Kasich seeks input from locals

If there were any doubt about what’s in store for local governments with regard to funding from the state, consider these comments from Gov. John Kasich:

“ ... there is no more money. We’re not passing money back out again. That’s not going to happen. There is no money tree.”

The governor’s tough talk was part of his review of 2011 — his first year in office — with reporters who cover state government. He was commenting about the overwhelming rejection last November by Ohio voters of the collective bargaining reform law that was passed by the Republican controlled General Assembly at the Republican governor’s behest. Because the law stripped public employees in Ohio of many of the rights they had enjoyed for three decades, the public employee unions along with the Ohio Democratic Party launched a petition drive to put the issue up for a vote of the people.

Kasich conceded that a clear message was delivered with the defeat of State Issue 2/Senate Bill 5, but now local governments are confronted with the reality of having to operate with less money and without the tools the law would have provided.

“I’m looking for additional tools, but look, the people were pretty clear,” Kasich told the reporters. “The cities are going to have to come to me and say what they want.

“What I’m looking forward to is what do these communities want us to do to be able to help them with the ease of doing business, because there is no more money.”

Capital budget

The offer of help from the state should be taken seriously by local governments in the Mahoning Valley because they have been hurt by the loss of Local Government Fund dollars from the state. The governor has also decided that the capital budget will no longer have money for community projects, which Youngstown has used extensively in the past.

An objective evaluation of local governments and other public entities will show that duplication of services is a major drain on the public treasury.

For years there has been talk about consolidation of services such as the 911 emergency telephone system, central purchasing of goods and services and even the creation of metropolitan governments in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Gov. Kasich has offered the state’s expertise and assistance in dealing with the challenges confronting local governments. Officeholders should take him up on his offer in exploring ways the state can help expedite consolidation of services.