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Ohio, region face big obstacles to progress
By Steve Hoffman
Beacon Journal editorial writer
Published on Thursday, Jan 08, 2009
From statewide and regional perspectives, expectations of frustration fill the air (along with snowflakes) as the new year gets under way.
Sure, in the nation's capital, there is hope, and some of it may rub off. The impending inauguration of Barack Obama and passage of a two-year economic recovery package of $775 billion (that's on the low side of current estimates) signal a change in direction, not to mention fiscal help for state and local governments that must balance their budgets in the here and now.
But prospects for quick progress in Northeast Ohio and the state on several critical fronts must be tempered with an unpleasant reality: Big changes mean overcoming big roadblocks.
There are no shortages of good intentions, meetings and reports.
On school funding, Ted Strickland has crisscrossed the state looking for new ideas. The governor promises a school-funding plan by the end of the month, as part of his two-year budget.
Meanwhile, a special commission began meeting this month in Columbus to figure out how to streamline local government, another important task necessary to move the state forward.
The commission's work dovetails with work by regional business-development groups and local officials, who are trying to build agreement on a new, high-tech economy and innovative tax-sharing and anti-sprawl policies.
What are the holdups?
Overall, Ohio, a state of city-states, finds it difficult to work as a whole. Strickland will benefit from a Democratic majority in the Ohio House, but the regional tensions will remain.
So will pressure from Republicans, who still control the Ohio Senate and who will clobber Strickland if he breathes a word about a tax increase. The Senate will become the GOP's power base as the party seeks to rebuild for the 2010 elections.
While Republicans can't afford to be viewed as obstructionists, they can't build a platform based on agreeing with Democrats all the time. The Bush legacy of highly divisive political campaigns, driven by wedge issues, will also make it difficult to find consensus.
Let's briefly return to education, arguably the most important issue statewide. Adding to the difficulties noted above, Ohio has more than 600 local school districts, each with its own board, and 14 public universities, each with a board of trustees that hires and fires the president.
Many of the states against which Ohio competes have countywide school districts and a more unified system of higher education.
The bottom line is that without a better-educated work force, Ohio will not be able to advance economically and attract young workers. Its aging population will need more services, but will be less willing to pay for them.
The attachment to a 19th-century model of local government remains strong despite its costs and choking effect on comprehensive planning and economic development. In the 1950s, when sprawl was starting, Ohio was ahead of the national average for income, masking costs.
According to a recent Brookings Institution report, by 2006 Ohio was 8 percent below the national income average. Yet the state has some 4,000 taxing districts, including more than 1,300 townships. In many suburbs, voters demand urban services.
One problem with taking action is that public-sector jobs have become very attractive, making consolidation all the more difficult. In the 1950s, the tradeoff for public-sector workers was job security, good benefits and retirement in exchange for relatively low wages. Well, wages are catching up, benefits are still high and opportunities in the private sector are drying up.
The other major problem is that elected politicians depend on each other. Many state officials have deep roots as local officials, and depend on a network of contacts for campaign help and campaign contributions. With term limits, legislators realize they may need to return to the jobs they once had.
At the local level, even though five fire trucks might show up at the same intersection from five departments, officials appeal to the voters' desire for local control. Rarely is the full cost of the administrative and political overhead made clear, or that savings could be diverted to, say, a shared piece of specialized equipment.
In Cuyahoga County, a comprehensive reform effort died last year, despite the county treasurer's estimate the county government wastes between $40 million and $60 million a year. Efforts to abolish mayor's courts also died.
Ohio helped elect Barack Obama president. Democrats control the Ohio House and the governor's office. Financial pressure on state and local government promises to get worse before it gets better. Yet in many ways, Ohio remains a conservative state, in the sense that fundamental changes to old ways and old structures do not come easily. Those who fail to come to grips with that part of Ohio's political legacy will find their thick reports landing with a dull thud, never to be seen again.
Hoffman is a Beacon Journal editorial writer. He can be reached at 330-996-3740 or e-mailed at slhoffman@thebeaconjournal.com.
From statewide and regional perspectives, expectations of frustration fill the air (along with snowflakes) as the new year gets under way.
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