Jeff reminds us that this Friday is a crucial fundraising deadline for General Assembly candidates. The reports released from this reporting period will be used by many to indicate which candidates are viable, worth watching, or don’t have a chance.

There are two real House races down in this part of the state that I urge you to take a look at:

94th District

I don’t know as much about this race as I should, but I do know it’s an open seat and the candidate is Jennifer Stewart.

92nd District

This on is a little closer to home, but I still don’t know it as well as I should. The candidate, Debbie Phillips, ran in 2006 but was defeated in a very close election. This time around the seat is open and is considered on of the top 10 Democratic pickup opportunities in the state.

Please consider making a donation to these campaigns soon. You can donate to Phillips online here or mail your donation for Stewart to the following address:

Jennifer Stewart for
State Representative
PO Box 190 • Zanesville, OH 43702

You can subscribe to Garrison’s email list on her website. Even if you don’t live in the district, it’s a good way to keep up on what’s going on in the Ohio House.

The Ohio House passed two pieces of legislation this week that can directly affect the lives of the citizens of the 93rd House District.

The first piece of legislation, House Bill 244, allows townships to bury overhead cables, wires and equipment underground.  This is vitally important because townships would now have authority that cities and municipalities already enjoy. Under the bill, township citizens will be able to petition their township to bury the utility lines in their neighborhood.

The township has been given the option to assess the situation prior to burial, in order to find out which property owners will benefit and who will be affected by the project.   Before a petition for burial can be submitted, a minimum of 75 percent of affected landowners must sign the petition.  If the petition is approved, the township would then work with the utility company that owns the overhead wires to place the wires underground in a safe and timely manner.  

This bill simply allows a neighborhood to take action, but does not mandate any townships or neighborhoods to bury their overhead wires. The costs associated with the relocation would be paid by the township. However, if the residents wish to step forward and pay for the burial of the wires themselves, they also have this option.  

Allowing property owners to unite and decide on the appearance of their neighborhood is an essential right of all Ohioans.  This is especially true if they are willing to step up and pay the costs incurred for implementing the project.

H.B. 244 passed unanimously, including my “yes” vote. It will now head to the Senate for its consideration.  I will keep you updated on any progress.

Substitute Senate Bill 157 is also a very important piece of legislation because it allows parents of an adult incompetent child to nominate a guardian for their adult child. Current Ohio law only gives a parent the ability to designate a guardian for a minor child.  However, it does not grant authority for the parents to designate a guardian for an adult child who is incompetent.

The bill requires the court to give preference to the person who is nominated by the parents over someone else who has applied for guardianship.  This is on the condition that the incompetent adult child does not have a spouse or an adult child of his/her own, or has not designated a guardian for himself/herself prior to becoming incompetent.

Parents are far better suited, in most cases, to determine who would best serve as a guardian for their mentally disabled child.  Their opinion is valued and should be respected.  It is my belief that Ohio law must back the parents on this issue.

This bill passed unanimously, including my “yes” vote.  It is my hope that the Senate will approve some minor changes quickly and send the bill to the Governor for his consideration.

h

A recent Marietta Times article provides a first glimpse at what type of candidate she’ll be. You can read the article for yourself here (The article has been taken down.), but I briefly want to examine some of the statements Ms. Smith made.

“I’m still formulating my stance on everything. Education is the main thing that’s important to me, but I’m going around the area, talking to different people and seeing what the 93rd District needs. What’s most important to me is what’s most important to the people.”

She cites education as her main issue, yet she goes to a private school in West Virginia. Does her attending a private school mean she’ll support vouchers? What is her experience with the Ohio school system that she’ll base her opinions on?

I also want to point out the interesting line, “I’m still formulating my stance on everything“. Shouldn’t a candidate already know their positions before they decide to run? I have serious concerns about who will actually be making the decisions on this campaign already, statements like that don’t help matters. Is she just going to be a puppet for the local Republican Party?

It’s still pretty early, but Ms. Smith has a lot of work a head of here if she wants to be taken seriously.

You can also read the Washington County Republican Party’s write up on Chelsi Smith here.

Other candidates for office include an 18-year-old high school senior who plans to challenge state Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta.

Chelsi Smith of New Matamoras is still attending classes at Wood County Christian School. She is unopposed in the March 4 Republican primary for the 93rd District Ohio House of Representatives seat, as is Garrison on the Democratic ballot.

I doubt that she’ll be able to provide a serious challenge to Garrison, but it’ll still be interesting.

Source: The Marietta Times

Here’s a few more points I’d like to make in support of this idea. I’m not trying to start an entire blogging vs. MSM debate, just pointing out a few advantages that the format has.

1. Blogs often focus on one topic while traditional media has to devote equal attention to several different topics. Because of this a political blogger is more likely to cover political news than a typical news outlet. This is especially true in rural areas covered by smaller news outlets.
2. Blog news is “fresher” than other, offline news sources. Give a blogger a power outlet and a Wi-Fi connection and they’ll have news online within minutes. Other sources must wait to be published or broadcast.
3. Blogging combines the best of all forms of media. You can’t send audio out through the newspaper or send on demand text through the television. A blogger can go back and forth between media types by uploading MP3’s or posting videos to YouTube.

I’m sure I could go on but for right now let’s just leave it at that.