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Citizenship – Legislative Report
12/29/2011
Last Month’s Election
The Cuyahoga-Medina CAP Council endorsements did quite
well in the November election. Overall, 63% of the
candidates we supported won their respected races. In
the cities of Berea, Brook Park, and Parma, every one of
our candidates succeeded.
The Council endorsed a “NO” vote on State Issues
1, 2, and 3. Only Issue 3 passed. The main focus was
placed on Issue 2…a law which would have limited
collective bargaining for public employees. Known as
Senate Bill 5, it was an initiative rammed through the
General Assembly without 1 Democratic vote. A key
element often overlooked in the bill, is that it would
have eliminated binding arbitration to settle disputes.
In other words, management would have the final say.
This contentious issue was soundly defeated as 82 of 88
counties turned it down.
What’s next? Who knows…perhaps back to the bargaining
table. If so, the governor and his allies must seek fair
and common ground. This is something they should have
learned from the voters.
Redistricting and SB 319
The party in power in the state of Ohio just can’t seem
to get it right. Statehouse Republicans are unable (or
is it unwilling) to construct a reasonable congressional
redistricting bill. Due to a decline in population, Ohio
has been reduced to 16 congressional districts. The
initial Republican led district proposal creates a 12-4
commanding edge over Democrats. The Dems have responded
with Substitute House Bill 319 which would place this
issue on the ballot for the voters to decide. We’ll see
what happens. As of this writing, it’s possible that
Ohio could have 2 primaries. One would be on March 6,
for all primary candidates, except for President and the
U.S. House which would be on June 12. By the way, that
would be a cool $7.5 million expense for each
election…so much for fiscal responsibility.
The Occupy Movement
This endeavor is gaining momentum and won’t go away. In
short, people are frustrated, angry, fed-up,
disenfranchised…heck, take your choice. Demonstrations
are taking place worldwide and have spread to the U.S.
in hundreds of our cities. Downtown Cleveland is no
exception. We hear people talking about the wealth gap
and the 99% who are being left behind. I visited Public
Square several weeks ago to discover firsthand what the
concerns were of the demonstrators. Those I spoke with
were out of a job. They’ve submitted resumes, but very
few companies are hiring. They spoke passionately about
friends and family members who have exhausted their
savings and moved in with relatives. Their hope for the
future is grim.
I wonder how long this economic situation will last…1
year, 5 years, 10 years?
Let us be thankful for what we have and aid those who
are less fortunate than us.
Peace, health, and happiness to all in the New Year!
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