CANDIDATES (BY & LARGE), AREA EDUCATORS & THE VOTING PUBLIC IGNORE OSBA LEGISLATIVE/STATE BD OF EDUCATION!

UPDATED TUESDAY 9/11/2018 at 12:15 PM (Schuring office and SCPR reader Dan Fonte's response)

Representative Schuring's office responds with answer as to why he was not present at the OSBA Candidates Forum of 09/06/2018, to wit:

From: "Rep48@ohiohouse.gov" <Rep48@ohiohouse.gov>
To: "'tramols@att.net'" <tramols@att.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 11:36 AM
Subject: RE: Reason why you did not attend Ohio Schools Bd Assn 962018 Drage event

Martin,

Representative Schuring regrets that he couldn't be there. He had a pervious commitment in Cleveland that day with a constituent to discuss the possibility of funding an economic development project in Stark County.

His former aide, Jay Smith is the Deputy Director of Legislative Services for the Ohio School Boards Association and completely understood why Representative Schuring couldn't be there. Representative Schuring is scheduling a meeting with Mr. Smith and others to discuss the issues brought forth at the meeting.

If there are any specific questions or concerns that you would like Representative Schuring to address, I would be more than happy to pass those along to him. 

Best,

Abby

Abby Schafer

Senior Legislative Aide

Office of State Representative Kirk Schuring

Speaker Pro Tempore 

77 South High Street, 14th Floor 

Columbus, OH 43215

614-752-2438

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From former Local 94 (Plumbers & Pipefitters) business manager and civic activist:  Dan Fonte

Daniel Fonte <...@att.net>  Today at 5:19 AM

To:  Martin Olson

Good morning Martin, just started to read your blog about the OSBA meeting I never heard of it or I would have tried to attend. My question is how are we, the voting public supposed to know about these types meetings? 

If the local media print or audio is out of touch with most of us how are we able to get this information.  When they removed Ron Ponder from the air waves he was one person that we could call and get the information out.or ask about these events. 

On another issue that you might be interested in. 

I just received my Repository bill and they will now start charging a $2.99 " INVOICE FEE" if we don't go paperless. This is not fair to those of us who pay the old fashion way especially senior citizens. 

I am going to try to have a protest at the Rep on this, I am also a subscriber to the Akron Beacon Journal and I supposed they will start to do the same thing since they are owned by the same corporation. 

Thanks,

Dan Fonte 

SCPR comment:  Interesting.  The Rep publisher (James Porter) trying to "force" subscribers to do things The Rep's way.  Nothing new about this.  The Report has cited in blogs quite a few instances in which this publisher since 2013 has tried to play the role of the 800 pound gorilla.

Meanwhile, The Stark County Political Report going on its 11th year is done as a public service.  No advertising, no subscriptions and certain no subscription fee!  And, totally independent of the political/government "powers that be in Stark County, even IF The Report generally thinks well of a given politician or government official.

For the SCPR, it would be an anathema to be thought of being"the official publication" of any Stark County entity as exemplified by The Rep's ballyhooed (by The Rep management)  relationship with the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Quite the opposite!

Take Auditor Alan Harold.  The SCPR in an overall sense thinks that Harold has been a quality county auditor.  However, take a look as this blog and then think about whether or not The Report has the capacity to severely critique the likes of Alan Harold.

The "independence" factor likely is at the top of the list of reasons behind a Repository reporter's assessment and has told this blogger that "the bigs" at The Rep hate the SCPR.

The Report takes the allegation, if true, as a compliment.  There certainly couldn't be a greater contrast on politics/government reporting/opinionating than the styles, depth and scope on political/government coverage than in comparing the SCPR and The Rep in the context of one person versus scores of personnel.

Thanks Dan for being a responsible, involved citizen!

One has to wonder how much longer our democratic-republican form of government can last.

Picking up on the Washington Post's masthead:

In the view of The Stark County Political Report last Thursday "darkness" enveloped Stark County's Ohio General Assembly/State Board of Education candidate voter selection process.

Most of us are aware of the chaotic darkness that seemingly overtaken the national level executive branch of government.

But are we aware of:

• the avoidance of meeting with the public on the part of local candidates (Stark County-based being the focus of this blog).  OSBA officials say they contacted each of the candidates but did not require a RSVP.  The SCPR has contacted each of the missing candidates other than John Hagan for whom The Report has not e-mail address providing an opportunity to explain he/she was absent.  
• SCPR blog LINK re:  Republican congressional candidates (Gonzalez, the 16th & Gibbs, the 7th) refusal get out in public forums either in town hall or debating their opponents.
• Note:  Especially noteworthy of the candidates not supporting (i.e. not attending and not indicating a conflicting obligation) the Thursday, September 6, 2018 OSBA effort to provide voters with information on candidate positions is that of combined, more or less, in the Ohio General Assembly of some 60 years Republicans Scott Oelslager (running in the 48th)
  
  and Kirk Schuring (running in the 29th).  Perhaps the didn't want to face questions of having received thousands of dollars in ECOT (online charter school) campaign contributions in light of the school going belly up recently and owing Ohio's taxpayers some $80 million (by Ohio Supreme Court decision) after having received some $1 billion in taxpayer money over a span the past 20 years or so?
• Also not attending were Oelslager opponent Lauren Friedman and Stoltzfus opponent Cassie Gabelt,
• Candidate Friedman tells the SCPR:  "I was not aware of the event or I certainly would have been there."
• Also not attending were Democratic state Representative Thomas West (the 49th) and his Republican opponent James Haavisto and Democratic candidate for the 38th, namely; Elliot Kolkovich.
• Candidate West also says either due to not having received notice from the OSBA or an internal administrative snafu he was not aware of the event and would have attended if he was aware of it,
• Candidate Haavisto had a conflict in times in that he had a priority business commitment to attend to,
• Note:  Should any other absentee candidates inform the SCPR of reasons for non-attendance, The Report will be to update this blog with that information

• the absence from opportunities to question and reflect on the views of what candidates who do show up on the part of area direct-interest-in-education educators/parents/teaching union members and those who say education is a top priority for ensuring a bright future for or local, state and national economies,  
• Believe or not, not one single Stark County superintendent showed up at Thursday's forum.  And yet nearly all if not all of them bitterly complain about how education funding and policy is handle by the current majority in the Ohio General Assembly.
• the no show of Plain Township board of education member John Halkias of 19 years who is the president-elect of the Ohio School Board Association, 

• Note:  While the SCPR appreciates the initiative of the OSBA to put Thursdays event together and acknowledges Moderator Jay Smith disclaimer that the format was designed to be "informal," this event was just a bit too informal.  
• It appears that the OSBA officials in attendance had no questions of their own to pose to the candidates which the SCPR finds curious in view of the possibility that there would be a dearth of questions from the very, very, very sparse audience in attendance.
• Re the "sparse, sparse, spare attendance:  What was done by the OSBA to promote the event and what effort was made "lobby" all the candidates to attend and to have incisive questions at the ready?
• the failure of local media (most prominently, Stark County's only countywide newspaper:  The Canton Repository to cover events like the Ohio School Boards Association's area legislative/state board of education candidates forum yesterday at the R.G. Drage Technical Center located here in Stark County?

All these factors are indication that as every day passess, there is less and less appreciation of the unique American experience of self-government through elected representatives based on voters being informed of whom they are voting for and why other than the candidate's political party affiliation.

Like the person who stays in lukewarm water in process of it being heated up until they get boiled to death, it appears that all aspects of our democratic-republican system are hellbent on self destruction in the midst of thinking all is well.

It appears that the saying:  "We have met the enemy and he is us."  is squarely in place in America, Ohio and Stark County.  

Stark County's most reliable media on political/government coverage (The Stark County Political Report, SCPR, The Report) was at Drage yesterday.

Kudos to the OSBA, to fully or partially within Stark County connected candidates Lorraine Wilburn (48th), Reggie Stoltzfus (50th) and Bill Romer  (38th) for showing up and addressing the sparse crowd of educators/citizens who showed up.  Moreover, include Kathleen Purdy running for the 8th District state board of education position in this commendation.

This election year 36% of the current membership of the Ohio General Assembly are not running for re-election.

And kudos to Canton Board of Education member Eric Resnick being there and being a primary driver of meaningful questions.

One of Resnick's most provocative questions had to do with the passage and implementation of House Bill 70 (see this LINK for efforts to repeal it) which dealt with the state of Ohio takeover of the poverty ridden/highly urban Youngstown School District and its threat to districts like the Canton City Schools district.

Also to be complimented is newly appointed Mahoning County Educational Service Center board member Traci Hostetler (July, 2018 and pictured to the left of Resnick above) who traveled to Massillon (by the way, she was formerly director of teaching and learning in the Massillon City Schools) on Thursday with her questions for the state legislature candidates who showed up.  Hostetler is a former superintendent of the East Palestine School District.

There were three other legislative candidates (running for districts wholly outside of Stark County (i.e. principally in Summit County) who showed up and can be seen in the complete video that can be accessed in the Appendix to this blog.

But the video takeouts in this blog are answers provided by candidates for the Ohio House whose district have parts of or are wholly within Stark County.

Just this morning, the SCPR happened on a Cleveland.com (online version of the Cleveland Plain Dealer) published an article which came up on Thursday which was the simmering controversy about the Ohio Department of Education's publication of its annual Report Card for the 600 plus public school districts that dot Ohio.

In The Stark County Political Report's evaluation of newspapers, The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland.com online) is the very best in Ohio of publishing incisive, timely and thoroughgoing analyses of issues that are important to Ohioans.

Our local countywide paper cannot even see to it that a reporter shows up at an event like last Thursday's.

Cleveland.com recently started a Rubber City Daily (for Akron and vicinity) which is available via e-mail sign up.

Can Stark Countians hope for a Hall of Fame Daily for Canton and all of Stark County being in the offing?

As things stand now with GateHouse Ohio buying up the Akron Beacon Journal and The Repository, a iota of mainline newspaper competition could do wonders for the scope and unconflicted coverage of Stark County news, no?

DISTRICT 8 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION RACE

Also present this past Thursday at R.G. Drage was state board of education candidate Kathleen Purdy.  Her presentation is also including in this blog.

Stark Countian John Hagan (a former state representative [2001 - 2008] and 19 year Marlboro Township) was also among the missing.

While Republican Hagan because of his surname and confusing it with former state board of  Bob "Hagan" and his "hanging around in Republican political circles" in Columbus and Stark County and running in "safe" Republican districts may perforce of those factors get elected, of the three candidates he is the least qualified and appears mostly to be running to hold a Republican seat on the state board and to enhance his state of Ohio pension benefits by accumulating from his days as a state representative township trustees.

John Hagan has never been a significant contributor to the well being of education policy/funding in Ohio which makes it apparent to the SCPR that he is in the race for either personal or political party factors and not because he has anything constructive/helpful to offer the state board of education.

Even the 18 year old Democrat (as is Stark Countian Purdy) Melissa Dahman from Mahoning County is better qualified than John Hagan to get elected to the state board of education.

The winner in the multi-county eighth will likely come from either Stark or Mahoning County as being the two most populous (by far) of all the counties that make up the district.

Purdy, by virtue of having shown up and answered questions, should get plus consideration on the part of voters as should those state representative candidates, no?

Here is a video of Purdy's presentation on Thursday:

On the state representative portion of Thursday's OSBA candidates forum, here are video clips on the "Stark County connected candidates."

50TH REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE REGGIE STOLTZFUS



48TH DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE LORRAINE WILBURN

(Note:  On Resnick's "yes" or "no" on whether or not Ohio education funding is constitutional under the DeRolfe series of  three Ohio Supreme Court decisions, Candidate Wilburn's answer:  "no.")

The video: (16 min, 27 sec)



38TH REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE BILL ROEMER

(On DeRolfe "It was ruled unconstitutional 20 years ago, it has not been ruled on since.  There have been significant changes [in how Ohio funds education], there needs to be additional changes")

The video of Roemer's responses:  (13 min, 54 sec)

To say it again, all-in-all the event was a disappointment in terms of:

• only 4 of a potential 13 Stark County connected candidates relevant to Stark County included areas voting on state senate, state house and state board of education races (except Friedman who says she was not informed about the forum) saw fit to show up, and
• the lack of OSBA fill-in-missing-from-the-audience questions on the overriding Ohio General Assembly dealt with preK-12 educational issues including promoting more effectively getting northeast Ohio stakeholders to attend such an event and the concomitant opportunity to get informed on the different takes that incumbents/challengers have on those issues.

Hopefully, the OSBA will take the SCPR's critique in the constructive fashion it is intended to be and improve the structure, candidate participation and promotion to the voting/education public for the 2020 round of OSBA candidates on education issues forums.

APPENDIX

The entire OSBA Candidates Forum video.