FLASHBACK-3 YEARS AGO-A PAUL KOSTYU 2003 THANKSTGIVING AND A GIVING OF THANKS IN 2006

Note from John - Sally and I wish all of you and your families a very enjoyable Thanksgiving. With quite a few turkeys soon to be missing in action from Ohio's political landscape, all retirees should really be giving special thanks to those whose drive for reform has been accomplished on a measurable scale. I wish to extend a special thanks to Governor elect Strickland, Attorney General elect Marc Dann, Senator Teresa Fedor, all of you at CORE, Tom Mooney & those in the leadership of OFT who really do understand what has happened at STRS and aren't afraid to talk about why it happened, the Ohio Ethics Commission, and most of all ..... to our personal champions of reform: JOHN LAZARES & DENNIS LEONE. Although struggling as retirees, we need to reflect on the accomplishments of those who are looking out for our best interests. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Don't forget to give thanks for politicians
By Paul E. Kostyu, Copley Columbus Bureau chief
Canton Repository, November 28, 2003
COLUMBUS--Children and adults are often reminded at Thanksgiving that they should be thankful for all sorts of things.

Sure, we’re thankful for family and friends, food on the table and a roof over our heads. Those of us with one are thankful for having a job. Kids should be thankful for good teachers even though the education system in Ohio is in shambles.

We give thanks for those things every year. That’s routine.

But you don’t often hear people giving thanks for politicians, except maybe the lobbyists. But they do that privately, sometimes in the form of a check.

There are so many turkeys laying eggs around the Statehouse, it’s time someone publicly gave thanks for them. How could we not be thankful for the current flock that keeps our state government operating like an out-of-control megafarm? The supply of manure is so plentiful, the Statehouse lawn is always green.

The Statehouse remains upright only because of all the hot air that fills it. If you watch closely, the rotunda sinks a bit when legislators are on recess for an extended period of time. Though there are 12 entrances to the building, only four are used, ostensibly because security can be better maintained. But really it’s because officials thought too much hot air was escaping from the other doors and feared the whole building would collapse.

No, we have a lot to be thankful for in Columbus.

We have a governor who can’t get along with fellow Republicans any better than he gets along with Democrats. Rank-and-file Republicans have pushed his approval ratings so low that he would have a tough time getting elected. They don’t like his broken promise to not raise taxes without their consent. They don’t like his changing requirements for a concealed-weapon law. They didn’t like his Third Frontier high-tech bond proposal. Republican officials are hoping he won’t bring down the ticket in the next statewide election in 2006.

Speaking of that election, we can be thankful that there are three candidates — Betty Montgomery, Jim Petro and J. Kenneth Blackwell — running for the Republican Party nomination for governor. It’s really no fun when everyone knows who the party’s candidate will be. We can be thankful that the three are bickering among themselves and that Blackwell is actually running a referendum to repeal a Legislature-passed sales tax.

Speaking of money, who could not be thankful for state Treasurer Joseph Deters? Here’s a guy who walks into a House committee meeting one day empty-handed and walks out with the power to appoint the executive directors of the state’s five retirement systems. Sweet.

So what if Deters was linked to a pay-to-play system of campaign contributions from financial institutions when he last ran for treasurer? Imagine the pay-to-play system he or his successor could set up with power over the billions of dollars in the pension portfolios.

Speaking of Deters’ successor, who could not be thankful for House Speaker Larry Householder, who is in the market for a statewide office? He not only wants the treasurer to oversee the pension boards, he also wants to force them to use Ohio financial institutions for a certain percentage of their investment business.

Householder also has an uncanny knack for hiring some of the best legal minds in Ohio. One deputy legal counsel was giving legal advice without being licensed by the state. Another deputy legal counsel was arrested recently for being Columbus’ “naked photographer.” Dressed only in sunglasses, a knit hat and a camera, this guy accosted 40 women over 18 months before getting caught. Back in 2000, one of Householder’s budget analysts was charged with soliciting a prostitute (and then was found guilty of a lesser charge). Who can’t be thankful for that?

Speaking of pension funds, who could not be thankful for Herbert Dyer, former executive director of the State Teachers Retirement System? You’ve got to love a guy who says with a straight face, “It’s the board’s money and they can spend it however they want.”

Apparently members of the STRS board and those on the board of the Police and Fire Pension Fund agreed, based on their spending on travel, staff bonuses, meals and assorted other nice things while the portfolios tanked and health care costs went up.

And speaking of turkeys, shouldn’t we be thankful for our local lawmakers? Pass the gravy.

You can reach Copley Columbus Bureau Chief

Paul E. Kostyu at (614) 222-8901 or e-mail: paul.kostyu@cantonrep.com