Endorsements:
(Lots of Republicans, to be sure, but not all–skip to the bottom of the post to see those who aren’t)
In Cuyahoga County government elections this year, the first such under the new charter, vote for all the Republicans you possibly can, including Dolan at the top of the county ticket. There is a partisan dimension to the corruption in Cuyahoga County. That’s the reality. The most powerful and entrenched Democrats caused it. Don’t harbor delusions that they are out of the picture now. They will find ways to infiltrate the new structure of government, too. They always do. To hamper such efforts at infiltration by corruptocrats, sweep out as much Democrat residue as you can by voting Republican this election. Farmers rotate crops because planting the exact same crop every year can diminish the productivity of the land. Likewise, every now and then, Cuyahoga County needs a crop of Republicans at the helm to keep the county fertile and productive. Allowing the Democrats to remain entrenched over the course of decades must necessarily lead to complacency and corruption. You can elect Democrats some other election down the road, after they’ve gotten the message drilled into their heads that they can’t keep up the shenanigans.
For Erie County Auditor, please elect Rick Jeffrey, not only for this reason, but because of what I’ve already noted about Erie County Commissioner Tom Ferrell (there’ll be another opportunity to oust Ferrell in 2012, when his current term ends–don’t waste it). Sometimes, I think Ferrell aspires to be a Dimora and incumbent auditor Tom Paul aspires to be a Russo. In the Auditor’s office shortly after Paul was sworn in, he wrongfully dismissed a top employee who performed her job well and did not have black marks on her record. The former employee filed suit over the dismissal, and she won. Erie County taxpayer money had to be squandered to legally defend an indefensible decision, and, on top of that, pay the penalty ordered by the court. Was Tom Paul sorry for what he’d done? No. He said he’d do it all over again, even with the same outcome. Who benefited from Tom Paul’s indefensible decision? Commissioner Tom Ferrell’s wife, that’s who. She was promoted to the position that Tom Paul wrongfully cleared out. Let the voters clear out Paul from his position and thumbing his nose at the taxpayers when he intentionally did the wrong thing.
For Lorain County Commissioner, trust me, you don’t want Joe Koziura, though he’s the good old boy who’s the darling of the Democrat machine. Vote for Tom Williams. Lorain County voters have rejected proposed county tax hikes on more than one occasion. They still haven’t rejected the politicians who keep attempting to hike those taxes. It’s time that they did. Joe Koziura is ready and willing to increase your taxes. Tom Williams has pledged that he will oppose all such attempts. Furthermore, if Koziura is elected, that would put three Lorain Democrats on the Lorain County Commission. Not only is that an unbalanced commission, one that doesn’t represent the county as a whole, there are no good ideas nor effective elected leaders originating from Lorain. That should be plainly evident by looking at what a disaster Lorain is, especially in comparison to the rest of the municipalities and townships in the county. Why would you want a county run into the ground the same way that the city of Lorain has? From the school board to city government, to county government, to those who represent the area in the Ohio General Assembly, there are no elected government officials from Lorain who have a handle on what it is they ought to be doing for the betterment of the community, with perhaps the lone exception of Jim Smith on the school board.
Having said that, also in need of replacement is the darling of the local SEIU, Sue Morano. Please vote for Gayle Manning for Ohio Senate. Here’s a link to Manning’s campaign webpage: http://gaylemanning.com
I’ve already urged voters to support Republicans for the Ohio House of Representatives this year.
It does no good to replace Joe Koziura as state representative with a Koziura disciple, Dan Ramos, who was an actual Koziura staffer down in Columbus. We don’t need to elect a Columbus insider. Columbus does not have our best interests in mind. The Plain Dealer had the good sense to endorse Henry “Skip” Lewandowski (you’ll have to scroll down the PD page to see the endorsement), and, for a change, the Lorain Morning Journal also endorsed Lewandowski for state representative in the Ohio House 56th District. Here’s Lewandowski’s campaign webpage: http://www.skipforohiohouse
In the Ohio House 80th District, which stretches from Erie County up into Ottawa County, please elect Jeff Krabill for state representative. Since 2001, Krabill has held a seat on the Sandusky school board. Incumbent Dennis Murray puts K-12 education on a back burner, but it’s an issue that the Ohio General Assembly spends a lot of time on in each session they convene. Feel free to consult ohio.gov for more specifics on the bills which Murray is a primary sponsor of. I failed to find any regarding education. Many of the bills primarily sponsored by Murray concentrate on legal requirements and legal penalties, so I’m sure the trial lawyers all over Ohio are grateful to Murray, who is a lawyer himself, for finding ways to keep lawyers employed, even while the rest of the private sector is shrinking. For example, lawyers would need to get involved in home improvements if the owner wants a company to come in and provide more than $1000 worth of improvements. That’s HB 557. If you commit some kind of menacing criminal offense toward another person, there are, of course, criminal penalties. For more fresh meat for lawyers, consider this: What if we elevated the criminal charge to the next higher degree because a homeless person was intimidated? That’s HB 509. If you feel like intimidating someone, find out where they live, first, because it’ll cost you extra if that someone is homeless. Then there are the frivolous bills, like a commemorative day (HB189), a War of 1812 bicentennial commission (HB 168), and commissioning a new statue to represent Ohio in Washington DC to replace an existing statue which represents Ohio (HB 581). HB 532 tinkers with exemptions to the taxable portion of estates, but, if it were me, I’d rather get rid of estate taxes altogether. Why is the state entitled to a chunk of the a$$et$ that a person accumulated over a lifetime? Did the state, somehow, earn it? Let’s mandate a “computer take-back program” to recycle your electronic devices and create the Electronic Waste Advisory Council to get the program off the ground. That’s HB 447. Municipalities and minor league baseball teams should be encouraged to partner with each other, shouldn’t they? So if a minor league team plays home games on municipally owned property, then no property taxes will be assessed. That’s HB 401. Murray sponsored two bills that offer sanctions against employers who would terminate employees that are victims of domestic violence (HB 167) or employers who would terminate employees, who, during legal proceedings, are testifying regarding the company (HB 170). These last two bills have noble purposes, but HB 170, in particular, seems hypocritical coming from Murray, and his role on the Sandusky City Commission in the dismissal of a Sandusky police chief. (Read “Smackdown on Women in Sandusky.” It has quietly become the #1 most widely read blog post here at Buckeye RINO.) By the way, what does any of this have to do with the challenges facing Erie and Ottawa counties right now? I dunno. Vote for Jeff Krabill. This is the Krabill campaign webpage: http://www.jeffkrabill.com/about
If you look at the top of the left hand column of this blog, you will see a search window. Just type in some keyword, and it will pull up all the Buckeye RINO entries containing that keyword. As a suggestion, type in “Terry” followed by “Boose.” There’s a lot of Terry Boose on this blog. Read through the articles and consider this: Unlike Murray, in the neighboring district, Boose has introduced and pursued issues that are keenly relevant to his district and to the challenges his constituents (and voters all over Ohio) are currently faced with. Re-elect Terry Boose for state representative in the Ohio House 58th District. Here is the Boose campaign webpage: http://www.terryboose.com/
I’ve been very wordy with all these endorsements, so let me handle the rest with bullet points:
- Rae Lynn Brady for state representative for the Ohio House 57th District.
- Rex Damschroder for state representative for the Ohio House 81st District.
- Kathleen McGervey for state school board.
- Bob Latta for Ohio’s 5th Congressional District seat.
- Rich Iott for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District seat.
- Peter Corrigan for Ohio’s 10th Congressional District seat.
- Tom Ganley for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District seat.
- Rob Portman for U.S. Senate.
- Maureen O’Connor and Judith Lanzinger for Ohio Supreme Court.
- Kasich/Taylor to replace Strickland at the top of Ohio’s executive branch.
- David Yost for Ohio Auditor.
- Josh Mandel for Ohio Treasurer.
- Charles R. Earl for Ohio Secretary of State.
- Dual endorsement, take your pick: Robert Owens or Richard Cordray for Ohio Attorney General.
Yeah, on those last two executive branch offices, you read them right.
Please vote.
Buckeye RINO 