SERIES: HOW ARE THE MEMBERS OF THE STARK COUNTY DELEGATION TO THE OHIO GENERAL ASSEMBLY DOING? TODAY: OELSLAGER #3

One of the SCPR's favorite legislators:  W. Scott Oelslager.

A man who has been in the Legislature for a quarter of a century with very little to show for it.  A good part of his time in the Ohio General Assembly has been as a member of the majority and for a time a supermajority.  Also, for the most part (except for Strickland), the governor has been a Republican.

He and fellow Republican Kirk Schuring (about 16 years in the Ohio General Assembly) have this little game going on between them called "musical chairs." However, there is one important difference from the classical game we all played as kids.  In the Oelslager/Schuring version, they both get a seat. Just a different seat.  A Senate seat or a House seat, but still a seat.

In this way they are both thumbing their noses at the voters by defeating the spirit of term limits

Oelslager is term limited out of the Ohio House this election year as Schuring is in the Ohio Senate.  Solution?  Oelslager is running to get back in the Senate a second time whereas Schuring is looking to get back to the House for a second time (the 51st).

The graphic above in this report #3 in a series which will, over time, account for the entire Oelslager record in the 128th Ohio General Assembly that ends on December 31, 2010.

Among Oelslager co-sponsored bills which haven't become law or at least passed the House include the following:

HB 75

Primary Sponsor(s):  Chandler & Moran

Subject:  Tax refund-contribute to Ohio Historical Society

HB 91 Primary Sponsor(s):  Yuko  Subject:  Union Workers Memorial Bridge-I-480 in Cuyahoga County
HB 106 Primary Sponsor(s):  Letson  Subject:  Macular Degeneration Awareness Month-March

WHAT HAS SCOTT OELSLAGER DONE TO SOLVE LOCAL GOV'T FUNDING PROBLEMS?

Other than his failure to mention state Representative Scott Oelslager (Republican - 51st) as a main culprit in getting Ohio to do its fair share of funding local government,  Matt Rink of The Independent did his usual fine job in If justice was a business, funding Massillon Municipal Court would be easier, May 21, 2010.

It is truly amazing how Stark County's Teflon-man escapes getting tagged with being part of the problem. 

Ohio's funding of Stark County schools is in the tank and getting worse.

Ohio's funding of local libraries is in the tank and getting worse.

And now this article.  Ohio's funding of the administration of justice at the city level is in the tank and getting worse.

Undoubtedly, there are many other "partnerships" (local/Ohio - what a laugh) that are in the tank and getting worse.

So why does Rink, Cicchinelli, Centrone, Elum, Maier and Jackson fail to mention STATE REPRESENTATIVE OELSLAGER (the elephant in the room) in talking about an aspect of Ohio's screwing (to put it in the venacular) local government.

Oelslager should be hanging his head low with eyes cast towards the ground every time he set foot in the 51st district.  He has utterly failed the 51st as well as Stark County.  And yet, he thinks he should be sent back to Columbus as state senator.

What is the Oelslager way called in some circles?  Chutzpah?  

No, Oelslager won't vote for a tax increase at the state level so that Ohio can participate fully in the state/local partnership.  But he, in effect, forces local voters to increase local taxes to merely keep the ship afloat.

An excerpt from the Rink piece says it best:

Shane Jackson, deputy clerk of the Massillon Municipal Court, doesn’t buy into the idea that the large population of Jackson or Perry is the culprit either. He points to the state, which continues to change the distribution formula in its favor.

One would think that Oelslager would fight tooth and nail to stop the unfairness.  But he hasn't.  And he goes unscathed in criticism by public officials.

Another guy in Massillon who seems to get it is Massillon law director Perry Stergios, (quoting from the Rink article), to wit:

“It’s not the court’s fault and it’s not the city’s fault.  “It’s the  legislature’s way that they’ve set up the statutory funding mechanism.”

No mention of Massillon's state representative:  Scott Oelslager.

Hmm?