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A return visit by Kasich to the newspaper would sure be nice
On the side
Anthony D’Apolito was denied the opportunity last year to seek election to a seat on the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court bench. But he fully intends to run for that judicial position during next year’s election.
D’Apolito of Poland, the county juvenile court administrator and a magistrate, said he’ll file nominating petitions Monday to challenge Judge Shirley J. Christian of New Springfield, who was appointed by Gov. John Kasich last year. She will also run for the position in the 2016 Republican primary.
Dec. 16 is the filing deadline for the March 2016 primary.
Judge James C. Evans, a Democrat, delayed his retirement in 2014 from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1 in an effort to avoid an election to fill his position and allow the Republican governor to make an appointment. The move left local Democrats disappointed in Evans’ decision.
The former judge died this past August.
D’Apolito was the Democratic frontrunner if there was a special election in 2014. That is unlikely to change in next year’s election.
Mahoning Republicans recommended three candidates – Christian, D’Apolito and Robert J. Andrews of Boardman, an assistant county prosecutor – to Kasich. Christian, the top choice of local Republicans, was chosen by the governor to succeed Evans.
A little over a year ago, Ohio Gov. John Kasich spent 90-plus minutes with The Vindicator editorial board seeking its endorsement for re-election.
Normally having a sitting governor visit here for our endorsement – I sit in on the interviews and ask questions but don’t vote on who the newspaper backs – is a given. Sitting governors come here about three or four times a year to discuss local and state issues. When Ted Strickland was governor, it was considerably more often.
But we had questions about Kasich coming.
During his first gubernatorial term, Kasich didn’t meet with us once. Numerous requests to do so were rejected, most of the time politely, by his staff.
Kasich’s campaign agreed to the meeting if we didn’t videotape him. Kasich was the only candidate to ever make that a condition to be interviewed, but we figured if it was the only way to speak to him we’d turn off the camera.
It was worth it as Kasich answered every question we had and then some during that Sept. 16, 2014, meeting. Honestly, we were sort of done after about 75 minutes, but the governor was enjoying himself so much that he kept talking.
When asked why he didn’t speak to us in four years, Kasich apologized.
He acknowledged his staff was sensitive to criticism in some of the newspaper editorials, particularly about JobsOhio.
“At the end of the day, I should say, ‘Why am I not there?” meaning The Vindicator.
About a month later, top officials from JobsOhio met with the newspaper’s editorial board to discuss what they do.
As for Kasich, he returned to Youngstown on Oct. 30, 2014, along with the rest of the Republican statewide ticket, for a quick campaign stop at an invitation-only event at a Midlothian Boulevard business.
To the best of my knowledge, Kasich hasn’t returned to the Mahoning Valley since that rally. I can’t rule out a private fundraiser, but there have been none I know of.
I bring this up because issues we discussed a year ago remain relevant.
During that meeting, Kasich said the failing Youngstown school district is “my greatest concern” in the Mahoning Valley. He said he’d been in contact with Thomas Humphries, president and chief executive officer of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, and state Rep. Sean O’Brien of Bazetta, D-63rd, about getting business leaders together to develop recommendations to improve the school district. There already were preliminary meetings at the time of our discussion with Kasich.
With much assistance from Kasich’s administration, the Youngstown Plan emerged in June and quickly was approved by the Republican-controlled state Legislature over the objections of Democrats. The plan takes control away of the school district from the superintendent and school board, and puts it in the hands of a CEO appointed by a five-member committee. Opponents of the plan, including the school board, are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the new law from taking effect Oct. 14 and contend it is unconstitutional.
During the discussion, Kasich sharply criticized higher education, calling for “significant reform,” and no tuition increases. There’s a two-year tuition freeze in place for state universities.
He spoke of cutting income taxes in Ohio, which he had already done, and did again in this year’s budget.
The most interesting national topic to come up during the interview was when Kasich was asked if he’d run for president. It was rather obvious that Kasich was going to run, but that’s not what he said that day.
“Honestly, I just don’t see it,” he said. “I tried it once. You come with me. You can go with me to Iowa. You wouldn’t believe it. You’d never go to Iowa again ... I don’t expect anything. I don’t even think about it.”
So what was Kasich doing Wednesday? He was at three different events in Iowa seeking to be the Republican nominee for president.
Kasich’s statement to The Vindicator about Iowa has been repeated often by numerous media outlets. Kasich is ramping up his campaign in Iowa though it’s unlikely he’ll win that state’s caucus. But a top 5 finish for him there would be impressive.
Maybe if Kasich’s presidential bid fails, he’ll return to the Valley. During his first year as governor, he said numerous times that he loves Youngstown and it reminds him of McKees Rocks, Pa., where he was raised.
If he does come back to the Valley, I hope he comes to see us again as I greatly enjoyed our conversation.