- Connect
- Login
- Print Subscription
|
Welcome,
| |
| |
- Most Commented
- Most Commented
- Most Emailed
- Most Emailed
- Popular
- Popular
Will controversy hurt sales tax renewal?
Published:Friday, October 30, 2009
MOVING ON: Brad Bauman, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s communications director for nearly three years, has resigned to take a job with an organization that focuses on political transparency. Ryan of Niles, D-17th, named Erick Sanchez as Bauman’s successor. Sanchez helped run new media operations — Facebook, for example — for Ryan and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meeks, a Democrat from Florida, since the beginning of 2008. Bauman’s new job is communications director for the Sunlight Foundation. The organization, created in 2006 and based in Washington, D.C., provides information to the public that promotes “government transparency and government accountability,” Bauman said. The organization creates and maintains political and government databases and works to make it easier to understand what the federal government is actually doing — a monumental task to say the least. The organization can be found online at sunlightfoundation.com. skolnick@vindy.com |
Mahoning County commissioners and county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains want answers.
Why did the county board of elections fail to send them the ballot language of a half-percent sales tax for review?
Was it done purposely and by whom?
So the commissioners are having the county sheriff’s department conduct a criminal investigation to see what happened.
It turned out that Danielle O’Neill, the clerk responsible for sending letters to political entities with issues on Tuesday’s ballot, didn’t just pick out the county’s sales tax issue.
She forgot to send them to every entity with a tax issue on the ballot. The board has sent tax language to those entities as a courtesy for years.
Mistakes were made. But elections officials say nothing criminal was done.
No conspiracy, elections officials say. Just an oversight, they say.
The clerk will be suspended for five days. Thomas McCabe, the board director, will be suspended for three days for failing to properly supervise the clerk.
Yet the commissioners refuse to call off the investigation.
Investigators from the sheriff’s office requested the county board of elections provide documents related to the procedures in writing ballot issue language.
An investigator recently interviewed O’Neill.
That the investigation into potential criminal activity over this issue hasn’t stopped is angering board of elections members.
“The call for a criminal investigation is absolutely ridiculous,” said Mark Munroe, elections board vice chairman. “The suggestion of a grant conspiracy to sabotage the sales tax is ridiculous.”
Sheriff Randall Wellington said his department will continue its investigation, regardless of how long it takes.
The commissioners are showing no signs of asking Wellington to stop the investigation.
Commissioner David Ludt was at the board of elections office Thursday to learn what he could about the ballot problem.
The initial issue raised by commissioners and Gains was the ballot language for the half-percent sales tax.
The language states the sales tax would provide “additional general revenues.”
The commissioners and Gains say that language isn’t accurate. The tax proposal is for a continuous period. It’s been on the ballot before as a five-year renewal.
They also say the language misleads voters.
But the language came from a resolution written by the prosecutor’s office and approved by county commissioners.
If the elections board had sent the language, as it always does, to the county, the problem would have been resolved, Gains said.
That may not necessarily be so.
The Ohio secretary of state’s office says the elections board wrote proper ballot language for the sales tax issue.
On top of that the same thing happened in Columbiana County with its sales tax issue on the Tuesday ballot.
The secretary of state’s office sided with that county’s elections board on using “additional” revenue for that tax.
Despite what Mahoning County officials believe the language probably wouldn’t have been changed.
In an interesting twist, the vocal complaints by those blaming the board of elections for this problem have made the county sales tax issue a front-page story.
It was flying under the radar until the commissioners and Gains made it a big issue.
There are no guarantees the sales tax will pass Tuesday, but negative attention is not going to help.
Comments
What potential charges could play out from such an investigation? Will you be printing the language for us to review before going to vote Tuesday?
The language of Issue 4:
Headline reads: Proposed sales and use tax Mahoning County
Body of the issue: A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.
The Board of County Commissioners of Mahoning County propose to levy a sales and use tax in the amount of 1/2 percent for the purpose of PROVIDING ADDITIONAL GENERAL REVENUES, effective October 1, 2010, for a continuing period of time.
Shall the resolution of the Mahoning County Commissioners proposing a 1/2 percent sales and use tax be approved?
Shouldn't headline read: 'Proposed sales and use tax ( * ) Mahoning County' ???
* i.e. ADDITIONAL or RENEWAL or CONTINUOUS in parentheses
If it does not, to answer your question, "Will controversy hurt sales tax renewal?" - the answer is 'Yes.'
It does not.
The controversy will not affect my vote.
The fact that it is a continuing levy will, and I'm voting no because of that.
the cliff is getting closer...more like the cliff is gone
Just vote NO. Don't give the Democrooks monies to waste on their friends and family employed by the county. That extra .5% sales tax would look good in my empty wallet right now.
Talk about loyalty, friends tell me that Gains had a lot of nerve calling for this young ladies head. From what I am told just about everything he has from his law degree to his job of prosecutor this young ladies late father played a big role in helping him accomplish it. I asked some older dems who knew the late Judge and they told me without his help Gains wouldnt have even gotten into law school, that he clerked for the late Judge when he got out of school and the Judge helped his first run for prosecutor. I cant wait till you run again Gains I cant wait. But then in this valley we have very short memories.