted more than 12 hours. Reprinting the damaged records and hand-counting them created an extra step that added hours," Joe Guillen, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- " Five close races from the Nov. 6 election will be recounted, including a field race for four Columbus school board seats, and it appears that the mayor of Urbancrest will be decided by a coin toss. The Franklin County Board of Elections certified the results last night, showing that the five races were within the half-percentage-point margin that requires a recount," Dean Narciso, Columbus Dispatch.
CHICAGO -- "Today the Midwest Democracy Network (MDN) – a nonpartisan alliance of 20 civic and public interest groups from Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin – released former U.S. Senator John Edwards’ and U.S Senator Barack Obama’s full and unedited answers to a detailed questionnaire on federal political and government reform issues sent to all the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates on September 11. 'We provided this platform because, unlike any other elected official in the country, the President of the United States has a special responsibility for safeguarding democracy,' said Catherine Turcer, an MDN Steering Committee member and Ohio Citizen Action’s Money in Politics director. 'Although the candidates have debated many issues – the War in Iraq, health care, immigration, and the economy – the debate on issues fundamental to the health of our democracy has not yet seriously begun,' " Midwest Democracy Network.
YOUNGSTOWN -- "An advocacy group that wants Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to get rid of the electronic voting machines has made some public claims about the system that must be addressed — to calm the fears of many voters. That said, we believe the ongoing testing of the voting system, launched by Brunner over the summer, is appropriate and necessary. A final report that will be submitted to Gov. Ted Strickland and the General Assembly in mid-December. The report of Project EVEREST will contain findings of the companies hired by the state to conduct the test of the voting system and recommendations from Brunner and a bipartisan group of Ohio elections officials," Youngstown Vindicator.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio lawmakers are on pace to hold fewer sessions and pass fewer bills in 2007 than in any corresponding year for at least a decade. While legislators frequently gather in Columbus for committee hearings and handle a variety of business in their districts, the House will have convened just 37 times in formal session this year, and the Senate 43 times -- assuming each meets for two scheduled days in December. Once lawmakers, who are paid a base salary of $58,933 a year, passed the state budget in June, they made themselves especially scarce," Jim Siegel, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "All Ohioans have an interest in ensuring that government records be open to the public. Public scrutiny of government officials and their decisions and actions discourages corruption, malfeasance and miscarriages of justice. New rules proposed by an Ohio Supreme Court advisory commission to regulate access to court records should emphasize the pre-eminence of the principle of openness and ensure that requests to close court records can be challenged at the outset, not after the fact," Columbus Dispatch. Published November 25.
COLUMBUS -- "Utility companies seeking to influence the future of electricity regulation in the state are pouring money into Republican campaign funds. According to a recent Associated Press review, FirstEnergy, Duke and American Electric Power had given at last $281,000 combined to state and local campaigns so far this year, most of it to GOP leaders overseeing the bill's trip through the Statehouse. Catherine Turcer, campaign reform director for Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group, said such legislation is destined to continue to generate big money for Statehouse politicians as long as it's unresolved. 'You have these very different vested interests that actually have a lot of cash, and the way they can influence the process is by making these campaign contributions,' she said. 'It's a typical juicer bill, as in let's see what we can squeeze out of this' " Julie Carr Smyth, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor in 2002 raised $1.8 million in campaign donations, mainly from Republicans and other conservative interests, to hold on to a job that demands she never show favoritism. Now facing re-election, she's at it again, forced to court donors with deep pockets while maintaining the independence her job demands. But don't blame her, she says. Fault a state election process where successful judicial candidates historically have had to shed their air of impartiality to act much like politicians, including siding with a political party. Campaign season is the only time court rules allow judges to identify with a party. 'I'm stuck with the system that is there,' said O'Connor, a former Summit County prosecutor who now lives in Cleveland Heights. 'So please tell me how I can run statewide and get my message out without scrutiny? Quite frankly, I think the candidates are a victim of the system,' she said," Reginald Fields, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "Dawn was about to break when weary Kenyon College students finished casting ballots in the 2004 presidential election. They had waited in the rain and cold for as long as 13 hours to vote, sticking it out because they knew that Ohio was crucial to the election's outcome. For freshman Matthew Segal, who had been so gung-ho about his first chance to vote that he was at the polls when they opened at 6:30 a.m., the situation became more shocking as the lines grew longer and officials did nothing about it.
As he delivered water and umbrellas throughout the day and night to those waiting to vote, he concluded that something was horribly wrong with the election process he had respected so much.
An activist was born," Kathy Lynn Gray, Columbus Dispatch.
CLEVELAND -- "The cure for what ailed the 2004 presidential election -- especially the painfully long recounts in Florida -- has created its own problems.
Hanging chads have been replaced by lost memory cards. Computer servers crash under the demands of sophisticated electronic voting machines. And despite all of the high tech involved, security protocols bring vote counts to a crawl.
'Florida was to voting what 9/11 was to air travel,' says John Williams, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections in Cincinnati.
As counties in Ohio looked for ways to fix their voting systems, Hamilton chose one path and Cuyahoga another," Mark Rollenhagen and Joe Guillen, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Published November 18.
COLUMBUS -- "Open-records advocates are warily eying proposed rules for Ohio courts that would allow all or part of court records to be shielded from public view. A discussion over privacy concerns was raised after some county courts began posting their dockets and case documents on the Internet, and evolved to include proposed rules requiring the removal of some information from paper records at courthouses as well," Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.
COLUMBUS -- "A proposal to guarantee sick leave for Ohio workers could be headed to the ballot just as the bellwether state expects to again play kingmaker in a presidential race. And a proposed constitutional amendment to fund schools could keep taxes at the forefront of political ads in 2008, and yet another proposal to bring casino gambling to Ohio may draw conservative gambling opponents to the polls. 'All you have to do is go back to the ‘defining marriage’ issue during the last presidential election, which brought out conservatives in droves,' said Catherine Turcer of government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action. 'It played a big part in the election in 2004 and played a major role in Ohio’s election of the President," Jim Provance, Toledo Blade. Published November 18.
COLUMBUS -- "In Ohio, public records, including the personnel files of public-school teachers, must be made available to the public, and no amount of legally meaningless language in teachers' contracts can change that. Nor should it; those files are public because taxpayers -- teachers' employers -- are entitled to know how teachers are performing, including whether they have run afoul of conduct codes," editorial , Columbus Dispatch. Published November 18.
COLUMBUS -- Changes may hide court records, Ohio proposal lets privacy concerns force secrecy, James Nash, Columbus Dispatch. Published November 17.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Good Jobs First released a study yesterday that evaluates quality and quantity of state government online disclosure in three categories: economic development subsidies, state procurement contracts and lobbying activities at the state level. It rates each state's websites in these three areas on ease of searching, level of detail, scope of coverage and how current the information is.
Ohio's lobbyist disclosure received a 67%/100%. Ohio provides online access to lobby disclosure information via a short menu of PDF reports as well as a basic database. The main site has a dark red background behind white type in a very small font; that plus vague labels for disclosure items make it difficult to read. The database is listed under "'Lobbyist Information," and all of the financial disclosure is listed separately under "Public Information." Ohio has no online issue disclosure. Link to Ohio's appendix with details on disclosure programs and scoring
COLUMBUS -- "Despite concerns over cost, Gov. Ted Strickland yesterday signed a new law giving a stronger voice to internal state auditors whose warnings of wrongdoing are ignored by superiors... 'It costs money to have government work properly, but it costs a lot more when government doesn’t work properly,' said Catherine Turcer, of government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action. 'Think about the embezzlement of millions of dollars — Tom Noe.' She said reforms initiated in the wake of the BWC scandals — the auditing bill, restrictions on the awarding of contracts to campaign contributors, and limits on BWC investments — will help prevent a future scandal," Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.
Nov 15: Justice for Sale
NEW YORK, NY-- "Special interest appeals to emotion and policy preferences tempt
voters to join efforts to control the decisions of judges. Voters are
less likely to devote themselves to the core value of judicial
independence, because when judges apply the law fairly and impartially
they cannot guarantee the outcome any particular voter might want. But
fair and impartial judging is an essential part of our government, and
must be preserved. In the long term, a commitment to judicial independence will only
come from robust civics education, starting at a very young age.
Today, only a little more than one-third of Americans can name the
three branches of government -- much less explain the balance of power
among them. If we lose appreciation for our government's structure and
the role of the judiciary within it, it is only a matter of time
before the judicial branch becomes just another political arm of the
government. With the stakes so high, we cannot wait until the election
cycle to educate the citizenry. We must start with civics education in
our nation's schools.
Perhaps children can understand the role of a fair and impartial
judiciary better than any of us. Children depend on their teachers,
their parents and their sports referees to know the rules and to apply
them fairly. Thus schools are the ideal place for the life-long
process of civics education to begin. In the meantime, we need to look
at practical short-term reforms that will restore public confidence in
the selection of state judges," Sandra Day O'Connor, retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Wall Street Journal. No link; subscription required.
COLUMBUS -- "Elections are not like running a Wal-mart or a grocery store in that elections do not permit just-in-time delivery with a rain-check for out-of-stock items. While it is important that county commissioners, who pay for most of the costs of elections in Ohio, are careful stewards of the taxpayer’s money, it is also imperative that elections be treated as the critical foundational events that they are. A few dollars saved in printing costs can be disastrous if that savings results in eligible voters being disenfranchised. Boards of elections, county commissioners, and the Secretary of State should work together to plan for those events which are sure to happen, but which cannot be predicted," Terri L. Enns, Election Law @ Moritz.
Nov 14: Matter of confidence An appeals court judge cites the harm in mixing money and justice
AKRON -- "Put aside the merits of the court case involving Smart Media of Delaware and the Telxon Corp. of Fairlawn, the two tangling in a 2003 trial, Smart Media accusing Telxon (now part of Symbol Technologies) of breaking a deal to develop a product. Know that Smart Media prevailed, receiving a $212 million jury award. Not surprisingly, Telxon appealed, and in 2005, the 9th District Ohio Court of Appeals reversed the verdict in a 3-0 ruling. Smart Media howled about the 112-page opinion written by Judge William Batchelder, once and now again a Republican state legislator. The company's fury escalated upon learning that Robert Meyerson of Telxon had contributed nearly $1 million to the Republican Party while the case was pending. In 1996, Meyerson donated $15,000 to the Batchelder campaign for the Ohio House," Briony Clare, Akron Beacon Journal. Published November 13.
TOLEDO -- "Common Pleas Court reporter Lynette Shindorf has been kept so busy with her regular duties that she hasn't had enough time to type the lengthy transcript from the Noe trial, which ended 12 months ago. The transcript - estimated at more than 5,000 pages - is necessary for Noe's appeal to be filed with the Sixth District Court of Appeals.
Noe's lawyers have been granted four extensions of the filing deadline for the transcript, but Judge Mark Pietrykowski says he won't grant another, meaning that if the transcript is not completed by Tuesday, Noe could lose his right to appeal," Toledo Blade.
COLUMBUS -- "A clean election is one devoid not only of fraud, but devoid of confusion. Tuesday's election wasn't marred by claims of fraud, but reports of confusion among voters at polling locations are troubling. Most of the problems had to do with the appearance on the ballot of an invalid state issue. Compounding the problem was that the electronic voting equipment is programmed with a review screen that alerted voters if they didn't vote on Issue 1. No wonder people were perplexed," Columbus Dispatch. Published November 11.
COLUMBUS -- "After the spring resignation of one of its members, Ohio State's Board of Trustees is awaiting the appointment of a new member by Gov. Ted Strickland.
Although Strickland's office has declined to disclose who is in contention for the position or when the appointment will be made, there are a number of influential members of the community interested. 'It's amazing when you think about the people who are on the Board of Trustees,' said Catherine Turcer, the legislative director of the watchdog group, Ohio Citizen Action. 'It's the who's who of big donors ... at some point, being a big contributor to the governor means you're getting onto these boards,' "Briony Clare, The Lantern. Published November 8.
Nov 12:Elections panel wields limited penalty options Ads in Ohio seldom referred to face criminal prosecution
COLUMBUS -- "Catherine Turcer, of the government watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action, said she believes the commission is largely toothless when it comes to enforcement of campaign-finance law.
But she said she didn’t know where to draw the line when it comes to penalties for judging campaign speech.
'When you think about being the arbiter of what is truthful, it is extremely difficult,' she said. 'What is factual? What is spin, which isn’t necessarily not factual? What is downright dishonest? And having government do it is very difficult.
These are political people, even though they represent two parties. And all it takes to be an independent in the state of Ohio is to not vote in a primary,' Ms. Turcer said," Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.
PARMA -- "School board President Rosemary Gulick admits she blundered when she ordered 20 minutes of taped meeting minutes erased - a possible violation of Ohio law. The notes from Bratz and other members are being used to reconstruct board minutes. A draft shows members did discuss timing strategy. The draft indicates Treasurer Bruce Basalla said that the tape might lead the public to conclude that 'we were talking about "hiding it." ' Bratz's notes say Gulick responded 'not if it's not on the tape' and she and others in the room laughed," Joseph L. Wagner and Angela Townsend, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- " Candidates in five close suburban races are awaiting word on final votes and recounts. According to unofficial results, races for mayor in Bexley and Urbancrest, and for City Council in Dublin, Reynoldsburg and Upper Arlington might end with margins of half a percentage point or less, which, by state law, would mandate a recount.
But first, provisional ballots must be certified and counted. In addition, ballots from overseas could factor in. They must be postmarked no later than Nov. 6 and arrive by Nov. 16, said Ben Piscitelli, a Franklin County Board of Elections spokesman," Martin Rozenman, Columbus Dispatch.
TOLEDO -- "Almost from the moment high-flying GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe was convicted of stealing millions of dollars from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation last November, most expected his attorneys to appeal.
But Noe's appeal process is stuck in neutral because a typed transcript of his lengthy state trial is not yet complete," Joe Vardon, Toledo Blade.
CLEVELAND -- "Late-night computer glitches had Cuyahoga County wobbling to the end of Tuesday's election. The vote was the kind of low-turnout, ballot-lite poll perfect to test Cuyahoga's electronic system -- one that's guaranteed to be among the most-watched during next year's presidential election. But a 20-minute shutdown slowed counting around 9:30 p.m. Then a half-hour crash around 10:40 p.m. stalled tabulations again. At that point, the board changed its procedures and backed up its vote totals every 45 minutes. By 11:30 p.m., about 43 percent of precincts were counted. Cuyahoga County Elections Director Jane Platten said she didn't know why earlier simulations of the machines hadn't detected the glitch, which was the same for each shutdown. The simulations are no substitute for the real thing, she said," Joe Guillen, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio's chief elections official wants to adjust the filing deadlines for statewide ballot issues in an effort to prevent voters from encountering voided Election Day proposals.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said voter confidence diminishes when matters like Tuesday's invalidated strip club issue remain on the ballot. 'We don't want voters to be disappointed in the process because we want them to participate,' said Brunner, a Democrat elected last year," Julie Carr Smyth, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- "As the General Assembly rewrites Ohio foster-care standards, another open-records argument is surfacing, courtesy of a state computer project. A foster-care rewrite might prevent a death like Marcus Fiesel's. Marcus, a 3-year-old foster child, was killed in 2006 because he was an inconvenience to his despicable 'caregivers.' One of the responses to that tragedy is a foster-care bill, passed by the House and pending in the Senate, that would - outrageously - hide foster-care records that are now open," Cleveland Plain Dealer.
CLEVELAND -- "A special prosecutor ended a two-year drive to convict two county elections workers for rigging a ballot recount during the hotly contested 2004 presidential election.
In a plea deal announced this morning, prosecutors let the two women take probation without admitting any wrongdoing," Jim Nichols, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Nov 5:Donors turn to Democratic party Largess used to go directly to candidates, but shift came after new limits began
COLUMBUS -- "The law says elected officials can't vote on government contracts of more than $500 for companies whose executives have given them more than $1,000 in donations. The limit for partnerships, unions and other groups is $2,000. 'It just highlights that when you pass a restriction, wealthy contributors will find ways around it,' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government-watchdog group," Robert Vitale, Columbus Dispatch. Published November 3.
Voting rights activists met in Columbus on October 24 to discuss Election 2008 and the implementation of the Help America Vote Act. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner was the keynote speaker and provided information about the Voting Rights Institute. She also gave an overview of her first months in office. Election experts like Dan Tokaji and Peg Rosenfield examined access to the ballot, poll worker training, and provisional ballots.
COLUMBUS -- " The state now lists the sins of more than 1,700 Ohio educators online. The Ohio Department of Education posted a database yesterday that names teachers, coaches, administrators and other licensed educators who have been reprimanded for misconduct ranging from lying to murder," Jill Riepenhoff, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "The state Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking the names of all Ohioans convicted of drunken-driving offenses. In a 7-0 decision without comment, the court granted Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Henry Guzman's motion to dismiss an Aug. 7 complaint filed by The Enquirer. Lawyers for Ohio said state and federal privacy laws protected the identity of the drivers," Jon Craig, Cincinnati Enquirer.
COLUMBUS -- "Campaign finance records show that the political action committees of FirstEnergy Corp., American Electric Power Co. and Duke Energy have given at least $80,250 to the campaigns of House and Senate leaders and their caucus campaign funds so far this year.
However, the utilities have accomplished little in the energy bill, expected to be voted on by the full Senate on Wednesday. The bill would then go to the House for consideration.
While utilities have been generous to lawmakers' campaigns, they also contributed heavily to Strickland, a Democrat. That, along with big donations from ravenous electric consumers such as factories and big-box retail stores, sets up a special-interest free-for-all on Capitol Square, said Catherine Turcer, a lobbyist for Ohio Citizen Action, a nonprofit campaign reform advocate. 'That's just a piece of the puzzle. With companies like Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart, those interests are duking it out,' Turcer said," John McCarthy, BusinessWeek.
COLUMBUS -- "The anti-'pay to play' law is silent on outside groups such as the Democratic Attorneys General Association, known as DAGA... Some good-government advocates say the loophole creates opportunities for abuse. 'Marc Dann is a mover and a shaker,' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government-watchdog group. 'He is doing the best he can to become the head of DAGA. Who can he put the most pressure on? The people he can put the most pressure on are the people who want something from the state of Ohio. It would be pretty hard for anybody to avoid that,'" James Nash, Columbus Dispatch. Published October 28.
Oct 26: Panel adopts public records recommendations for future legislation
COLUMBUS -- "One day after the Senate approved revisions to public records law, a study panel finalized its recommendations Thursday on how to walk the line between protecting personal privacy and maintaining open documents. Members of the Privacy/Public Records Access Study Committee, which included both lawmakers and stakeholders, unanimously adopted a report that offers fairly general recommendations, such as, 'Government agencies should seek to maintain, and not restrict, broad access to public records.'
Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action said the report provides solid guiding principals for how the government should handle public records.
However, she found it ironic that the recommendations come the day after the Senate approved legislation that makes major revisions to the state's public records law. 'These recommendations should have been guiding principles for that legislation.'
She questioned the passage of the bill without any testimony or deliberation on an amendment that would create a chief privacy officer to determine security procedures, as well as restrictions on access to police officer information. 'We don't have a public access officer yet, but now we have someone who can censor things,' she said," Gongwer News Service.No link; subscription required.
COLUMBUS -- "While state Rep. Josh Mandel battles insurgents in Iraq, he's facing another determined adversary at home.
Jeffrey L. Glasgow, a retired Franklin County assistant prosecutor, is testing the limits of Ohio's public-records law by demanding that Mandel, R-Lyndhurst, turn over e-mail messages from his private account that pertain to state business. Glasgow's case, now before the Ohio Supreme Court, is thought to be the first courtroom test of an emerging area of open-records laws: whether e-mail and text messages from a government employee's private accounts are public records if the messages have to do with official business," James Nash, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Legislation intended to help identity theft victims evolved into a battle over access to property records dealing with police and other public employees.
The Senate could decide as early as today whether to eliminate the names of some government workers from online records kept by county auditors and recorders. The Senate Civil Justice Committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 6 on Tuesday, sending the measure to the full chamber. The House has similar legislation moving through that chamber," Paul Kostyu, Canton Repository.
COLUMBUS -- "County elections officials across Ohio are scrambling to find Democrats willing to serve as presiding judges just two weeks from Election Day. "Failure is not an option," said Matt Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections. His board needs 135 additional Democratic presiding judges to run the election. That is because Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, won all but 22 of Franklin County's 854 precincts last year. State law requires a presiding judge to be of the same political party as the gubernatorial candidate who last won that precinct," Barbara Carmen, Columbus Dispatch.
CLEVELAND -- "Akron's nearly $1 million penalty for destroying old, infor mal records of employees' hours is an expensive reminder that cities must properly maintain public records. Akron got into trouble by setting up a separate, unofficial and unaccountable records system in its Plans and Permits Division that allowed workers to take off from work as compensation for working overtime," Cleveland Plain Dealer.
WASHINGTON -- "The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was on the hunt for money in 2005, hoping to salvage and expand a program popular with area high schools. When zoo officials noticed the Cincinnati Zoo collecting $248,000 in federal education money, they decided that hiring a lobbyist in the nation's capital might help them pick up a few federal dollars of their own," Jack Torry and Jonathon Riskind, Columbus Dispatch.
Oct 18: We know how you voted
COLUMBUS -- "When Renee Rarick voted for the Delaware County MRDD levy last year, she assumed she was doing so in secret. But Rarick was voting on an iVotronic machine, the brand of electronic device used in 10 Ohio counties, including Franklin County. By making a simple public-records request, anyone could match up the paper trail from Rarick’s voting machine to the poll books that contain voters’ names and the order in which they voted," Dan Williamson, The Other Paper.
AKRON -- "Terry Gasper, former chief financial officer for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, told a federal court Wednesday that a Westlake broker paid him cash and promised him a lifetime job if he could help another firm that ended up losing $216 million in a risky investment for the bureau. Gasper, who is serving a 64-month prison term on racketeering and ethics charges, said Patrick White, president of the former Great Lakes Capital Partners, gave him cash and made the job offer in April 2004. Gasper said White wanted him to help Mark Lay and Lay's company, MDL Capital Management of Pittsburgh," Terry Oblander and Mark Rollenhagen, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
AKRON -- "The former chief financial officer at the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation confirmed publicly for the first time yesterday what initially was reported more than two years ago when news about bureau investment scandals was breaking: When another bureau official questioned a risky hedge fund run by MDL Capital Management that eventually lost $216 million, Terrence W. Gasper warned him to make sure he had his facts straight because MDL was 'a friend of the bureau,' "Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Accusing The Blade of going on a 'fishing expedition' for public records, attorneys for the Seneca County commissioners yesterday asked the Ohio Supreme Court to dismiss the newspaper’s claims that commissioners withheld or destroyed documents concerning the planned demolition of the county’s 1884 courthouse.
The county should not have to foot the bill for a forensic computer expert to search for evidence the newspaper does not know exists, the board claims," Blade Staff, Toledo Blade.
Oct 15: Editorial: Secrecy is wrong Legislators should ensure names of foster parents are available to public
COLUMBUS -- "The Ohio House of Representatives erred on Wednesday by voting 52-44 to conceal from the public the names of foster parents. When the House and Senate versions of legislation to improve Ohio's foster-care system are reconciled, this exemption from open-records law should be deleted. The two chambers have passed similar measures to beef up protections for children placed in foster care. The bills require background checks for prospective foster parents and improved coordination among child-welfare agencies. One important difference is that Senate Bill 164 correctly includes no provision to shield foster parents' names from the public," Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Witnesses would be heard and subject to cross-examination and all interested parties
would be represented. Utilities could put on whatever other evidence they think relevant
including evidence of market rates. If, thereafter, negotiations are entered into with the utilities,
the basic data underlying those negotiations is open and transparent and known to everyone.
We do not see how anyone in an open society could oppose such a provision. While flexibility
is an obvious goal of S.B. 221, it must not be at the expense of due process or transparency. A
federal appeals court judge, Damon Keith said in 2002 'Democracies’ die behind closed doors.
The Framers of the First Amendment did not trust any government to separate the true from the
false for us,' " David F. Boehm, energy attorney for the Ohio Energy Group, testimony, Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee.
COLUMBUS -- "Lawmakers argued yesterday that they want to crack down on abuse in foster homes, but first they voted to block public access to information on those parents. 'When a child is removed from a home, as you can imagine, the birth parents aren't always happy about that decision,' said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Jeff Wagner (R., Sycamore), a former foster parent. 'If they knew where their child was, some would have gone to get their children back, sometimes through violent means,' he said. "We can't always prevent that, unfortunately, but keeping the names and addresses of foster parents not part of the public record makes it harder for birth parents to track down where their children are,''
Toledo Blade.
COLUMBUS -- "A former Tiffin newspaper reporter said yesterday that the Seneca County commissioners admitted to her last year that they discussed and exchanged e-mails about a plan to raze the county’s historic courthouse away from public view before they voted on the plan," Jim Provance, Toledo Blade.
COLUMBUS -- "Almost 47 years ago, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that public records are the people's records. Since December 1960, the only thing that has changed about that is Ohio has a governor who seemingly bridles at that maxim. Democrat Ted Strickland is the first Ohioan since 1928 to have reached the Governor's Mansion without previously having been elected to a local or state office. And, particularly as to the Open Records Act, that shows. Today, the Republican-led Ohio House of Representatives, with Strickland's approval, may try to close Ohio foster-care records. A gag could be folded into House-proposed reforms in the state's foster-care laws," Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "As skill games resembling slot machines poured into Ohio last year under a loophole in state law, then-candidate Marc Dann assured operators of the games that he would not fight to put them out of business, several of the operators say. They showered his campaign with thousands of dollars, helping to fuel his come-from-behind victory as Ohio attorney general," James Nash, Columbus Dispatch.
WASHINGTON -- "The phone calls from Rep. Bob Ney to Neil Volz would come late at night. Meet me at Signatures, Ney would say, referring to the posh restaurant near Capitol Hill owned by super lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Volz, who had just departed his job as Ney's chief of staff to join Abramoff's lobbying shop, knew exactly what his old boss wanted: Volz's expense-account credit card to cover the ever-increasing tab for Ney's drinking and eating. It was part of what Volz calls 'Ney World,' where ambition and greed overcame the small-town Ohio scruples and idealism that Volz had brought to Washington, a slippery slope toward unethical and ultimately criminal behavior," Jonathan Riskind, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Attorney General Marc Dann, who ran for office on an anti-corruption platform, gave state work to a law office whose partner exceeded contribution limits to Dann’s campaign.
On Friday, amid scrutiny, Dann’s office took away work from Kevin Zeiher, of Dolyk & Zeiher in Sandusky, because it appeared his relationships with the state violated the spirit of a new law aimed at getting money out of state politics," Julie Carr Smyth, Canton Repository.
COLUMBUS -- "The 2008 presidential election is what matters most to Cuyahoga County election-watchers eager to redeem past mistakes. But their next test comes in the Nov. 6 general election. By then, it will have been 18 months since the May 2006 primary, when county results were delayed by a week. Some of the same issues - the electronic voting system, county leadership and election workers - are still uncertain. This election is another chance to make sure the county Board of Elections has the right fixes," Joe Guillen, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "The shadow cast by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation investment scandal will hang over state government for some time. Gov. Ted Strickland and state Auditor Mary Taylor, who came to their offices in January after much of the scandal had played out, have differing ideas on reforming the internal-auditing process to ensure that potential fraud is caught in the early stages," Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "A fight over whether the names of state-certified foster parents should be kept secret continues to hold up a bill that increases training requirements for foster families and aims to improve placement practices," Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "In large part, public officials want to comply with public record requests. But questions regarding the scope, privilege, and the logistics of the requests invariably create disputes. In these instances, well meaning public officials must consult with their legal counsel, often with the taxpayer footing the bill. If there are unresolved issues, then litigation typically follows. By the end, if the public official is wrong, their government entity can be subject to paying a large award of attorney fees to the opposing party. This system – no doubt – can be improved," Representative Mark Wagoner, testimony, Ohio House Judiciary Committee.
COLUMBUS -- "Well over half the lawyers required to limit their campaign contributions to Attorney General Marc Dann in order to qualify for state work didn't fill out the required paperwork until this month, long after the office began doling out contracts, according to a review by the Associated Press," Julie Carr Smyth, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- Ohio voters who wish to vote by mail should call their County Board of Elections and request a ballot. Voters can also vote in person at their Boards of Elections offices. Contact your County Board of Elections for hours available for in-person early voting.
CLEVELAND -- "They showed up to fight over your electric bill. Nearly 100 of them, all with connections to Ohio lawmakers, some wielding Blackberrys, talking points, press releases and even an opinion poll.
So many came that the meeting - the first hearing on Gov. Ted Strickland's energy plan - was delayed so it could be moved to a larger room in the Statehouse.
Utility companies, manufacturers, unions, farmers and environmentalists hastened their representatives to Wednesday's meeting because Strickland's energy plan, introduced in the Ohio Senate, has unprecedented ramifications for Ohio consumers, the economy and the environment," Mark Naymik, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "State senators who struck a behind-the-scenes deal to ban large wineries from shipping directly to Ohio consumers say they were trying to protect Ohio's wine industry.
But a government watchdog says the lack of public input into the ban - the product of a lobbying effort by the powerful Wholesale Beer and Wine Association as well as Ohio wineries - is troubling. 'What we're talking about is not just access, it's cutting a deal that no one actually knows about until it's over,' said Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action... Citizen Action's Turcer said the state budget, which gets loaded up with dozens of policy changes as it makes its way through the legislature, becomes 'like an out-of-control locomotive' because it needs to be finished by July 1, under state law.
'It's a place where you put the goodies in, because the budget has to be completed no matter what,' she said. 'It's a real shame when legislators take advantage of that. Even if it's standard operating procedure, that doesn't make it right -- or good for the public,'" Aaron Marshall, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "In the last-minute wrangling over the state budget bill in June, the wine-industry proposal became state law, without public debate, a hearing or even an announcement -- only private meetings with industry officials who had a large financial stake in keeping the status quo," Bill Bush, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "As a state senator, Attorney General Marc Dann twice sued the Taft administration for public records. He likes to be known as 'Mr. Public Records,' and wrote a model policy on how local and state government should handle records requests... In some cases, however, it seems Dann has not been living up to these ideals. 'I asked for something in May. I still haven't gotten it,' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action. During the state budget deliberations, she wanted any communications between Dann's office and a coking company. 'I called repeatedly,' said Turcer," Laura Bischoff, Dayton Daily News.
COLUMBUS -- "All voting systems used in Ohio will be tested this fall for flaws in security or accuracy now that a state legislative panel has given its delayed blessing to the $1.8 million study. Without objection, the Controlling Board approved an amended request yesterday by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to waive competitive bidding to hire two companies and four teams of computer-security experts for the review," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "'On the face of it, it looks wildly hypocritical.'
That was Ohio Citizen Action’s Catherine Turcer commenting on Attorney General Marc Dann’s decision to renew a contract with a law firm that he harshly criticized the former attorney general for hiring.
Former Attorney General Jim Petro hired Roetzel and Andress of Akron in March 2006. Roetzel received work previously done by five other law firms, two of which said they lost the work because they did not support Petro’s 2002 attorney general campaign. Roetzel donated to Petro’s campaign and hosted fund-raisers for it. Democrats roared against Petro. Dann, who based his statewide campaign last year on bringing an end to the Ohio government’s pay to play environment, roared loudest," editorial, Warren Tribune-Chronicle.
COLUMBUS -- "McLean, who managed bureau investments from July 2003 until he was fired in September 2005, said that he never intended to break the law and that his problem was interpreting it.
But David E. Freel, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, wasn't buying that.
'You saw a gentleman in there plead guilty, and if he wasn't guilty, I don't think as defense counsel you'd allow your client to plead,' Freel said. Based on a recommendation from prosecutors, Judge Anne Taylor of Franklin County Municipal Court ordered McLean to pay $500 in restitution to the bureau and fined him $500.
He could have faced up to six months in jail and/or a fine of $1,000 on the first-degree misdemeanor charge," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "In early July, University of Akron graduate student Jennifer Thrasher asked for six months of e-mail records to and from key staff in the offices of the governor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer.
While Thrasher quickly got the data from Treasurer Richard Cordray, she didn't get the same results from the other office holders... Like most states, Ohio has sunshine laws to make sure citizens, as well as the media, can keep tabs on the job state and local officials are doing. Yet access to even routine information is increasingly hard to come by," Laura Bischoff, Dayton Daily News.
The Governor's office response includes the following sentence- "The Governor's office does not currently organize its email records according to sender or recipient."
Jennifer Thrasher's letter page 1(349 k pdf) page 2(355 k pdf) Request Responsepage 1(303 k pdf)page 2(689 k pdf) page 3(663 k pdf)page 4(292 k pdf)
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Republicans say the state’s Democratic elections chief is denying them basic voting data from 2006 that they need to prepare for upcoming elections, including the race for president... 'We have historically had an informal relationship with the Secretary of State when it comes to data compliance,' said GOP political director Jason Mauk in a teleconference with reporters. 'We have never been forced in the past to engage in a bureaucratic process to obtain this information,'" Julie Carr Smyth, Canton Repository.
COLUMBUS -- "'You shouldn't have to do FedEx,' Dyer said... Under his legislation, ballots that had illegible postmarks would be counted as they are now for military ballots. Ballots received by the post office that had no postmark at all still would be counted if his law passes, Dyer said. Last year, Ohio stopped requiring voters to provide reasons for why they wanted absentee voters. In 2003, the last time Akron had a mayoral primary, 518 voters requested absentee ballots and 459 returned them, according to election board statistics requested by the city," John Higgins, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- "With the 2008 political battles expected to be fierce in the Ohio legislature and beyond, the longer that lawmakers take to move on electric regulation, the more time it gives them to extract the sweet, sweet honey of politics.
In fact, the utilities are already dripping chunks of change on anyone who will listen. Through the first six months of this year, FirstEnergy's political action committee had contributed $112,250, Duke Energy's had kicked down $35,150, and AEP's had ponied up $29,150 to the campaigns of elected officials," Aaron Marshall, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS -- "I am writing to request a list of the interested parties that you, the governor or members of the governor’s staff met with concerning the Governor’s Energy, Jobs and Progress Plan through September 12, 2007. Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §149.43, this is a request that you make this information available. The records sought include first and last names of individuals and the names of the organizations they represent," letter from Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action, to Mark Shanahan, Energy Advisor to Governor Ted Strickland.
Sep 13:
Consumer groups want seat at debate over electric plan
COLUMBUS -- "In addition, the office (of the Ohio Consumer Council) wants electric utilities to file forecasts that estimate how much power would be needed for the next 20 years, as well as a plan to meet that demand. Such reports were produced by utilities before the General Assembly passed Ohio’s electric choice law in 1999.
That kind of transparency is needed in the upcoming electricity debate at the Statehouse, said Catherine Turcer, legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, a government watchdog group based in Columbus.
'If the whole process is open,' she said, 'it’s not as likely that customers will be taken advantage of. It’s pretty hard to disagree with the public’s right to know or agree this process needs to be secret.'
Even with an open debate, however, advocates for residential customers face an uphill battle against well-funded utilities and business groups, Turcer said.
'That’s because the argument will not necessarily be based on public interest,' she said. 'But on who your supporters are and who hangs out with you,'" Jeff Bell, Business First. Published September 7, 2007.
COLUMBUS -- "Citing a need for further review, the Ohio Controlling Board voted 4-3 yesterday to wait two weeks on a decision to spend $1.8 million to retest the state's voting systems. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner had argued against any delay on grounds that she might not be able to meet a Nov. 30 deadline to complete the work with a March 4 presidential primary in Ohio looming, or that either the testing would have to be scaled back or the cost increased," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
CHICAGO, IL -- "Today the Midwest Democracy Network (MDN), an alliance of reform organizations in five states, called on presidential candidates to explain their positions on a variety of campaign and government reform issues. 'Voters deserve to know where candidates for our nation’s highest office stand on issues fundamental to the health of our democracy' said Catherine Turcer, Legislative Director of Ohio Citizen Action. 'Our next president will have a special responsibility for safeguarding democracy at home and ensuring that the United States remains a model of popular self-governance for other nations.'
The MDN presented the full field of presidential candidates with a questionnaire covering federal campaign finance regulations, ethics and lobbying laws, federal communications policy, voting rights and congressional redistricting," press release, Midwest Democracy Network.(340 K Word doc)
COLUMBUS -- " Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner wants to spend more than $1.8 million to retest the state's voting machines, but some members of the Ohio Controlling Board aren't convinced it's necessary... Brunner wants all of the electronic touch-screen and optical-scan systems used in Ohio and the procedures for handling them thoroughly examined to allay concerns about their security and accuracy," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch .
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann is poised to renew a state legal contract that he used to pillory predecessor Jim Petro for engaging in pay-to-play politics.
Roetzel & Andress, a politically generous Akron law firm, will receive $1 million in state legal work representing the University of Akron if the state Controlling Board approves the agreement Monday... Catherine Turcer, of the government watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action, said of the contract renewal: 'On the face of it, it looks wildly hypocritical,'" Julie Carr Smyth, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- " Ohio Citizen Action today released overviews of campaign contributions to members of the Ohio Supreme Court during the last four election cycles (2000-2006). These campaign finance profiles include an overview of types of donors, large contributors, and money from the political parties. The insurance industry played a prominent role in Supreme Court elections, contributing a total of $1,781,568 to six of the seven Justices," Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action.
COLUMBUS -- "But Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action's legislative director, is concerned that the legislature has returned to the days when House Speaker Vernal Riffe, D-Wheelersburg, cut deals behind closed doors with minority Republicans to avoid contentious and potentially embarrassing floor votes. 'There's something wonderful about the idea that people are trying to get along better and not be divided along partisan lines, but there's a difference between that and when people have become zombies,' Turcer said.
She said legislative leaders should not create an informal structure to work on 'agreed to' bills because the public is left out of the process and controversial issues are ignored," Dennis J. Willard, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- "Other prominent Democrats nationwide, including presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, also have said they are giving up Hsu's donations to their campaigns. Borntrager said Strickland acted because he 'didn't want to distract from the business at hand.' Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government-watchdog group, said each campaign must decide whether to return questionable contributions. But especially after many Ohio Republicans gave up campaign cash last year from convicted felon Thomas W. Noe, it makes sense for the state Democrats to relinquish the donations, she said 'They don't want their campaigns to be associated with dirty money,' Turcer said," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
WASHINGTON, DC -- "Several weeks ago, I joined with Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform in urging state governors to emulate and go beyond the advances in bringing more openness to governmental expenditures put forth by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. Early in 2005, Governor Daniels issued an executive order which enables Hoosiers to find on the Internet the total number of state contracts entered into each year, the total amount of dollars awarded under state contracts each year, and the number and percentage of Indiana businesses and out-of-state businesses to whom state contracts are awarded each year. In addition the entire text of most contracts covered by the executive order is available online," Ralph Nader, CounterPunch. MORE ON MONEY & POLITICS
COLUMBUS -- "Campaign finance reform always seems to be a Sisyphusian effort in Ohio.
Like the frustrated Greek mythological figure who repeatedly pushes a boulder up a hill, only to witness the stone roll back down again and again, legislators have passed new laws to restore public trust in candidates, only to be embarrassed when loopholes they inserted raise new questions about their so-called campaign finance reform.
The difference between Sisyphus and legislators is that the Greek is a sympathetic figure," Dennis Willard, Akron Beacon Journal.
COLUMBUS -- "The showdown between Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and a Virginia-based political action committee she believes illegally
funneled $870,000 to Republican supporters of charter schools in Ohio last year was placed on hold for up to five weeks. . . . Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action legislative director, said rules are needed to ensure that legislators are not bought and paid for by special interests.
''Can we make campaign contribution limits work? What we're talking about is the left hand giving to the right hand,
completely circumventing campaign finance law. As long as that's OK, we might as well not have rules that govern campaign finance,'' Turcer said," Dennis Willard, Akron Beacon Journal.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- "A group of 28 national citizen activist organizations charged last week that the FCC is failing to enforce court-tested mandates by its refusal to define the public interest obligations of digital television broadcasters. Over the past 12 years, the FCC 'has repeatedly failed to redefine broadcasters’ public interest obligations in light of the nation’s ongoing transition to digital television,' the coalition said in an FCC filing... The coalition, with diverse groups that include [Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund], Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and the U.S. Conference Of Catholic Bishops, cited the warning of FCC Commissioner Michael Copps who said the official inaction may be the commission’s 'major failing in its efforts to move the digital transition forward,'" Broadcast Engineering News.
Aug 19:Don't forget State legislators' to-do list should include reform of redistricting process
COLUMBUS -- "Now that the General Assembly is done soaking up praise for the remarkable bipartisan cooperation that brought about the least-rancorous budget process in recent memory, lawmakers should move on to another equally important job: improving the way legislative districts are drawn. Ohioans have known for years that an improvement is needed, and the time is right for it. The state needs it because gerrymandered legislative districts unfairly favor the party in power when the districts are drawn. This can give the dominant party an edge even when voters are moving toward the other party," editorial, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Brunner’s office says the Virginia PAC failed to register with elections officials in Ohio and did not file three required campaign finance reports in 2006. The Ohio group failed to make required changes to their finance reports and exceeded the limit that an Ohio PAC can accept, Brunner’s complaint said. Critics say the practice can allow wealthy donors such as Brennan to bypass contribution limits in Ohio.
'Campaign-contribution limits are about making sure politicians aren’t bought and paid for,' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government and campaign watchdog group," Associated Press, Elyria Chronicle-Telegram.
COLUMBUS -- "Although it was not illegal for Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann to accept thousands of dollars at a fundraiser staged by gambling interests, several campaign-finance watchdogs said yesterday that Dann should have stayed at home. 'You can ask anyone on the street, 'Does this make good common sense?'' said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government-watchdog group. 'It's hard to even consider it with a straight face. Obviously he shouldn't be involved in this. This isn't a gray area. Sometimes you're so close to the situation that you can't see the conflicts,'" Alan Johnson and James Nash, Columbus Dispatch.
Aug 1:In plain sight For years, state and federal officials have been accomplices to the lending industry's excesses
CLEVELAND -- "This lack of understanding on the part of state politicians has made Ohio a leader in foreclosures, which reached 80,000 last year. Even Congress has done little to address the problem... Between 1999 and 2000, banks alone contributed almost $400,000 to reelection campaigns in the Ohio House and Senate (most of it went to Republicans, with Democrats getting about $50,000), according to campaign finance records compiled by government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action," Charu Gupta, Cleveland Free Times.
COLUMBUS -- "Saying he didn't want anyone to accuse him of getting a freebie -- even from his future wife -- Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern used campaign funds to pay Kim Redfern $4,500 in May for the cost of living with her earlier in the year. They were married in March and bought a home that month in German Village. But before that, said Redfern, also a state representative, his fiancee was talking about becoming a lobbyist. 'When you're under the microscope, you have to make sure you're not doing things like staying and not paying rent,' said Redfern, also a state representative from Catawba Island," Jim Siegel, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "It cost the state more than $42,000 in airfare alone to send Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and three others to Russia this month in pursuit of a new steel mill in Ohio, but Fisher says the cost was worth it and that he's 'cautiously optimistic' a deal will be done. 'I actually think it is not only an appropriate, but even necessary (expense),' Fisher said during a meeting this week with Dispatch editors and reporters. 'We determined that this was a potentially significant-enough investment in Ohio ... and because we're competing with other states, the only way to get to the front of the line was to go there,'" Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch.
Jul 27:Open up Licking County officials deliberately thwart Ohio's open-meetings law
COLUMBUS -- "Three informational meetings have been scheduled on Aug. 1-2 to be attended by officials from the Pataskala City Council, Etna Township and two school boards. The public is not invited. What do the township trustees, the city council and the Licking Heights and Southwest Licking boards of education have to hide from the public? Officials estimate that the development would generate more than 1,000 jobs. Still to be decided are tax incentives for ProLogis, which already has distribution facilities in Etna Township, and a plan for the school districts to recoup revenue lost to tax abatements... This arrangement violates the spirit, if not the letter, of open-meetings law," editorial, Columbus Dispatch.
Jul 23:Assisted living an alternative to nursing homes
COLUMBUS -- "Creating affordable alternatives to nursing home care has been a long, hard road in Ohio, and assisted living has had the longest and hardest route of all, in part because of the legislative clout of the state's nursing home industry, said Bob Applebaum, director of the Ohio Long-Term Care Project at Miami University's Scripps Gerontology Center. Through its employees and political action committees, nursing homes contributed $1.19 million between 2001 and 2004 to Ohio candidates as well as their political parties and caucuses, and spent another $200,000 on statewide candidates alone in the 2006 election, according to Ohio Citizen Action," Jim DeBrosse, Dayton Daily News.
COLUMBUS -- "The order means the health care workers can join unions. Most Republicans around here don't like unions. They blame them for job losses, high prices, workplace lollygagging and helping Democrats win elections. For the 12 years that Republicans ran everything in state government they did their best to ignore organized labor. Strickland, elected last year, likes unions and they like him. In fact, the Service Employees International Union – the group already trying to organize the home health care workers – contributed $120,550 to Strickland during the 2006 cycle, according to an analysis by Ohio Citizen Action," editorial, William Hershey, Lebanon Western-Star.
Jul 21:Board may decide that logos on apparel are Election Day no-nos COLUMBUS -- "But Ohio Citizen Action's Catherine Turcer said no board should permit clothing that suggests any political leaning. 'The one place that truly should be a blank slate is the place that you vote,' said Turcer, the group's legislative director. Directors of area boards of election said the abortion issue is so controversial they doubt their boards would permit poll workers to wear shirts bearing the term 'right to life.'
'That's such a volatile issue, I would probably try to discourage that,' said Steve Quillen, director of the Miami County Board of Elections," Lynn Hulsey , Dayton Daily News.
Jul 20:FCC announces public hearing on media ownership in Chicago, Illinois
WASHINGTON -- "The Federal Communications Commission today announced the fifth public hearing on media ownership issues will be held in Chicago, Illinois in the afternoon and evening on Thursday, September 20, 2007. The hearing will provide an opportunity for those in the Chicago area to discuss media ownership, including specific issues facing that local market," press release, Mary Diamond, Federal Communications Commission.
Ohio Citizen Action is part of the Midwest Democracy Network, a coalition of groups in the Midwest devoted to political reform. The Midwest Democracy Network works in coalition with academics including the Midwest News Index at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Midwest Democracy Network recently sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commissioin (FCC) urging them to hold hearings in the midwest. This letter also provided information about 2006 election coverage in the region. Groups Call on FCC to hold TV broadcasters accountable for inadequate election and government coverage
Jul 19:Find out how politicians gerrymander: Play the redistricting game COLUMBUS -- "The Redistricting Game allows players to better understand redistricting and how politicians play games. Gerrymandering is the deliberate manipulation of political boundaries for electoral advantage. Players can see how politicians manipulate redistricting to select their voters. The Redistricting Game was created at the University of Southern California Game Innovation Lab - part of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Interactive Media Division. It was developed for the USC Annenberg Center for Communications," Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action.
COLUMBUS -- "After state officials threatened to drop the hammer on 11 lobbyists and organizations who failed to file required expenditure reports, two of the organizations and one lobbyist dashed off the paperwork in the past week. That might not, however, spare them from prosecution. Legislative Inspector General Tony W. Bledsoe, whose office oversees state lobbying, said yesterday that the Mental Health Association of Cincinnati Area and the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland and its lobbyist all filed expenditure reports after Bledsoe turned over their names to Attorney General Marc Dann for possible prosecution," James Nash, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "About a third of the lawyers that Attorney General Marc Dann has brought on to represent the state have donated to his political campaigns, a Dispatch analysis shows. Of the 151 lawyers green-lighted by Dann as part of a new process designed to end 'pay-to-play' in the awarding of legal contracts, 51 have given to Dann's campaigns for state Senate and attorney general, according to information provided by the attorney general's office this week. Their political contributions to Dann, a Democrat, total $29,814," James Nash, Columbus Dispatch.
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio's crackdown on scofflaw lobbyists intensified yesterday when state officials referred 11 lobbyists and organizations to the attorney general's office for possible prosecution because they didn't file legally required expenditure reports... Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a government-watchdog group, applauded the crackdown but expressed surprise that some lobbyists continue to thumb their noses at the state. 'It is appalling to me that you have to take lobbyists to the attorney general for prosecution to get them to provide the disclosure that Ohioans deserve,' she said," James Nash, Columbus Dispatch. Status of lobbying compliance efforts by the Office of the Legislative Inspector General
COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Citizen Action today released overviews of 2005-2006 campaign contributions to statewide officeholders. Governor Ted Strickland received $16 million, Attorney General Marc Dann $3 million, Treasurer Richard Cordray $2 million, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner $1.8 million, and Auditor Mary Taylor $2 million. These campaign finance profiles include an overview of types of donors, large contributors, and money from the political parties. Two hundred fifty-six individuals contributed $10,000 or more and 25 individuals contributed $20,000 to Strickland. Twenty-six individuals contributed $10,000 or more to Dann, 13 to Cordray, 13 to Brunner, and 20 to Taylor," Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action.
DAYTON -- "The revelation that Clay Mathile contributed well over a half million dollars to one — secret — fund of the Montgomery County Republican Party from 1998 to 2004 shows why there must not be secrecy in such things. And why political contributions should be limited in size. Mr. Mathile's donations amounted to overwhelming dominance of the county's operating fund. Indeed, the second-biggest contributor gave $35,500 — and that came from Mary Mathile, Mr. Mathile's wife, editorial, Dayton Daily News.
DAYTON -- "Montgomery County Republican Party officials were worried in 2004 that a state investigation would reveal the names of donors who secretly poured nearly $800,000 into party coffers. So worried in fact, their attorney told state officials that copying the names might not be permitted, according to documents released Friday by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. The documents include correspondence between Karl H. Schneider, legal counsel for the party, and Keith Scott, an attorney for then-Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell," Lynn Hulsey, Dayton Daily News.
Oct 4: 
COLUMBUS -- "Citing a need for further review, the Ohio Controlling Board voted 4-3 yesterday to wait two weeks on a decision to spend $1.8 million to retest the state's voting systems. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner had argued against any delay on grounds that she might not be able to meet a Nov. 30 deadline to complete the work with a March 4 presidential primary in Ohio looming, or that either the testing would have to be scaled back or the cost increased," Mark Niquette, Columbus Dispatch. 
COLUMBUS -- " Ohio Citizen Action today released overviews of campaign contributions to members of the Ohio Supreme Court during the last four election cycles (2000-2006). These campaign finance profiles include an overview of types of donors, large contributors, and money from the political parties. The insurance industry played a prominent role in Supreme Court elections, contributing a total of $1,781,568 to six of the seven Justices," Catherine Turcer, Ohio Citizen Action. 
COLUMBUS -- "Campaign finance reform always seems to be a Sisyphusian effort in Ohio.
Like the frustrated Greek mythological figure who repeatedly pushes a boulder up a hill, only to witness the stone roll back down again and again, legislators have passed new laws to restore public trust in candidates, only to be embarrassed when loopholes they inserted raise new questions about their so-called campaign finance reform.
The difference between Sisyphus and legislators is that the Greek is a sympathetic figure," Dennis Willard, Akron Beacon Journal. 
CLEVELAND -- "This lack of understanding on the part of state politicians has made Ohio a leader in foreclosures, which reached 80,000 last year. Even Congress has done little to address the problem... Between 1999 and 2000, banks alone contributed almost $400,000 to reelection campaigns in the Ohio House and Senate (most of it went to Republicans, with Democrats getting about $50,000), according to campaign finance records compiled by government watchdog Ohio Citizen Action," Charu Gupta, Cleveland Free Times. 
