Sep

30

Poverty is Growing in Ohio

Posted on September 30, 2009 at 10:09 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under Local, State | Print This Post | Email This Post | Leave a Comment 


Those of us who work in the social work field see evidence everyday of the growing poverty among Ohioans. Now 2008 U.S. Census numbers confirm this. The Census says the poverty rate for Ohio was 13.4%. The cities have been hit particularly hard. Nationally, of the ten cities with the highest poverty rates, Ohio has three. Toledo, Cincinnati, and Cleveland.

But this is 2009 and as we all know things have continued to get worse for the poor and middle class.

Over the last year the demand for food at Ohio’s food pantries has increase 29%. Demand for basic services are at record levels.

The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks

Locally, The Mid-Ohio foodbank requests are up 14%

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks said …

“…Ohioans are getting poorer every day. We know, from our food pantries, it has gotten worse day after day, week after week. Ohio is in a race to the bottom…” Hamler-Fugitt said.

The Columbus Dispatch

The Mid-Ohio foodbank has a program called Operation Feed. Businesses, schools, civic groups, and individuals all donate to the foodbank. If you belong to an organization that does not have an Operation Feed donation box, become an advocate for your organization to join Operation Feed. If you see an Operation Feed collection box, please donate.

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Sep

30

Group Wants Free Yard Waste Pickup Back October 1

Posted on September 30, 2009 at 12:02 am by Madrigal Maniac Under Local | Print This Post | Email This Post | 1 Comment 


The Northwest Civic Association is asking Mayor Coleman to reinstate free yard waste pickup by October 1, the same day the .05 percent tax increase goes into effect. In order to solve the budget crisis, Columbus ended free yard waste pickup on January 31. They initiated a voluntary program with a fee off $99 a year to have yard waste collected from homes. One of the promises the city made was that if the .05 percent tax increase was passed, yard waste pickup would be free again.

Currently, free yard waste pickup is not scheduled to begin until April of next year and the city has said this has always been the plan.

“This has never been a possibility [October 1],” Coleman spokesman Dan Williamson said of free fall leaf collection. “This has never been under consideration.”

Even the April date is not set in stone. Williamson said it is merely a goal.

However, Jennifer Adair, president of the Northwest Civic Association, disagrees.

In a letter to the mayor today, she wrote that she and others remember Coleman promising during a tax-hike forum in their part of town that yard-waste service would be restored Oct. 1.

Coleman may have misspoke at a forum. But anyone who knows the budget process in Columbus knows that it’s fluid and changes frequently based on numerous factors. The fact is, Coleman said if Issue 1 passes, yard waste will be free again and it will.

I find it interesting that the Northwest Civic Association waited until right before October 1 to send the letter to the mayor. The timetable has been in the news for at least three weeks. Was it to hopefully get more publicity by having the topic discussed so close to the tax increase. Or, was it because the weather has turned cold and the people of northwest Columbus are realizing damn, we are going to have to do something with all these leaves we’ve raked up.

Suck it up northwest Columbus. This timetable applies to all citizens of Columbus. You can opt into the paid program until April 10, or you can use one of the nine free drop off compost sites around the city.

P.S. You can type “yard waste” into the search box to see my other posts on this topic.

Sources:
Neighborhood group wants leaf pickup back
City Yard Waste Service On Hold Until April 2010
Northwest Civic Association
City of Columbus Yard Waste Recycling

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Sep

27

State Inadvertently Cleaned Up Columbus Site for a New Casino

Posted on September 27, 2009 at 7:56 am by Madrigal Maniac Under Local, State | Print This Post | Email This Post | 5 Comments 


If Issue 3 passes, it appears the State of Ohio may have unknowingly spent $750,000 to clean up a piece of land that may be home to a new casino. Originally, Plaza Properties planned to use the former site of Jaeger Machine just west of Huntington Park for condominiums, retail space, and a small park.

Last year, the Ohio Department of Development awarded a $750,000 Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant to demolish the tool factory and clean up pollution from more than 70 years of manufacturing on the brownfield site.

The city of Columbus, believing such a project to be an asset to the developing neighborhood near the new baseball stadium, supported the bid for the cleanup grant. In fact, the city was the applicant.

Then along came Penn National Gaming, a major backer of Issue 3.

That was before Penn National Gaming and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert hatched their proposal for casinos in Ohio’s four largest cities. Early this year, Penn National reached a deal with Plaza Properties to buy the Columbus site for a casino if the ballot measure passes in November.

Here is the state running away from Issue 3.

“Sometimes the end use is something determined to be specific (in a grant application), and sometimes it is not,” spokeswoman Amanda Wurst said. “The end use is not something that is funded by the state.”

And here is the city running from Issue 3 as well.

Deputy Development Director Michael Stevens wouldn’t say whether city officials would have vied for the cleanup grant if the casino had been the plan at the time. The question is hypothetical, he said.

Meaning. It was a poorly written grant that did not lay out the specific uses for the money.

This is great. We could possibly have a new family friendly baseball park which U.S. News and World Report called stunning sitting beside a place full of good-fellas and gamblers. And who cleaned up the site to put it there? The great State of Ohio and the City of Columbus.

Source: State agreed to prepare factory site for condos, but gamers in line to buy it

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Sep

25

County Prosecutor States He Cannot Investigate Issue 3 Backers Yet

Posted on September 25, 2009 at 9:34 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under Local, National | Print This Post | Email This Post | 1 Comment 


Opponents of Issue 3 want Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien to investigate the pro-casino campaign. They want to know how a copy of an ad that had yet to be aired ended up in the hands of a Time Warner Cable employee. That employee has since been fired.

The ad that TruthPac, the group opposing Issue 3, had put together shows help wanted ads from newspapers in New Jersey and Nevada. They say this is proof that casino jobs will not go to Ohioans, but to out of state workers.

But Issue 3 supporters disagree.

Those help-wanted ads might be a dirty trick by TruthPAC, the group opposing the casino effort, said Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for the pro-casino campaign.

He denied that anyone involved in the campaign placed the {New Jersey and Nevada} ads. And he said there’s no reason anyone connected to the effort would try to recruit workers before the measure is voted on and more than two years before any casino would open.

The Columbus Dispatch

But this from a casino expert.

“It is the norm in the casino industry in a start up situation to hire licensed and experienced casino workers from out of state in order to ramp up and open quickly,” widely respected gaming analyst Dean Macomber said. “The casino workforce is somewhat transient, and casino employees at all levels often work in multiple jurisdictions during their career.”

TruthPac

It’s difficult to know who to believe. The firing of the Time Warner Cable employee seems to suggest that someone did give an advanced copy of the ad opposing Issue 3 to the cable outlet. Yet, TruthPac is funded by out of state casino’s who don’t want more competition. They could have placed the ads in the out of town papers themselves. Good-fellas on both sides.

For now there are no answers. While Issue 3 opponents may want the county prosecutor to investigate, he can’t. At least not yet.

O’Brien, however, said he can’t do that - at least not until the Ohio Elections Commission turns the matter over to him.

The Columbus Dispatch

More will be revealed.

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Sep

24

NRA Targets Mayors Trying to Get Rid of Illegal Guns

Posted on September 24, 2009 at 11:22 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under National | Print This Post | Email This Post | 4 Comments 


Through the Brady Center I have learned about an organization of over 450 mayor’s who are trying to rid their cities of illegal guns. Amazingly, the NRA is targeting many of these mayor’s and spreading lies about the organization. All of the mayor’s of Ohio’s major cities belong to this group.

The group is called Mayors Against Illegal Guns. It is a non-partisan organization devoted to keeping illegal guns out of the hands of criminals, the mentally ill, and juveniles.

However, all across the country, mayors who belong to the organization have been harassed by people clearly associated with the NRA. The NRA had notified their members about ‘Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ and asked them to contact their mayor’s and ask them to disassociate themselves from the group.

Here’s and example of harassment that happened to Sumter, South Carolina Mayor Joe McElveen.

NRA members in Sumter have recently received notices telling them their mayor had “joined a national anti-gun group,” which “was founded and is funded by activist anti-gun billionaire and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.”

The notice also listed McElveen’s home address, phone number and his e-mail address and tells people to “please call, e-mail and write Mayor McElveen today and ask him to support law-abiding gun owners by publicly disassociating himself with Michael Bloomberg and ‘Mayors Against Illegal Guns.’ Help him make the right choice between protecting our Second Amendment rights or continuing to be associated with those who actively oppose and undermine your firearms freedom.”

This proves that the NRA is incredibly irresponsible. The mayor’s are not against legal guns, they are promoting laws designed to stop illegal possession of guns. Since the NRA opposes this organization, it means they support the ownership of illegal guns.

The NRA believes all progressives want to take there guns away. Progressives know this is not true. We are for responsible gun laws.

But opposition to ‘Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns’ leads me to believe that the NRA is for no gun control laws at all and will not be happy until every American owns numerous firearms no matter what the circumstance. Safety be damned.

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Sep

24

U.S. News - Columbus is One of the 10 Best Affordable Places to Retire

Posted on September 24, 2009 at 9:22 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under Local | Print This Post | Email This Post | Leave a Comment 


The December 2009 issue of U.S. News and World Report selected Columbus as one of the 10 best affordable places to retire. Here are some of the reasons they cite.

  • Abundant green spaces
  • Four season climate
  • Impressive syline
  • Ohio Theatre (Reduced ticket prices for seniors)
  • Columbus Museum of Art (Seniors $8)
  • Columbus Zoo, nations top ranked zoo (Seniors $6)
  • Huntington Park, they call it a stunning setting to see a baseball game (Seniors $7 for reserved seats, $3 for general admission)
  • Ohio State, does first rate research (Seniors, free non-credit classes)
  • Median Home Price $106,000
  • Friendly Midwestern neighbors

Several things they missed. One, our public library system is rated #1 in the country. Two, the Blue Jackets have “Senior Sundays” where tickets are half off for those 60 and over. Three, yes we have four season’s, it’s just that they are not always in a row.

P.S. Bad news Buckeye fans, Ann Arbor is on the list too.

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Sep

24

Why Are Politician’s Running Away From Issue 3

Posted on September 24, 2009 at 8:40 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under Local, State | Print This Post | Email This Post | 1 Comment 


I have been wondering why we have not heard more from our local politician’s about Issue 3. Franklin County Commissioner John O’Grady is the only elected official who has voiced an opinion and he’s against it. Today, I got some answers in an excellent article from The Other Paper. Some of the reasons the politicos gave are laughable.

“Frankly, I haven’t looked at it,” Mayor Mike Coleman said this week, saying he’s been focused on getting the city’s financial situation on track.

He hasn’t studied it! I hope he realizes Columbus is one of the cities that will have a casino if Issue 3 passes. Doesn’t sound very focused to me.

Commissioner Marilyn Brown wouldn’t even respond.

Brown, who is a Democratic candidate for secretary of state in 2010, did not respond to repeated attempts to reach her for this story.

In August, she told Columbus CEO magazine through a spokeswoman that she isn’t taking a position on the casino proposal “because she is focused on county matters and running for Ohio secretary of state.”

I hope she realizes Franklin County is one of the counties that will have a casino if Issue 3 passes. I would think that would be a county matter.

According to The Other Paper, the silence from politicians can be summed up in one word. Unions. Most local politicians in Central Ohio are democrats and unions are one of their biggest supporters. However, the FOP, AFL-CIO, and the UAW all support Issue 3. If a democratic politician comes out against Issue 3, they could lose important votes from a big part of their base.

Still, I’d like to see more democratic politicians show the courage that Commissioner O’Grady exhibited and let us know where they stand on Issue 3.

Source: A safe bet?

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Sep

23

Central Ohio Jobless Rate Falls

Posted on September 23, 2009 at 10:03 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under Local | Print This Post | Email This Post | Leave a Comment 




For the first time in over a year, Central Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped.

Hopefully, this is a sign that the economy is improving and the stimulus package is working.










Source: A corner turned? Jobless rate falls

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Sep

22

League of Women Voters of Ohio Oppose Issue 3

Posted on September 22, 2009 at 11:20 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under State | Print This Post | Email This Post | 2 Comments 


The League of Women Voters of Ohio (LWV-Ohio) has come out in opposition to Issue 3. The constitutional amendment that would allow casino’s in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and Toledo.

The LWV-Ohio feels that taxes in Ohio should:

1. Be fair and equitable

2. Provide adequate resources for government programs while allowing flexibility for financing future program changes….

The problem the LWV-Ohio has with issue 3 is that it violates the Ohio Constitution by allowing for too much specificity in how revenues raised would be spent, thus violating their core belief of allowing for flexibility. The LWV-Ohio thinks the General Assembly is the proper forum for deciding this issue.

The league does not think the Constitution should be littered with “post-it notes” but “should be a clearly stated body of fundamental principles.”

The Columbus Dispatch

I agree with The League of Women Voters of Ohio.

A few years ago a group of folks tried to mandate treatment for non-violent drug offenders. An idea I believe in. But they wanted to make it a constitutional amendment, not a law from the General Assembly. This amendment had no provision for drug testing and you cannot treat addiction without it. So if this bill would have passed, it would have taken another constitutional amendment to change it. That’s the problem with constitutional amendments, they are almost always final.

This amendment is scary at it’s very core. A group of out of state good-fellas want’s to create a constitutional right for Ohioan’s to gamble in a manner prescribed by the casinos. And we can’t change it … unless we pass another constitutional amendment.

Source: League of Women Voters of Ohio

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Sep

17

Urge the House to Pass the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act

Posted on September 17, 2009 at 10:26 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under National | Print This Post | Email This Post | 2 Comments 


This from the National Association of Social Workers.

This week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, also referred to as the

“Student Aid Bill”, which passed out of committee in late July by a vote of 30-17. Some experts contend that H.R. 3221 is historically the single largest investment in higher education that will significantly reduce loan debt burden for college graduates.

Highlights of the bill:

* $40 billion to expand the Pell grant program that aids low income students
* $10 billion to help community colleges increase enrollment and enable students to obtain a higher education
* $8 billion to help states improve early learning programs for children from birth to age 5
* $2 billion for historically black colleges and universities and other minority serving institutions

These investments are paid for by cutting excessive lender subsidies and redirecting those funds toward higher education.

With all the incessant bickering that has gone on lately. Can’t we agree one one thing. Education is the key to America’s success. H.R. 3221 will help do that.

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