Friday, May 25, 2018

"TEMPORARY" OHIO HOUSE SPEAKER KIRK SCHURING (R-JACKSON) NOT UP TO LEADERSHIP?

UPDATE SATURDAY 10:15 AM.

SCHURING'S NOVEMBER OPPONENT LAUREN FRIEDMAN COMMENTS

UPDATE:  FRIDAY12:15 PM ADDITIONAL MATERIALS ON SCHURING POLITICAL TROUBLES

LIST SOURCE:  (LINK) PHOTO CREDIT:  WYSO.ORG

J, Kirk Schuring, Republican of Jackson Township, has been in the Ohio General Assembly (OGA)
  • (flipping back and forth with fellow Stark County Republican when forced to do so by Ohio's "no more than eight consecutive years" term limits
since 1995.

One would think that he has learned a thing or two about the hurly-burly of politics and how to deal effectively with political warfare and thereby get the public interest as the top priority in the OGA.

But it appears that after 23 years in the Ohio Legislature, Schuring is proving that he is not an effective leadership type.

For two weeks now and during the time that Schuring has been "temporary" Speaker of the Ohio House, not one measure of some 12 House bills and 2 Senate bills (needing House approval) have been put up for a vote.

Veterans Stark County lawmaker Schuring was selected April 12 by virtue of being president pro tem of the Ohio House to be "temporary" speaker when now former speaker Cliff Rosenberger felt compelled to resign in light of an ongoing FBI investigation of his conduct as a public official specifically regarding his association with payday lending lobbyists.

On Wednesday, the FBI raided Rosenberger's home.

With the virtual shutdown of the decision making apparatus of the OGA as Schuring and the Republican House Caucus dilly-dallies around with their internal political fight as to whom will replace Rosenberger to the end of 2018; is there any doubt that Statehouse Republicans are putting the "organized" state/individual political interests above the public interest?

Besides his troubles in "trying" to be a leader in fractured Republican Caucus of the Ohio House, Schuring is in for some embarrassing revelations in forthcoming series of SCPR blogs ("ECOT/charter/community schools series:"LINK) on how badly Stark County public education has been hurt financially by his, fellow Stark County legislative delegation Republican mates Scott Oelslager, Christina Hagan (and before her Todd Snitchler and her father John Hagan) failed to protect Stark County's 17 school districts from the draining off of millions and millions and millions of dollars Ohio taxpayer dollars from local district across Ohio including of course Stark County to charter/community schools.


The Report does not expect it to happen but the factors outlined in this blog and the ECOT series, especially in light of what appears in May, 2018 to be a "weak" Democratic opponent (Friedman), but the factors could coalesce into a "perfect political storm" to take him out as well as other Republican legislators and Republican candidate across the state.

Late last night, the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse News Bureau (OPRSNR) put together the very best in political analysis as to why Schuring is failing.  As an interesting sidenote, Schuring is said on the afore-linked audio report to be "unavailable" to OPRSNR for a Q&A on the matter.

Such is nothing new to The Stark County Political Report (SCPR, The Report).   Schuring in recent years has been unavailable to The Report.  Apparently, Schuring has been around so long as a legislator that he thinks he is unaccountable to the Ohio/Stark County public.

The analysis/reporting of the OPRSNR audio piece:The Republican infighting is taking place "behind closed doors,"
  • House finance committee chairman Ryan Smith is within a few votes of  getting to a full House vote and possibly landing the speaker's post,
    • "House need to get on with the peoples' business"
    • He has the most to risk and wants the vote
  • Main competitor Andy Thompson an apparent "stand-in" for Larry Householder (a former speaker who covets being speaker once again in the upcoming [January, 2019] 133rd OGA is the barrier to the House selecting a "to the end of the year" speaker,
  • Former Democratic Party chair and currently sitting Representative David Leland says he suspects this is a fight as to whom will control the $4 million in the Republican Party House Campaign Account in the leading up to the November election cycle,
  • Former Republican Party chair and former 8 years state Representative Kevin DeWine says that the speaker position fight could cost Republicans maintaining their majority come the 133rd session of the Ohio House,
The Household/Smith competition and the Rosenberger factor has already played out in Stark County Republican Party politics.


Here are links to SCPR blogs detailing the connections/acrimony:
So what are local reactions by various Ohio House/Senate candidates to the Rosenberger/speakership issues?

First, Stoltzfus:

Reggie Stoltzfus <reggie.stoltzfus@reggieforohio.com>  May 24 at 8:13 AM
To:  Martin Olson

Hi Martin, as I stated before I am disappointed that Mr. Rosenberger is under investigation. He deserves his day in court if he has done something wrong. 
On the topic of the Speaker election. The members need to come together immediately and choose a speaker. The business of Ohio must go on!

Next, his Democratic opponent in November:  Cassie Gabelt:

Cassie Gabelt <gabeltforohio@gmail.com>  May 24 at 8:11 PM
To: Martin Olson

My reaction to the story:

The Cliff Rosenberger scandal is just one example of how Republican leadership in the Ohio Statehouse is completely dysfunctional and dominated by scandal. The system of one-party rule, thanks to gerrymandering that has rendered a majority of districts non-competitive, has created a cozy, pay-to-play culture that lacks both integrity and accountability. 

Next,  Democrat Lauren Friedman who is running against Schuring in Ohio Senate District 29:

(Note:  previous text musing over why no response by Friedman removed and replaced by the following "highlighted as 'supplanted information' text:")

Lauren Friedman <laurenforohio29@gmail.com>  Today at 9:06 AM

To:  Martin Olson

Good morning, Martin,

Thanks for reaching out.

...

On the record, I, like every Stark County voter, believe we need to have a functioning state legislature in order to get things done. Over the past 7 1/2 years that Republicans have controlled the state government, I have been frustrated by the direction the state legislature has gone, but a functioning state legislature is better than a nonexistent one. 

Kirk Schuring and Columbus Republicans are paid to work for us. Kirk Schuring has shown that he cares more about Columbus party interests than the people of Stark County. 

Kirk Schuring has been entrusted with leading a group of 66 House Republicans. If Kirk Schuring can't reach consensus among a group of his own party, how can we trust him to reach across the aisle to get things done?

After 9 years of Active Duty in the Navy, including service as a Naval Officer around the globe, I have proven my ability to bring together groups of people with different priorities in order to complete the mission. At the end of the day, I was responsible for doing what was needed to get the job done.

Every day that petty politics from House Republicans holds our state legislature hostage, per the CDC, nearly 13 people will die from opioid overdose. For so many parents in Stark County, opioids are a life-or-death matter. If Kirk Schuring would rather spend his time fighting in Columbus with other Republicans, rather than saving nearly 13 lives a day in Ohio, why would we send him back to the State Senate for another four years? As a State Senator, I will always put the people of Stark County and Ohio first.

Thanks again,
Lauren

The point of this blog is that it should be unacceptable to Stark/Ohio voters for the likes of Schuring to put political party interests over community.

One can only hope that Kevin DeWine is correct.

Such political arrogance should jeopardize the Republican Party's hold on the lower (in the sense  of  the Republican leadership "acting" in a less responsible manner than they do in the Senate) chamber of the Ohio Legislature!

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