"RIP VAN" SCHURING WAKES UP IN TIME FOR 2012 ELECTIONS?

If Stark Countians could only keep J. Kirk Schuring (Republican - Jackson) awake, he might actually be an effective legislator or the county.

But the best we can do is get him in a awakened mode at re-election time every other year (if he is in the Ohio House) and every fourth year (if he is in the Ohio Senate) and./or, perhaps,  running for the U.S. Congress as he was in 2008 in his effort to succeed Ralph Regula to the Congress.


Well, it is re-election time for this state representative (currently Ohio's and Stark County's 51st House District - reconfigured as the 48th with the decentennial constitutionally mandated redistricting done a few months ago).

Review this (CLICK HERE)  prior SCPR blog for a detailed account on Schuring's  history of becoming attentive to Stark County's legislative needs as an election looms.

Awake!  Awake!! Awake1!! Representative Schuring.  You have opponents waiting for you in November, 2012.

Get some bills passed, man!

And, he has.

To boot, he has the press release pipeline to the Canton Repository up and running.  (Reference: Boards and ballots: Dyslexia specialists, redistricting of Timken plants, Robert Wang, The Repository, December 17, 2011)


The Schuring shout (apparently, by press release) goes out and about that Representative Schuring has shepherded two pieces of legislation through the Ohio Legislature.

H.B. No. 225


In the SCPR's thinking, the most important is Amended H.B. No. 225.


Of the thirteen provisions, two were the handiwork of Schuring, to wit:

Authorizes a regional council of governments to operate a public safety answering
point (PSAP) as part of a countywide 9-1-1 system under an adopted or amended
final plan.

Requires a regional council of governments operating a PSAP to pay all costs
associated with the PSAP, and to allocate costs among itself and the subdivisions
served by the PSAP based on the allocation formula in the final plan.

SOURCE: Ohio Legislative Service Commission

In Stark County under the leadership of Stark County Council of Governments (SCOG) Governance has been working years to rehab the county's broken 9-1-1 emergency call/response system.

Almost $3 million lies in the Stark County commissioners bank account awaiting finalization of Stark 9-1-1 rebuild.  Gonzales and the remainder of SCOG's board have been frustrated as one impediment after another hitch (e.g. Canton Mayor William Healy, II and Safety Director Thomas Ream renege on participation) after another delayed progress on finishing 9-1-1.

Enter Schuring.  The bill was introduced on May 11th (Schuring was not a prime sponsor).  He piggybacked the 9-1-1 onto the bill.

H.B. No. 157

Probably was not needed, but "better safe than sorry."  After all a somnorific legislator needs a reason to stir from his sleep.  An election is on the horizon.

Unlike H.B. No. 225, Schuring was a prime sponsor of this bill.  However, it was introduced on March 15, about nine (9) months ago and it took Schuring all this time to get a bill through.   Hmm?

It:

Permits an educational service center (ESC) to engage the services of a "dyslexia specialist" to provide training for K-4 teachers in school districts and other public schools that contract with the ESC for training services on (1) the indicators of dyslexia and (2) the types of instruction that children with dyslexia need.

Permits groups of local school districts within an ESC's territory to engage the services of a dyslexia specialist if the ESC does not provide the training.

... .  Though current law does not expressly prohibit this now, the bill expressly authorizes ESCs to engage the services of a dyslexia specialist to provide training for teachers of grades K through 4 on the indicators of dyslexia and the types of instruction that children with dyslexia need to learn, read, write, and spell. ... . (emphasis added)

SOURCE: Ohio Legislative Service Commission

The piece by Wang shows the tremendous advantage that a incumbent like Schuring.  Politicos like to cite media reports like this as being example of  "earned media."  

Schuring's opponents (Democrat Trump and Libertarian Deegan) have to doing a slow burn as Stark County's only countywide newspaper pumps out public relations-esque material without affording them an opportunity to evaluate/respond and thereby increase their voter ID factor.

For all the time Schuring has been in the Ohio Legislature (some 16 years) he has produced precious little of significant legislation to benefit Stark County or even the state of Ohio in an overall sense.

He has been trading back and forth with fellow Stark County Republican Scott Oelslager between the 51st House District and the 29th Senate District (a game of musical chairs except that in this version Schuring and Oelslager each get a seat; just a different seat) in order to avoid the consequences of term limits having been voted in by a Republican majority back in the 1990s with Schuring and Oelslager being among the supporters of term limits.

From time-to-time the editors at The Repository will complain about the deficient productiveness of the Ohio General Assembly.  However, they seem never to point the finger at either Schuring or Oelslager.

Apparently for the likes of Jeff Gauger (the executive editor of The Rep), it is all those other bums who staff (as a elected representatives) the Ohio Legislature; not Stark Countians Schuring and Oelslager.    These two have served in supermajorities (veto proof) and thereby should have been able to do much done for Stark.

It appears to the SCPR that they not only get a pass from The Rep.  But to add insult to injury, the editorial and news managers at The Rep seem to set a tone that it is okay for The Rep to be a conduit for ensuring Schuring and Oelslager have a lock on statewide public office.

Schuring has yet to produce on Stark County Court of Common Pleas Tayrn Heath's request (made months and months ago) that he, Oelslager and Democrat Stephen Slesnick (Democrats are in a distinct minority) do something to rollback unfunded mandates which strap Stark County finances (the passage of the recent 0.5% levy notwithstanding).

But we do not see questions on Schuring's failure in this in Wang's piece.

Hmm?