Yours truly has known Republican state Representative J. Kirk Schuring for some 15 years.
The hope has been that Schuring would prove to be more for the public good than for his personal political good.
But any chance that the public interest and specifically the Stark County public interest would trump his personal political ambitions were finally laid to rest on Tuesday, April 26th.
Get this!
Yep! Schuring as the Republican Ohio House Caucus Majority Leader.
For those readers who are not all that familiar with functions of a majority leader, here is a LINK (though descriptive of the U.S. House of Representatives) that provides a pretty good look at some of the responsibilities Schuring will be taking on.
Here is the essence of the announcement (highlight added) with a SCPR question superimposed:
Schuring is probably the most affable of all the folks we Stark Countians send to Columbus.Consequently, one hears very little in terms of criticism of Schuring as state representative and/or state senator.
Oh! the SCPR does recall Johnnie A. Maier, Jr. in the days he was Stark County Democratic Party chairman and his sidekick and Stark County Democratic Party political director R. Shane Jackson trading in ugly asides about Schuring which yours truly thinks to be incredible.
Undoubtedly, face-to-face these two have been "peaches and cream" with Schuring.
Such (i.e. hypocrisy) is how many politicians are especially across political party lines.
In addition to his affability, seemingly, at least up until Tuesday, to repeat, his ostensible "not all that partisan stance," if one believes the image that Schuring has been trying to project in all of his days as a member of the Ohio General Assembly, has worked for him.
In fact, a number of years ago he was punished by his Republican Party caucus when he differed with the leadership on an issue for which he disciplined by the Republican caucus in place at the time.
Looking back, he has to be thinking that his diversion from "the party line" was a big mistake.
For if he had not offended party leaders,
- being Ohio General Assembly fixture compared to many fellow legislators:
- in working out a deal with fellow legislator Scott Oelslager for the two of them to avoid the consequences of the Republican Party sponsored (1992) term limits initiative (limiting terms to 8 consecutive years)
- which Ohioans passed
- in playing "musical chairs" with Stark's senate district and the overlapping Plain/Jackson house district in switching between the two seats as they were to be put on the outside looking in because of the looming 8 year limit,
By way of comparison, the current Speaker of the Ohio House has only been in the House for about 5 years, to wit:
The SCPR has always suspected that "not being a 'cookie cutter'" Republican (which Schuring claims as being his imprimatur) was more a mirage propagated by Schuring himself than his real record indicates.
"The cat is now out of the bag" as to his being "all-in" in his personal commitment to the Ohio Republican Party.
Apparently, he and other Republican and for that matter Democratic "organized" political party types have not gotten the message from the Trump and Sanders presidential campaigns.
Normally, the naming of a "person of the year," would come at the end of the year as Time Magazine does annually.
But Schuring's political accomplishment is so monumental that the SCPR could not bear to hold off until December.
For it could mean really big things for Stark County in terms of Schuring "bringing home the bacon" to Stark.
It has always been a premise of the SCPR that though Schuring (and Olelsager) obviously have gotten some good things done for Stark County, given their combined over 50 years in the Ohio General Assembly; in these times of term limits 50+ years should put them in the order of former Democratic Party Speaker of the House and iron-fisted leader Vern Riffe, Jr. (an icon to Maier, Jr.) in effectiveness. (LINK)
But the SCPR is highly skeptical that Schuring's new political perch will mean much if anything of added value for Stark County.
On the Einstein scale of relativity, at least in the SCPR's view, he is the best of the bunch even with the revelation of his reaching the political stratosphere of the Ohio Republican Party.
The Report ranks Stark's delegation—in terms of overall quality— to the Ohio General Assembly as follows:
- Schuring (Republican, Jackson Township, Ohio House, the 48th),
- Oelslager (Republican, Plain Township, Ohio Senate, the 29th),
- Christina Hagan (Republican, Marlboro Township, Ohio House, the 50th), and
- Stephen Slesnick, Democrat, Canton, the 49th)
The primary point of the column was for Hagan to self-servingly tell Hartville/Lake residents what a terrific representative she has been over her five years in the Ohio House.
However, her braggradocios must be accurate or it might well lead one to believe that there may be other inaccuracies in her self-aggrandizement.
Undoubtedly, if doesn't already know, with this blog Zeigler or one of his friends will happen upon the incorrect Hagan statement about him.
Being a Lake Township resident, yours truly has subscribed to the HN for most if not all of the 41 years that the Olsons have lived in Uniontown.
Of late, it seems as if Christina who his seeking re-election to the 50th Ohio House seat has been a featured attraction in the weekly periodical.
The SCPR's impression is that nearly every Stark County Republican elected official frequents the pages of the HN whereas one only sees a Democrat occasionally.
Hagan's Democratic opponent is Plain Township resident John Juergensen.
Haven't see a word about Juergensen in the HN.
But he might want to use The Hartville News as an "opposition research" tool to check out what Hagan is saying about herself.
Moreover, could it be that GOP Majority Leader Kirk Schuring now has a problem on his hands to deal with?
Did Representative Hagan write the article herself?
Or, was it written by a taxpayer supported Ohio House employee?
Somebody not adequately schooled on matter on all the material included in the article?
Who fact checked the Hagan column prior to publication?
Congratulations Majority Leader J. Kirk Schuring on being named the SCPR "Person of the Year!"
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