20110905-NEWS--10-NAT-CCI-CL_--
10
9/1/2011
4:44 PM
Page 1
CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM
SEPTEMBER 5 - 11, 2011
PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR:
Brian D. Tucker (btucker@crain.com) EDITOR:
Mark Dodosh (mdodosh@crain.com) MANAGING EDITOR:
Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)
OPINION
Money talks
M
oney talks in politics. It always has. Large campaign donors have been known to use their contributions to influence the views and votes of candidates they support. But a disturbing trend is arising in politics — politicians themselves soliciting campaign contributions for their parties, and indirectly for themselves, by touting their positions on specific issues. It makes a voter wonder whether politicians take the stands they do on principle, or whether they’re motivated instead by a desire to tap into the pockets of zealous believers in a particular issue or cause. The spat over Senate Bill 5 — the measure to curtail sharply the collective bargaining rights of unionized public employees — has proven to be fertile ground for the fundraising solicitations of representatives from both parties. Blast emails have been the method of choice for seeking out these dollars. As we noted last February, former Gov. Ted Strickland hailed the public employee opponents of SB 5 for rallying against the bill in Columbus, then hit them up for $10 contributions in an email sent by the Ohio Democratic Party. Likewise, Gov. John Kasich has used emails to rally the troops that favor the legislation while also asking for their money for the Ohio Republican Party. Even Sherrod Brown, who as a U.S. senator had nothing to do with passage of SB 5, was the writer of an email in early June that urged recipients to make contributions to the state Democratic Party to help in its effort to repeal the bill. The practice of tieing a politician’s stance on an issue to a pitch for campaign dollars now has filtered down to the local level, with a blast email sent last week by Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald on behalf of the county Democratic Party. Mr. FitzGerald was upset that Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, wanted to ban county boards of elections from sending out mass mailings of absentee ballots to all registered voters in a county. Mr. Husted said he was seeking uniformity among the counties in the absentee ballot process. Mr. FitzGerald opposed the ban, in part because nearly half the county now votes absentee — and he wasted no time in letting potential political contributors know as much through the email, which carried the subject line “Stand With Me” and stated: “Columbus is trying to get between you and your ballot. Let’s do something about it. “I stood up against Secretary of State John (sic) Husted who is trying to eliminate the mailing of absentee ballot applications to all registered voters. The Vote by Mail program in Cuyahoga County is working, and it represents good government. “I need you to stand with me to help protect voting rights in our county. Show your support by contributing $15 or $25 to the Democrats of Cuyahoga County.” As with other emails of this sort, clicking on the underlined sentence takes people to a website where they can make contributions to the political party. The “I’m scratching your back, now you scratch mine” nature of these emails is disconcerting, though we bet it’s just the start of them in our electronic age.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Kasich clash with mayors continues
S
up with.” Remember that the latest Ohio budget also chopped local government funding by 34% and did away with an estate tax that provided needed funds to towns as State. well. Kasich administration spokesman And, no, I don’t mean “offender” as in Rob Nichols said the changes are necesthe kind of folks we put in our soon-tosary because Ohio can’t afford the govbe-privatized prisons. I mean that his ernment it has, and must explore ideas sometimes generate critishared services to control costs. cism from both sides of the aisle. BRIAN There is some truth to both Case in point is a quote TUCKER arguments, and neither the from Bay Village Mayor Debby governor nor Ohio’s mayors have Sutherland, a Republican and easy assignments these days. I respected chief executive of just can’t help but think that the west shore suburb, who more agreeable ideas could be responded harshly to the goverreached if they worked together. nor’s proposal that the state **** assume control over collecting CHARTER SCHOOLS — THE municipal income taxes. BEST OF WHICH offer innovaCalling it a “money grab” by the state, tive ways to help educate urban kids — the mayor told The Plain Dealer that this can be just as harmful to children if not latest idea is yet another financial emasoperated properly. And the state, which culation of Ohio cities and towns. long has been criticized for weak moni“I would rather (the Kasich administoring and disciplining of poorly run tration) be honest and say, ‘We don’t charters, finally seems serious about want cities of less than 50,000 (people)’ shutting down the bad ones. because that’s what they’re going to end ay what you will about John Kasich, but you can’t deny he has been an equal-opportunity offender in his attempted remake of the Buckeye
Last week, two Cleveland charters were notified that they must close before the next school year. One of them — Marcus Garvey Academy — just got a new headmaster in Stanley Miller, a former well-regarded Ohio Bell executive and executive director of the Cleveland NAACP chapter. Another charter school, Lighthouse Academy in Akron, also was notified that it must close after the current school year; five others got one year — the current school year — to improve their results or be shut down. This shows the state is serious about limiting charter schools to those able to improve student achievement, such as Cleveland’s innovative Breakthrough Schools. The best will be those that operate in partnership with existing urban school districts. Society needs to do anything it can to improve the educational attainment of the residents of our cities. Innovation is imperative, and close monitoring will be just as important if we are ever to reverse the decades of steady deterioration of our big-city public school systems. ■
THE BIG ISSUE Is the film industry worth state subsidies and do you think it creates a significant economic impact on Ohio?
RON RUA
DAN BURKETT
DANELLE WARNER
SHYLA MURANKO
Cleveland
Northfield
Lakewood
Cleveland
It’s helpful in this town, but I can’t speak for the whole state. ... There’s people on the street, there’s people coming down to watch it who normally wouldn’t do that. They’re going to restaurants and bars. … It’s all helpful.
Yes, definitely, with the tourism it brings in, the money it brings in. The people come in, and it’s just a nice thing and it brings money to the city.
I would like to think that it does. I lived in New York for five years and things get filmed there all the time, so you think ‘Why can’t it be done here and why not bring the tax credits?’ I don’t know, it seems to make sense.
I do. Because I think anything to create jobs and get people interested is good. I know it’s a big headache for downtown, for the people who work and live downtown, but I think we can sacrifice a little bit for some more economic development.
➤➤ Watch more people weigh in by visiting the Multimedia section at www.CrainsCleveland.com.