Ohio State Issue 3: Casinos

So yet again, there is an issue on the ballot with a goal of legalizing gambling in Ohio. This time around it'll put a casino each in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Toledo.

There are a lot of numbers about how much money this proposal would bring into Ohio in both up front fees and tax revenue. Not to mention how it'll keep gambling dollars in Ohio, instead of to all the neighboring states and Canadian provinces (oh yes, because I totally go to Toronto to play my Texas Holdem). They also point out how the primary backers are prominent Ohioans with interests in the state.

Yes On Issue 3.com (Pro)

The opposition points out some good points, like how the deal isn't good enough for Ohio (taxes are capped lower than in other states, cash betting slips under the tax radar, the hidden cost of infrastructure). I am less concerned about the lack of "Buy Ohio" rules written into the bill...that's capitalism, baby. If Ohio business can't compete, then it's not up to Columbus to make up the difference. At the same time...we shouldn't be screwing ourselves just so we don't have to drive as far for a slot machine. I do like the arguments about "net job creation," which points out some good facts on how studies aren't always what they seem.

Truthpac.org (Against)

Final Amendment Language (Informative)

Official Argument For (Informative)

Official Argument Against (Informative)

My take? We've gotten along just fine without casinos, and I don't think this is the best way to go about introducing them now. I'm not sure this is a good deal for Ohio, and really...that's all we should be looking at, not convenience, not short term budget problems. I'd vote no.

Election 2009, Issues

There's nothing really earth-shakingly controversial on the ballot this November, but there are a few issues that could have some far reaching effects. Casinos, for instance. If approved, where could that road lead us? Or perhaps the Livestock Standards Board...that one could open up a whole slew of unintended consequences. So here's an abbreviated list. As usual, the full list can be found here, at the Franklin County Board of Elections website.

State Issues

1. To Authorize the State to issue bonds to provide compensation to veterans of the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts
2. To create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to establish and implement standards of care for livestock and poultry
3. To amend the Constitution to allow for one casino each in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo and distribute to all Ohio Counties a tax on the casinos

The veteran's bonus issue has been up before, and it's been shot down before. I honestly don't think it's a great idea right now...not a question of hating on the soldiers, airmen, Marines, and sailors who keep us safe and free, but of fiscal responsibility. When we're this far in the hole as a state we can't just keep digging deeper. I don't know much about Issue 2, so expect me to dig into it and post on the topic soon. And the latest gambling issue is on the table this fall...I'm not clear on this one either, so we'll probably be seeing a post on Issue 3 as well.

County Issues

Issue 4 is a tax levy replacement and decrease for Children's Services. The new tax would be 3.1 mills ($.31 for each $100 of value) for ten years, down from 3.5 mills.

Local Issues

There are a lot of local option issues--alcohol sales--for Columbus, Westerville, and others. If you have a problem with people getting the OK to sells alcohol either during the week or on Sunday, you'll want to check the list and see if any are near you. Similarly, if you're sick of driving an extra 15 minutes on Sunday to get a six pack, check out the list.

Issue 23 is a Charter Amendment for Gahanna, and Issue 27 is a Charter Ammendment for Hilliard.

If you live in Whitehall, Issue 32 is the recall vote for Jacquelyn K. Thompson.

Issue 36 is a New Albany Charter Amendment proposal, and Issue 37 is for the adoption of the Obetz Charter as proposed by the Charter Commission.

Issue 39 is a proposed police levy for Blendon Township. 2.5 mills ($.25 per $100) for 5 years, starting 2009.

Issue 40 is a replacement levy for bridges, streets, and roads. 1.5 mills ($.15 per $100) for 5 years.

Issues 41 and 42 are replacement fire protection levies for Pleasant Township. The first is 1 mill for a continuing period of time, and the other is 1.57 mills ($.157 per $100) for a continuing period.

Issue 44 is an addition tax levy for the Bexley Library. 1.5 mills for 5 years.

Reynoldsburg and South-Western are at it again: Issue 46 is an additional levy for Reynoldsburg schools, 9.9 mills. Issue 47 is an additional levy for South-Western schools at 7.4 mills.

Issue 48 is a replacement of the Westerville schools levy. 11.4 mills for a continuing period of time.

Issue 49 is an additional Worthington school levy, that is incremental: 2009 = 3.9 mills for a continuing period, add 1.5 mills in 2010 for a continuing period, add 1.5 in 2011 for a continuing period. By 2011 that makes it a 6.9 mills ($.69 per $100 valuation) continuing by 2011.

And that's all she wrote on the ballot issues!

Your Take: Ballot Initiatives

As promised, here's the recap from our favorite ballot issue poll! Thanks for everyone taking time to write out a response to last week's question.

Joe in Oxford, Ohio writes:

"I think I'm going to select Proposition 8 out in California. Although I'm baffled, surprised, and a little angry that marriage is now more specifically defined in yet another state, I think that at least it was a valid attempt. Plus, I think that referendum may have very far-reaching consequences. After all, if it can't pass in California, it starts to look like the issue as a whole will face an even more uphill battle in the future. However, the vote showed that not all preconceptions are true--obviously San Francisco is not representative of the entire state of California, fortunately or unfortunately."

Casey in Cincinnati, Ohio told me:

"I would have to say may favorite issue on the ballot was [Ohio] Issue 5, because it took me by surprise. I had no idea Payday loan places were able to charge 391%!! That is insane, and doesn't help our economy that already has people 10 feet under."

And finally Sarah from Columbus, Ohio sent in this note:

"The ballot initiative which stuck out in my mind was Ohio's Issue 6, involving the in-state casino. Ohioans have been voting 'No' on this issue for years and years. I knew as soon as I heard about it, before hearing any details, the issue would be shot down because Ohioans simply don't want a casino in their state.

The only way it would come close to passing is if there were a lot of strings attached and more than the usual share of casino revenue would be going back to the state. I personally voted for it because I see more benefits than drawbacks. More jobs, money staying in state. Crime wouldn't be much of a factor - look at the surrounding state's casinos for evidence of this.

The state confirmed my suspicions on November 4th, however, when they voted it down. I'm looking forward to next year when we get the chance to debate the issue further. Maybe the lawmakers will actually come up with something that sparkles this time."

Two things stuck out in my mind with this replies:

1. People learned things from the ballot initiative campaigns, as Casey points out about the 391% annual interest rate the pay day lenders were getting.
2. None of this is done, as both Joe and Sarah wrote. Democracy is never really finished unless it's killed by a military coup...so I take their comments as a good sign.

There you have it! Two state issues and an eye on the national scene. Two monetary issues and one social concern. I'm not a statistician, so I'm not sure what this tell us about the concerns of the voters (not that three is an acceptable sample of the Ohio population...), but it does make for interesting water cooler talk. I mean, anything but actually working, right?

Ballot Initiatives

You're probably familiar with the concept of a ballot initiative, even if you don't realize it.

It's when a voter (or a group of voters) take their beef straight to the people. Like with the recent pay day lending issue...the pay day lenders decided they didn't want the legislature having the final say, and petitioned to put it on the ballot.

Why do these matter to you?

A) Because it's one of the few cases where you get to have a direct voice in the government.
B) These are laws that directly effect you.

There are a lot of people who will be upset when they can't just go take out a check express loan whenever they feel like it, and unfortunately I don't think many of those people voted on the issue. They lost their voice on their cash advance loans because they didn't vote.

It's also nice to think that my opinion counts, and I'm not relying on the judgement of some person who is going to vote the party line. (The judgement of the electorate is another question altogether).

So how do you get an initiative on the ballot?

Regulations differ from state to state as to how to get an initiative on the ballot. In fact, one of the ballot initiatives on my ballot this year was about new regulations for ballot initiatives (irony!).

Typically, you need to get enough signatures (number varies) on a petition to prove there's a need for this issue. Then you have to have them in by a certain date, to allow for verification of said signatures. Because not just any clown can be a signer...they have to be registered voters, and at least in Ohio, registered in the county your peitition is designated for.

That's why those people have like 90 clipboards, a petition for each county, just in case. Oh, and there's steps about the petition itself, to make sure it isn't TOO misleading...just go to the Secretary of State's webpage about ballot access to get the full story.

Anyhow, here's where the interactive part comes in. I'd like to hear from you about your favorite ballot initiative this year. Whether it's one you actually liked, or hated. Whether it was your own state, somewhere in the nation, or a city ordinance. I don't care, I just want to hear about a ballot initiative that struck your fancy.

E-mail me or comment on this post...I'll run a recap post with all your thoughts next week (appropriateness pending, of course).

Hope to hear from you!

Issues This Fall (List)

Just as important as the candidates we'll be electing this year are the issues we'll be deciding by ballot. Things like the gay marriage ban--that abortion of human rights--are decided by a ballot issue during a general election.

How does an issue get on the ballet? It's technical, and I'll look into it for another post soon. But there's two main reasons you'll have an issue on the ballot: A) The state legislature decides it doesn't have the authority (or it lacks the political cojones) to decide on an issue and they send it to the voters, or B) the voters decide they want to force the legislature down a particular path, and get their issue on the ballot.

In short, it's our democracy at the base level: By the people, for the people. Forever and ever, amen. So do us all a favor and pay attention to these issues...they DO affect your life.

We have some interesting issues up for decision this year. Here's an overview for my area, and you can see the full list here.

Ohio Issues:

• Issue 1: To provide for earlier filing deadlines for statewide ballot issues. An ammendment to the state Constitution to make people file their paperwork earlier when they want to file a state wide ballot issue. Yes = the Constitution is changed, No = No change.


• Issue 2: To authorize the State to issue bonds to continue the Clean Ohio program for environmental revitalization and conservation. Another Constitutional ammendment that will let the state raise money to continue the Clean Ohio program. Yes = Allow Bonds, No = No Bonds.


• Issue 3: To amend the Constitution to protect rights in ground water, lakes, and other watercourses. I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure what this is all about, exactly...but with how dry other parts of the country are getting, I'm not surprized to see a water issue. Look for a post on this once I read up on it.

Westerville Issues:

• Issue 54: Proposed Municipal Income Tax Ordinance. General Municipal operations and services, street maintenance, capital improvements and related costs. A tax of 3/4 (.75) of 1% of earnings and income subject to the municipal income tax, effective January 1, 2009.


• Issue 55A: Particular location -- Weekday Sales (10am to Midnight). Vino Meza LLC dba MEZA, 48 N State Street Westerville, OH 43081


• Issue 55B: Particular location -- Sunday Sales (1pm to midnight). Same location.


• Issue 56B: Particular location -- Sunday Sales (1pm to midnight). Enken Inc dba Sunbury Rd Duchess 900 S Sunbury Rd Westerville, OH 43081.

There's also a buncha bonds and liquor options for Columbus. City charter changes for various suburbs, like Whitehall's charter has quite a bit of rewriting up for vote. Go check it out...it's kinda neat to see what town is doing what.

This isn't the final list, because I don't see the pay day loan issue on there yet. September 30th is the magic date, according to the BOE. After that date we should have access to full sample ballots.

So It's Tuesday

I've spent the last couple mornings listening to Morning Edition from NPR. Driving home from Sarah's on Monday was pretty nice, I got to fill up on the usual NPR plus the news from two ends of the state. Then this morning, I got up at 6am with the sole purpose of listening to the radio and waking up slowly...which kinda backfired, but hey. It's all good.



The issue tho, is it's almost depressing to get to hear all that news. Not in the usual, "Oh the world's going to hell" sort of way, but in the "Man, I wish I had time to lookup the Cincinnati budget" or "I wish I had the time to go to the County Comissioner's meeting and see if they say anything else about the zoo levy." I wish I had the time to just...spend, doing this blog, for one thing. As it is, I've had to cut back drastically because once I start blogging in the morning, it's VERY difficult to stop...and that's just bad for business.



So I'll be trying to figure out how best to work around this time management crisis. Stay tuned, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.



Now for Some News...



The CIA interrogation tape scandal is just gearing up. NPR had a chat with a former Senate Intelligence Comittee Chairman Bob Graham. It was a little chilling to hear how difficult oversight can actually be when it comes to things like this, and how much like a rogue operation the CIA can still be.



The gunman in Colorado was an interesting story, considering I lived in Colorado Springs for a while and think I know where the New Life church is. It's a sad story, with the guy apparantly wanting revenge...but he seemed more than a little unsettled upstairs. I think the only lucky thing about this is only 4 people were killed. While it had appeared the security guard killed the criminal, it turns out he had killed himself.



Algeria had a couple of bombings...no one claiming responsibility, no apparant cause. The MO is apparantly consistent with the local branch of al-Qaeda, and the explosions took place near the Supreme Court and UN offices, respectively. 13 UN workers missing, 62 counted dead so far on the whole.



Cincinnati Schools approved 2 levies that could be placed on the March ballot. They had to approve them now to keep their options open, and so could still decide to put both or none on the ballot. One is an operating levy worth nearly $8 million, and the other a permanent improvement levy worth $3 million. The district needs money, badly, and after the last levy was shot down so thoroughly...I worry. If the citizens aren't willing to pay for education, where is the future going to come from?



Police Chief Streicher and the City Manager say they will follow the council's directive to spend $1.5 million on overtime for extra, high visibility police patrols. Streicher maintains he was able to provide the patrols last year without using overtime, and complained about not being able to stay flexible enough to react to trends.



The public hearing on the City's budget for the upcoming year took place Monday night. 80 citizens spoke their mind on a variety of issues, from desiring the city to keep funding humanitarian projects to asking the city to help fund sheriff patrols in OTR. Another large issue was the proposal to eliminate the building and inspections department, splitting up its duties among other departments. Council is expected to finalize a budget by December 19th.

The Day That Will Live on in Infamy...

Um...no. Actually, no. Good political line...but...not so much. Sorry Frank.

I just ran a little experiment, shooting a text message to everyone I knew wishing them a "happy day that will live on in infamy." The more intelligent among my friends and family assumed I had just finished my classes for the quarter. Ah well. Hopefully we can accelerate this process with 9/11...but wait, I'm not allowed to say that, since it's a fresh wound.

2333 killed and 1139 wounded and all those beautiful battleships destroyed is a deep enough wound for me to keep Pearl Harbor in mind every year. Maybe it's the Navy man I was in a past life...

Now for Some News...

It fits that the CIA would make tapes of questionable interrogation tactics, destroy those tapes, and then the public find out about it. It's a little bizarre to me, the whole thing...but another sign of one seriously dysfunctional executive branch. I do not envy the next President.

Developers want to put a huge casino resort in Wilmington, OH. The veritable middle of nowhere, and I'm torn on whether or not it'd be a good thing to have something between Columbus and Cincinnati. Either way, the state government is not making it easy for the developers to get approval from the voters.

Say what you want about nuclear power, but a large chunk of the medical field is in a panic about one of the Canadian reactors being shut down. It stops the flow of radioactive isotopes that are needed for a variety of tests and treatments, possibly dealing a catastrophic blow to the health industry.