Group blasts Issue 1 in TV ads

The TV ads begin Saturday and continue through Monday.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- A group opposing Issue 1, a proposed $2 billion bond issue that backers say would create jobs in Ohio, is unleashing television ads this weekend blasting the measure.
Voters will consider Issue 1 and four other state amendment issues Tuesday.
The anti-Issue 1 spots will air Saturday, Sunday and Monday, said David Zanotti, president, Ohio Roundtable. The ads were paid for by The Liberty Committee, a federal political action committee chaired by Zanotti that has ties to the Roundtable, a conservative public-policy group based in suburban Cleveland.
Zanotti declined to say which television markets the ads would run in or how much will be spent in the blitz. But he said Wednesday his group is airing the ads in areas "with the greatest potential to move votes."
The GOP-led Legislature, in a bipartisan fashion, voted earlier this year to place Issue 1 before voters this fall.
The proposed bond package -- essentially a loan to be taken out through the sale of bonds -- includes a $500 million bond issue in support of Gov. Bob Taft's Third Frontier Project to beef up high-tech jobs in Ohio.
It also includes a $1.35 billion bond issue for local road and water projects and a $150 million bond issue for industrial parks and other business-site development.
Backers of the bond package have dubbed the program "Jobs for Ohio." The Third Frontier Project portion of Issue 1 is similar to a Third Frontier bond issue voters defeated in 2003.
The TV spot features an image of Taft, a Republican in the last two years of his second and final four-year term.
A voice says, "There are a few things Bob Taft doesn't want you to know about Ohio Issue 1. First, it's a rehash of his Third Frontier idea that voters rejected in 2003," the voice in the ad says. "It will create $2 billion in new debt that you may have to pay off, in higher taxes. It lets politicians pass out mostly free grants that could fund jobs outside Ohio and opens the door to fund human cloning and embryonic research," the voice-over continues.
"Should we give the Taft administration $2 billion more dollars in public trust?" the voice says. "Vote no on Ohio Issue 1."
Response
Amy Jenkins, manager of the pro-Issue 1 "Jobs for Ohio" campaign, said, "We're confident that voters will understand that Issue 1 is about creating jobs."
Jenkins said Issue 1 backers are airing pro-Issue 1 regional TV spots in the Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown TV markets and in southeast Ohio.
Issue 1 supporters say the Third Frontier isn't funding any embryonic stem-cell research.
In addition of to the TV spots, Zanotti said the Roundtable has put information on its Web site, has e-mailed information to thousands of households and has done op-ed pieces for newspapers and appeared on radio programs.
Zanotti said an analysis of donors to the pro-Issue 1 campaign indicates that many of the contributors could benefit from Issue 1 funding, should the measure pass.
According to reports filed with the secretary of state's office, the Jobs for Ohio campaign has raised about $2.5 million, including $100,000 donations from Cincinnati Reds owner Carl H. Lindner, the Canton-based Timken Co., and American Electric Power and Limited Brands of Columbus.