There are no Senate elections this year.
U. S. Congress, District 11: Marcia Fudge is the
incumbent, and has held the office since the death of Stephanie Tubbs Jones in
2008. She has represented the interests
of her district with integrity. Her
opponent is a graphic designer with no experience in public service. I recommend Fudge’s reelection.
Ohio:
Governor: John
Kasich has been, by most standards, a mediocre governor – and that’s a generous
assessment. Ohio still lags behind much
of the nation in job growth, despite his much touted JobsOhio initiative –the
executive board of which is loaded with political cronies. (It must be noted, the improvements seen in
Cleveland over the last two decades happened under the auspices of Democratic
County and City administrations.) While
Kasich boasts of a balanced state budget and income tax cuts (aimed at the top
income brackets), he avoids mention that it comes at the cost of a sales tax
hike and cuts to state aid for cities, which local municipalities have counted
on since 1934. Since cities have had to
enact tax increases to make up the shortfall, on balance most Ohioans are
paying the same or more taxes than in the past – unless you’re very rich. This is the same trickle-down economics that
have increased the gap between rich and poor and have squeezed the middle class
– and it’s hurting places like South Euclid.
Ed
FitzGerald has had a rapid rise up the political ladder. One short year after he moved back to
Cleveland from Washington, DC, he was elected to Lakewood City Council,
becoming that city’s Mayor in 2008, Cuyahoga County executive in 2010, now
running for Governor. FitzGerald reminds
me of all too many co-workers I’ve encountered over the past 30 years; people
who are too busy aiming for their next promotion to do their jobs. Inevitably, people such as these leave a mess
in their wake and FitzGerald is no exception.
He has been secretive about his comings and goings as county Executive,
used a county employee to vet political donations, and drove for several years
without a valid license.
Much has
been made of these controversies surrounding FitzGerald, while the media has
continually looked away from Kasich’s use of JobsOhio as a holding ground for
political cronies. As a case in point,
the media covered with salacious interest an incident when FitzGerald was
questioned by police while a woman was in his car. But no mention has been made of long standing
rumors that Kasich, who was divorced from 1980-1997, was in an intimate
relationship with his male chief of staff – with whom he also shared a
home. It goes without mentioning that
Kasich holds anti-gay political positions.
Even
though I agree with many of FitzGerald’s political positions, his foibles
continue to nag me. Ohio does not need
another laughingstock politician to replace the recently deceased James
Traficant. Therefore, I am offering NO
endorsement for Governor.
Attorney
General: Mike DeWine is the
incumbent. DeWine is a career politician
who has been in politics since 1976. He has spent most of his time as Attorney
General feathering his own nest and denying marriage rights to same-sex
couples. I endorse his opponent, David
Pepper.
Auditor: David Yost is the incumbent. For the record, he is a Republican although
personally I believe the Auditor’s office and elections should be
non-partisan. Yost has lauded South
Euclid’s city government for maintaining its finances despite a challenging
economy (and, I might add, his boss’s decision to slash $800,000 in state aid). Yost is a rarity, a public servant who puts
his job before his party, and I urge Yost’s reelection.
Secretary
of State: The primary job of the Secretary of State is to supervise Ohio’s
elections and ensure fairness. Despite
the slick ads being run by John Husted’s campaign, the incumbent has spent the
last four years making it harder for poor and minority voters to exercise this
precious Constitutional right. I endorse
his opponent, Nina Turner.
Treasurer:
The incumbent, Josh Mandel, has brought dishonor to Ohio since he ran a
mendacious campaign against Senator Sherrod Brown in 2012. He has also stocked his office staff with
political cronies and his fellow frat boys.
It’s time for him to exit public office – permanently. I endorse his opponent, Connie Pilich.
Cuyahoga
County
Executive:
A few days ago, I saw old George Voinovich
on TV endorsing his friend Jack Schron, the Republican candidate for county
executive. While the retired career
politician droned away, footage of Ed FitzGerald appeared. It may interest some to know that FitzGerald
is not a candidate for county executive, but if you need to tour your candidate
by referring to another politician who’s not part of the equation, it brings to
mind the relevance of the candidate you’re endorsing. It would be like Hillary Clinton running
against Ronald Reagan. Schron’s campaign
has lacked specifics, instead trying to “feel-good” his way to victory. But when his own campaign website refers to
Natural Gas as an “alternative fuel”, he tips his hand as yet another
Republican who will be controlled by big money and corporatism. Armond Budish is not a partisan, career
politician as Voinovich implied. Until
2006, he worked as an attorney who advocated for the elderly and consumers. He continued working for ordinary working
people in the Ohio House of Representatives, and I am confident he will
continue to do so as County Executive. I
encourage Cuyahoga voters to support Budish.
Council,
district 11: Sunny Simon hails from
South Euclid and has served her first term on county council with
distinction. Simon is a realist who
leads with an eye on the long term benefits to the people of her district and
to the planet in general. As part of
that, she was the incorporator of TeMPO – which is aimed at preserving the
Telling Mansion after the library leaves. While a number of local politicians either
ignored the Library controversy, or attended a few TeMPO meetings and did
nothing concrete, Simon has regularly attended meetings, advised the group on
how to move forward in applying for grants to renovate the Mansion, and has
helped put together a plan of action for maintaining the Mansion as a viable
space going forward. Simon also pushed
for and obtained a domestic partnership for county resident and same-sex domestic
partner benefits for county employees. Even
though I am employed by a private company (which just so happens to provide
such benefits) and not covered by this legislation, as a gay man I’m very
appreciative of the support Simon has shown for our community.
Her
opponent, John Currid, hails from New Jersey and moved to South Euclid a few
years ago. He has not served in elected
office before. In fact, I can find
nothing Currid has done relating to public service – even volunteer work. Currid’s lack of experience shows in a number
of posts on his campaign website. For
example, he’s called for removing Ohio from Common Core educational standards,
railing against them as “anti-American” and “anti-Israel” – one of the Tea
Party’s prime talking points. But the
Cuyahoga County council has nothing to do with public education, so how does he
propose to stop common core within the Constitutional boundaries of the office
he seeks? Currid has also derided
Simon’s proposal to eliminate non-biodegradable plastic bags as “San Francisco
liberalism”, which brings to mind what John F. Kennedy said of Liberalism: “If
by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind,
someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about
the welfare of the people-their health, their housing, their schools, their
jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties-someone who believes we can
break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad,
if that is what they mean by a "Liberal", then I'm proud to say I'm a
"Liberal.” The truth is, many
forward thinking municipalities have been doing away with these bags and
NorthEast Ohio would benefit by getting ahead of the curve – instead of falling
behind as usual.
Currid’s
main accomplishment in South Euclid has been forming the South Euclid
Republican Club. While I have written of
the need for more political diversity in South Euclid, Currid’s brand of Tea-Party
Republicanism is the very thing that has degraded the political debate in the
United States, and is part of the reason why the Republicans remain doomed to
minority status in Cuyahoga County in the foreseeable future. While there are local Republicans who are
worthy of office, and I’ve even endorsed some of them in the past, John Currid
does not belong to that select group.
Simon
deserves to be reelected.
Ohio
State Senate, District 25: Kenny Yuko has served ably in the Ohio House of
Representatives and deserves to be elevated to the State Senate.
Ohio
House of Representatives, District 8: Kent Smith is running to succeed Armond
Budish and would carry on in his tradition.
His opponent, Mikhail Alterman, is a hard-right Tea-Party type who makes
John Currid seem like a moderate. I urge
voters to support Kent Smith.
Ballot
issues:
Issue 6:
Tax Levy for Cuyahoga County College.
They are really putting property owners to the screws here, because this
not only renews the existing 1.2 mill levy, but also tacks on an increase of .9
mills. It would have been more ethical
to ask for the mill increase in a separate ballot issue. CCC claims this is to improve college
education. But my experience working at
a college leads me to believe much of the additional levy will go to
administrative overhead. I reluctantly urge a No vote.
Issue 11:
This common sense issue requires a two year residency requirement for County
Executive and Council members. I urge a
Yes vote.
Issue 12:
This would remove the County Executive and fiscal officer from the audit
committee, and replace them with a council member and citizen approved by
council. Since council appropriates
money, oversight should be managed by another branch – and the fiscal officer
should always remain as the responsible party.
I urge a No vote.
Issue 13:
Allows the County Charter Review committee an additional three months to
appoint and confirm officers. I urge a
Yes vote.
Issue 14: Republicans across the country have tried to
make it harder for people to vote, all in the name of preventing voter
fraud. They will never admit, and the
media has been shamefully lax in reporting, than voter fraud has not been a
serious matter in any election over the last 50 years – while voter suppression
has reared its ugly head in every election since 2000. I strongly urge a Yes vote.
South
Euclid City Charter: Periodically,
city charters require review. This is done by a nine member elected panel. I am endorsing eight candidates which
constitute, in my opinion, a good balance between experienced elected officials
and citizens.
-
Dennis Fiorelli
- Marty Gelfand
- David Miller
- Diane Mullally
- Moe Romeo
- Mark Sanderson
- Robert Schoenewald
- Georgine Welo
There are
several other candidates on the ballot.
Frankly I don’t know most of them well enough to speak to their
qualifications, but I caution South Euclidians against voting for Grant
McCallum, who is a flat-out Tea-Partier who is merely looking for personal
political gain.
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