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Flushing state dollars down the toilet? Depends on your outlook
On the side
Capri Cafaro, who is leaving the Ohio Senate at the end of the year because of term limits, said the only political office that interests her is the 13th Congressional District seat.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, the Howland Democrat who’s represented the Mahoning Valley in the House since 2003, has considered running for other elected positions, including governor and senator. But Ryan has no plans to leave Congress any time soon, and Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, said she won’t challenge him.
When I asked her about running for statewide office, Cafaro, a senator for close to a decade, dismissed it.
Cafaro teaches part-time at Youngstown State University for no salary. She said she wants to teach there or at another university next year.
As for what else she’ll do in 2017, Cafaro is uncertain: “I really love working with people and helping them.”
There’s some sort of evaluation process when state legislators decide what gets into the proposed Ohio biennial capital budget and what doesn’t make the cut.
One curious item that made it into the proposal is $300,000 for restrooms at the Columbiana County Fairgrounds in Lisbon.
It’s part of the $2.6 billion biennial capital-improvement bill unveiled earlier this week by the Republican leadership in the state Legislature.
The money for the restrooms comes from the community projects part of that proposed budget.
The $160 million given for community projects is a tiny percent of the capital budget. But because it’s largely pork handed out by state legislators it draws a lot of attention.
Requests for the community projects are supposed to go to state senators – typically the ones that represent agencies/organizations/businesses seeking money from that part of the capital budget.
Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, who represents Columbiana County, said the fairgrounds didn’t ask him or his office about the restrooms request.
State Rep. Tim Ginter of Salem, R-5th, also said he didn’t put in the request, but added he knew who did.
It was Senate President Keith Faber of Celina, R-12th, who made the request.
The fairgrounds’ toilets received $300,000, but not a penny is going toward a request to expand St. Joseph Warren Hospital’s emergency department or another from the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley for its own expansion and renovation project.
Obviously most projects – even the most worthy – didn’t get into the capital budget proposal.
It’s not unusual for the Senate president or the chairman of the finance committee to submit projects for money from the capital fund not from their districts, said John Fortney, spokesman for the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus.
Also, state House members and the governor’s office submit requests for funding, he said.
“If there’s money still out there [for worthwhile projects] and it makes sense, it could go into the capital fund,” Fortney said. “It’s investing in communities and community improvements. County fairgrounds and county fairs are very popular. It’s a chance for counties to show off what’s best about their county fairgrounds. You want those facilities to be in good shape and not in poor condition. That turns people off.”
While it’s still the proposed capital budget, getting it passed is “just a formality,” Schiavoni said.
One of the three community projects in Trumbull County is $67,500 for the renovation of the swimming pool at Waddell Park in Niles.
State Sen. Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, who represents Trumbull County, said she didn’t get the pool renovation request.
State Rep. Sean J. O’Brien of Brookfield, D-63rd, said he can’t remember if he submitted a request for that project, but it’s likely.
O’Brien said he spent his time working to get $1.2 million from the capital budget for an embarking and disembarking hub for the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna. Part of his push for funding included bringing in top Republicans from the state Legislature to tour the facility.
The project wasn’t included in the proposed capital budget.
Overall, $6,367,500 for 11 community projects in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties made the cut, an improvement from the last capital budget in 2014. That year, the three counties received $2,861,737 for seven projects.
This year, Mahoning County will receive $5.45 million with $3 million going to the planned Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Center.
Columbiana County will get $550,000 for three community projects – $300,000 for the fairground bathrooms, $200,000 for a bridge rehabilitation project in Lisbon, and $50,000 for work at the Beaver Creek Wildlife Education Center in St. Clair Township.
Despite having twice the population of Columbiana County, Trumbull County will receive only $367,500 for three community projects.
In addition to the pool in Niles, $200,000 is going for an elevator at the W.D. Packard Music Hall, and First Step Recovery, a drug and alcohol detox and treatment center, will get $100,000 for an expansion project. Both are located in Warren.
One project of note that didn’t get into the proposed capital budget was a request for $1,322,000 for renovations to Eastwood Field in Niles, a baseball park owned by the Cafaro Co., submitted by the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, the minor league team that plays its home games there.
The state senator’s family owns the stadium, but Cafaro said she “refused to even look at it.” It shows up on a list Schiavoni gave me of proposed projects.