Kevin DeWine was unanimously elected to the chairmanship of the Ohio Republican Party at a party meeting outside Columbus Friday.
By John Mitchel
RE: ‘Pay-to-play’ alarm should ring here, too, DDN, December 13, 2008. The Dayton Daily News nailed it with their comparison of Ohio’s scandals to that of Illinois. Non-competitively awarded contracts as quid pro quo for special favors, campaign contributions and political patronage have been pervasive in Columbus for decades, no matter which party had control. However, the DDN editorial staff did not have to go 60 miles east on I-70 to uncover fraud, waste, abuse and corruption. There’s an abundance of homegrown politicians that are perfectly willing to spread taxpayer wealth around in exchange for the means to secure and keep political power. Take for example the $1.9 million 2003 BRAC Initiative Agreement between the Greene County Commission, Dayton Development Coalition, Congressman Dave Hobson and his pre-anointed successor, Steve Austria.
I followed the money for nearly a decade and reached the inescapable conclusion that local, state and federal politicians right here in the Miami Valley are trading taxpayer dollars and patronage jobs for campaign cash and special favors. I continue to stake my reputation on these serious allegations, yet no one has come forward to defend themselves. In fact, elected officials from Greene County to Columbus, not to mention unelected bureaucrats and the media, have aided and abetted the cover-up.
Every election cycle Democrats and Republicans debate the same issues at the margins, but nothing changes. Until voters face the fact that corrupt, self-interested politicians are the one and only cause for our woes, economic or otherwise, we will continue to slide deeper into the abyss.
Posted in economy, Greene County, news, politics
American Family Association conducted research into retailers who take a politically correct (secular) approach to Christmas and those who acknowledge Christmas—well, as Christmas—and not as a mere holiday.
Naughty retailers located in the Xenia include CVS Pharmacy, Kroger, Radio Shack, and Super Value. Regionally, those naughty corporate retailers who would sterilize Christ from the Christmas holiday include Barnes & Nobles, Costco, The Gap, Old Navy, Office Depot, Olive Garden, and Staples.
Local retailers on the good or nice list include Big Lots, Family Dollar, Dollar General, Kmart, Lowe’s, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Wal-mart. I noticed Fulmers is another retailer officially for Christmas. Other regional retailers who are for Christmas include Bass Pro Shops, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk, Best Buy, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Menard’s, Petsmart, Sears, Super D Drugs Store, and Target.
If you know of other naughty or nice retailers, send me an email.
You can also show your support of the good guys both by shopping at their stores and by sending them a note of good Christmas cheer. You can also express your sentiments concerning those naughty anti-Christmas retailers by not shopping at their stores and by communicating your thought to them. To do so, go to http://www.afa.net/christmaslist.asp and follow the links.
After all, Christmas has a long history in the United States and around the world. Christmas is a special time of joyful giving and receiving. Yes, God so loved the world that He gave us the babe in the manger. Jesus Christ has not only benefited the world but He (the law-fulfilling gospel covenant) is also at the heart of all originally principles of our freedom. Why let those who hate God and morality rob us of the beautiful historical heritage? Why allow those same people and those businesses supporting them rob us of the source of our liberty and rights?
Concerning an atheistic yultide holiday, I say, “Bah! Humbug.” This is the season for a Merry Christmas!
On December 11, John Mitchel presented testimony before the newly elected Greene County Commissioners about previous the commission’s oversight of the Wright Patterson AFB BRAC Initiative Agreement and a corresponding unaccounted for $1.9 million deficit in that commission’s budget enactment.
The following are excerpts from Mitchel’s testimony:
There are two elements of the BRAC Initiative Agreement that cause me grave concern. First, during recent and past campaigns, many politicians including Commissioner Perales, Commissioner-elect Reid, State Senator Austria and Congressman Hobson, took significant credit for BRAC success by implying their opponent was less-equipped to address the issue. Rarely, if ever do we hear about the diligent professionals at Wright Patt who go to work every day quietly doing their jobs serving our courageous war-fighters. I would say their hard work and professionalism warrant recognition for Wright Patt’s success infinitely more than the self-directed praise from elected officials who are paid well to serve their constituents, not take undeserved credit for their success. Second, Greene County taxpayers are never recognized for their role in funding the BRAC Initiative Agreement, although I still doubt its value added to the process. In the Economic Development Note dated October 3rd, 2003, County Auditor Delaney describes a “non-interest bearing” loan to the Dayton Development Coalition from Fund 0207-0101 in the amount of $900,000 to partially fund the $1.9 million BRAC Initiative Agreement. In essence, the Greene County Commissioners authorized an interest free loan to the Dayton Development Coalition for $900,000 and then sold the note to Fifth Third Bank with Greene County taxpayers picking up the interest. To add insult to injury, in documents acquired through Ohio’s open records statute, there’s evidence that the Dayton Development Coalition deposited their interest free loan from Greene County taxpayers in an interest bearing account, not to mention that Fifth Third Bank did not pay federal or state corporate income taxes on over $17,000 they collected in interest paid by Greene County taxpayers. Contrast that to the hapless Greene County taxpayer who is late in paying his or her property taxes. If even one day late, a Greene County taxpayer is charged an immediate 10 percent penalty on the unpaid balance and 8 percent annual interest if the tax bill continues to be delinquent. My first question is, “Does it concern you that your constituents paid the interest on a loan to the Dayton Development Coalition who in turn non-competitively awarded contracts to Greentree and The PMA Group, a Washington lobbyist? Does it concern you that your constituents are also hit for a 10 percent penalty plus 8 percent interest if they are late paying their property taxes?
Now let’s take a look at what Greene County taxpayers got for that $1,900,000 the Commission sent to the Dayton Development Coalition by way of the BRAC Initiative Agreement. Here I have Dayton Development Coalition’s 2005 IRS Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. The Form 990 shows that in 2005, the last full year of the BRAC Initiative Agreement, on revenues of $1,747,719, the Dayton Development Coalition lost $337,325. On page 6 of the Form 990, it shows that the Coalition paid $74,402 to former officer Ron Wine. Page 12 shows that the Coalition paid $285,854 to the Coalition’s President and CEO, J P Nauseef. Those two expenditures alone account for almost $30,000 more than the Coalition lost in 2005. Let me ask the same question. Does it concern you that in 2005 your constituents helped pay over $72,000 to a former Coalition employee and over $285,000 to the President and CEO when the Coalition lost over $300,000 under his leadership.
My next question goes back to the $1.9 million to fund the BRAC Initiative Agreement. Nowhere in the Greene County 2003 budget enactment could I find that this money was legally appropriated. In fact, the entire enactment in 2003 for “Economic Development” was less than $450,000. Fund 0207-0101 does authorize a $900,000 interest-free loan to the Dayton Development Commission, but that does not address my concern that it was legally appropriated in the 2003 budget. And that still doesn’t account for the other $1,000,000 in the BRAC Initiative Agreement including the $100,000 grant. Could the Commission address those concerns and report back to me in January?
Mitchel continued by bring to the attention of the commission about pertinent information that was withheld or suppressed by various officials that could have resolved the valid legal issues.
I wonder what will be the outcome in January?
Join Andy Myers and field representative for the John Birch Society-Ohio, Tom Rice, in viewing the documentary, ” A Case For Repealing NAFTA.” This documentary is approx. 35 minutes long and will be followed by a question and answer session. The meeting should last approx. 1hr. All are welcome.
The meeting will be held at 4244 Navajo Trail, Jamestown, OH 45335.
Please RSVP by signing up at: jbs.meetup.com, by emailing Andy at: amyers68@yahoo.com, or by contacting Andy at 937-414-6182 (cell).
Posted in economy, events, Greene County, news, politics
Tagged documentary, John Birch Society, meeting, NAFTA
By John Mitchel
Republicans justifiably attack Senator Obama and the Democrats for their plans to redistribute wealth from those earning more than $ _____ (fill in the blank), to those at or below ___ (fill in the blank) times the poverty level. The simple truth is; Greene County Commissioners have been spreading around Greene County taxpayer wealth for years.
Take for example the BRAC Initiative Agreement running from 2003 to 2006 that sent $1.9 million to the Dayton Development Coalition. Those Greene County tax dollars found their way into a no-bid, no-work, no-oversight, no-value-added contract with The Greentree Group, a Beavercreek government support contractor, and also trickled down to Paul Magliochetti and Associates (The PMA Group), a Washington K Street lobbyist.
According to IRS filings, in 2005 Greene County taxpayers also helped pay the $285,854 salary of J P Nauseef, President of Development Projects, Inc., a Dayton Development Coalition 501(c)(3) front organization located at the same address as the Coalition. Total revenues in 2005 for Development Projects, Inc. were $1,390,723. I believe we can safely conclude that more than 20 percent of a non-profit’s revenue going to its President, who by the way contributed big-time to Dave Hobson’s and Steve Austria’s campaign funds, pretty much passes the “spreading the wealth around” litmus test.
Posted in economy, Greene County, politics, taxes
Tagged BRAC, commissioners, Dayton Development Coalition, Development Projects, PMA Group, Republicans, The Greentree Group
Voter Turnout
Greene County registered voters can stand tall and proud this election season. Their patriotism out- shined the rest of the state 70% to 67.5%. That was the level of voter turnout this presidential election. Ohioans exceeded the historic high of 65% of voter turnout by 2.5% and Greene County voters by 5%.
Presidential Race
In Greene County, McCain and Palin were the winners with 58.8% of the vote. That means only 39.7 voted for the Obama/Biden socialist ticket. Other parties voting received only 1.5% of the total number of votes, which means Democrats had no chance of winning in Greene County, Ohio. We can all be thankful that Greene County voters continue to uphold original liberal principles. We can look forward to another season when more Americans across the nation return to honoring those same principles.
Do you remember the battle between Ohio Democrats and Republicans over giving new registered voters the immediate right to early voting and the issue over voter record discrepancies? If I remember correctly, the number of questionable voters was around 250,000. Isn’t it an interesting coincidence that Obama won Ohio by a little over 200,000 votes? If I were McCain Republicans, I would make certain those 204,156 popular votes were legitimate. Who knows maybe McCain actually won a slight majority of Ohioans hearts and votes, but I suspect many of those votes were for Sarah Palin too.
I also suspect conservative feminists are just getting started.
US House of Reps Plus State Legislative, Executive & Judicial Races
Greene County voters were delighted with the campaigns over one Congressional race and many races for legislative, executive, and judicial offices.
Republicans running for seats in Congress and in both Ohio houses won by similar margins. Steve Austria took over Dave Hobson’s seat in the US House of Representatives. Austria beat Democrat and millionaire Sharen Neuhart 65.3% to 34.7%. Rep. Chris Widener is moving into the Ohio Senate because he won 66.3% of the vote to poor Roger Tackett’s 33.7%. Young Jarrod Martin also did well as demonstrated his gaining 59.8% of Green County votes. The more seasoned Bill Conner earned 40.2%. Was it the Republican version of yes we can change or something else? I’m not sure. Whatever it was. Martin now represents the 70th District taxpayers. Running for the 84th District was Republican Robert Hackett and Democrat Connie Crockett. Hackett hacked off Crockett when he won 62.1% of the votes to her 39%.
Woe, tears, and agony on ….
In the race to win the top law enforcement spot, Republican Mike Crites took 53.8% of the votes for Attorney General to Democrat Richard Cordray’s 41.6%. It’s too bad that Crites did win all of Ohio. A bright spot in the race was the fact that independent Robert Owens earned 4.8% of Ohio votes. I for one hope Owens keeps coming back to eventual win a place in Ohio government.
Let’s not forget how political public education actually is. The winner of the race for a seat on Ohio’s Board of Education for our district was Jane Sonenshein. She won 38.6% of the Ohio vote. Runner-ups were Jeff Hardin with 35.8% and John McHenry with 25.6%. If you know any of those candidates who will make many decisions effecting education in Greene County, you are either an educator, a friend of an educator, or a politician. No one does, but all should.
It would be a crime to forget the races for the judiciary. Given their reputation for activism and making law, it might have been a crime you didn’t. Being serious, Ohioans elected two Supreme Court justices. The lucky women were Maureen O’Conner and Evelyn Stratton, both Republicans thank God.
Wait a minute! Am I still allowed to use the G—word in the public domain. Those pesky ACLU and ASCS troublemakers are always stalking and lurking.
Anyway, O’Conner stole Russo’s thunder by winning by a whopping 67.3% of the Ohio vote to Joseph Russo’s 32.7%. Ohioans overruled Democrat Peter Sikora attempt to gain a place on the Court. The Ohio verdict was in favor of Straton 63.1% to Sikora’s 36.9%.
Unfortunately, Judge George Reynolds (R) got benched (sports term) being outperformed by Jeffrey Froelich (D), who won by a small margin of 52.6% to Reynolds’ 47.4%. I have to admit that my disappointment was not only the result of voting for Reynolds but because one of my grandparents last name was Reynolds.
Ohio Constitutional Amendment Issues
Possibly more important than who were elected to office were the six Constitutional amendment issues this election cycle. Amendments one through three and five won by nearly a 3:1 margin or approximately 70% to 30% while amendment six lost by the same margin. Amendment 4 was removed from the ballot.
Amendment 1 requires earlier deadlines for statewide ballot initiatives. Amendment 2 gives the state the ability to create funds for environmental preservation through bond issues and consequently through higher taxes. Amendment 3 redundantly adds to state law protection to private property owns and adjacent water use rights, but with the same exceptions as before. Amendment 5 places long overdue restrictions on payday lenders who have been bilking the poor to make themselves rich for years. This practice was sanctified by bipartisan politics until the terrible reign of GW Bush. Nevertheless, I still image that even the world’s Supreme Judge is pleased. Issue 6, the last Constitution amendment, was soundly defeated by Ohio voters. Casino gambling, its harm to communities and families, was once again rejected by 63.8% of Ohio voters. Only 37.2% favored it. Ohioans thus gave Providence reason to smile a little more.
Races for Greene County Government Offices
Greene County government is still the provenance rock-solid Republicanism. During This election cycle, most of the incumbents retained their titles and paychecks. Rick Perales defeated newcomer and Democrat Eddie Baumann, otherwise known to some young adults as professor. Perales earned 64.3% of Greene County votes to Baumann’s impressive 35.7%. Sorry, Eddie we like your religion but not your party. Like George Patton, I’ll be back Marilyn Reid is indeed back in office. She won a smiling 54.7% to Democrat Jerry Sutton’s respectful 45.3%. It’s good to have someone who cares about the common good back in county government–not that the one she replaces was not. After all of the trouble, Republican Eric Sears still won the County Recorder position by 19.6 points. After the party was over, Sears was showered with 59.8% of the votes and Democrat Mary Taylor received 40.2%. Then there was race for County Treasurer. It’s true. It is all about the money and incumbent James Schmidt gets to keep counting it. Schmidt defeated Democrat Corrina Grooms to the County gold by count of 65.3% to 34.7%. What amazes me is how Republicans can win even without any competition. I won’t name names, but you can read about them by going to the Greene County Board of Election website.
Greene County Levies & Bond Issues
Three out of four countywide issues passed. Greene County Children Services Board Operating (Issue 21) levy increase was passed by 51.6% of voters to 48.5%. Greene Memorial Hospital Operating (Issue 22) renewal was favored by 58.4% of Greene County voters to 41.6%. Greene County MRDD Operating (Issue 23) renewal was approved by 61.3% to 38.7% of voters. The last issue was the Greene County Mental Health and Recovery Board Operating (Issue 24) levy increase that was opposed by 56.4% to 43.6 of Greene County voters.
Local School Levies & Bond Issues
Almost all schools in the county had either a levy or a bond issue on the ballot. Beavercreek’s bond issue was approved by 53% of the voters. Seventy-one percent of Cedarville voters passed their school improvement levy. Jamestown voters once again rejected efforts of their school district to increase funding. About 50.1% of voters said no to an income tax proposal. So did Bellbrook voters. Sugar Creek School District’s proposed income tax was rejected by 58.8% of their voters. Wayne Local Schools current operating levy was opposed by almost 73% of voters. Last but not least was the Xenia Community City Schools Income Tax & Bond Issue (Issue 20). Fifty-eight percent of Xenia voters turned the opportunity to increase taxes on two fronts.
Booze Wins Big In Greene County : A Puritan Perspective
I’m not certain about this but it appears that the boozers won big throughout Greene County. All but one business seeking approval to sell liquor was favored by their local patrons—I mean voters. I almost wrote saints. I refrained, however, for one simple but profound reason. Saint Paul encourage boozing for health purposes—like Tylenol or Nyquil, but not for pagan partying nor for mixing drinks with tears of self-pity. I recently read that Puritans, who were also Paul’s disciples, liked rum. They liked fermented molasses a lot. This sheds some light on the debate about whether the early church disciples consumed real wine like Lutherans and Catholics believe. Just keep in mind though that back in those ancient times people didn’t have cars and trucks. No, they were lucky to have a donkey. Only the rich had real horses or chariots to loose control of and to harm themselves and others.
Remember that the next time you are tempted to mix your blue tears with some modern liquid painkiller after another partisan election.
Posted in Beavercreek, Bellbrook, business, Cedarville, election 2008, Greene County, health, House of Representatives, issues, Jamestown, news, politics, schools, Senate, Xenia
Tagged alcohol sales, county bond issues, County Commissioners, county levies, County Recorder, County Treasurer, Ohio, Ohio Attorney General, Ohio Court of Appeals, Ohio Supreme Court, president, school bond issue, school levy, US House of Representatives, voter turnout
