Candidates field questions at annual AAUW forum

Candidates field questions at

annual AAUW forum

Candidates for the 2010 general election seeking local and state offices talked, jobs, government spending cuts, and fiscal responsibility this week during the annual Hillsboro Area American Association of University Women's candidates forum. 

Held Oct. 11 at the central campus of Southern State Community College, the event was sponsored by the AAUW, in conjunction with The Highland County Press and WVNU-FM. 

Virginia Purdy of the AAUW welcomed those in attendance. The event was moderated by Pat Hays, and the timekeepers were Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis and AAUW member Frances Larkin. 

The panel consisted of Ben Gullett, representing The Highland County Press; Cindi Pearce, former newspaper editor and reporter and currently a full-time freelance writer; and Sue Hillger of the AAUW. 

In the race for Highland County Commissioner, incumbent Democrat Gary Heaton and Republican challenger Jeremy Shaffer each talked about being fiscally responsible through the continued cutting of wasteful spending, and coming up with new ways to keep costs down in county offices. Candidates for Ohio's 86th District, Libertarian candidate Jacob Dawson, Democratic Candidate Bill Horne and Republican Candidate Cliff Rosenberger each said that they will find ways to bring jobs to Highland and surrounding counties, while making sure the tax burden on Ohioans is not increased. 

In the race for Ohio's 17th Senate District, Republican David Daniels, who currently serves the Ohio House's 86th District Representative, will face Galia County Commissioner Justin Fallon, a Democrat, on Nov. 2. 

Democrat Joe Roberts will face Republican incumbent Mike Turner in the race for Ohio's Third Congressional District. Turner did not attend the forum. 

Each candidate was given an opportunity for a two-minute opening statement, after which they were asked questions pertaining to the office to which they aspire. At one point, the candidates were reminded by Hays that this was not a debate, and that they were to answer only the questions that were asked of them and to not respond to answers given by their opponents. In conclusion, each candidate was given 90 seconds to make a closing statement. 

• Gary Heaton - "The reason I want to be re-eletcted is because of the job that we've done since DHL impact has hit us," Heaton said. "From the first year I was on the commission in 2007, to this year, we are spending $3 million less. We have made some cuts. Some of them were cuts that we didn't want to have to make, they were layoffs involving personnel, but they were necessary cuts. I want to continue those fiscal policies that we have in place. We are on a continual basis looking to try to keep finding ways to keep saving the county money. To bring people into the county that have new businesses, but most of all, we want to keep our businesses going. We want to be that bridge to help get new businesses started and keep businesses here in Highland County. 

Heaton was asked by the panel about funding issues with the county soil and water conservation office and the OSU Extension office and how the county assists with their respective budgets. He was also asked if he would support levies for the offices. 

"We put levies on, as you know, this year, and they were defeated soundly," Heaton said. "We're not going to go back to levies. I don't think anyone is in the mood to raise taxes right now. Our role, as far as with Extension, they turn in a budget to us, and those are the only two offices in the whole county that we are not mandated to fund. If we have extra money, then we fund those. In past years, I think we have been able to fund that to the tune of ... I think the most we funded in Extension was $230,000 and soil and conservation was $100,000. As our revenue started decreasing, it became very apparent that we could not fund those to those levels. We came to the conclusion that we were going to have to have a little more help. We have them working extensively with Ohio State University (and are meeting with other counties) to try to find a solution where all of us can have the same kind of services that we've expected here in the past."

Heaton said that is has been hard to cut programming that means so much to the county residents, but in these economic times, "people vote tax levies from their pocketbooks. They look week to week and month to month." Heaton said that generally 4-H and FFA members do not end up in juvenile court, and that approximately 60 percent of the total county budget goes toward the criminal justice system. Keeping 4-H programming alive is a long-term effort, with long-term benefits to the county, he said.  

He was later asked by the panel, taking into consideration a recent report from the County Commissioners' Association, how the county has streamlined offices and how additional collaborations might continue to save funds. 

Heaton said that the county commissioners closed the office of economic development because there was a tough choice between shutting down that office and laying off, potentially, more deputies at the Highland County Sheriff's Office. Heaton said that the commissioners elected to take on the responsibilities of economic development themselves. 

"This is one problem that I have with the (state level in Ohio)," Heaton said. "When they have a problem in one area, they penalize the whole state. In Cuyahoga County, they had some problems, and now they're lumping the whole of the state in with it. In Cuyahoga County, they may need some reform. Down here, I think our offices are working well, working very efficiently. When you look at all of our offices - and I see a couple of our county officials here and I'm sure that they know we've cut their dollars as much as we can and they're working more hours with a lot less people - we're still providing all our services here in Highland County. I think any talk of statewide reform, I think if you're going to have a problem in one area, fix that one problem there. Don't penalize the rest of the state."

• Jeremy Shaffer - As the current mayor of Lynchburg, Shaffer said that when he walked into the office, "We had negative fund balances, we had audit problems, and we had waste, fraud and abuses in our government there. And I was able to stop that. I rolled up my sleeves and dug in, and today, we've stopped the deficit spending and are on our way to fund surpluses in the village of Lynchburg. While doing that, we were able to continue to improve streets, ditches, sidewalks, and in the future now, we're going to build a place so that when the economy comes back Lynchburg will be the place businesses will want to come. When I am elected county commissioner in the fall, I plan to do a couple things. One, enhance community partnerships, private and public. I think we need to look at all the villages in the cities in the county and pool our resources so we can cut the budget. I also think we need to scrutinize the county budget line by line to stop any wasteful spending that might be there."  

The panel asked Shaffer his position on the current board of commissioners' consideration of consolidating the offices of Highland County Job and Family Services and Highland County Children Services, and whether he would support or oppose such a move. 

"Well, I've heard of it and I know some of the counties around us have done that," Shaffer said. "I know Clinton County combined theirs. I guess the number one reason for doing that would be to save money and pooling the resources together in the county, and try to run, operate with less funding, more efficiently. At this point I don't know enough about it, but I do know that it worked for counties around us, and it's something we need to seriously look at."  

Referencing discussions regarding the economy at the local state and national level, Shaffer was asked - as a small business owner - what recommendations he would bring to the county government that have not been taken by the present administration. 

"I think we need to start by going out to all of the communities in Highland County and seeing what we have good," Shaffer said. "We have a lot of good things here in Highland County. We have great schools, we have great small businesses here in the county and in the region, and we need to build a plan so that we can go out and promote Highland County better. That's where I would start. I would promote Highland County for what we have here in the county good, and sell it to people, sell it to other businesses to get them here. The other thing I think that is important right now - the big white elephant - is jobs. We can't just settle for what we have. We need to go out and we need to fight outside the county for jobs."

Shaffer said that immediately, Highland County needs to go to the Clinton County Port Authority, which owns the air park, and ask for a position on the port authority. Shaffer said that even if jobs are created in other neighboring counties, it still could put Highland County residents back to work. 

• Jacob Dawson - "We ned to get Ohio back in line so we can bring jobs back to Ohio," Dawson said. "We need to get our tax code back in line so we can be more competitive in attracting the businesses here. No matter which report you look at, Ohio always ranks in the top five on highest tax burdens of corporations and small businesses. We need to get that in line so we can attract the jobs here. We need to work on a balanced budget, and a balanced budget by budget cuts. If that means staffing cuts and department cuts, that's what we have to do and those are the tough decisions we need to make."

The panel asked Dawson why he felt a third party would be successful in the race.   

Dawson said he was running as a Libertarian candidate because he could not tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans, saying the parties were "like a two-headed snake."

He then referenced a question asked to a previous candidate regarding the state income tax, saying, "It was the fault of both the Republicans and Democrats that we didn't have a reduction in income tax. It was on the table, and we didn't get it. In order for that to happen, Republicans and Democrats both had to vote for that. So I feel it's important for a third party, a fourth party, fifth party, whatever it is, because there are so many unrepresented people out there that refer to themselves as Independents. They don't want to associate themselves with a Republican Party or a Democratic Party. We don't limit our free market to either Kroger or Walmart as the only two places you can shop. Why should we limit our government to Republican and Democrat as the only two people that you have to vote for."

Dawson was questioned on how he would improve Ohio's standing in the business tax index. 

"Not being a business owner, and not knowing the full tax structure, of our tax code and where it affects our businesses, and corporations, as representatives and senators making these decisions, we need to go out and talk to the businesses."

Dawson said that it was impossible to know everything about every single issue, which is why it is important to simply represent the people and their needs. 

"We need to find out what's impacting them the most, what's hurt them the most, and take those ideas back to Columbus to these problems fixed," Dawson said. "So they can expand, open more businesses, and hire more people."

• Bill Horne - "This district that we're running in for state representative is the worst district in the state as far as unemployment," Horne said. "Up through August, we were one, two, three (in Clinton, Highland and Pike counties). Now we're one, two, four. I look at the fact that when we get to Columbus, we're going to have a budget problem. It's going to be about a 20 percent problem. We've got about 55,000 to 60,000 employees of the state of Ohio and some of those are going to have to go. I'm certain there are all kinds of things we need to do, but when you look at Ohio government, it looks like it has grown kind of haphazardly over the years, and I don't think just touching the edges is what we're going to need to do. I think we need to sit down and take a look at the whole of state government and decide what we want to do. That won't happen overnight. 

When asked what areas he would cut in the state budget to eliminate the $8 billion deficit, Horne said that he would not increase taxes. 

"We may put a hold on the income tax because we replaced it with the Commercial Activities Tax (CAT) which actually hurts our businesses in competition with other states," Horne said. "As far as cutting the budget in Columbus we're looking at 20 percent, which would be four-day weeks (for state employees). What we really need to do is take a good hard look at our total government. It's just like any other bureaucracy. As a matter of fact, we have one here in the school (SSCC). We've got so many people in there now, I don't know who they are, or what they're doing. When times are good, we have a tendency to add things. When times are bad, we have to cut. This is going to be a long, hard look at those things. We don't have enough people left working in the state that we can increase taxes on the rest of us."  

With Medicaid and education accounting for much of the state's spending, Horne was asked what ares he would consider spending cuts and what areas he would not. 

Horne said that he could not think of a situation under which he would vote for a tax increase, unless unemployment rose by another 15 percent and there was no other alternative. Horne said he would not cut Medicaid or education. 

"I would consider, quickly, a four-day week. This is very similar to the tax question I had ... When I started teaching here at Southern State, the state of Ohio funded 60 percent of our budget. Today it's 35 percent."

He reiterated that layoffs to state employees should be considered. 

Horne said a recent round of budget cuts to higher education was able to be sustained due to rainy day funds that colleges were mandated to set up by former Gov. Bob Taft.

• Cliff Rosenberger - "I am running today because this election is about one thing, make no mistake about it," Rosenberger said. "It's about jobs, and bringing families back in Ohio and making Ohio a competitive state once again. I'm running because of my father, who lost everything he had when Cincinnati Milacron went under. I'm running because my mother was laid off at DHL, because my sister found better educational opportunities in another state right across the border in Kentucky. I'm running because of folks that are friends of mine (whose business had to close) because they can no longer keep up with the tax burden here in the state of Ohio. We have folks in the state that have treated these situations like the common cold and gave symptomatic relief but not solved the problems. It's time we stepped up and started solving the problems and not putting it down the road for other folks to take care of.

The panel asked Rosenberger his opinion regarding immigration and state's rights and if Ohio should assert its rights on the issue as Arizona recently has, and if he agreed, what steps should Ohio take. 

"It's simple," he said. "That's an area, if we have to, our states need to start stepping up and standing up for state's rights and pressing the issue with our federal government more like Arizona has. A simple answer to that simple question (sic)." 

Rosenberger did not comment further on that question, rather choosing to answer a question that was asked to another panelist. 

"I want to go back to the budget deficit and also something that Jacob said. "FIrst off, Democrats in Bill 318 raised income taxes retroactively 4.2 percent in just this last year. We're facing a $4.8 billion budget deficit that we need to talk about, but we need to look at a total package for Ohio that's going to address a lot of things. Making Ohio competitive should be our number one thing. Getting Bureau of Worker Compensation reform. Talking about our tax structure in the state of Ohio. Looking at de-regulations, and also, importantly, talking about how do we take our monies and stop these like that 'Three C' highway development" and the $400 million-rail system, "instead of taking that $400 million and putting it toward our current infrastructure so that we can provide jobs."

According to Rosenberger's website, he has signed a pledge to oppose any and all tax increases, and the panel asked how he plans to balance Ohio's budget without raising taxes. 

"It's very simple," he said. "It's making government more effective and more efficient." 

Through reform to programs worker's compensation and Medicaid, the state can look at "How can we make very good cuts without making cuts to critical services? How do we make Ohio competitive as a state? I don't think we have to do it by raising taxes. There's a lot of wasteful spending going on in Columbus and we have to go line by line, item by item in that budget and start making government more effective, more efficient, and getting it more responsible to the taxpayers here in the state."

• David Daniels - "Our area of the state has been hit hard by the current economy," Daniels said. "Rarely does a day go by that someone doesn't call our office who has lost a job, whose home is about to go into foreclosure, or some other problem that they have had as a result of our current economy. The next general assembly, the time that we spend there, and the issues we have are going to be about jobs. It's going to be about our economy, it's going to be about how we can deliver services as a state for less money, and how we can put Ohioans back to work. 

The panel questioned Daniels on the state pension funding, and how three of the five pension systems have asked the legislature for additional funding, yet have refused to make their records open to public scrutiny. 

"There have been proposals put out by the Ohio Retirement Study Commission that are suggestions to the legislature," Daniels said.  He said the sole purpose of the commission is to make sure the pension systems are sound, and that the legislature should pay attention to those reports because that will help solve many of the issues. 

"As far as more money into the system, we need to first of all look and make sure that their recommendations" regarding age and years of service are met before more money goes in, and to make sure that personal information like social security numbers are protected.  

"Public or not, your retirement is yours," Daniels said. "These are all very tricky issues, so we need to work through those."

Daniels was also questioned on how Ohio's Unemployment Compensation Trust fund "is broke" and whether or not he would support limitations on benefits or additional taxes on employers to fix the deficit. 

"First of all, we can't support additional taxes on employers," Daniels said. "Here we are, once again, talking about the regulatory structure, the tax structure, the workman's comp. In everything that we do, we cannot add additional responsibilities onto the employer. The one way to get this fund back into solvency is to put more people back to work. To have more people gainfully employed, that's going to be the way we're going to come out of every problem we've got. Every problem that the state faces right now, whether it's the state budget, whether it's home foreclosure issues, the biggest part of those, 90 percent of the problems we face get solved with more people employed. We need to make sure we're not driving capital out of this state, and all the time that these discussions are going on, everybody knows that we still have to fund police departments, we still have to fund fire departments and our public infrastructure. We can't be scared going into the next general assembly to take new ideas, and embrace them and debate them, because if we don't, we're going to find ourselves looking at how we are going to fix this problem (by) increasing the tax to get us through to the next five years, and there we've going to be again. These are the decisions that are going to shape the face of Ohio for the next half century. We have to be ready to make them, and willing to make them, and I look forward to that opportunity."

• Justin Fallon, a former Marshall University football player, said that as a county commissioner, he knows about fiscal responsibility. 

"We have maintained not only a balanced, but a carryover in our budget," Fallon said. "We've been able to do that just by fiscal responsibility. By sitting and working with the people in our community. Not only have we done that in our community. We have done that without raising taxes. We found other ways and other means to live within our budget, just like you and I have to do every day."

Fallon was asked by the panel how he felt regarding a proposed 10-percent reduction in state income tax - a bill that was supported by Daniels. 

"When you look at our state income tax, and you look at what we need to do, or the elimination of it, I ask the question, 'What do we replace it with?' What are you going to do to fill the gaps in that money," Fallon said. "I've never heard a response. On how we're going to take care of that problem. Folks, it is very important for our police protection, our fire protection, so many things in pubic service when you're looking at reducing that money. Where's it going to come from? Thank goodness someone paid for you and I for the protection and services that we have. What other options? Do we have to reduce the state income tax?If we have more jobs, if we grow our economy, won't that start fixing some of our budget gaps?"

Fallon was questioned on comments he made to The Chillicothe Gazette regarding how he believes state lawmakers need to stop funding programs that don't work, and could he elaborate on those programs and what he think needs to be cut. 

"On that statement, that was talking about once we go there, and once we had things in front of us," Fallon said. "That's one of the biggest things that we need to make sure in this next biennium, that whenever we sit down and we're trying to fix this budget, we need to make sure that the programs that we are funding, we need to make sure that they are beneficial to our communities. We need to make sure they are beneficial to the families of southern Ohio, to the tax-paying families, and the seniors, the veterans, our children. 

"We also need to make sure that when we're looking at programs, we're looking at duplication of services," he said. "Are we doing things in a streamline? Those are all ways we can start saving money. Those are things that we done on the county level when we came into office. To make sure that was wasn't doing the same job twice, that you was paying for that same job twice. 

• Joe Roberts - "I decided to run for this seat, this year, because for the first time in a long time, there's just not real representation for us in Washington. There are three and a half counties in my district, and two of those counties have the highest unemployment rates in the state of Ohio, two of them have the highest poverty rates  in the state of Ohio, and there's just not real opportunity - economic or otherwise - for people to stay here and for kids to come back home after they go to college, to build lives here and build families here as well."

Roberts said he is committed to making all communities in the district places where there are opportunities for Ohio's residents.  

When asked what role government should take in addressing private sector job losses, Roberts said that he knows jobs are "first and foremost" on everyone's mind. "There is a lot that Congress can do," he said, and that there has been a lot of discussion about the role government plays in citizens' lives. 

"I'm a Democrat, and I do believe in smaller government," Roberts said. "We have a fundamental question about 'Where are we going in this country and what is the role of government.' I think that we shouldn't look at government as an employer. We should look at government as an enabler for employment. We don't have that right now. Frankly, Congress isn't doing anything. We have a broken Congress that's not working for people, and that's what we need to get back to." 

Roberts said that a "jobs bill that was passed last week" was not voted for by Rep. Mike Turner, and Roberts thinks there needs to be a stronger jobs bill with more tax breaks "to small and large companies that will put displaced workers back to work." Congress should also give tax breaks to companies willing to expand their businesses in impoverished areas "that are willing to take that chance and take that gamble and put people back to work where there really hasn't been that sort of job market in the past." 

He was later questioned on Highland County's placement in the Third Congressional District, which is predominantly an urban area, and if he could talk about his familiarity with Highland County and the issue it faces. Roberts said he agreed the county seemed out of place, and that it has not had proper representation ever since it was put in the district. However, he would like to change that. 

"I've been down here talking to folks, and the issues that come up - other than jobs - are quite different." 

Roberts said that he has learned about Highland County agriculture community and "I think the concerns are different, I think the funding is different. I think there are different funding mechanisms that Congress has in place that interact with you county that don't interact with the other counties in the district. So I do think it's a unique situation where we've got two different types of systems in place, and how do you reconcile that? I've been going out of my way to make sure I'm talking to people who work in ag, talking to people who rely on these things every day and get a feel for the difference. I'm not going to just represent Dayton. That's a big problem. Everybody in this district is a member of the district. Everybody is a constituent. And so everybody needs to have an equal say and an equal voice. Everybody needs to have their needs and concerns addressed. Currently, I don't think we have that. 

Candidates for the 2010 general election seeking local and state offices talked, jobs, government spending cuts, and fiscal responsibility this week during the annual Hillsboro Area Chapter of the American Association of University Women's Candidates Forum. 

Held Oct. 11 at the central campus of Southern State Community College, the event was sponsored by the AAUW, in conjunction with The Highland County Press and WVNU-FM. 

Virginia Purdy of the AAUW welcomed those in attendance. The event was moderated by Pat Hays, and the timekeepers were Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis and AAUW member Frances Larkin. 

The panel consisted of Ben Gullett, representing The Highland County Press; Cindi Pearce, former newspaper editor and reporter and currently a full-time freelance writer; and Sue Hillger of the AAUW. 

In the race for Highland County Commissioner, incumbent Democrat Gary Heaton and Republican challenger Jeremy Shaffer each talked about being fiscally responsible through the continued cutting of wasteful spending, and coming up with new ways to keep costs down in county offices. Candidates for Ohio's 86th District, Libertarian candidate Jacob Dawson, Democratic Candidate Bill Horne and Republican Candidate Cliff Rosenberger each said that they will find ways to bring jobs to Highland and surrounding counties, while making sure the tax burden on Ohioans is not increased. 

In the race for Ohio's 17th Senate District, Republican David Daniels, who currently serves the Ohio House's 86th District Representative, will face Galia County Commissioner Justin Fallon, a Democrat, on Nov. 2. 

Democrat Joe Roberts will face Republican incumbent Mike Turner in the race for Ohio's Third Congressional District. Turner did not attend the forum. 

Each candidate was given an opportunity for a two-minute opening statement, after which they were asked questions pertaining to the office to which they aspire. At one point, the candidates were reminded by Hays that this was not a debate, and that they were to answer only the questions that were asked of them and to not respond to answers given by their opponents. In conclusion, each candidate was given 90 seconds to make a closing statement. 

• Gary Heaton - "The reason I want to be re-eletcted is because of the job that we've done since DHL impact has hit us," Heaton said. "From the first year I was on the commission in 2007, to this year, we are spending $3 million less. We have made some cuts. Some of them were cuts that we didn't want to have to make, they were layoffs involving personnel, but they were necessary cuts. I want to continue those fiscal policies that we have in place. We are on a continual basis looking to try to keep finding ways to keep saving the county money. To bring people into the county that have new businesses, but most of all, we want to keep our businesses going. We want to be that bridge to help get new businesses started and keep businesses here in Highland County. 

Heaton was asked by the panel about funding issues with the county soil and water conservation office and the OSU Extension office and how the county assists with their respective budgets. He was also asked if he would support levies for the offices. 

"We put levies on, as you know, this year, and they were defeated soundly," Heaton said. "We're not going to go back to levies. I don't think anyone is in the mood to raise taxes right now. Our role, as far as with Extension, they turn in a budget to us, and those are the only two offices in the whole county that we are not mandated to fund. If we have extra money, then we fund those. In past years, I think we have been able to fund that to the tune of ... I think the most we funded in Extension was $230,000 and soil and conservation was $100,000. As our revenue started decreasing, it became very apparent that we could not fund those to those levels. We came to the conclusion that we were going to have to have a little more help. We have them working extensively with Ohio State University (and are meeting with other counties) to try to find a solution where all of us can have the same kind of services that we've expected here in the past."

Heaton said that is has been hard to cut programming that means so much to the county residents, but in these economic times, "people vote tax levies from their pocketbooks. They look week to week and month to month." Heaton said that generally 4-H and FFA members do not end up in juvenile court, and that approximately 60 percent of the total county budget goes toward the criminal justice system. Keeping 4-H programming alive is a long-term effort, with long-term benefits to the county, he said.  

He was later asked by the panel, taking into consideration a recent report from the County Commissioners' Association, how the county has streamlined offices and how additional collaborations might continue to save funds. 

Heaton said that the county commissioners closed the office of economic development because there was a tough choice between shutting down that office and laying off, potentially, more deputies at the Highland County Sheriff's Office. Heaton said that the commissioners elected to take on the responsibilities of economic development themselves. 

"This is one problem that I have with the (state level in Ohio)," Heaton said. "When they have a problem in one area, they penalize the whole state. In Cuyahoga County, they had some problems, and now they're lumping the whole of the state in with it. In Cuyahoga County, they may need some reform. Down here, I think our offices are working well, working very efficiently. When you look at all of our offices - and I see a couple of our county officials here and I'm sure that they know we've cut their dollars as much as we can and they're working more hours with a lot less people - we're still providing all our services here in Highland County. I think any talk of statewide reform, I think if you're going to have a problem in one area, fix that one problem there. Don't penalize the rest of the state."

• Jeremy Shaffer - As the current mayor of Lynchburg, Shaffer said that when he walked into the office, "We had negative fund balances, we had audit problems, and we had waste, fraud and abuses in our government there. And I was able to stop that. I rolled up my sleeves and dug in, and today, we've stopped the deficit spending and are on our way to fund surpluses in the village of Lynchburg. While doing that, we were able to continue to improve streets, ditches, sidewalks, and in the future now, we're going to build a place so that when the economy comes back Lynchburg will be the place businesses will want to come. When I am elected county commissioner in the fall, I plan to do a couple things. One, enhance community partnerships, private and public. I think we need to look at all the villages in the cities in the county and pool our resources so we can cut the budget. I also think we need to scrutinize the county budget line by line to stop any wasteful spending that might be there."  

The panel asked Shaffer his position on the current board of commissioners' consideration of consolidating the offices of Highland County Job and Family Services and Highland County Children Services, and whether he would support or oppose such a move. 

"Well, I've heard of it and I know some of the counties around us have done that," Shaffer said. "I know Clinton County combined theirs. I guess the number one reason for doing that would be to save money and pooling the resources together in the county, and try to run, operate with less funding, more efficiently. At this point I don't know enough about it, but I do know that it worked for counties around us, and it's something we need to seriously look at."  

Referencing discussions regarding the economy at the local state and national level, Shaffer was asked - as a small business owner - what recommendations he would bring to the county government that have not been taken by the present administration. 

"I think we need to start by going out to all of the communities in Highland County and seeing what we have good," Shaffer said. "We have a lot of good things here in Highland County. We have great schools, we have great small businesses here in the county and in the region, and we need to build a plan so that we can go out and promote Highland County better. That's where I would start. I would promote Highland County for what we have here in the county good, and sell it to people, sell it to other businesses to get them here. The other thing I think that is important right now - the big white elephant - is jobs. We can't just settle for what we have. We need to go out and we need to fight outside the county for jobs."

Shaffer said that immediately, Highland County needs to go to the Clinton County Port Authority, which owns the air park, and ask for a position on the port authority. Shaffer said that even if jobs are created in other neighboring counties, it still could put Highland County residents back to work. 

• Jacob Dawson - "We need to get Ohio back in line so we can bring jobs back to Ohio," Dawson said. "We need to get our tax code back in line so we can be more competitive in attracting the businesses here. No matter which report you look at, Ohio always ranks in the top five on highest tax burdens of corporations and small businesses. We need to get that in line so we can attract the jobs here. We need to work on a balanced budget, and a balanced budget by budget cuts. If that means staffing cuts and department cuts, that's what we have to do and those are the tough decisions we need to make."

The panel asked Dawson why he felt a third party would be successful in the race.   

Dawson said he was running as a Libertarian candidate because he could not tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans, saying the parties were "like a two-headed snake."

He then referenced a question asked to a previous candidate regarding the state income tax, saying, "It was the fault of both the Republicans and Democrats that we didn't have a reduction in income tax. It was on the table, and we didn't get it. In order for that to happen, Republicans and Democrats both had to vote for that. So I feel it's important for a third party, a fourth party, fifth party, whatever it is, because there are so many unrepresented people out there that refer to themselves as Independents. They don't want to associate themselves with a Republican Party or a Democratic Party. We don't limit our free market to either Kroger or Walmart as the only two places you can shop. Why should we limit our government to Republican and Democrat as the only two people that you have to vote for."

Dawson was questioned on how he would improve Ohio's standing in the business tax index. 

"Not being a business owner, and not knowing the full tax structure, of our tax code and where it affects our businesses, and corporations, as representatives and senators making these decisions, we need to go out and talk to the businesses."

Dawson said that it was impossible to know everything about every single issue, which is why it is important to simply represent the people and their needs. 

"We need to find out what's impacting them the most, what's hurt them the most, and take those ideas back to Columbus to these problems fixed," Dawson said. "So they can expand, open more businesses, and hire more people."

• Bill Horne - "This district that we're running in for state representative is the worst district in the state as far as unemployment," Horne said. "Up through August, we were one, two, three (in Clinton, Highland and Pike counties). Now we're one, two, four. I look at the fact that when we get to Columbus, we're going to have a budget problem. It's going to be about a 20 percent problem. We've got about 55,000 to 60,000 employees of the state of Ohio and some of those are going to have to go. I'm certain there are all kinds of things we need to do, but when you look at Ohio government, it looks like it has grown kind of haphazardly over the years, and I don't think just touching the edges is what we're going to need to do. I think we need to sit down and take a look at the whole of state government and decide what we want to do. That won't happen overnight. 

When asked what areas he would cut in the state budget to eliminate the $8 billion deficit, Horne said that he would not increase taxes. 

"We may put a hold on the income tax because we replaced it with the Commercial Activities Tax (CAT) which actually hurts our businesses in competition with other states," Horne said. "As far as cutting the budget in Columbus we're looking at 20 percent, which would be four-day weeks (for state employees). What we really need to do is take a good hard look at our total government. It's just like any other bureaucracy. As a matter of fact, we have one here in the school (SSCC). We've got so many people in there now, I don't know who they are, or what they're doing. When times are good, we have a tendency to add things. When times are bad, we have to cut. This is going to be a long, hard look at those things. We don't have enough people left working in the state that we can increase taxes on the rest of us."  

With Medicaid and education accounting for much of the state's spending, Horne was asked what ares he would consider spending cuts and what areas he would not. 

Horne said that he could not think of a situation under which he would vote for a tax increase, unless unemployment rose by another 15 percent and there was no other alternative. Horne said he would not cut Medicaid or education. 

"I would consider, quickly, a four-day week. This is very similar to the tax question I had ... When I started teaching here at Southern State, the state of Ohio funded 60 percent of our budget. Today it's 35 percent."

He reiterated that layoffs to state employees should be considered. 

Horne said a recent round of budget cuts to higher education was able to be sustained due to rainy day funds that colleges were mandated to set up by former Gov. Bob Taft.

• Cliff Rosenberger - "I am running today because this election is about one thing, make no mistake about it," Rosenberger said. "It's about jobs, and bringing families back in Ohio and making Ohio a competitive state once again. I'm running because of my father, who lost everything he had when Cincinnati Milacron went under. I'm running because my mother was laid off at DHL, because my sister found better educational opportunities in another state right across the border in Kentucky. I'm running because of folks that are friends of mine (whose business had to close) because they can no longer keep up with the tax burden here in the state of Ohio. We have folks in the state that have treated these situations like the common cold and gave symptomatic relief but not solved the problems. It's time we stepped up and started solving the problems and not putting it down the road for other folks to take care of.

The panel asked Rosenberger his opinion regarding immigration and state's rights and if Ohio should assert its rights on the issue as Arizona recently has, and if he agreed, what steps should Ohio take. 

"It's simple," he said. "That's an area, if we have to, our states need to start stepping up and standing up for state's rights and pressing the issue with our federal government more like Arizona has. A simple answer to that simple question (sic)." 

Rosenberger did not comment further on that question, rather choosing to answer a question that was asked to another panelist. 

"I want to go back to the budget deficit and also something that Jacob said. "FIrst off, Democrats in Bill 318 raised income taxes retroactively 4.2 percent in just this last year. We're facing a $4 (billion) to $8 billion budget deficit that we need to talk about, but we need to look at a total package for Ohio that's going to address a lot of things. Making Ohio competitive should be our number one thing. Getting Bureau of Worker Compensation reform. Talking about our tax structure in the state of Ohio. Looking at de-regulations, and also, importantly, talking about how do we take our monies and stop these like that 'Three C' highway development" and the $400 million-rail system, "instead of taking that $400 million and putting it toward our current infrastructure so that we can provide jobs."

According to Rosenberger's website, he has signed a pledge to oppose any and all tax increases, and the panel asked how he plans to balance Ohio's budget without raising taxes. 

"It's very simple," he said. "It's making government more effective and more efficient." 

Through reform to programs worker's compensation and Medicaid, the state can look at "How can we make very good cuts without making cuts to critical services? How do we make Ohio competitive as a state? I don't think we have to do it by raising taxes. There's a lot of wasteful spending going on in Columbus and we have to go line by line, item by item in that budget and start making government more effective, more efficient, and getting it more responsible to the taxpayers here in the state."

• David Daniels - "Our area of the state has been hit hard by the current economy," Daniels said. "Rarely does a day go by that someone doesn't call our office who has lost a job, whose home is about to go into foreclosure, or some other problem that they have had as a result of our current economy. The next general assembly, the time that we spend there, and the issues we have are going to be about jobs. It's going to be about our economy, it's going to be about how we can deliver services as a state for less money, and how we can put Ohioans back to work. 

The panel questioned Daniels on the state pension funding, and how three of the five pension systems have asked the legislature for additional funding, yet have refused to make their records open to public scrutiny. 

"There have been proposals put out by the Ohio Retirement Study Commission that are suggestions to the legislature," Daniels said.  He said the sole purpose of the commission is to make sure the pension systems are sound, and that the legislature should pay attention to those reports because that will help solve many of the issues. 

"As far as more money into the system, we need to first of all look and make sure that their recommendations" regarding age and years of service are met before more money goes in, and to make sure that personal information like social security numbers are protected.  

"Public or not, your retirement is yours," Daniels said. "These are all very tricky issues, so we need to work through those."

Daniels was also questioned on how Ohio's Unemployment Compensation Trust fund "is broke" and whether or not he would support limitations on benefits or additional taxes on employers to fix the deficit. 

"First of all, we can't support additional taxes on employers," Daniels said. "Here we are, once again, talking about the regulatory structure, the tax structure, the workman's comp. In everything that we do, we cannot add additional responsibilities onto the employer. The one way to get this fund back into solvency is to put more people back to work. To have more people gainfully employed, that's going to be the way we're going to come out of every problem we've got. Every problem that the state faces right now, whether it's the state budget, whether it's home foreclosure issues, the biggest part of those, 90 percent of the problems we face get solved with more people employed. We need to make sure we're not driving capital out of this state, and all the time that these discussions are going on, everybody knows that we still have to fund police departments, we still have to fund fire departments and our public infrastructure. We can't be scared going into the next general assembly to take new ideas, and embrace them and debate them, because if we don't, we're going to find ourselves looking at how we are going to fix this problem (by) increasing the tax to get us through to the next five years, and there we've going to be again. These are the decisions that are going to shape the face of Ohio for the next half century. We have to be ready to make them, and willing to make them, and I look forward to that opportunity."

• Justin Fallon, a former Marshall University football player, said that as a county commissioner, he knows about fiscal responsibility. 

"We have maintained not only a balanced, but a carryover in our budget," Fallon said. "We've been able to do that just by fiscal responsibility. By sitting and working with the people in our community. Not only have we done that in our community. We have done that without raising taxes. We found other ways and other means to live within our budget, just like you and I have to do every day."

Fallon was asked by the panel how he felt regarding a proposed 10-percent reduction in state income tax - a bill that was supported by Daniels. 

"When you look at our state income tax, and you look at what we need to do, or the elimination of it, I ask the question, 'What do we replace it with?' What are you going to do to fill the gaps in that money," Fallon said. "I've never heard a response. On how we're going to take care of that problem. Folks, it is very important for our police protection, our fire protection, so many things in pubic service when you're looking at reducing that money. Where's it going to come from? Thank goodness someone paid for you and I for the protection and services that we have. What other options? Do we have to reduce the state income tax?If we have more jobs, if we grow our economy, won't that start fixing some of our budget gaps?"

Fallon was questioned on comments he made to The Chillicothe Gazette regarding how he believes state lawmakers need to stop funding programs that don't work, and could he elaborate on those programs and what he think needs to be cut. 

"On that statement, that was talking about once we go there, and once we had things in front of us," Fallon said. "That's one of the biggest things that we need to make sure in this next biennium, that whenever we sit down and we're trying to fix this budget, we need to make sure that the programs that we are funding, we need to make sure that they are beneficial to our communities. We need to make sure they are beneficial to the families of southern Ohio, to the tax-paying families, and the seniors, the veterans, our children. 

"We also need to make sure that when we're looking at programs, we're looking at duplication of services," he said. "Are we doing things in a streamline? Those are all ways we can start saving money. Those are things that we done on the county level when we came into office. To make sure that was wasn't doing the same job twice, that you was paying for that same job twice. 

• Joe Roberts - "I decided to run for this seat, this year, because for the first time in a long time, there's just not real representation for us in Washington. There are three and a half counties in my district, and two of those counties have the highest unemployment rates in the state of Ohio, two of them have the highest poverty rates  in the state of Ohio, and there's just not real opportunity - economic or otherwise - for people to stay here and for kids to come back home after they go to college, to build lives here and build families here as well."

Roberts said he is committed to making all communities in the district places where there are opportunities for Ohio's residents.  

When asked what role government should take in addressing private sector job losses, Roberts said that he knows jobs are "first and foremost" on everyone's mind. "There is a lot that Congress can do," he said, and that there has been a lot of discussion about the role government plays in citizens' lives. 

"I'm a Democrat, and I do believe in smaller government," Roberts said. "We have a fundamental question about 'Where are we going in this country and what is the role of government.' I think that we shouldn't look at government as an employer. We should look at government as an enabler for employment. We don't have that right now. Frankly, Congress isn't doing anything. We have a broken Congress that's not working for people, and that's what we need to get back to." 

Roberts said that a "jobs bill that was passed last week" was not voted for by Rep. Mike Turner, and Roberts thinks there needs to be a stronger jobs bill with more tax breaks "to small and large companies that will put displaced workers back to work." Congress should also give tax breaks to companies willing to expand their businesses in impoverished areas "that are willing to take that chance and take that gamble and put people back to work where there really hasn't been that sort of job market in the past." 

He was later questioned on Highland County's placement in the Third Congressional District, which is predominantly an urban area, and if he could talk about his familiarity with Highland County and the issue it faces. Roberts said he agreed the county seemed out of place, and that it has not had proper representation ever since it was put in the district. However, he would like to change that. 

"I've been down here talking to folks, and the issues that come up - other than jobs - are quite different." 

Roberts said that he has learned about Highland County agriculture community and "I think the concerns are different, I think the funding is different. I think there are different funding mechanisms that Congress has in place that interact with you county that don't interact with the other counties in the district. So I do think it's a unique situation where we've got two different types of systems in place, and how do you reconcile that? I've been going out of my way to make sure I'm talking to people who work in ag, talking to people who rely on these things every day and get a feel for the difference. I'm not going to just represent Dayton. That's a big problem. Everybody in this district is a member of the district. Everybody is a constituent. And so everybody needs to have an equal say and an equal voice. Everybody needs to have their needs and concerns addressed. Currently, I don't think we have that.