Protect Ohio: Vote no on 3

Protect Ohio: Vote no on 3

EDITOR:

Ohioans have rightly turned down casino gambling four times over the past 19 years. Over 10 million votes have been cast in opposition to opening casinos in Ohio. The people of this state have it figured out: gambling is a great deal — if you own a casino.

The out-of-state casino owners promoting Issue 3 will make billions of dollars if the measure passes. They plan to do this by focusing on creating a new class of gamblers and gambling addicts, most of whom will live within a 50-mile radius of their casinos.

This new class of gambling patrons will be “local” customers, people who will not be “new” Ohio consumers, coming into Ohio to buy food, clothing, cars, furniture, appliances, health care policies or paying for college tuition. Their normal consumer dollars will merely be redirected into casinos and straight into the coffers of out-of-state companies.

The widely advertised notion that voter passage of Issue 3 would create 34,000 new jobs is absurd. Penn National, the sponsor of Issue 3, owns 18 gambling facilities nationwide and employs roughly 14,000 people. How will four Ohio casinos create 34,000 real jobs or anything remotely close to that false promise?

Casinos don’t help Ohio manufacturers who need a quality work force. Very few businesses are interested in locating near a casino facility. It’s tough enough to train and keep good employees these days. The last thing we need is one more distraction that create addictions, financial discord or tear apart families.

Establishing a private gambling monopoly in our Constitution would put this state on a reckless course, one that would ultimately cost Ohio far more jobs than it will create. On Nov. 3, Ohioans would be wise to protect their state Constitution, their economy and their families by voting no on Issue 3.

DAVID W. JOHNSON, CEO

Summitville Tiles, Inc.

Summitville

X The writer is former chairman of the Ohio Manufacturer’s Association and chairman of the Columbiana County Republican Party.

Support for Poland

EDITOR:

I am asking Poland Village voters to support our renewal levy on Nov. 3. The levy will not cause an increase in taxes. This levy is necessary for the overall operation of Poland Village including safety (police), street lights, street maintenance, leaf removal, zoning, property and forest maintenance and much more. The renewal levy is paramount to the continued success of Poland village as a safe and desirable community.

We pledge to continue to be fiscally responsible and to act in the best interest of the village.

Please vote yes for the Poland Village Renewal Levy

Mayor TIMOTHY D. SICAFUSE

and Village Council

Poland

Liberty is challenged now, but the future is promising

EDITOR:

The Ohio Department of Education is a hard task master. When a school district is placed on fiscal emergency, the ODE takes over and says “cut, cut, cut expenses and pass a levy.” The task of the Liberty Board of Education is to effectively educate our children and not shortchange them in a fiscally responsible way, which is why the board has placed a 9.9-mill levy on the ballot as part of the fiscal recovery plan approved by the ODE. The board has made over $1 million in reductions within the past two years. This levy only keeps the district “even” after the cuts.

There’s more to this than 9.9 mills. It’s bigger than our educational support systems, or our school buildings and bigger than the voters whom we’re asking to commit limited resources. We think it’s about opportunity to recover for the first time since the early 1980s. It’s no secret we did not have economic growth like other areas in our region.

Now, something good is about to happen. Walmart is our good news and the anticipated “tipping point” that will improve Liberty’s future. New construction jobs, new retail jobs, and new support businesses will be coming to help expand our tax base. New families will surely follow and come to live in a township that provides superior services of fire, law enforcement and quality education. It’s not an if, it’s a matter of when.

As we see it, the Liberty school board is doing everything it can do to save, educate our children, and preserve our rightful control of seeing to it that our children are prepared for the future.

If Liberty voters think this is only about providing our kids with quality education, we urge them to think again. It’s also about whether Liberty thrives or just survives. We ask Liberty voters to vote as though your future depends on it ... because it does.

FRANK GORSUCH, treasurer

Liberty Board of Education

Libraries: the place to be

EDITOR:

We need to save our libraries by saying yes to Issue 6 on Nov. 3. If the libraries close, it will be a huge loss for the community and to most of the people in it. Going to the library is one thing I look forward to doing, especially when I am broke and bored at home.

The libraries are also another place where a lot of people, including me, go to do homework and other school projects. When you think about it, libraries are a enormous necessity to our community and to our lives. They teach us values of respecting borrowed objects and how to respect due dates. Libraries are places where a lot of moms and dads go to get books to teach their kids to read, especially when their child or children are having trouble in school. Parents read library books to their children before they go to bed at night.

There are so many other ways the libraries affect our lives. In addition, libraries provide computers. I know some people who either cannot or do not have a computer at home so they go to the library to use theirs. Not to mention if the libraries close then there will be hundreds of jobs that will be lost, and organizations like teen extreme.

I believe that if Issue 6 does not pass, then losing libraries will be like losing a part of our community. This will force people to either buy the books they want to read or just decide not to read at all, and I think that if this happens it would hurt a lot of people. This is why Issue 6 needs to pass. It will mean helping a lot of people in the community.

LAUREN BLAKE

Poland

Keep the money in Ohio

EDITOR:

I am troubled when I see a politician like Sen. Voinovich who lived off the taxpayers as long as I can remember appear on television and use his office urging voters to vote no on Issue 3 premised on nothing more but a prophetic notion that a passing of Issue 3 will not create 34,000 new jobs and that the four casinos pursuant to the constitutional amendment regarding Issue 3 represents a lucrative windfall for the wealthiest families.

Every year, thousands of Ohioans take over $1 billion a year to out-of-state casinos when they could be spending that money here in Ohio. According to a study by the Innovation Group, a respected source of gaming industry analysis, Ohioans took almost 17.8 million trips out of state to gamble in 2008. Go to the bank. Take out $121 for each member of your household. Put the money in an envelope. Get on the interstate, drive into a neighboring state and throw the envelope out the window.

What happens if Issue 3 doesn’t pass? The Innovation Group study predicts Ohioans will spend over $1.5 billion out-of-state by 2013. The study also predicts that the number of trips to out-of-state casinos will rise to about 18.8 million — another million wasted opportunities for the state. Ohioans can continue driving to neighboring states and throwing money out the window, or Ohio can say yes to Issue 3, and bring that money home.

JOE SABINO

Columbiana

A chance to aggregate

EDITOR:

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, residents of the cities of Struthers and Campbell, the village of McDonald and the townships of Austintown, Beaver, Berlin, Canfield, Coitsville, Ellsworth. Goshen, Green, Jackson, Milton, Poland, Sebring and Springfield will have an opportunity to vote on an issue that would allow their local government to pool together, or “aggregate,” their community’s electric and/or natural gas loads in an effort to save money on utility bills.

If the aggregation ballot issue passes, your local government is authorized to meet with energy suppliers, negotiate a price and make decisions about the purchase of energy service that best meets the needs of your community. While most residents will automatically be included in the group, they will have the option of withdrawing if they so choose. Customers who have already selected an alternative supplier are not eligible to participate.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC), the residential utility consumer advocate, encourages residents to learn more about the aggregation process and the potential savings opportunities it may provide. A fact sheet, “The Basics of Governmental Aggregation,” gives residents an overview of the program and can be obtained by calling the OCC toll free at 1-877-PICKOCC or visiting www.pickocc.org.

JANINE L. MIGDEN-OSTRANDER

Consumers’ counsel

Columbus