November 3rd, 2011: My Ballot for Tuesday in Parma Ward 1: Supporting Issue 2

Issue 1
 

Issue 1 is composed of 3 parts. Parts two and three of the constitutional amendment are agree upon as generally good law on both sides. Part one is where the dispute is. Right now Judges must be under 70 when they start their term. The proposed amendment moves that age up to 75. I personally think no maximum age makes sense. I trust in the voters in elected cases and the legislature in appointed cases to ensure that judges are competent to do the job. This goes with my position of fewer limitations on running for office.  I oppose term limits and personally don’t even like the minimum age in the constitution for House, Senate and President.

 

Issue 2
 

Issue 2 is the issue getting all the attention here in Ohio. It is a referendum on Senate Bill 5. Senate Bill 5 is a law passed to help balance the state budget by changing government union contracts. If you listen to the “no” people on Issue 2, they claim this law makes so that teachers can’t teach, firemen can’t fight fire, police can’t fight crime and nurses can’t help the sick. This is total nonsense. What senate bill 5 does is ask gov’t employees to pay more for their health care and pay more into their own pension. It also makes strides into having teachers onto merit pay.
 

It’s a real debate if public employees should have to sacrifice a little more. I believe that it does make sense. These people work for the government, and the government is broke.  Under senate bill 5, gov’t employees are asked to pay 15% of their health insurance coverage. This is less than half the average amount paid in the private sector. They are also asked to pay 10% of their pensions. In an era where pensions are almost a thing of the past, I don’t think it’s a bad thing that the taxpayer is still paying 90% of these pensions.
 

The last major issue is merit pay. I favor teacher merit pay. When you are able to more closely link performance to pay, you get better performance. I went to intercity public high school. I have had some horrible teachers who ought not be teaching at all. It’s a shame that they are protected by our archaic system. On the other hand, I have had teachers who worked their tail off and were getting paid far less than they deserved. She later left for a private school because of the low pay. It would have been amazing if we could have kept her. I am not saying SB 5 would have kept her, but it takes steps in the right direction.
 

Senate Bill 5 is not a perfect bill. Legislation almost never is. Still, it is a good bill. It helps gets the states budget problems in order and has good things on teacher reform.  Unions, as they usually do are proclaiming this is an end of the world bill. It is not, sure it cuts benefits on public employees. What worries the most the unions the most is that it will lower their power. I care more about the state being economically viable and teachers being paid fairly. I will be voting YES on Issue 2 in order to keep Senate Bill as Law.

 

Issue 3
 

Issue 3 is a constitution amendment that makes it illegal for the government to force people to buy health care insurance. I support issue 3. I believe it is wrong to force people to buy something. It’s a good thing if people are covered by health insurance. That way, when they go to the emergency room, it’s not being paid for at the highest rate by taxpayers. Still, forcing people to buy goes the wrong way. The right way is to incentivize buying health care. This could be done through the tax code or otherwise. I am for providing healthcare to the poor (Medicaid) , in particular the children of the poor (SCHIP).
 

People opposing Issue 3 are makings claims that just aren’t so.  Issue 3 has nothing to do with pre-existing. It just insures that no one is forced to buy health insurance. Never before have Americans been forced to by something (do not confuse with paying for privileges, such as car insurance or hunting license).
 

Parma Council Ward 1
 

I am supporting the independent incumbent, Mary Buchholz Galinas. She has held office since 2002 and from what I read has done a good job. She is receiving a fight from the Parma Heights son, Bryan Byrne. She is a rare non-democrat in a Democrat controlled town. She is a moderate, and mostly pushing sensible reforms that most people agree with. For example, she was the leader on a law requiring background checks for coaches in rec leagues. Now she is focused on reform in the budget in these tough times.
 

Parma Board of Education
 

Karen Dendorfer is a current member of the Parma board of education and seems to be doing a good job and has received multiple awards for her good work. She was endorsed by the Cuyahoga County GOP.
 

Sean P. Nickelos was put onto the Board two years ago. His focus seems to be cost cutting during this hard time. He was also endorsed by the Cuyahoga County GOP.