Buckeye RINO

“It also means that investment goes to the companies that are best connected instead of the ones that are most productive.”

–Barack Obama

I hope Blue America pays attention to what it’s own presidential nominee has to say in this regard.

But for Lorain County Commissioner Ted Kalo (D-Lorain), who’s personal attorney is chair of the Democrat Party in the city of Lorain, Anthony Giardini, who are two of the good old boys that pull all the strings in Lorain politics, I think Obama’s message has fallen on deaf ears.

As the Lorain Morning Journal reports, Kalo and Giardini are feverishly working out an agreement with Lorain City Council and Lorain County Community Action Agency (a faith-based, non-profit, quasi-governmental organization that, among other functions, serves as the provider of the county’s Head Start program) that would bail out his faltering flooring business while he tries to fend off a re-election challenge for his county commissioner seat from Amherst City Council member Nick Brusky.

Paula Tobias provides more food for thought about what the city of Lorain is gearing up to do, and the motivation behind it with an entry at Loraine Ritchey’s That Woman’s Weblog.

I’m glad the local media is taking an interest in this story, for these wheelings and dealings have usually occurred behind closed doors, away from prying eyes.  I hope voters are learning about this before they head to the polls, so they can make an informed choice in the Kalo-Brusky race for Lorain County Commissioner.

Kalo doesn’t know how to run a business and doesn’t know how to run Lorain County, yet, as one of the good old boys, he tries to help run the city of Lorain, too.  None of it is working out.  He’s gotten this far because he’s better connected, not because he’s productive.

Kalo makes this assertion (from the Morning Journal article):

[Kalo] also said that Lorain County ranks as the highest-producing county in the 16 counties partnering with Team NEO, an organization that markets northeast Ohio.

Let me just say that two candidates running for Lorain County Commissioner, Nick Brusky and Martin O’Donnell, represent two cities (as city council members) within the county that have been the ones attracting the growth.  That’s a much better track record than Kalo has.  Let me further say, though, before one gets all giddy about Lorain County’s rank as highest-producing county among the 16 that are part of Team NEO, the rest of America does not envy the economy of those 16 rust-belt counties of Northeast Ohio.  That sort of tunnel-vision that only makes comparisons between Lorain County and the rest of Northeast Ohio is one reason why Kalo’s leadership is so subpar.

Lorain County needs better county commissioners.  Nick Brusky and Martin O’Donnell would be definite improvements over the incumbents.

[UPDATE] Word of Mouth adds commentary.