SWCS levy
The SWCS levy passed. Out of 34,056 votes cast, there were 17,877 for and 16,179 against. It passed by 1,698 votes, or not quite 5 percent, which is hardly a mandate. The Dispatch reports that only about 41 percent of eligible South-Western voters came to the polls for that vote, which is sadly better than double the turnout of 17 percent countywide. That means that out of just over 83,000 voters, about 2 percent decided that you were going to pay more taxes for schools in the SW City School District.
Choices4SWCS has already said that they’re working on a counter-proposal that would include a 3-mil property tax levy and a .75 percent income tax. According to Choices founder Larry Mitchell, that proposal would raise more than the 9.7 mil levy, and spread the load more equitably.
Most of the school levies passed in Franklin County; the proposed repeal of the smoking ban (Issue 2) did not. What’s so disappointing to me is that only 17 percent of the eligible voters in Franklin County turned out. If we’ve learned nothing else after the last two presidential elections, it should have been that every vote counts. How many people who didn’t vote are going to be griping about rising taxes in the next year?
Official Identity Theft
Ohio HB 48, introduced by Jim Hughes (R-22), and co-sponsored by 51 representatives and 18 Senators, seeks to clarify section 2913.49 of the ORC, and says in part that any law enforcement agency wishing to use personal identifying information of a living or dead individual must obtain written or oral consent from the individual or their estate or family.
The bill was originally designed to increase the penalty for stealing an elderly person’s personal identifying information, but after the ruckus created by Miami County Prosecutor Gary Nasal’s use of an innocent girl’s personal identifying information in a case against a strip club, the clarifying language was added.
