Former mayor, former senator vie for Senate

admin October 21st, 2008

MARION - A former two-term state senator and former three-term mayor face off in the race for the 26th Ohio Senate District seat.

Karen Gillmor of Tiffin defeated State Rep. Steve Reinhard, R-Bucyrus, in the Republican primary, while Tom Kruse of Marysville was unopposed in the Democratic primary. The winner Nov. 4 will succeed Sen. Larry Mumper, R-Marion.
Tom Kruse

Kruse, three-term mayor of Marysville, said a lawmaker must be able to work with his colleagues in the legislature.

“As I see it nobody goes into the legislature if they looked at this thing carefully and say, ‘I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that,’ because you have to have the cooperation of other people,” said Kruse, who chose not to seek re-election as mayor after his latest term ended in 2007.

He said political animosity has reduced the effectiveness of the statehouse to address the most pressing issues such as job creation, economic development, school funding, energy and health care.

“People are ready to see the Legislature get away from the polarized, divisive atmosphere that pervades down there and tackle some of these things,” he said.

“Everything dovetails” into economic development, he said, referring specifically to education and health care.

He said state lawmakers have failed to address the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling that a school funding system based too heavily on property tax revenue is unconstitutional.

“We need to look at a way of funding schools in the state of Ohio that’s fair,” Kruse said, calling for a state income tax, “not a district income tax” to be the basis for a new school funding system. He suggested Ohio look to other states whose school funding systems work more efficiently “and take the good things that fit.”

He said while he currently would support a state income tax-based school funding system state lawmakers should not attach mandates on school districts.

“I think they should be audited to know what they’re doing with the money, but I don’t think we should sit at the state level and mandate programs and mandate curriculum,” Kruse said. Curriculum decisions should be controlled by the individual school boards.

“If we can come to a determination that this is how we define a good education for every student in the state of Ohio and this is what it costs to reach that, then it’s obvious to me it makes sense for the state to provide the money to do that on a per-pupil basis without adding additional mandates that dilute the value of the money (school districts are) receiving.”

He said some of what happens regarding health care in Ohio will depend on what the federal government does to address the issue.

“My personal belief is we’ve got to get to a single-payer system where we don’t have a situation where the low-risk are siphoned off by various companies, and the high-risk are left to fend for themselves, because there’s no way anybody can insure just high-risk people and make it affordable.”

“I do not advocate throwing out the entire health-care system,” he said. “I think we’ve got the best system technologically in the world. The problem is accessibility for everybody at an affordable price. Once we deal with that issue, then we can tinker with the other things and fine-tune them.”

Kruse called for a comprehensive energy plan, saying, “I don’t think there’s any single answer to that. It’s not ethanol. It’s not clean-burning coals. It’s not nuclear. It’s all of those things.” He said public/private partnership is needed to resolve the problem, adding that Ohio has the expertise available to do so.

“We need to make our electric and gas companies not just producers and deliverers of electric and natural gas, they should be energy companies, and they should be involved in developing that.”

“All of these things could create huge amounts of jobs,” he said. He said as senator he would “surround myself with people that are smarter than me and give them the latitude to challenge me. It’s building relationships number one. Number two it’s fostering open and public discussion. Then number three it’s trying to build a consensus on an issue whereby we come up with a solution that’s in the public sector that serves the people that elected us. This isn’t about me. It’s not about political power. … It’s about how do we make this place a better place to live for the state of Ohio, in this case Senate District 26.”

He said state lawmakers can spur economic development in Ohio by reducing the “overlapping layers of government” that “are taxing in some way and ultimately when you start adding all that up it becomes a large burden on new business, and we need to be taking a look at that.”

Kruse said as a former mayor he offers voters a candidate who understands the needs of small communities and how the legislature can help such communities. He said his ownership for 25 years of a building services business also provides him with valuable experience.

“I guess I feel I am more experienced (than Gillmor) in dealing with the needs of people in small towns and small communities and even individual families than she does,” he said. “I’ve accomplished a lot in the time that I’ve been in public service. And I just plain care. I can’t say it any more than that.”

Karen Gillmor

Jobs and the economy is the “overriding issue” in Ohio, said Gillmor, who speaks of introducing legislation that would give tax incentives to manufacturers refurbishing their production lines.

The two-term senator of the 26th District of Ohio, first elected in 1992, said she may address the state’s need for economic development and employment the way she did in her earlier statehouse tenure.

“I authored a bill that created a manufacturer’s tax credit, which allowed manufacturers who want to buy new equipment or retool old equipment for old product lines to have a tax credit, and that bill brought $2 billion of new money into Ohio in its first two years, which went to local schools and local governments,” Gillmor said.

She said she was told that when the Commercial Activity Tax took effect, the manufacturer’s tax credit was eliminated. A conversation with officials at Cardinal Health, the state’s largest employer, informed her that the C.A.T. tax “is not helpful to” the company “so if it’s not helpful to Ohio’s largest company, I think somebody should have looked at it before it passed. I’ve heard the C.A.T. tax is not doing what Ohio lawmakers had intended it do to.”

“I think people are particularly interested in manufacturing flourishing again in Ohio because that industry provides a living wage for its workers as opposed to the service industry jobs,” she said.

Noting the state’s dependence on the automobile industry, Gillmor praised Honda as “truly a success story. That’s partly because it’s responsive to what the public wants as opposed to the American automotive industry.”

She said her experience as a state senator provides her with valuable insight into the workings of government and how it can help Ohioans and her experience as wife of the late Congressman Paul Gillmor provided her with insight into the experiences of other nations.

Gillmor, who cited term limits as a factor in her leaving the Senate during her second term for a position with the State Employment Relations Board, said she has helped constituents in pursuit of funding by accompanying them as they pleaded their cases with influential bodies such as the Track Committee, which prioritizes projects in the state.

“Of course, nagging behind the scenes is real helpful. I’ve had a lot of luck with road projects,” she said, referring to her efforts on behalf of a U.S. 42 bypass around Plain City, which ran out of construction money before it was finished. “I went to the governor and said, ‘You can’t do that because Honda needs it and Bellefontaine is the highest point in Ohio and has fog most times of the year. … At the top of one of the mountains is a truck depot of semis. When they turn onto two-lane 33 there can be terrible accidents.” Funding was transferred from another project in Cleveland, “and the road was able to be finished.”

Gillmor, who was principal co-sponsor for the bill that created the Ohio School Facilities Commission, which has spent $6.9 billion to assist school districts in building new facilities, said Ohioans will hold Gov. Ted Strickland to his announced intention to find a more effective way to fund school operations.

She said she has attended one of Strickland’s listening posts about education and did not like what she heard.

“As the mother of three children in public school, no, I really didn’t,” she said, adding that legislation must be initiated to ensure funding for gifted students.

She said, for example, when the No Child Left Behind act went into effect, in order to fund the mandates of the law Illinois “was completely wiping out any gifted funding. So in most states the funds are going to the learning disabled to the detriment of the gifted children, and that’s a great concern of mine. Learning-disabled children have their own set of hurdles that may be different than those of gifted children. … Learning-disabled children have their own categories of funding, but I think (the teaching) of academically gifted children should be funded.”

The rising cost of health care must be addressed, as well, but likely won’t be completely resolved, she said.

“We’ll always have more health-care need than we will dollars to meet it, but I do know from traveling to over 75 countries with my husband while he was in Congress that nationalized health care is a sure way to bankruptcy for the country,” she said. She said the two tiers of care, one private pay and the other nationalized care, that exist in England, France and Germany “wouldn’t fly here. But you want to meet the needs of as many as you can at the highest level as you can.”

She said the United States doesn’t want to sacrifice the high quality of medical research and development it has in an effort to resolve the health-care cost and coverage issue.

Gillmor points to her performance as state senator as reason for voters to choose her over Kruse on Nov. 4.

“I would vote for me because I have a proven record of accomplishment in state government, and I have brought tax dollars back to the community, which I think is very important,” she said. “You pay (taxes) to Columbus. You should get the benefit of it and not have it go to Cleveland. And I have a good record of solving problems, and I emphasize in my office good constituent service to help citizens solve their problems with government. I also think my values more closely align with the majority of voters in this district. … I’m fiscally conservative and socially conservative, and I think most voters are in this district.”

Marion Star Candidate Interviews on Video

admin October 21st, 2008

Candidates for state, federal races share views

admin October 16th, 2008

Candidates for the 5th Congressional District seat, the 26th District Ohio Senate seat and the 81st District Ohio House of Representatives seat shared their views about various issues Wednesday evening. Following are excerpts from their statements.

5th District

* Incumbent Bob Latta, Republican -”It’s been my honor over the last 10 months to represent the 5th Congressional District, and (it’s) very unfortunate that (because of Paul Gillmor’s death) that I am in this seat, but I have been blessed with some great constituents that are great to represent. … Again, this (financial situation) is going to be going on not just with this generation, but for generations to come, and we want to make sure that we have a way to get out of this mess.”

* George Mays, Democrat -”We need jobs, and the policies that we’ve had in place the last few years have shoveled hundreds of thousands of jobs out of our area. … As far as energy goes, I’ve been saying for a long time, when oil was $30 a barrel, that we needed nuts-and-bolts hard plans to build renewable resource power plants across our power grid. It is more imperative, even now, is it not? No matter how much we drill, we will never have enough oil to supply all the energy use of the American people.

26th District

* Karen Gillmor, Republican - “When my husband passed away, I thought that going to Congress would not be the right thing to do for our family since my children had just lost their dad, but I thought about when people came to me and said, ‘Go back to the statehouse because in years of term limits, we need your expertise.’ … It’s been one of the best jobs I’ve had because I help people.”

* Thomas Kruse, Democrat - “We put programs in place, and we never look at whether they’re relevant anymore, and we need to be doing that in state government and saying, ‘Hey, this one isn’t relevant,’ or ‘We aren’t using it,’ but there’s still a bureaucracy in place, and we’re paying for it, and I think that we need to make a concerted effort that we get in there over a period of time and look at these things on a regular basis and make sure we eliminate the ones we don’t need and utilize that money more effectively.”

81st District

* Andrew Kashmer, Democrat -”In a global economy, you should be able to live and work in your hometown. I want every high school graduate to have that opportunity. … Without the best schools, we can’t have the best jobs, and that’s what we need right now. We need good-paying jobs. We need jobs that pay a living wage, 40 hours a week.”

* Incumbent Jeff Wagner, Republican -”I’ve had the pleasure to represent the 81st District for the past six years. During that time, I’ve tried very hard to be accessible to the citizens of the district. I’ve attended a lot of council meetings, a lot of trustee meetings, a lot of school events. Anywhere I was invited to be, I’ve been there.”

Candidates for 26th Senate seat share views

admin October 15th, 2008

By Melissa Topey, mtopey@advertiser-tribune.com

Karen Gillmor said she hears people’s concerns are the economy, the banking system - even though a federal issue impacts the attitude of residents, and whether they spend money right now, which hurts the local economy and tax revenue.

With the downturn in the economy there is more demand for unemployment compensation, workers compensation, Medicaid and other benefits provided by the state.

“Our state budget for the next two years is looking bleak. I think we have to look at how we got into the situation,” Gillmor said.

Jobs

She said the situation, according to the National Tax Foundation, is the state is the fifth-highest in aggregate tax burden; add that to what residents pay in federal, state and local taxes Ohio is the fifth-highest in the country impacting jobs.

“Normally, businesses do not want to locate in high tax states,” Gillmor said.

She said that foundation reported Ohio was 46th in attractiveness to new business.

Michigan was rated 29th. Gillmor said she would look to that state.

“Even though the auto industry is struggling in Michigan, which impacts the suppliers here in Ohio, they seem to be doing something better then we are,” Gillmor said.

She said people are afraid of how they are going to pay their bills and that overshadows any other issue.

“Legislatures with experience in these issues are very needed right now and that’s why I decided to come back to the legislature,” Gillmor said. “I think everyone deserves a chance at a better life.”

She said she would look at the tax structure and whether the Commercial Activity Tax, passed in 2005, is beneficial.

She said there may be an issue with the state’s workers compensation that could affect how attractive Ohio is to employers.

“I understand it appears to be broken again,” Gillmor said.

She said she already has a background in workers’ compensation that she may be able to help address.

Gillmor said she previously helped in obtaining a manufacturer’s tax credit that helped them buy new equipment or retool to try different product lines, resulting in $2 billion into the Ohio economy.

“I think we can do that again or something similar to stimulate manufacturing in Ohio. Those are high wage jobs that can support families,” Gillmor said.

Education

She has been spending her summer looking at financing education for kindergarten through 12th grade.

“Looking to see whether there might be unfunded mandates that perhaps we can do away with,” she said.

She also is looking at other ways to fund or partial fund our education system.

“School districts resent having to go back to the voters year after year to pass levys or local income tax to support schools. I’ve asked experts to help me in that endeavor,” Gillmor said.

She said she has worked in many areas of education.

Health care

Gillmor said she has worked in health care where she started the physician relation program at the Ohio State University Medical Center.

She started there Center for Heath Care Policy and Research, the only one in Ohio. This allow the medical center to have access to federal funds.

She has been a proponent of programs educating people about the need for early detection for breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Difficult times

“I think that with Ohio experiencing difficult times, much more difficult I would say than the average state in America, I think you need someone with strong experience and a proven record,” Gillmor said.

Bio

* Bachelor of arts degree with honors from Michigan State University. Master of arts degree and a Ph.D. degree from the Ohio State University.

* Elected in 1992 to the first of two terms in the State Senate representing the 26th district.

* Chairman of the Senate Insurance, Commerce, and Labor committees.

* Chairman of the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee.

* Vice Chair of the Senate Health Committee.

* Gillmor was married to U.S. Rep. Paul E. Gillmor, who died Sept. 5, 2007.

Gillmor, Kruse vie for 26th District seat

admin October 15th, 2008

By KRISTINA SMITH HORN
Watchdog/enterprise reporter
FREMONT — During the five years Karen Gillmor served in the Ohio Senate, she helped create a state agency that gives money to build and repair schools and secured $15 million for projects in her district.

After an 11-year hiatus, she wants the job back.

“I think you can best judge what someone will do in the future by what they’ve done in the past,” said Gillmor, R-Tiffin. “I don’t think you can argue with performance. My record shows that I am an effective voice for change and have the experience and leadership necessary to tackle the critical issues facing our citizens here as well as the whole state.”

She is running against former Marysville Mayor Tom Kruse Nov. 4 to represent the 26th district, which includes Sandusky County and parts of southern Ottawa County. The winner will replace Sen. Larry Mumper, R-Marion, who has reached term limits.

Kruse, a Democrat, feels he gained the experience during his 12 years as mayor to help resolve some of Ohio’s biggest problems — the poor economy and school funding.

“I have a history of getting things done,” said Kruse, whose last term ended in December. “I know the needs of small towns. I’ve got a history of building relationships and fostering discussions.”

During his terms as mayor, Marysville doubled its geographic size, added industry and paved miles of streets, built a 1.3-million gallon reservoir and will open a $150 waste water treatment plant this year, a project Kruse initiated, he said.

“We’ve got a great deal of people coming into the city every day to work instead of a mass exodus,” he said. “We just generally improved the quality of life in the city.”

Gillmor, widow of U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor, was a senator from 1992 to 1997.

She left the Senate in 1997 when Gov. George Voinovich appointed her to the State Employment Relations Board. She served on the board, which resolves labor disputes, for 10 years.

In the Senate, she wrote legislation that created the Office of Women’s Health Initiatives, which was the first of its kind in the country and has served as a model for other states, she said. The office, which is part of the Ohio Department of Health, offers information about women’s health and advocates for funding research on diseases and health issues.

She proposed a tax credit to manufacturers who added new equipment or new products. The measure created $2 billion in new money in its first two years after 400 Ohio companies, including Whirlpool in Clyde, took advantage of it, she said.

Gillmor also helped create the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission, a state agency that allocates money to school districts to build new schools and renovate and repair old buildings. Since 1997, the commission has given $6.9 billion to Ohio school districts, according to Gillmor’s Web site. And she co-sponsored legislation to renew State Issue II funding for local roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

Her accomplishments led her to receive the Outstanding Freshman Legislator Award from the United Conservatives of Ohio and a similar honor from the National Republican Legislators District.

Currently, she said she is working with officials in the various counties in the 26th district to identify projects they want to complete and determine whether the work can be done.

“I keep my promises,” she said. “I’m effective. I don’t promise anything I can’t do.”

She said she has worked in finance as the vice president of Huntington Bank and in health care as the manager of physician relations at the Ohio State University Medical Center. This experience would help her deal with major issues facing the state — the economy, school funding and the rising cost of quality health care, she said.

Ohio needs to reduce taxes and provide economic incentives for business to locate here, she said. Ohio has the fifth highest state/local tax burden in the country, she said.

“The cost of doing business in Ohio is too high, due to the cost of government, the cost of an aging infrastructure, the cost of retaining and expanding business in this state and the cost of health care, to name a few,” she said. “Attracting new, good jobs helps communities prosper. We can do better, and that is one of the reasons I am running for the Senate again — to provide good opportunities for our children.”

To help the economy improve, Kruse said the state needs to put an emphasis on manufacturing, something it has not done in recent years. Communities need to have the infrastructure and sites ready, so companies can build their factories and get to work, he said.

“These generally are the higher-paying jobs,” he said. “We’re not in any position where we can provide the jobs for our young people. Now they’re leaving, with the jobs.”

When it comes to school funding, the state has made some improvements, but more work is needed, Gillmor said. She is working on a plan to address this problem, she said.

“Legislators have been trying to resolve this issue for decades, so it’s going to take a little bit to figure out what I want to do,” she said.

Kruse has a three-part approach to the problem. First, the state must define what a quality education is, he said.

“It’s not teaching to standardized tests,” she said. “It’s got to be something else.”

Next, the state needs to determine how much it costs to give each student a quality education. Then, legislators must provide the necessary amount of funding to provide Ohio students with a quality education, he said.

“We’ve got to do away with the property tax as the means of funding it,” he said. “At least to start the discussion, I would take a look at favoring income tax. Then it will have the people who can afford to pay it paying it.

“It won’t be our elderly who are on fixed incomes.”

Kruse also believes political power moves and disagreement between parties have kept the state from resolving major issues. He said he is running to help Ohioans and has no political career goals.

“This ‘us versus them mentality’ has taken its toll on the people of the 26th District,” he said. “The only way to improve the quality of life for you and your family is with an attitude and common sense approach of commitment, cooperation and consensus.”

E-mail Kristina Smith Horn at mkhorn@gannett.com.

Middle schoolers sample politics

admin October 11th, 2008

By Kevin Risner, krisner@advertiser-tribune.com

UPPER SANDUSKY-Students at Upper Sandusky Middle School got first-hand exposure to politics and government Friday. The school held a political street fair with elected leaders and candidates from around the area meeting with students in small groups.

This is the third presidential election year during which the school has hosted the event.

“I feel it’s all part of the educational process,” Principal Jim Wheeler said. “First of all, we’re trying to create critical thinkers, and think about things, think about every issue. There’s a second political aspect to it. These kids are five to six years away from voting, and I’d like them to start the process of thinking now.”

Wheeler participated as a presenter along with several elected officials and candidates.

Wheeler’s repeated his advice to students: “I told the kids in my session, ‘don’t listen to the garbage on TV. You can watch Keith Olbermann and you can listen to Rush Limbaugh but that’s all for ratings. You need to think for yourself. The sooner you start the better because when you walk into a polling booth you need to know what you are voting for. You need to be prepared for that.’”

About 30 elected officials, candidates and representatives of officials participated in the event. Along with several local officials from Wyandot County were others: U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green; Ohio Supreme Court Justices Robert Cupp and Judith Lanzinger; Former State Senator and current State Senate candidate Karen Gillmor; a representative for U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown; and a representative from Gov. Ted Strickland.

Each of the presenters talked to students about their public task and answered questions.

Wheeler said the school will continue with events leading up to the Nov. 4 general election.

“We culminate on the Monday before the general election with a mock vote,” Wheeler said. “We do the president. We also do the local issues or candidates.

“We assign 50 rooms in the building a separate electoral vote. There’s a eighth grade classroom that is California. There’s a kindergarten classroom that may be Vermont. We deal with it as much as we possibly can up through the election.”

Wheeler, who spoke to students about the presidential election, said students commented on issues similar to those faced by their parents.

“The war came up and a little bit of healthcare came up,” Wheeler said. “They are concerned. They can see what’s going on. It came up in one session, we asked ‘how many in your family or close to you has lost a job?’ Like 75 percent of the (hands in the) room went up. So I think the kids are even looking at it from an economy standpoint.”

Candidates share ideas

admin September 26th, 2008

By LESLIE BIXLER
Staff writer

FREMONT — Sandusky County residents had the chance to meet the candidates who are running for office in November Thursday night at the Vanguard Technology Center’s lecture lab.

The iDecide 2008 Candidate Forum was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Sandusky County.

The three parts of the forum consisted of the candidates introducing themselves, a presentation of topics and questions from the audience. There were between 100 and 130 people in attendance.

Sandusky County Economic Development Director Kay Reiter said the purpose of the forum was so the public could get to know the candidates and make informed decisions at the polls.

During the presentation of topics, candidates answered a question that they were given several weeks ago, and they were given three minutes to speak.

The first candidate was democrat George Mays, who is running against Bob Latta for the U.S. House of Representatives 5th District. Latta was unable to make the forum. The question was: “What do you feel our most important issues are as a country and how do you plan to resolve them?” Mays talked about coordinating groups such as chambers of commerce and economic development groups to generate ideas. He also briefly touched on energy saying, “We need to put renewable resource power plants across our grid.”

Republican Karen Gillmor and democrat Tom Kruse — who are running for State Senate 26th District — were both in attendance. They were given the same question as Mays although it focused more on the state’s issues. Gillmor said the most important issue facing the state is the economy and how many young people leave Ohio to find jobs elsewhere. She said a while ago the area received $2 billion of new money when Whirlpool developed a new mechanism for washing machines. While that is a positive for our area, at the state level, she said “We’re losing companies, big companies.” She is also focused on education, healthcare and agriculture.

Kruse said a lack of jobs, economic development, healthcare, energy and education are all issues facing the state. He spoke highly of manufacturing.

“I think we need high-paying manufacturing jobs,” he said.

Republican Jeff Wagner and his opponent Democrat Andrew Kashmer answered the same question. Kashmer is vying for state representative of the 81st District, a position Wagner currently holds.

Wagner talked about promoting business growth and development in Ohio. He also said worker’s compensation is a big issue and he supports privatizing it.

Kashmer said Ohio needs green jobs, the schools need to be strengthened and predatory lending needs to end. He is also against the two mega farms moving to the west end of the county.

Republican Terry Thatcher, a current county commissioner, wants to hold onto his seat after the race against Democrat Glenn Baker. Those running for commissioner were asked, “What makes you qualified to manage resources and revenue, and what have you done to prepare yourself to be an effective commissioner in January?”

Thatcher was elected commissioner in 1996. “In my 12 years of service we renovated the courts in Woodville and Clyde, upgraded voting equipment and constructed a new juvenile detention center,” he said.

Baker said he has 37 years of management experience with companies such as Ohio Bell and AT&T among others. He has served as the mayor of Lindsey and sat on village council.

“You learn to be frugal and use all of your resources,” he said. He has attended commissioner’s meetings since 2005 to learn the county government issues.

Democrat Michael Hetrick and Republican Dan Polter are also vying for a commissioner’s seat. Hetrick said he worked 35 years with a construction company and knows how to work with revenue.

Polter said he has experienced good years and bad years with his farming business. “In county government, you can’t spend what you don’t have,” he said.

Democrat Don Nalley is vying for the Sandusky County Treasurer position and is running against current treasurer, Republican Irma Celestino. They were asked what they see as the two major issues and how they will resolve them.

Celestino said two issues are payment of delinquent taxes and foreclosures. Nalley’s concerns are balancing the county checkbook and foreclosures.

As for the judges, they could address a topic of their choice.

John Dewey and Norman Solze are vying for Sandusky County Common Pleas Court Judge Harry Sargeant Jr.’s seat. Dewey, who is currently the judge for the county court in Clyde, is focused on a timely response in decisions and community corrections. Solze said he has more than 35 years of experience in all areas of the law, and has been assistant prosecuting attorney for eight years.

“I pledge to make all my decisions within 30 days,” he said.

Barbara Ansted, Roger Hafford and David Dorobek are vying for Judge James Sherck’s seat. Hafford was appointed in April after Sherck retired. While Ansted talked about what she looks for in a judge, Dorobek said he would remain true to himself as he is running as an independent. He currently serves as the magistrate, and has held the position since 1999.

Hafford agreed with his opponents in what they said. He told the audience that if they want to know who the best candidate is for the job, they can ask the local attorneys. He also talked about foreclosure cases.

Brad Culbert and Brad Smith were also in attendance as they campaign for the juvenile/probate judge seat, which Culbert has had for 18 years. Culbert talked about how he has more than 600 hours of judicial education and has heard more than 15,000 cases.

“This is not a job you can learn on the fly,” he said.

Smith, a county commissioner, said, “I’ve decided to dedicate my adult life to serving my community. Culbert and I believe in a lot of the same things. The question is how do you do it. …That’s where we disagree.” He went on to say saving a child is expensive between treatment and punishment. In being a commissioner, he has heard cases, applied the law and came to a decision. Smith is also an attorney.

County Prosecutor Tom Stierwalt, Sheriff Kyle Overmyer, County Engineer James Moyer, County Recorder Colleen Carmack and Clerk of Courts Warren Brown — who are all running unopposed — were also in attendance.

The forum will be aired on the local cable television Channel 13 at 6 p.m. Oct. 4 and at 9 a.m. Oct. 5.

E-mail Leslie Bixler at lbixler@gannett.com

Karen Gillmor wins Senate primary (Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum)

admin March 5th, 2008

TIFFIN — With a majority of precincts reporting, Karen Gillmor (R-Tiffin), a former two-term State Senator, has won the primary for the 26th Ohio Senate District with more than 60% of the vote over State Rep. Steve Reinhard.

Gillmor said, “I am extremely grateful to the voters for their support. I certainly appreciate their confidence in giving me the opportunity to bring my experienced leadership back to the Ohio Senate. I want to thank Representative Steve Reinhard for a positive, well-run campaign. He has served the constituents of his House District well, and I wish him well in his future endeavors.”

“Our state is facing tough economic times. In 1997, Ohio’s tax burden was 20th in the nation. Today, it is the 5th highest. Ohio’s heavy tax burden places our state near the bottom nationally in attractiveness to new businesses. We must work diligently to reduce taxes and create the kind of economic development opportunities new businesses seek. By providing incentives and streamlining regulations, our current businesses can be encouraged to expand. We must concentrate our economic efforts to reduce taxes, cut wasteful government spending, and bring high wage jobs back to Ohio.”

“As your State Senator, I will work every day to provide the positive changes that hardworking families in the 26th District want and deserve. My previous record in the Ohio Senate clearly demonstrates I can and will do just that,” Gillmor said.

Ohio’s 26th State Senate District includes all of Sandusky County, Wyandot County, Crawford County, Marion County, Logan County, Union County as well as parts of Ottawa County and Seneca County.

Karen Gillmor Wins Ohio Senate Primary

Press Office March 4th, 2008

TIFFIN, OHIO- With a majority of precincts reporting, Karen Gillmor (R-Tiffin), a former two-term State Senator, has won the primary for the 26th Ohio Senate District with 60% of the vote over State Rep. Steve Reinhard.

Gillmor said, “I am extremely grateful to the voters for their support. I certainly appreciate their confidence in giving me the opportunity to bring my experienced leadership back to the Ohio Senate. I want to thank Representative Steve Reinhard for a positive, well-run campaign. He has served the constituents of his House District well, and I wish him well in his future endeavors.”

“Our state is facing tough economic times. In 1997, Ohio’s tax burden was 20th in the nation. Today, it is the 5th highest. Ohio’s heavy tax burden places our state near the bottom nationally in attractiveness to new businesses. We must work diligently to reduce taxes and create the kind of economic development opportunities new businesses seek. By providing incentives and streamlining regulations, our current businesses can be encouraged to expand. We must concentrate our economic efforts to reduce taxes, cut wasteful government spending, and bring high wage jobs back to Ohio.”

“As your State Senator, I will work every day to provide the positive changes that hardworking families in the 26th District want and deserve. My previous record in the Ohio Senate clearly demonstrates I can and will do just that,” Gillmor said.

Ohio’s 26th State Senate District includes all of Sandusky County, Wyandot County, Crawford County, Marion County, Logan County, Union County as well as parts of Ottawa County and Seneca County.

Karen’s First Television Ad

admin March 3rd, 2008

 

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