Buckeye State Blog - County Politics

The Hypocrisy of Republican Party

bluedogjimmy — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:24:10 -0700

The Hypocrisy of Republican Party

After the culture of corruption created by 16 years of republican rule, the Bob Taft and Tom Noe coingate scandal destroyed the public trust. I believed we started to hold our public officials to a higher standard, no matter what party they belong. But as every headline I read hammers people like Matt Barrett and Marc Dann, who both exercised inappropriate behavior for an elected official, republicans continue to pour on without cleaning their own house. At least Strickland and House Dems used swift action to discipline and disown their former party members. In my own county there are numerous appearances of impropriety with Jan Antonoplos Delaware County Clerk of Courts. As I was reading the Delaware County Political Reporter our own Clerk of Courts Jan Antonoplos and her lobbyist husband Bill Antonoplos have seemed to not pay federal income tax for some time now. Both her and Bill Antonoplos have two federal tax liens against their properties. Jan and Bill Antonoplos have raised money to fund republicans at every level starting with being Pioneers for the George W. Bush campaign. It seems now that they are close to $700,000 dollars in debt to their own government. How can you be Delaware County Clerk of Courts with a tax problem? Also it seems that being in business with the Delaware County Clerk of Courts office has its privileges, Fifth Third Bank secured the depository contracting business with Jan Antonoplos’s office. And now Jan Antonoplos and her lobbyist husband Bill Antonoplos have received a bailout loan from the same bank to help pay off the debt owed to the IRS. A loan that no other resident who is not an elected official or office gives county business to could have received from the same Fifth Third Bank. When will the Republican Party clean up their own mess? As a resident of this county I am outraged and appalled, enough is enough.

Blue Dog Jimmy

Help! ISO Guest Speaker for 4/19 Clermont Dems Golden Donkey Dinner

Deb — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:00:46 -0700

Bumped because one of our statewides should really help out the Clermont County Democratic Party. Maybe that nice Rich Cordray has an opening. Mr. Treasurer? How 'bout 'Fernsy? - Jerid

I need your help with a problem (er, an opportunity). The Clermont County Democratic Party is hosting its 41st annual Golden Donkey Dinner on April 19th and sadly, we have not found a keynote speaker for the evening.

<flattery>Since the BSB is the largest, most well-connected and best informed Democratic Blog in Ohio</flattery>, I am hoping that someone reading this either knows someone or is someone who can help us out. This person could be an elected official, an author, a celebrity--or even a Presidential candidate! (Ok, I may be overly optimistic on that last one!)

Here are the details about the event: http://www.clermontdems.org/ht/display/EventDetails/i/1128887/pid/276 . So if you know anyone, please respond to this post or send me an email at d.patek@fuse.net.

Thanks!

Debbie

P.S. As an FYI, the Clermont County Democratic Party more than doubled in size on March 4th! What was once a scarlett red county--and home to Jean Schmidt--it now a more respectable shade of purple. Just think about the implications of a "less red" Clermont county in this swing state!

Moms For Lazarus

Will Allen — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:09:29 -0700

Today's Columbus Dispatch (2/10/08) offers some unfortunate information that the Party Chair and the Leadership of the Franklin County Democrats need to address. The Chairman is quoted as saying that Lazarus' opponent is "young and up-and-coming" and that "Cindy(Lazarus) had her day". He is upset that she resigned her seat on the Court of Appeals to devote more time to raising her daughter. (This ignores the fact that the Party couldn't have ever won that seat without her.)

The message to women in Franklin County. Don't you dare take time off to care for your children or you will grow old and your time will pass. This is the same issue that women face at all levels of the workplace in the private and public sectors. Women shouldn't have to fear that the Democratic Party will punish you for choosing to take care of your family. Leave that thinking to the Republicans.

I know the Chairman and in his heart he supports women's rights in the workplace. Let's move beyond sex- and age- discrimination for reasons he chose not to remain neutral in the primary race. He supported his friend and not the best candidate to win the election and serve the county.

Moms need to support Lazarus and tell the Party Leaders that our time has not passed.

John O'Grady: Committed to the Future

John OGrady for Commissioner — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:42:05 -0700

The Franklin County Commissioner race ramped up today with the release of the first television ad from John O’Grady, the endorsed Democrat. The ad, titled “Committed to the Future,” continues to show John’s strength as a new generation of leadership for Franklin County.

The new ad comes on the heels of an impressive $211,688 raised and $158,772 cash on hand, with support came from 431 individual donations. John's opponent had 1/3 the cash on hand and raised only 89,000.

As John said, "Each of the 431 individual contributions to my campaign represents a vote for the future of Franklin County. These are real people who want real change."

The ad will begin airing this weekend on broadcast and cable stations in Franklin County. It is also available on the web at www.johnogrady.org.

Summit County GOP's Magic Finance Reports

jump23 — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:42:29 -0700

The AB Journal reports today there are serious problems with the financial reports filed by Summit county GOP.

With a battle raging for control of the Summit County Republican Party, the party's finances came under increasing scrutiny Wednesday with books that were said to be ''impossible to audit.''

Supplemental filings reviewed by the county Board of Elections were missing required information, staff members said during a Wednesday board meeting.

''Until these items are resolved, they will not be in compliance,'' said Scott Sigel, the board's Republican administrative assistant for campaign finance.

Apparently the matter was already referred to the Ohio Elections Com:

That complaint claims the party failed, after being given a final, 21-day notice, to file the required campaign finance documentation for several elections in 2005 and 2006. Political parties, like candidates, are required under state law to file campaign finance reports.

The commission likely will address the complaint at its March meeting, said Philip Richter, executive director of the election commission.

Sen. Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls) is trying to unseat the Corleone-esque Alex Arshinkoff for control of the party. Coughlin's name also comes up frequently when discussing Republicans with interest in statewide office.

Cuy. County Dems Launch New Website

MarkJablonski — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:55:08 -0700

The Cuyahoga County Democratic Party has recently launched its new website. Anyone familiar with the old site will instantly note how vastly improved this new one is. The site, created by Vertical Lift Web Design, is filled with new features including a video wall, RSS feed, and more.

Speaking of the videos, check out this 1978 clip of Tom Snyder's Tomorrow, filmed at Cleveland's Tony's Diner and featuring then-mayor Dennis Kucinich discussing his survivial of the recall election. Enjoy!

Cuy. County BSB Roll-Call

MarkJablonski — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:10:58 -0700

If you live in Cuyahoga County, I'd like to know. I just started interning with my county party, and would like to see what kind of blog presence Cuyahoga has.

We're finally starting to utilize technology (new website, email lists, etc), and I think that some sort of blog outreach of some fashion would be a great way to get people involved and make them aware of things.

So, if you're a Democrat and you live in Cuyahoga County, please say so in the comments, and email me if you have any comments, questions or ideas that you have regarding the county party.

Thanks!

Cuyahoga Co. Judge attacks First Amendment

King — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 04:16:10 -0700

In an absolute affront to one of our most basic and cherished rights, our First Amendment right to free speech, Cuyahoga County Judge David Matia, kicked the scales of justice out the door with Lady Justice following close by.

Judge Matia, in an intellectually vacuous decision, recently barred Channel 5 WEWS from broadcasting a story about Belladerm MediSpa in Westlake, OH.

After Channel 5 WEWS wanted to run a follow up on their original story of Belladerm possibly providing medical care without a license, Belladerm claiming the first broadcast, hurt their business and cost them money, filed suit to block any further broadcasts.

It should be noted that Belladerm was also previously cited by the state for performing outside the limits of their license.

Judge Matia, feeling above the law, did not even bother to have a hearing or the legal counsel for Channel 5 present when he issued his First Amendment smashing restraining order.

Judge Matia nonchalantly dismissed his decision to issue the temporary restraining order postponing the broadcast as no big deal, "Waiting less than 24 hours isn't going to hurt anybody," Matia said. "I don't know what the issue is.

Isn't going to hurt anybody?

Judge Matia, by ignoring the First Amendment, put a businesses profit over the health and welfare of Cuyahoga County residents.

It appears Dr. Matia, sorry, Judge Matia was just to "busy" and felt the residents of Cuyahoga County did not need to be aware of questionable medical practices.

A Democrat, Judge Matia stated - he issued the order at a hectic time, with a capital-murder case going to a jury. Yet Matia said that even in hindsight, he would do nothing differently. "That injunction was tailored for a very short period of time," he said. "They only missed two newscasts."

Are we to assume this means the Judge feels his docket is more important than our rights?

This leads me to believe Judge Matia has no problem ignoring our countries founding documents and basic rights granted to U.S. citizens if he is busy. I would submit that if the Judge is unable to perform the duties and laws he is sworn to adjudicate, he needs to remove himself from the bench immediately.

The ACLU, defenders of the democrats, issued a statement saying Matia was effectively telling the news media they "can report the news only after getting permission."

Completely disgusted about fellow Cuyahoga County democrat Matia's ruling, a local elected democrat who pointed this story out to me, had this to say - "Yes, it's just one case but the fact that Matia even considered the spa's argument, let alone granted their motion, is mind-boggling."

This long time elected official & member of the Cuyahoga Dem's (who wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons) further stated, "It is amazing how the democrat voters in Cuyahoga Co. blindly elect any dem served up to them" and "they follow us like sheep being led to slaughter."

WEWS lawyer Louis Colombo notes, "That pre-emptive ruling violates "80 years of Supreme Court precedent." "It's unconstitutional prior restraint," said Colombo.

The Plain Dealer, which rarely speaks ill of the local democrats, questions the intelligence of Matia and the local voters who will blindly continue to vote for him---

David Matia must have skipped class the day his constitutional law professor lectured on the doctrine of prior restraint.
Now, because he has one of those magical names, Matia is an elected Common Pleas judge in Cuyahoga County. And due to the forgiving nature of the county's voters, it's a job he probably can keep for a long time.
But this week, Matia displayed an ignorance of the U.S. Constitution that was simply breathtaking.
Matia thumbed his nose at 76 years' worth of Supreme Court rulings essentially holding that the First Amendment gives the press immunity from such prepublication governmental prohibitions.

And any good story about a judge attacking our First Amendment, must have a shamelessly disgusting attorney to be complete.

In a move certain to add fuel to the perception that some attorneys are vultures, ambulance chasers and rarely have integrity, a local attorney tries to defend the judge and his ruling.

In a shameless display, obviously to curry favor with the judge and distort the facts, David M. Paris, a principal and managing director with Cleveland law firm, Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy Co. LPA, writes in his letter to the PD -

I was appalled to read The Plain Dealer's personal attack on his character and intelligence for ordering that a news story be delayed a few hours until the parties could be heard.
The citizens of Cuyahoga County should be thrilled to have David Matia as a judge. He is consistent in his demeanor, thoughtful in his decisions, accessible and considerate of litigants and has as strong a work ethic as anyone on the bench.
But for his devotion to public service, he would certainly be practicing law with one of the city's prominent firms, earning many times his government salary.

(Note to David Paris - Judge Matia's bailiff will have a tissue waiting so you can wipe off your nose.)

Looks like a discreet job offer to me... I sure would hate to be opposing Paris in Matia's courtroom after this letter - in light of this ruling, one can't be so sure it would be impartial.

It is sad when an attorney, disgraces the profession and puts up a simple minded defense to defend a feeble minded ruling.

The last thing the voters of Cuyahoga County need is a judge with consistent demeanor and thoughtfulness that brings him to make decisions with impunity that violate our rights.

One has to wonder if David Paris would be so gracious if Judge Matia showed his firm the same accessibility and consideration he showed Channel 5's attorney by not having a hearing and allowing only the plaintiffs counsel to be present during his ruling.

Judge Matia, will soon be up for re election. Running unopposed in his last race, he won by default.

He might want to keep Paris' number handy for that job offer, as Judge Matia can be confident that this ruling will not be forgotten during his next election!

KING

The Taxman

Shameless Agitator — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:46:25 -0700

Medina County Democratic Action Committee

msgavel — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:58:36 -0700

The Medina County Democratic Action Committee is an Ohio PAC formed in 2003. Our mission is to take the Democratic message to the grassroots. We do this by publishing a Democratic newspaper called Common Sense, (no relation to Common Sense Ohio which is a GOP front organization), sending out a weekly email newsletter, posting videos regarding Democrats and Democratic issues, and supporting local Democratic candidates.

Our website is http://www.mcdac.org
A copy of our newspaper can be viewed at http://www.medinacountydemocraticactioncommittee.org/CommonSense.html
You can sign up for our newsletter at http://www.mcdac.org.
Our videos can be viewed at http://www.DemTV.org.

If you would like us to upload Democratic video clips, please send them to joycekimbler@medinacountydemocraticactioncommittee.org and put "DemTV" in the subject line. Any questions, comments, and/or observations can be sent to the same address.

Hamilton County Republican Finney's Butt Slap

Muffet — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 15:19:49 -0700

Phil Heimlich is running for County Commissioner in Hamilton County against David Pepper, a Dem who happens to be the son of former P & G Chair, John Pepper.�� Take a look at what Phil's cronies do in public.�� And this from a Republican blog.�� Ahem.

Commentary from an Ohio Republican on today's current events and political issues, with a libertarian twist.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006��Chris Finney flips out on David PepperFrom the Cincinnati Enquirer's Politics Extra blog:

At an outdoor press conference today, David Pepper tried to describe his 10 rules to improve government as he seeks to become a Hamilton County Commissioner.

Pepper, though, was interrupted by two moving trains, dozens of passing tractor-trailers -- and a profanity-laced tirade from Cincinnati attorney Christopher Finney, a business partner and friend of Pepper��s opponent, incumbent Republican Commissioner Phil Heimlich.

Upon arrival, Pepper saw that Finney also was there. Pepper walked up to Finney, said hello and extended his hand. Finney rejected the offered handshake.

Pepper then started the press conference and was discussing how he believes total transparency and disclosure is vital in government, when Finney shouted ��You��re trying to smear my name because you��re a rich f------- ---hole.��

Kiss my a--. Right here,�� Finney said, patting his behind.

Finney was upset that Pepper mentioned Finney by name in his ��10 Simple Rules to Clean Up Hamilton County Government,�� suggesting neither Finney nor Heimlich had properly disclosed their business relationship even after Finney was appointed to head the Tax Levy Review Committee. That volunteer committeeis charged with monitoring property taxes that fund special services such as health care for the poor.

Wow...that's a great way for Finney to get his case across. Calling somebody a 'rich f**king a**hole' is a great way to get positive press too. Couldn't he have found a better way to discuss his problems with David Pepper than call him names like he did? This isn't going to help Phil Heimlich one bit, and I think there's a very slight chance this could hurt him because of guilt by association.

This brings to mind a maxim I've heard many times: In politics, don't get mad unless it's on purpose.

For the record, I'm no fan of Chris Finney, and fully believe he is behind the recent smears on Jean Schmidt (hmmm...does Nate Noy have anything to say about this?). Finney is hurting our party in Hamilton County, and we'd all be better off if he was out of politics altogether. All in all, Chris Finney is a bad apple we need to get rid of.

9:10 PM | Permalink ��

Comments (6) | Trackback Tuesday, October 03, 2006��

Mahoning County

Mahoning County Putz — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 16:25:50 -0700

Here in Mahoning County, the conventional wisdom of those wired into politics is "as Mahoning County goes so does the state". For example, if the Democratic State candidates win big in Mahoning County-it's a landslide state wide. And, if the republicans state candidates get 35-40% of the vote-the Republicans win big.

Right now, it looks like Ted Strickland is going to win Mahoning County in a huge way. I think he will have major coattails across the state because he is going to get over 55% of the vote.�� I haven't seen the local Demoractic Party this unified in over 12 years. The local GOPer's lost a golden opportunity to take control of Mahoning County Politics with over 75 elected officials being indicted (all Democrats) over the last 6-7 years. All they did�� was run away from true reform. Like the rest of the republicans in the state and at the national level they have no one to blame but themselves

Of course, when your party platform is only three planks-abortion, prayer in school and flag burning what do you expect; especially given the fact that those 3 issues do not create jobs, educate children and lower the costs of energy.

I hope Mr. Strickland continues to hammer away at Blackwell's and the republicans "corruption tax". He should pound that point home.

Wood County Commissioner

bowen4commissioner — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 19:14:26 -0700

Hello there...�� I am new to this forum and am now glad to be a part of it.�� It's a great way to keep up on what's going on in our fine state and in our living areas.

I am a member of the campaign to elect Melanie Bowen for Wood County Commissioner and I would like to let all of you know a little about her.

Melanie began her political career as a Walbridge Council person and then moved on to being elected as a Lake Township Trustee, where she currently is the chairman.�� While a trustee, Melanie has been responsible for the roads, parks, budget and has acquired over $100,000. in grants for the township.�� She has played a very crucial role in the implementation and development of the Lake Township Police & Fire dispatching center, which is a first of its kind to establish the Life Star Ambulance Company contract with 3 other communities.

Melanie is a lifeling resident of Wood County and has been involved in community, church, and civic organizations for over 20 years.�� She is also an 11 year Breast Cancer survivor which pushes her in every endeavor she takes on.�� She is proud of what she has accomplished and looks forward to what her future has to offer.�� She is campaigning based on the 3-E's...Ethics, Economical Development, and Education.�� A big matter in Wood County is the factory farm issue and Melanie is against this aspect of taking away the agricultural integrity of our area.�� Agriculture has also played a big factor in Wood County and there are many farmers who have been successful and are very proud of where they are today in the farming industry and Melanie is going to to what it takes to keep the agricultural aspect alive in Wood County and stop the issue of factory farms taking over.�� No one wants to look out the windows of their house and see smoke stacks from a factory polluting their area.

We need a har working and caring person��who will��work for the residents of Wood County and the well being of families...along with��bringing in new jobs��to benefit economical development and that person is Melanie Bowen.

We would appreciate your vote in November and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.�� In advance...thank you for taking the time to read about Melanie and I welcome any questions, comments or discussions.

Victory Squads in action

Jill — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 19:28:28 -0700

Clicked over to the ODP's blog this evening (I'd just been viewing the Cuyahoga County Republican Party's site, not bad at all, but no blog, yet) and saw that the Victory Squads seem to be populated.

Any squad members care to relate how it's going? (I've yet to receive a response; I'd offered to write op-eds and letters.)

Franklin County Democrats Need You

Decker — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 12:04:32 -0700

What would you say to a group of Democrats who had a plan? What would you say if that plan had the enthusiastic endorsement of Howard "The Scream" Dean? What would you say to buying a case of beer, inviting over your neighbors, and calling it activism?

I was able to attend precinct captain training at ODP headquarters last night. They have launched a project to find someone in every neighborhood to work with their fellow Democrats. Currently, there are 150 wards with 920 precincts. Over a hundred of those precincts now have captains, but we need almost 800 more volunteers. With precinct captains in place, we can recruit block captains and create a tight community. This level of efficiency will free up 527s and campaigns to concentrate on areas that need the attention (i.e. outside of Franklin County).

In short, if you live within Franklin County, sign the hell up. If you don't have the time to volunteer as a precinct captain, chip in your $25 bucks for dues. Accurate databases help candidates win, and accurate databases cost money. That's money our local candidates don't have.

(cross-posted at grandpaboy)