Columbus on the Record

As a reporter covering State of the Union/ State / City addresses over the years I always waited for the line “THE STATE OF THE ________ IS STRONG AND GETTING STRONGER!  (Lawmakers wild applause!).

We have not heard that line a few years.

As Governor Strickland and President Obama give their annual addresses this week we’ll hear the somberly optimistic rhetoric that comes with a recession, two wars and threats of terrorism.

For Ted Strickland, he has some explaining to do.  Ten months before his re-election he will try to explain why Ohio has lost 340,000 jobs since he took office and how he plans to reverse that trend.  Likely he will claim Wall Street and the worldwide recession are to blame for Ohio’s job woes.  He could also claim that despite this economic calamity he balanced the state budget without a tax increase ( Remember, it was an income tax cut delay.) while maintaining funding for education.

President Obama’s State of the Union address is a little tougher to predict.  Will he give up on healthcare reform or challenge Congress to finish the job?  Will he eat humble pie or say, Massachusetts voters be damned - we’re still in charge!?  We could get a combination of the two.

For Ohioans, the address is very important.   President Obama certainly will lay out his plans to stimulate the economy and create jobs.  Not a moment too soon for Ohio which has an unemployment rate tickling 11%.

With the Democrats super-majority gone in the US Senate, healthcare reform is on life support.  Some Democrats suggest the House should just approve the Senate healthcare plan.  If the president surprises us and suggests that course of action, it could put  Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy in a bind.  She voted for the House plan but opposes parts of the Senate plan.  A tight re-election fight in a slightly right leaning district could cause her to abandon a ‘better-than-nothing” healthcare reform package.

Climate change legislation is a huge issue for Ohio.   Coal production and coal based electricity generation is a very large part of Ohio’s economy.   Many pundits say cap-and-trade legislation is dead for now because of the loss of the super-majority in the Senate.  Listen to what the President says about the issue - it will have a direct impact on your utility bill and possibly your job if you work in a factory that relies on coal-generated electricity.

Whether it’s strong and getting stronger or weak and getting weaker, the state of our union and state is one thing - interesting.

You can listen to the State of the State address Tuesday at noon on WOSU 820 am and wosu.org, and watch it on WOSU Ohio.

You can listen to the State of the Union addresss Wednesday at 9pm on WOSU TV, WOSU 820 and wosu.org.

While I shan’t twitter, but John Kasich (or his campaign) does.  He’s set to announce his Lut. Governor selection this afternoon at 2:30 via twitter.    His choice is expected to be State Auditor Mary Taylor.

You can watch it live at  John Kasich’s campaign website.

Ted Strickland is said to be close to naming his running mate.  His campaign says he’ll do it the old fashioned way - via e-mail.   Speculation is that former Franklin County Judge Yvette McGee Brown is the Democrat’s choice.  Keep an eye on it using Strickland’s campaign website.

On Friday, December 11th we talked about the possible “Blue Jackets Bailout”.
The city and county are trying to work out a deal, presumably with at least some public money, to help Columbus’s National Hockey League franchise remain financially viable and remain in Columbus.

This viewer took issue with our discussion and recommends further reading,

- Mike Thompson

Mike:

I can not tell you how angry I am with you guys again for completely missing almost all of a the salient points concerning the financial issues associated with the Blue Jackets and the arena district. Shame on you and your panel.

Please do me and mort importantly your intelligent listeners a favor. Before you discuss this topic again–and you will–make sure that all of your panel members receive and read the newspaper article that is obtainable by pursuing the link provided below. How ironic it is that ti takes a Canadian newspaper to see the real value of the team and the district to our community. I will not go into detail because article speaks for itself but I must point out the most important points captured by this paragraph below:

“Without it, Columbus would get no new NHL franchise, no big-league label. Without it, downtown would remain dead, and various companies would continue to lose good young people to bigger, more glamorous cities. Columbus would forever be Ohio’s third city, behind Cleveland and Cincinnati, and such a non-entity on the American stage that outsiders invariably referred to it as “Columbus, Ohio,” never just Columbus”.

The complete article (must reading for you guys) is a cut and paste away:

http://communities.canada.com/edmontonjournal/blogs/hockey/archive/2009/12/01/could-the-columbus-arena-district-be-a-model-for-edmonton-s-downtown.aspx

Ordinarily I would say that I enjoy your show but since last night ….well let’s say I’m most disappointed.

John J Kennedy

Professor Emeritus

Ohio State

Question:  Who is the happiest man in America?

Answer:  David Letterman.

He and Tiger Woods have been in the news for thier “transgressions”.  But while Letterman’s controversy flamed out in about a week, Tiger’s continues to dominate the talk shows, cable news and front pages of the tabloids.  Why the difference?

Granted Tiger’s fame is considerably greater than Letterman’s and his “transgressions” appear to be more sensational than those of the late night TV host.  But while Tiger remains holed up, Letterman immediately came clean and apologized.  While the story did not end there, it lost considerable steam.

Perhaps Tiger is calling the shots and wants to keep it private,  but his statement had the fingerprints of high priced public relations consultants all over it.   Each day Woods remains hidden, it’s the “co-transgressors” who get all the attention.  Spin is getting in the way.

Since starting work in Central Ohio 11 years ago I have always been amazed at how public officials are overly insulated by their spokespeople.  The Dispatch has written about it and last week The Other Paper effectively questioned the practice.  In other cities where I’ve worked reporters did not interview spokespeople; we interviewed the policy makers.  We’d conduct impromptu interviews after meetings and at unrelated public appearances.  One city manager I covered drank a lot of coffee, and as a result made many trips to the men’s room.  If I could not get an appointment,  I’d put myself between his office door and the men’s room and interview him (as he was returning from the bathroom - I’m not that cruel). In just about every case he and other public officials graciously granted quick interviews.

Earlier this week a WOSU reporter approached an elected official (I’ll keep the names out of this) during a break in a public meeting and asked the official if he could talk about an issue.  At first he agreed, but then his spokesperson interrupted the interview and told our reporter that if she wanted to interview the official she had to speak to the spokesperson first.  After a five minute hallway meeting between the official and the spokesperson, the official answered our reporter’s questions.   But were the answers the official’s or his spokesperson’s?  Our listeners deserve to know.

So in the future if a WOSU reporter’s interview with a policy maker is delayed or interrupted by a spokesperson we’ll report it on the air.   You’d hear something like, ” Official ____ answered only after consulting with his/her spokesperson.”

Don’t get me wrong.  I very much admire public relations professionals.  I married one.  They perform a great service to reporters; they find information, provide background and arrange interviews. But sometimes they can get in the way.

Ask Tiger Woods.

- Mike Thompson

On most issues I understand arguments “for” and “against.”  But I’m having a hard time on an issue that’s come up recently.    Some elected officials and others argue that because Franklin County voted against the casino amendment, developers should not be allowed to build one in Columbus’s Arena District.  We’ve been hearing the argument since the day after the election, but it took a letter to the editor in The Columbus Dispatch to make me fully understand my lack of understanding.

William Fitzgibbon wrote if Franklin County is allowed to get out of the casino amendment because it voted against it, then Ohio counties that voted against the 2006 smoking ban amendment should be able to puff away in bars and restaurants.

Bingo. Like it or not, when Ohio voters change the constitution, they change it for all of Ohio, not just a select few counties.

If counties were able to “opt-out” of constitutional amendments 16 Ohio counties could allow smoking in bars, restaurants and other public spaces.  That’s because 16 Ohio counties rejected the smoking ban in 2006.

Also in 2006 Ohio voters changed the constitution to increase the state’s minimum wage.  If counties were allowed to “opt out”, 21 of them,  nearly a quarter of the state’s counties, would be exempt from mandating companies pay the minimum wage.

Last year Ohio voters in 87 out of 88 counties put pay-day lenders out of business (or tried to).  But Adams County voted against that change in the constitution, so under the above argument businesses in the southern Ohio county should still be allowed to charge 487% annual interest.

And in the ultimate irony, while most of Ohio rejected 2008’s casino amendment, the county where it was slated to be located approved it.  Clinton county voters, by a margin of  57% to 43%, approved a casino in Wilmington but the statewide vote kept them from what they wanted.

This is not an argument for the casino in the Arena District.  There are many valid and well worn cases for  and against it.  But the bottom line is Ohio voters changed the constitution allowing for a casino in Columbus. They approved very specific constitutional language: “The Casino in Columbus, Ohio will be located on approximately 18.312 acres currently known as 560 Nationwide Blvd., located on the north side of Nationwide Blvd., west of the railroad overpass and west of the new Franklin County ballpark facility.”

It’s what Ohio and Franklin County voters and lawmakers get when they let special interest groups write the constitution. So if Franklin County voters don’t want the casino, they have to get the permission of the rest of Ohio.

- Mike Thompson

I’m not a cynic.  Really.  I’m a realist.

25 years in journalism has taught me many things and one is that “planned” bad news (the non-fire variety) always breaks on Friday and in the hours immediately following election day.  Embattled officials tend to decide they “want to spend more time their their families”  on Friday afternoons because news of their resignations will be in the lowly circulated Saturday newspaper.

Bad or controversial political news often surfaces right after election day because elected officials have an entire year to fix the problem or hope voters forget the bad news before the politicians are on the ballot again.

The latest example came today, November 5, 2009, 36 hours after the polls closed on Tuesday.  A retired OSU business professor all but recommends taxpayers help the financially struggling Columbus Blue Jackets.  The Jackets are losing $12 million a year because of a bad lease deal at Nationwide Arena and the franchise is looking for some kind of public - private arrangement, with emphasis on the word public.

The timing of this was not a coincidence.  The story was in the paper (which owns part of the Blue Jackets) this morning.  Mayor Coleman’s office released his statement at 8:39am; The Franklin County Commission released its statement at 8:49am.

Let the debate begin, and note the key people who will make the decision on the Blue Jackets assistance won’t have to face the voters again for at least 364 days.

Now is this a cynical view or reality?

- Mike Thompson

A  lot of things went right for casino supporters this year : competing gambling interests joined forces; the   support of unions and key local officials; a plan which offered casinos in several cities;  the  Ohio economy is in the dumps.

But perhaps the biggest reason why casino supporters won this year after 4 previous defeats is they went odd.

They chose an odd numbered year to put the issue on the statewide ballot.  In the four previous attempts casino supporters were looking for votes as Ohio voters were also picking a President or Governor.  Such elections bring higher turnout.  Such elections feature more casual voters, and frankly less informed ones.   When turnout was high gambling opponents were able to count on like minded voters who came out to choose a President or Governor.  Opponents were able  create enough confusion, raise enough questions that the casual voter said “No” to casinos.

Turnout is lower in odd numbered years so if you have a good organization and can get your voters to the polls you  have a much greater chance of winning.  It’s simple percentage based math; your supporters will come out anyway but if they come out when a lot of people stay home, you win.  That’s why Columbus put the income tax increase on the August ballot; that’s why school levy supporters  often opt for special elections.

That’s exactly what happened this time. Even though this year’s 40% turnout was higher than an average off-year election, it was still some 20 percentage points lower than it was in 1990, 1996, 2006 and 2008, the four elections in which voters rejected casinos.

So picking 2009 was the first key strategic decision but it would not have worked if other things did not occur.  Dan Gilbert and Penn National decided to join forces which meant they were not spending tens of millions of dollars fighting each other. That left only Truth Pac, funded by a West Virginia casino operator,to try to confuse voters.  They simply did not have or spend enough money to compete with Gilbert and Penn National’s ability to buy television commercials and send mailers directly to voters.

That money advantage was best used to get out the early vote.  Households received two and three absentee ballot applications attached to pro-casino literature.  It appears many of those early voters supported the casino plan.  Take Franklin County for example.  On election day, 58% of Franklin County voters said no to casinos; Franklin County early/absentee voters supported casinos by a 58% to 42% margin.

Casino supporters also used Ohio’s economic strife and the promise of jobs to win the support of organized labor and local officials in Cleveland and Cincinnati, two cities hit very hard by the recession.  Those two groups used their get-out-the-vote operations to give Issue 3 landslide victories in Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties.

Whether or not you voted for the casinos, you have to appreciate at the campaign casino supporters ran (with the help of at least $32 million).  A campaign which began with picking a number, an odd number, 2009.

- Mike Thompson

There is an old-school rule in broadcast journalism that radio and TV newscasts should not report on candidates or issues on election day.  National Public Radio has such a policy as do many other broadcast outlets.

The argument against putting candidates on the air on election day is such stories could unfairly influence a voter heading to the polls to cast a ballot.   Election day should be reserved for stories about the voters, supporters of this policy argue.   Candidates have had the airwaves for the weeks and months leading up to election day, so the first Tuesday in November belongs to the voters and should be candidate-free.  Supporters of candidate-free election day coverage also point out that campaigns can launch a last minute smear to sway remaining undecided voters.  So to be safe, many outlets keep the candidates off the air.

This has never made sense.  It would be like refusing to put football players or coaches on the air the day of the Super Bowl. The candidates are the story and we should report on them.  If we as journalists are doing our jobs properly election day stories should influence voters no more than stories reported the week before the election.  We must ensure the stories are accurate, fair and balanced no matter when they make air.

As for the last-minute smear issue, again good journalism should prevail.  Reporters must carefully investigate any claim, last minute or otherwise, and the source and get all sides before putting the story on the air.   The facts and solid editorial judgment should help us decide whether a last-minute campaign story deserves reporting on election day.

There is another reason the blanket prohibition of election stories on election day no longer makes sense:  election day is not what it once was - it has become election month.  As last year’s long lines of early voters at Veterans Memorial showed us, voting takes place up to a month before election day.  So are we as journalists supposed to stop reporting election stories 30 days before election day because we might unfairly influence a voter casting an absentee or early ballot?  Of course not.

WOSU does not have a blanket prohibition on airing candidates on election day.  If the candidates or activists for or against a ballot issue make news, we’ll report on them accurately and fairly and then….

We’ll let the voters decide.

- Mike Thompson

Ok, that might be a little strong.  I really don’t want to start a debate over socialism, but beggars night is unnecessary  government intervention in a good wholesome pagan ritual.   Not being a  central Ohio native, I asked the question my first October in Columbus. Everyone other newcomer asks the same question.

“What is beggars night?”

I’ve yet to get a straight answer.   The most common reason city officials give for moving it away from Halloween is they don’t want it to conflict with weekend activities.   Huh?  To me, roaming the neighborhood in costume asking for candy is the perfect weekend activity.  Which is more advisable: trying to get your third grader on a sugar high to bed so she can get up early for school or letting them sleep in the next morning?

Trick or treating should be done on Halloween. October 31st. Period.

Boo!

Now back to something really scary - casino politics.

- Mike Thompson

(Published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 2:07 PM EDT)
from http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2009/10/13/upper_arlington_news/news/election/uacandidat_20091013_1054am_6.txt

Leadership UA will host a Meet the Candidates Night for Upper Arlington City Council races as well as the only contested Franklin County Municipal Court Judge seat Thursday, Oct. 22.

The free event, which is open to the public, will be held beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Upper Arlington’s Municipal Services Center, 3600 Tremont Road.

Council incumbents Frank Ciotola and Wade Steen will be on hand along with all five challengers; David DeCapua, Debbie Johnson, Frank Milillo, Vernon Morrison and Michael Schadek.

The seven candidates are vying for four open seats as current Councilwoman Linda Mauger steps down at the end of the year because of local term limits and current Council President Don Leach is not running for re-election.

Rick Brown and Mark Hummer, candidates for Franklin County Municipal Court Judge, will be on hand as well.

From 7 to 8:30 p.m., council candidates will debate in a forum moderated by Mike Thompson, news and public affairs director for WOSU.

Questions for the debate will be drawn from those submitted to Leadership UA’s Web site before Oct. 22.

For more information visit Leadership UA on the Web at leadershipua.org