Friday, September 2, 2011

Independent Toledo Mayor, former Fire Chief for Issue 2

In a week where the campaign to support Issue 2 had already received two large endorsements from the Ohio Farm Bureau and the Ohio Manufacturers Association, a third major endorsement has come from NW Ohio as Toledo Mayor Mike Bell has endorsed Issue 2.  


This endorsement has to be a tough one for the We Are Ohio folks to swallow.  Not only is Bell an Independent, but his previous jobs have included being Toledo Fire Chief and Ohio Fire Marshal.  Mayor Bell explains why he supports Issue 2:
We followed the process, and by following the process we got a protest.  I'm the administrator of a city that is financially-strapped and I need to be able to have the tools in the box
The 'process' he's referring to would be an independent fact finder's report on resolving a contract dispute between the city and municipal employees that the AFSCME union rejected and protested.  The horribly unfair recommendations of this independent fact finder?  A 2-year pay freeze and increases in employee contributions to benefits and pension from 5 and 3 percent respectively to 15 and 10 percent.

The ongoing Toledo dispute is one that is playing out across the state in various ways, and shows why Issue 2 is so necessary.  The fact is Issue 2 empowers local elected officials.  Counties, cities and townships across the state are having to face shrinking revenues in a weak economy with few options available.  As Mayor Bell said, he and other civic leaders need the tools to face these challenges, and Issue 2 gives them those tools.  It's at the local level that these benefits will be most evident, as evidenced by analysis of Senate Bill 5 that showed over 80% of the total savings from the bill, more than $1.1 billion, would come at the local level.

Mayor Mike Bell has first hand experience in trying to deal with runaway expenses in the current system.  He's seen how the system we have is broken, and that's why he's the latest voice urging you to Vote 'Yes' on Issue 2.

4 comments:

  1. The greed of the unions knows no bounds. They cannot help themselves, they must suck the last of our life because if they don't their members will quickly learn that the unions have no other raison d'etre.

    I wonder if the AFSCME thugs have actually looked at Toledo. Or Cleveland. Or Akron. Or Lorain. Or any number of union strongholds that are now down at heels and dying.

    Like all parasites the unions will suck the host dry rather than change.

    Either we bring the unions, and the Democrat led governments in the state, to heel or the state dies.

    Clearly the unions would prefer that the state die.

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  2. Wow talk about hyprebolic fear... How much did Kasich ask the unions to concede to balance his budget again? Oh that's right, nothing

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  3. Isn't it amazing that Modern can't find a new play? What must it be like to be nothing more than a sock puppet for some of the worst people in America today?

    And what part of concessions-don't-mean-a-thing don't you get modern? We got into this mess because the unions simply bilked us. There is no reason to trust them now.

    Here's what I think we should to the civil service unions in particular and the current crop of parasitic private sector union thugs as well:

    To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women

    Tell ya what modern, when the wives of the bureaucrats in Columbus are standing in line with me at dollar general I will begin to think about relenting. In the meantime the only choice we have is to crush the unions. They've proved that they care about nothing but themselves including the taxpayers.

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  4. Unions are parasites at best. I worked a seasonal job that lasted 9 weeks & had to pay dues because it was a Union shop. For my dues I received no Union benefits. I had to pay the Union so I could work for a few weeks. The Union basically extorted money from me. I will be voting YES on issue 2.

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