1st HOUSE DISTRICT Dentist challenges incumbent

The challenger has worked in the medical field for years and has experience in education.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- In November 2000, Charles Blasdel was the first Republican elected in nearly 30 years to represent Columbiana County in the Ohio House of Representatives
This November, Blasdel seeks to return to the post for a second term, saying his time in office has had a positive impact on the 1st District, which consists solely of Columbiana County.
Blasdel is stressing jobs, development and quality education as major issues in the race.
His opponent is Dr. Frank Rivelle, a Wellsville dentist, who is making his first bid for countywide elected office.
Rivelle, who served for nearly 20 years on the Wellsville school board, said he's running for the state House "to help the working families" of the district.
Rivelle supports a state Democratic plan to lower prescription drug prices by giving government the ability to negotiate costs with prescription drug makers.
Blasdel said there are constitutional challenges to that sort of remedy that could render it unworkable.
He added, however, that he favors finding a solution to the high cost of prescription drugs.
LGF distribution
Blasdel said he's proud of his effort in passing legislation that resulted in East Liverpool's being stripped of its power to veto the distribution formula for state tax dollars known as local government funds.
Officials from many townships and communities in Columbiana County believed that East Liverpool was using its veto power to keep in place an LGF distribution formula that gave too large a share of the funds, distributed annually, to the city.
Blasdel's bill resulted in a recently adopted formula that reduces East Liverpool's share from 27 percent to 4 percent.
Rivelle said that, if elected, he wants to find a way to take the burden for funding schools off property taxes.
He also stated that his years running his own dental business have helped qualify him to be the district's representative in Columbus.