Richard Cordray: Restore Accountability to Ohio Politics

Ohio voters need more accountability in the political system. This year, Bob Taft became the first Ohio governor ever to be convicted of a crime while serving in office. Three grand juries are investigating the "paytoplay" culture that is rotting our state government. State officials now admit that hundreds of millions of dollars held in trust for injured workers have been lost. Millions of dollars invested by political cronies in rare coins and other bizarre items were either stolen or squandered with no real oversight. This time around, the abuses involve Republicans, but the problems are systemic.

The system is broken. Who can deny it? With this many state officials involved, and none willing to accept responsibility, the voters of Ohio must recognize that the entire culture has to be changed to keep these problems from ever happening again.

In November, the voters will have the chance to voice their frustration with the scandals in Columbus and make changes to ensure more accountability. A package of reform measures will appear on the ballot this fall that deserves the public's support. For the first time in many years, the people will be able to overhaul the system and show the politicians once again who is the real boss.

Issues 2, 3, 4, and 5 are the new broom that will sweep clean in Ohio politics. These measures would:

● allow any Ohioan to vote early, during the month before an election, reducing long lines on Election Day and making it easier to exercise the right to vote;

● reduce campaign contributions from $10,000 down to $2,000 per person, and restore the historical ban that kept "paytoplay" corporate money out of Ohio politics;

● establish an independent redistricting process to create competitive districts, forcing politicians to compete for our votes without rigging districts in their own favor;

● take control over elections away from a single partisan official and place it with a bipartisan state board modeled on the local boards that run elections in every county.

These common sense reforms will be vigorously opposed by the entrenched politicians and the lobbyists who foot the bill to keep them in power. The forces that have grown fat off the status quo will put every obstacle in the path of reforms that give average voters more say over their own government. The current system allows a privileged few to help themselves. They will not give up their power without waging a nasty fight. Already, two lawsuits have been filed to block a vote on these reforms; both were dismissed as frivolous. Now it is the people's turn to speak.

Early voting is a sensible measure that is already working well in other States. It will give people an alternative to standing in long lines on Election Day, losing their right to vote if they cannot afford the wait. It is especially suited to people with no flexibility in their working hours, for those who might have to pull a long shift on Election Day, or for working parents who might have problems with their child care.

Reducing the limits on campaign contributions is equally sensible. Last year, the legislature welcomed big money into Ohio politics by raising contribution limits from $2,500 to $10,000 per individual, a figure that is almost unheard of elsewhere in the country. The reform measure would roll back that change and restore Ohio's historical ban on corporate money in political campaigns. It is a scandal that we let politicians pick their voters, rather than the other way around. Last year, the Presidential race in Ohio was decided by about 2% of the vote, yet Ohio legislators won reelection by an average of over 35%. They did so based on district maps drawn to protect incumbents. We need to restore competition to our politics so that our representatives actually represent - and have to listen to the voters. That is the democratic way. Seats so safe that they are routinely won by overwhelming margins make the politicians who "own" them virtually unaccountable.

Finally, many people were upset last year that administration of the presidential election became so partisan. Ohio's chief elections officer was the chairperson for one of the Presidential candidates! Use of a bipartisan state board would do away with a referee who wears the jersey of one of the teams. Instead, this proposal is modeled on bipartisan local boards that already run elections now in every county.

Ohio is facing serious problems. We lead the nation in home foreclosures and bankruptcy filings. Worst of all, we are losing more young people each year than any other State in the country, young people who are moving away to find a future elsewhere. These problems are more fundamental than Republicans or Democrats - they affect all Ohioans. Until the voters make the politicians listen, nothing is likely to change. But if the people get their bullhorns out this fall and vote Yes on Issues 2, 3, 4, and 5, then we can begin to say goodbye to the failed status quo and make Ohio great again.

Richard Cordray, the Franklin County Treasurer, is an active supporter of the measures proposed by Reform Ohio Now as Issues 2, 3, 4 & 5 on the November ballot.