Political games may turn off voters in Columbiana County

At a time when commissioners in Columbiana County needed to be on their best behavior, partisan politics reared its ugly head recently and made the challenge of winning public support for a 0.5 percent sales tax all the more difficult.
Six times in a span of several years voters have said no to the sales tax. The most recent rejection came last month -- even after commissioners warned that state-declared fiscal emergency could be around the corner. There can be only one explanation for this attitude: Taxpayers just don't trust the keepers of the public purse.
So, how do commissioners Jim Hoppel, Gary Williams and Sean Logan go about winning the hearts and minds of those who pay the tab to keep government operating? Certainly not by putting politics ahead of public service.
But that's what happened recently when Hoppel and Williams, both Republicans, decided to approve a one-month budget of 1.4 million, along with a 500,000 carryover balance at the end of 2006. Logan, a Democrat, voted against the stopgap spending measure, and, instead, sought support from his colleagues for enactment of the 0.5 percent sales tax. They refused to go along.
For his part, Williams, who lost his re-election bid last month to Democrat Daniel Bing, had wanted the commissioners to re-enact the 2 mills of property tax taken off the books to persuade voters to approve a 1-percent sales tax, which they did.
However, the deadline for re-enactment passed before commissioners could act on Williams' proposal.
Political game-playing
The charges of political game-playing were triggered by the fact that next year, the board of commissioners will be made up of two Democrats and a Republican -- and Hoppel has been consistent in his opposition to the 0.5 percent sales tax being imposed. He believes voters should have the final say.
But the political games didn't stop with the budget. Hoppel and Williams appointed former Republican county Commissioner Michael Halleck to replace Ken Smith on the Columbiana County Port Authority's board. Smith had requested another term.
And the two Republican commissioners named state Rep. Charles Blasdel, who is leaving the Legislature in January, to replace port authority board member Carl Pelini, who stepped down.
Blasdel, a member of the GOP leadership team in the House, lost a bid for the 6th District Congressional seat to Democrat Charlie Wilson.
Such political maneuverings are bound to anger the voters, especially given that Williams, Halleck and Blasdel were all rejected at the polls.
The responsible thing would have been for the Republican commissioners to hold off on making appointments to the port authority. After all, they did refuse to enact a full budget for 2007.
Now, Democrats Logan and Bing and Republican Hoppel will have to face an angry electorate next year. Mandatory hearings on the 0.5 percent sales tax have been scheduled for Jan. 10 and 17.
We urge taxpayers to attend so they can hear first-hand what awaits Columbiana County government if the 0.5 percent sales tax remains off the books, and also to let officeholders know how they feel about the way the public's business is being conducted.