TEA Party Groups Recommend Ron Young for Grendell Senate Seat

Release:

GeaugaCounty - October 31, 2011 - In a letter addressed to Ohio Senate Leader Tom Niehaus, House Speaker Bill Batchelder and Governor John Kasich today, leaders of the Geauga, Lake and Portage County TEA Parties announced
that they are recommending Ohio Representative Ron Young for appointment to the Ohio 18th Senate District seat being vacated by former Senator Tim Grendell. With the redistricting of Ohio Senate and House districts in October, the counties of Lake, Geauga and Portage, will be sharing the same senator. Members and leaders of the three county TEA Party groups thought that it was important to make a recommendation for this important seat and made the effort to interview in person as many of the 12 potential candidates as possible. Over the past two weeks, the group interviewed eight of the most qualified candidates for one hour each in an effort to come up with its recommendation. Ron Young was unanimously favored for the appointment by the committee.

In making the announcement, Michael J. Petruziello, President of the Geauga County TEA Party said: In an effort to have representation that fits the needs of the people, it was necessary to evaluate applicants and make a recommendation as to who would represent us for the remainder of this Senate term vacated by Senator Grendell. Since Portage and Lake counties are now in the same district with Geauga County, I felt that it was necessary for their input to help recommend a viable candidate that we could all support in 2012 and beyond. Representative Ron Young fulfills the requirements that Lake, Portage and Geauga County Tea Paries are looking for in a candidate that represents our values.

Chuck Laughlin, Co-Director of the Lake County TEA Party, added: "We recognize the importance of citizens being involved in their self-governance. In light of this responsibility and duty, we have participated in the process to make this recommendation. We have found state representative Ron Young to have consistently demonstrated a conservative voting record and to hold to the principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets. Therefore, we are pleased to make this recommendation."

Tom Zawistowski, Executive Director of the Portage County TEA Party said: "We are not currently part of this new senate district, but will be starting next year. We understand that the Republican Party needs to appoint someone who is both in the current senate district and also lives in what will be the new senate district, so that they will be able to run for re-election next year after the appointment. Under those conditions, we were happy to be invited to participate in the vetting process and we were impressed by many of the potential candidates. Ron Young has a conservative record during the years that he has served in the Ohio House and we believe that he is now ready, willing and able best serve in the Ohio Senate. We encourage the Republican Leadership to appoint Ron as we believe that he best represents the interests of all the citizens of Lake, Geauga and Portage Counties. We will look forward to their appointment decision."

The TEA Party is not a political party but a grassroots cultural movement. The movement is educating American citizens about the Constitution and the historical body of knowledge that our founders relied upon to create the uniquely American form of self-governance that has made our country so successful. Through this education, the movement is attempting to re-define what it means to be an American citizen by encouraging individual participation in governance at all levels to more closely align government with its traditional role as originally defined by the nation's founders.

Process for Replacement in 18th District Seat

Release:

(Columbus) - Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond) announced today the process to fill a pending vacancy in Ohio's 18th District Senate seat.

Due to the upcoming changes to Ohio's senate districts as a result of reapportionment, the Senate Republican Caucus will not accept applications until the Apportionment Board completes its work and the new 18th District lines are finalized. At that time, the Senate will announce a specific timeline for the application process.

Once the timeline is in place, the Senate will follow the same process for filling a vacancy that has been used for previous appointments:

* Applications will be required for consideration
* Applications must be sent or hand-delivered to the Senate office in the Statehouse
* A Screening Committee made up of several members of the Republican Caucus will interview candidates
* The Screening Committee will make a recommendation to the entire Republican Caucus

Incumbent Senator Tim Grendell will be leaving the 18th District seat on September 21 to become a judge of the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas.

Remember, folks, Senator Tom Niehaus retroactively raised our taxes!

Grendell Rumor

I've been hearing that Tim Grendell is working his contacts in order to try and find his way into a leadership role. I think that would be a huge mistake.

While Grendell has the reputation for being a conservative, he has gone off the reservation a few times. Most notably, he lent support to a Democrat in the 63rd Ohio House race and when that candidate won, his own county party censured him. Grendell's response? He quoted someone named Ronald Regan. (Third item down.) That's right: He doesn't even know how to spell the name of the greatest president we've had in our lifetime. Bottom line is that Tim Grendell helped the Democrats take over the Ohio House.

Tim Grendell has connections to Alex Arshinkoff and that ain't good either...

Look, Grendell has a pretty solid pro-life record, but that ain't enough anymore.

Ohio Health Care Freedom Act Update

State Representatives Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and Barbara Sears (R-Maumee) praised the Ohio Senate for taking action on the Ohio Health Care Freedom Act saying:

“Senate Bill 244, introduced by Senators Shannon Jones and Tim Grendell, is a vital step toward ensuring that Ohioans will maintain control over their own health care. With our state already facing an $8 billion budget deficit in the next budget, the last thing Ohio’s families need is a pricy, substandard mandate that will diminish their access to vital services while driving up costs on the taxpayers and small businesses.

“This is a turning point in our state’s history that can either spur us to protect the interests of our state, or bankrupt Ohio’s families and grow our deficit. It’s clear which side House Insurance Committee chairman Dan Dodd and the House majority has chosen by silencing our Ohio Health Care Freedom Act, which we proposed in August 2009. Because the House majority refused to give this measure due consideration, I am pleased that our colleagues in the Senate have stepped forward to provide leadership on this issue.

“In the wake of the federal health care bill’s passage, Senate Bill 244 will ensure that Ohio is not soaked with new federal taxes or mandates and help give Ohioans a voice on the health care reform issue.”

If you support this legislation, you will want to sign this petition to keep the momentum going strong.

Grendell for AG?

This just in from one of my millions of sources somewhere in the battleground state of Ohio:

State Sen. Tim Grendell's wife won the Mega Millions lottery. Not sure for how much - Friday's was 144 million and Tuesday's was 14 million, or something close to that so it could have been either one. Anyway, the rumor now is that Senator Grendell will now be running against...Mike Dewine. Mwahahahahaha.

I have to say that this one is pure rumor and I am getting this one third-hand, so feel free to pour on a few mountains of salt...

BUT...

While I am not a huge fan of Tim Grendell, I could support him over Mike DeWine. And if he is willing to self-finance, then I'm all for both of these cats breaking the bank in an all out war for the heart and soul of the Ohio Republican Party.

UPDATE: I have heard from another source saying that the story is all over Geauga County and that the Grendell's hit the big one ($144 million) with five (maybe six) other winners. And I have seen a VAST increase in hits involving the words "Grendell", "lottery", and "Mega-Millions" so.....

UPDATE 2: The Big One appears to have had a sole winner from Texas... But I got the impression that the lottery that Mrs. Grendell won was to be split six ways.....

UPDATE 3: Let's be clear... Earlier, when I said I wasn't a big fan of Grendell, this is the sort of thing I was talking about... I do, however, think we ought to hear Grendell's side of that particular story before we cast judgement on him based on philosophical differences. I get it that it is a FAIL on the Politicial Party Loyalty Test...but I have always considered myself to be a conservative first and Republican second, so he does have an out with me on this issue but I think that would require some serious issues with the R candidate.

Grendell to Run for 98th

Sen. Grendell to seek 98th House District seat. Gongwer seems to think it likely that he will get the appointment to the vacancy. Gongwer may want to remember that Grendell implicitly helped the Democrat running in the [63rd] district in 2008 against Carol Ann Schindel, and the House caucus hasn't forgotten that he's part of the reason why the GOP lost control of the House.

Plus, we already have a candidate for that seat: Matt Lynch.

And the musical chairs -- thanks term limits! -- continues as Grendell will vacate a senate seat, so there will be another fight for that.

4PM UPDATE: This comes in from a source in the 98th:

Grendell won't seek the appointment, and the caucus won't appoint him. If they do, it vacates his senate seat less than halfway through his term, which means the 18th district would be up for re-election in 2010 after being on the ballot in 2008. If Grendell is silly enough to go through with the appointment, it will cost the state Senate caucus at least $500k to re-run the race. So, a place holder will likely be appointed, meaning Grendell and Matt Lynch will be duking it out in the primary.

Grendell seems like the type to only think of himself. I hope the conventional wisdom is wrong and Grendell stays put...

5:30 UPDATE: Over on Facebook, Doug Joseph says: "If Grendell runs and wins in Nov. and then resigns the Senate seat, no special election is required. That is one reason he wants a caetaker Rep. until the end of the year."

Also in this update, is a change to the original post in which the district was misidentified as the 62nd...

Geauga County Update

With Matt Dolan running for county exec, his seat will open up. Bainbridge township trustee Matt Lynch is running for State Representative in the 98th district.

The website is a little light on content, but it's a start. I certainly like the look of it and the content will come.

For a safe seat, the 98th is involving a lot of drama. Tim Grendell pulled petitions to run for it (and a couple other gigs too), even though he still has two years left on his state senate seat. Now, normally a township trustee wouldn't stand a chance against an incumbent state senator. But the Grendell's have been treating Geauga county as their personal fief for many years and a lot of people are tired of it.

Also, Tim implicitly helped the Democrat running in the 62nd district in 2008 against Carol Ann Schindel, and the House caucus hasn't forgotten that he's part of the reason why the GOP lost control of the House.

In addition to that drama, Matt Dolan may actually resign from the seat rather than campaign full time while collecting a state paycheck. The latest news is that he's waiting to cost a vote in favor of the Third Frontier renewal, and will resign shortly thereafter. If Dolan steps down, then the Ohio House Republicans would appoint someone to fill out the term. If that happens, you can expect that they will remember what happened with Schindel if Grendell applies for it. Since the Third Frontier renewal vote could come as early as this week, look for that to be pretty interesting...

Resolution Opposing Freedom of Choice Act Introduced in Ohio Senate

Release:

(Columbus, OH) Pro-Life State Senators Tim Grendell and Steve Buehrer introduced a resolution in the Ohio Senate today opposing the federal "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA).

The resolution (S.R.C. 6), which urges the President and Congress to oppose FOCA, states that:

"The Freedom of Choice Act is a radical attempt to enshrine abortion-on-demand into American law, to sweep aside existing laws that the majority of Americans support, such as requirements involving fully informed consent, parental involvement, and that licensed physicians perform abortions, and seeks to prevent states from enacting similar protective laws in the future."

"Ohio Right to Life strongly supports the resolution opposing the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act," said Mike Gonidakis, President of Ohio Right to Life. "FOCA would wipe out common-sense Ohio laws that require informed consent and parental consent before a minor's abortion, and would force taxpayers to pay for abortion on demand. FOCA is the most extreme pro-abortion legislation ever proposed," Gonidakis said.

In addition, S.C.R. 6 was co-sponsored by Pro-Life Senators Kevin Coughlin, Bob Gibbs, Tim Schaffer, Bill Seitz, Mark Wagoner, Kirk Schuring, and Keith Faber.

Blast Follow-Up: Veterans Bill That Strickland "Whacked"

In Wednesday's Blast, there was an item about a Republican-sponsored bill that would have given veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan some cashola.

T-Shirt Ted whacked it because he didn't like the source of the funding. He'd rather see the moola come from the bond that Husted and Harris went along with for some reason (best theory: pre-session nachos had bad jalapenos, but don't quote me on that).

Well, guess what the Republican-led Ohio Senate is planning on doing? If you guessed, "Giving T-Shirt Ted everything he has ever asked for on a silver platter!" you would be right again. WMD's readers are super smart!

Sen. Tim Grendell is going to re-introduce the T-Shirt Ted Way to Give Cash to Veterans Bill...or something like that.

In the comments of Wednesday's Blast, reader Walter asked what the money was for...and I have to admit, I still don't know. The Dayton Business Journal piece (linked above) has this bit (which sorta comes close to explaining it, I guess):

[A] one-time bonus to Ohioans who served in the military during recent combat engagements[.]

Here is Gov. T-Shirt doing his best to explain it:

Strickland this week said “the people of Ohio have a long history of providing bonuses to Ohio veterans through bonding and this symbol of support, and the more responsible method of financing it, should be continued today.”

Don't get me wrong, I love veterans. God bless 'em...it is because of veterans that I am able to enjoy freedom.

But I thought we were in the Darkest Days of Depression...or something.

Ohio Senate Follow-Up

Earlier, we covered a shocking failure on the part of Ohio Senate to pass a piece of legislation that sailed through the Ohio House which would have protected senior citizens living in assisted care facilities.

At the conclusion of the piece, I indicated that I had contacted some of the key players via email and would report back on my findings... I want to thank the office of State Senator Tim Grendell for responding to my inquiry.

From the Office of State Senator Tim Grendell:

This article is not completely accurate. The bill does not require notification of residents. It simply requires that nursing homes and assisted living facilities - even those that do not accept sex offenders to live in them - post a sign that says a sex offender might live here. It also requires that in the paperwork someone signs when going into a nursing home it says that there may be sex offenders living there. Again, this is not restricted to nursing homes where sex offenders live or that will sex offenders. It includes nursing homes that will not allow sex offenders to move in, it includes assisted living and long term care facilities that are not required to allow sex offenders and those that do not permit sex offenders to move in. You can review an actual copy of the bill online at: [LINK]

Ohio law already requires that the name, address, and identifying information of every sex offender be placed online and searchable. It also requires that a sex offender notify the county sheriff when he or she moves and that the sheriff notify neighbors and building managers.

Contrary to the article, Senator Grendell did not talk to Representative Combs. I talked to Representative Combs and shared with him some of these concerns that have been raised and the fact that it would take us a little time to work through them. For example, what about long term care and rehab units at hospitals? Unfortunately, because the bill took so long to pass out of the house of representatives (a year and a half), it didn't have enough time to get heard in our committee and get passed out. This is not atypical, and there is no reason that the bill cannot be introduced again.

I hope this helps to clarify. As an aside, I do not believe that any of the nursing home industry contacted our office about this bill. I know that a couple of assisted livings that do not permit sex offenders contacted us to let us know that some of their residents would be confused by the postings, because they had been told no sex offenders could live there. But as for nursing homes or the allegation that there was the "big money" of nursing homes - that is plain offensive. I believe that Senator Grendell has contacted Representative Combs to make sure he checks his facts before saying something like that again. Anyone can check the campaign finance information of any statewide elected official. And anyone who is familiar with Senator Grendell's record knows that we have done an incredible amount of work to address the policy of our state on sex offenders.

More from Sen. Grendell's Office:

[Grendell's office] piloted with the Ohio AG's office what we called "Red's Law" - after our County Sheriff Red Simmons (who has since passed away) who used county money (in Geauga) to start a sex offender notification program using an idea brought to him by a guy named Mike Cormaci out of Louisiana. That program morphed into what we now know as HB 5 - the ESORN program. Tim has been the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee for the last 2 years. During that time we worked tirelessly to pass the Adam Walsh Act - a series of bills that took a combined 22 hearings and dozens of rewrites. As a result, we became the first state to substantially enact the AWA. We have done a phenomenal job of working to protect Ohioans from sex offenders. There is still more that can be done, but it takes time and work. If we do not do a good job of writing the law, there are legal consequences that could result in offenders (sexual and otherwise) going free. We never want to see that happen.

Thus, unfortunately Rep Combs' bill was not passed out of the House committee until just before the summer recess (which started in May) and the legislature didn't meet again until November 19h. Since then, we've had 4 or 5 hearings. There simply wasn't enough time to do a good job on a bill like this.

What we appear to have here is bad journalism preceded by insufficiently thought out legislation. This is a failure of Ohio Republicans in leadership roles in both chambers of the General Assembly to get this done right and on time. The intent of the bill is clear, solid and has merit so here is hoping that it gets fixed and can make it to the governor's desk sooner rather than later.

If we received a response from State Rep. Combs or the Ohio GOP, we'll be sure to pass that along...

What is Wrong with the Ohio Senate?

This story was sent in by a reader and I have to admit that I am baffled as to how a bill gets through the Ohio House unanimously but fails to make it out of Sen. Tim Grendell's committee.

The bill, Rep. Courtney Combs' HB57, was designed to protect the elderly from sexual predators and is not controversial.

I have emails in to Rep. Combs, Sen. Grendell, and Ohio GOP Deputy Chairman Dewine in hopes of somebody being able to give me a clue as to what just happened in the Ohio Senate and why. I'll update with any responses that I receive.