It’s one thing for a political campaign to hire a campaign consultant, but it’s another for taxpayer money to be used to pass a tax increase. Think about it- would you pay someone your own money, to make you pay more for something?

If the politicians can’t get a tax increase passed without being able to present a rational argument for the increase, there is no reason to hire in a political hack. Read what’s happening in Xenia from the DDN:

Virgil Vaduva, of June Drive, Xenia, filed a civil lawsuit in Common Pleas Court on Tuesday, March 2, alleging the seven-member council and City Manager Jim Percival acted fraudulently and misappropriated funds as they prepared to place a 0.5 percent income tax increase before voters May 4.

In his lawsuit, Vaduva claims Xenia officials should not have used taxpayer dollars to hire Columbus-based Avakian Consulting to help improve Xenia’s image as part of the city’s tax request or paid $4,000 to Wright State University for a survey that helps support it. He is asking the court to stop officials from placing the issue on the ballot.

“They’re skirting elections law as far as I’m concerned, using public funds to promote a tax increase,” Vaduva said in an interview. He also takes credit for creating the web log stopxeniatax.blogspot.com.

via Xenia sued for misusing taxpayer money by commissioner candidate.

Go take a look at the Avakian site. Notice it says its offices are in Dayton, Columbus and Boston- and that it has 3 employees mentioned. Note also- that until Dayton Public Schools hired Burges and Burges on the no-bid $6K a month contract, Steve Avakian was their consultant (that should tell you something about his mad PR skills). I’ve mentioned Avakian’s “firm” before on this site. This was the first time I could actually find a web site for him.

Now, looking over the Avakian web site- where are the case studies, the white papers, or anything suggesting that this company has anything other than political connections? Want to see what a real marketing company in the area has for a site- here is a link to almost all of them: Agencies that aren’t The Next Wave. Who would you ask to rebrand your city? (And note, it shouldn’t be The Turner Effect- owned by Congressman Turner’s wife – with a site that’s “temporarily down”).

Mr. Vaduva may be a little on the fringe side of politics, but he has it absolutely right- governments shouldn’t be spending tax dollars on political campaigns.

So, Ted Strickland is sending out a survey.

Looking over his questions- it’s pretty clear he’s not a deep thinker.

Which issues are most important to you?:

Creating Jobs

Reforming Education

Making college more affordable

Developing advanced energy

Expanding access to health care

Protecting sportsmen’s rights

Cutting taxes

Honoring our veterans

Balancing budgets

via Ted Strickland | Survey: What matters to you?.

How about just making Ohio a great place to live and work? That means coming in tops in things like average income, access to quality education, affordable health care and feeling good about more than just Buckeye Football.

Government isn’t about doing one thing better than the others- it’s about serving the most people, the best possible living experience.

What’s your plan Ted? What’s your vision? You’ve had 3 years to express it- and all I’ve heard was that gambling is somehow a big part of your solution.

Doesn’t mean I won’t vote for you- but, it’s only because the other guy is a bigger part of the problem.

The more we look at the involvement of the Sheriff in the foreclosure process, the more we wonder. Why do banks get this special collection agency service funded by the State, with a gun and a badge?

A home loan is a contract between two parties: the bank and the home buyer. No different than the loan for a car, or a contract between two parties. Why does the Sheriff enter into this process at all? And why do the taxpayers have to fund any of it? How does he get to hire his friends to do “appraisals” when none of us could hire the same unqualified people?

The whole premise of a Sheriff in an urban county seems to be an obsolete holdover from long ago. Why do we elect a Sheriff- when we don’t elect police chiefs?

Greg and I don’t know all the answers- but we’re sure some of you do. We hope you fill us in- and everyone else in, with your erudite comments below. Here is our video today: The Sheriff of Nothingham

Enjoy.

And, to the woman who called and left a message on my answering machine thanking me for this forum- thank you!

The continuing saga of the “appraisers” hired by the Sheriff, paid by the banks, and handed out as patronage jobs continues.

And now, according to the paper, we know Phil Plummer isn’t crooked, because he won’t hire his sister back- and know for sure that no one can do math in the Sheriff’s office:

Chief Deputy Mike Nolan estimates that the appraisers spend three to five hours on a job, although Plummer said some have said they can do it in 90 minutes to two hours.

Despite the number of work hours that would mean for the appraisers, who typically handled about 1,400 to 1,600 cases year, Plummer said he believes they are doing a thorough, accurate job.

via Sheriff says sister won’t work as an appraiser regardless of ruling.

Do the math- 1,400 cases, 2 hours each (best case), equals 2,800 hours: divide by 8 hours in a working day- and you have these people working 350 days a year! Never mind some take longer- and, one of the appraisers has a full-time job as the Chaminade Julienne Athletic Director.

In those 2 hours, they are supposed to make a site visit, enter the property, compare it to others around it, take pictures, fill out paperwork- for $85. Oh yeah, and we don’t know who authorized that amount:

Also on Wednesday, Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge Barbara P. Gorman, said a court committee will study the minimum fees paid to the appraisers. The court is examining how the appraisers came to be paid $85 per property when the court in 1996 set the amount at $60. The court, clerk of courts and sheriff’s offices are searching records to determine who authorized the higher payments but none have been found.

If you wonder how they appraise all of our homes for tax purposes every six years- and wonder where they come up with the numbers- well, now we’re starting to see how screwed up this whole process has been. There is plenty of blame to go around on this mortgage crisis, and the Sheriff is just the local part of the cluster-duck.

It’s time for the Sheriff to be investigated, not for hiring his buddies, but explaining how he paid people to either work 350 days a year, or not really do appraisals at all.

See my other 2 posts on the subject: Now the numbers really don’t add up.

and “The nepotism doesn’t add up”

Greg Hunter is a big fan of the ponies, and thinks that parimutuel gambling is a much better bet than any casino. He’s also convinced that the economic benefit of horse racing exceeds that of casinos- it’s a big boost to agriculture in his opinion.

He cites an article in the New York Times about the use of stem cells to heal an aging race horse as an indication of the spin-off benefits.

I’m not anti-gambling, but I do consider it a tax on stupid people. Anyone who wants to play cards with me, I’ll be happy to let you win 65% of your wager anytime.

Here is our broadcast for the day:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Your thoughts?

Interesting letter to the editor in the Dayton City Paper about the Dunbar/Fairmont basketball game and some racist little suburban kids. Well written, from a Kettering parent of a Fairmont cheerleader. Thank you Yvette Williams for speaking out.

I’ve got a PDF of it for you to read, since the DCP doesn’t have a proper web site:DCP letter 120909.pg18

I’ve tried to have a discussion about race and our community- with the post about “The White City” but it devolved into a discussion about gay rights in the comments.

Here, Greg and I talk about the race issue- and what YOU can do about it in this community, starting today:

Click here to view the embedded video.

We welcome your thoughts.

Why do bars stop serving alcohol at 2 am? Why can’t you buy liquor in Ohio at 8am on a Sunday? Why do restaurants have to fence in little patios to serve alcohol outside? Why can’t you buy the new Sam Adams specialty beer in Ohio?

Those wild and crazy guys at Boston Beer Co. have done it again, brewing a beer so strong they label it 48 proof, using terminology usually reserved for spirits. Sam Adams Utopias MMII, which goes on sale this month, is in fact 24% alcohol by volume, making it the strongest commercial beer in the world.

via Realbeer.com: Beer Break – Sam Adams Brews Strongest Beer Ever.

And last but not least, why can you enlist in the Army and vote, but not buy a beer?

We’ll leave that last one alone, because Mothers Against Drunk Driving can make a pretty good case for why young drivers shouldn’t be drinking- but, then again, no drivers should be drinking, so what’s the difference?

For years, shift workers and restaurant workers have found “illegal after-hours” establishments to go to after work for a drink. With a 24/7/365 economy, why are we still pretending that one size of hours fits all? We live in a world of 24 hour grocery stores- so why not let business do what makes sense for them.

This wouldn’t mean a change for many bars, because their clientele may still be on a conventional schedule, but for large “party palaces” like Masque, Hammerjax or Vex downtown, why not keep the party going all night?

Not being a huge fan of zoning codes that are applied to manage people, the condition of extended hours may just be that there are usage fees charged back to establishments for police calls to the establishment for problems outside or stemming from patrons, with a set limit of infractions causing a curtailing of hours.

Would this change in policy really hurt a majority of Ohioans? Probably not. What it may help is giving people a way to escape more often from the realities that this global economy is throwing our way, and provide additional economic opportunity for bar owners to keep their parties going all – night – long.

And for the record: I don’t drink alcohol at all.

The Oregon Historic District Society fought the liquor license for Pacchia too, and the license to “What you eat” the little vegetarian restaurant that was to serve vegan and macrobiotic wine, and Thai 9 (update- the neighborhood approved this one- yet cost the owners an extra $40K for the permit) and Wileys and the 5th Street Wine & Deli- the list goes on. Add another obstacle to development that stops the Oregon District from ever reaching its potential.

The City Commission, on Wednesday, Oct. 7, voted 4-1 to object to a liquor permit application for a bed and breakfast in the Oregon Historic District.

Leslie and Jeffery Gonya, owners of Inn Port D’Vino, 22 Brown Street, said they want to share their love of wine with inn patrons. They would like to sell wine from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday in a retail section of their establishment.

“It’s meant to be an enhancement to the bed and breakfast experience,” Leslie Gonya said.

The retail operation also would be open to the general public.

via Liquor permit rejected for Oregon District bed and breakfast.

Nan Whaley was the sole dissenter, showing that “the team” is occasionally capable of breaking ranks. Yet, it’s been a long time since we saw a 3-2 vote. Kudos to Ms. Whaley.

The real problem that should be addressed has nothing to do with the number of liquor vendors, it has to do with the lack of ability to deal with drunks being obnoxious. I hardly believe a B&B is going to contribute to people peeing in yards, slamming car doors or revving motorcycle engines at 2:30 a.m. or getting into fights. If the City of Dayton was able to enforce these other laws effectively, the neighbors, many of whom CHOSE to live in the neighborhood of bars and restaurants, wouldn’t be fighting against this permit.

It’s this kind of short-sightedness that stops full occupancy of the district- and allows marginal businesses to continue to operate without the ability to get fair dollars for their almost “prime” locations. Throw in the stupid rules about parking space requirements and you have the main reason why the Greene has so many new restaurants and the Oregon doesn’t.

Full disclosure: I worked with Pacchia in its first year after it had secured a permit through a loophole, and I worked with “What you eat” on getting the permit that eventually transferred to the “Blue Moon”- which was also a client.

Since when is a labor union a counseling service? And why would we pay a union to do what we already pay public workers (in a union) to do the same thing? (Well actually, apparently union workers need pre-counseling, to help acclimate themselves to the real world) Sounds like a kickback to an organization that helps elect politicians to you? Does to me. Even sounds that way to County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman- and she gets money and backing from the union!

The state is spending $2 million to hire the AFL-CIO’s United Labor Agency to reach out to workers losing their jobs statewide.

A new contract with the union was just signed and the union this month will open an outreach center for workers at the IUE hall at 1675 Woodman Ave.

“The idea is that people will go to a place where they are comfortable, where they know the people,” said Marcia Tolles, director of rapid response for Ohio AFL-CIO. “It’s a place that gets people ready for the services administered by the county.”

The money does not pay for retraining or provide front-line services. Instead, the union trains peer-to-peer counselors to tell workers how to access dislocated worker services, such as training, resume writing, and job hunting. The union also sets up labor management teams to plan for layoffs.

Montgomery County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman last week questioned the expenditure and why the union is opening a separate outreach center, when the county has a full-service Job Center in Dayton and a separate career transition center in Moraine targeting auto workers.

“I don’t know how there’s any money for this,” county Administrator Deborah Feldman said.

That expenditure comes even as the federal Workforce Investment Act, which pays for services to dislocated workers, was cut by about 30 percent this fiscal year, said Heath MacAlpine, assistant director for Montgomery County Job and Family Services. Those cuts cost the county nearly $500,000, reducing this fiscal year’s funding to $1.9 million.

via State spending $2M on labor agency to help jobless.

I just screened in front of AFL-CIO leadership- I’m sure this post will kill any chance of an endorsement. However, in times like these, we can’t afford special treatment for union workers anymore than we can afford bonuses and pensions for the executives that fired them in the first place.

It’s time for a reality check on where our tax dollars are going- and on what people can get paid at companies that accept money from selling stock. While investors shouldn’t have any guarantee of a return- they should also be shielded from outrageous compensation paid for sub-par performance.

As to hiring unions as job counselors- it just sounds like a way to guarantee support in the next election for our Governor.

For lack of $53,000 the State of Ohio has stopped providing trash cans at State Parks. This means, when doing maintenance- like cutting the grass, State employees have to waste more time stopping to pick up the trash that didn’t get taken home by taxpayers. Really bad choice. Here is the article from the Dayton Daily News:

Strapped by historic underfunding, $500 million in backlogged maintenance needs and even more dire budget projections, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has pulled trash cans from day-use areas at 30 of 74 state parks.

By canceling trash service beginning last year, ODNR has racked up $53,000 in savings. The program does not include campgrounds or other areas in parks where overnight accommodations or fee facilities are in place.

via State park visitors asked to help with trash.

I have a better suggestion. As a gift to the residents of all Ohio, why doesn’t the Dayton Area of Commerce stop paying Jon Husted to “oversee its workforce development efforts.” and pay for the trash collection in State parks? That would be a real nice thing to do for the citizens of the State of Ohio- and show how Dayton business has the foresight to see what the State doesn’t. Trashy parks make bad impressions.

Husted already has a full-time job as a State Senator- one that takes so much time, that he doesn’t have the ability to live in his district anymore in violation of the law. Inside sources claim Husted is paid more than $53K a year for this “job.”

We could also look at the contracts that various local governments have with lobbyists, and stop paying private, “politically-connected” people to do what our legislators won’t. But, that would be asking legislators to take out the trash- and we already know they won’t, as demonstrated by the ODNR.

I’ve been scratching my head ever since this Strickland plan to legalize slots at horse tracks got passed- considering it was explicitly voted down. Thankfully- the Warren County Commission still has the good sense to point out this is a handover of a monopoly without a bid:

Warren County commissioners may challenge the governor’s video slot deal.

The commissioners believe the new deal Gov. Ted Strickland struck to get slot machines at the seven race tracks, including Lebanon Raceway, may be unconstitutional because it is essentially a law that benefits just the individuals who own the racetracks.

The commissioners asked their legal counsel to look into possibly filing a lawsuit.

via Racetrack slot deal could face challenge from Warren County.

One has to wonder how the Governor came up with the $65 million license fee too? An arbitrary number pulled from a hat. I’m not sure how much was spent in the last ballot issue over gambling, but, it had to be in the tens of millions. Gambling is big money- and how a racetrack that’s barely hanging in – like Lebanon Raceway, is supposed to come up with the $65 million for a license only makes me wonder.

Why we can’t just put out an RFP for gambling- and sell to the highest bidders? Why shouldn’t the Arcade owners be allowed to put in a casino? Or maybe Trotwood on the site of the former Salem Mall- or Hara Arena? Why racetrack owners? Why are we suddenly talking about Austin Road for a racetrack/casino? Who is on the take?

Warren County Commissioners actually ask why the government is giving a monopoly. Montgomery County Commissioners- try to sneak in a tax hike to fund a private ice arena for their buddy

Maybe this is why Warren County has been growing while Montgomery County has been hurting.

There has been a question about what kind of deal Art Chin and Jerry Gillotti had on their spaces in the Transportation Center.

Now, it appears that a new tenant is getting a “sub-prime” lease from the city- reputed to be around $2 a square foot (extremely low).

Reported in the Dayton Business Journal:

An Asian restaurant,  Sa Bai, is opening in the space that formerly housed Chin’s restaurant in the Dayton Transportation Center complex on Jefferson Street. The restaurant and lounge will be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, and late on weekends.

The casual dining restaurant will be owned and operated by Chanaka DeLanerolle, a restaurateur with several restaurants in the Cincinnati area, including Mt. Adams Fish House, Teak Thai Cuisine and Sushi Bar, The Celestial Steakhouse, Incline Lounge and Longworth’s.

DeLanerolle signed a five-year lease for the space. He plans to invest $250,000 on renovations.

Sa Bai, which will employ about 30 people, is scheduled to open at the end of August.

Sa Bai will feature a casual to upscale feel, with a sushi bar and lounge. The menu will be similar to one of DeLanerolle’s Blue Ash restaurants, Apsara. It will feature a mix of soups and salads, curries, rice and noodle dishes and stir-fry.

The 5,700-square-foot restaurant also will have outdoor seating.

via New restaurant planned for downtown Dayton – Dayton Business Journal:.

The Dayton Daily News has the entire press release and the lease:

For the remaining seven months of the first year, through June 30, 2010, the restaurant will pay $2 per square foot, or $6,750 over that period. Over the remaining four years of the original term, rent will continue at $2 per square foot, or $11,572 a year.

via http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/taste/entries/2009/06/24/new_asian_restaurant_coming_to.html

If I was the owner of Thai 9, I’d be a little ticked-off about having to compete with someone paying an annual rent less than my monthly mortgage (estimate). Or, if I’m Coco’s, which is trying to sell their successful location so they can rehab another business in Dayton.

This is another example of corporate welfare by government, forcing taxpaying businesses to compete on an uneven playing field.

Thoughts?

This story on WCPO TV is worth watching. An old guy (a friend’s step-father) hits a broken road reflector in the road, gets a flat, spends $25 to file a claim for the $89 tire – and then the State spends at least hundreds of dollars to deny the claim, and then bills him for the postage and investigation (a whopping $24.66). When he ignores the invoice, thinking he’d cut his losses- and not pay to appeal, the Ohio AG sends threatening letters:

The final notice came from Ohio’s Attorney General demanding full payment within seven days, or the state would go after his “wages and bank accounts.” The letter also said, “a sheriff’s sale of your personal property may be held, and a foreclosure action against any real estate owned by you may be initiated.”

Holden was amazed the state was threatening to seize his farmhouse over a $24.66 bill, but he took that threat seriously.

Man Gets Flat Tire, State Threatens Foreclosure – Cincinnati breaking news, weather radar, traffic f.

You have to watch the video to see the piles of paper the State sent. A fifteen page report- to deny a claim for $89.

The insanity continues beyond this case, in that the State repaved the road and installed the same 6lb reflectors which have been known to seriously injure people instead of installing the new lightweight units made of plastic.

I’ve experienced the same thing on payment of sales tax, where the State decided to estimate my business’s collection of sales tax and then tacked on $1,500 fines when I didn’t pay from their estimate (most of what we do is tax exempt since it falls under advertising expenses which aren’t taxed).

I’ve also been threatened by the Ohio Elections Commission for failure to file their proper campaign reports- which make no sense to a normal person, since they are designed so politicians can hide where the money comes from. Just reporting where you got the money and where you spent it would be too easy.

Bureaucrats breed bureaucracy. Unfortunately, our elected leaders are afraid to hold them accountable for their failing business practices. How else can we explain Ohio’s population losses?

This case is a perfect example of why we need to reform government.

I don’t care how tight the budget is, there are some things you don’t cut, or add charges to. Charging volunteer youth leagues for use of ball fields on a daily basis is one:

Beginning this season, the city is charging all non-city leagues a flat rate of $50 per ball field, per day to use its baseball diamonds.

It would cost Pinewood an estimated $2,500 to play games at Belmont Park and double that to also practice there, said James M. Walker, president of the Pinewood association.

via Local youth baseball leagues feel economic pinch.

That said, I do think the association should be asked to hold fundraisers each year to help upgrade and maintain their home parks. From selling ads on the fences to local business,  to car washes and the like. Some contribution is fair- per day, per field just makes me wonder if I go down to the field at the end of my street- am I going to get a ticket for playing?

But, it seems that we do have money to buy our part-time Mayor lunch and send her on junkets:

Dayton’s and Akron’s mayors have city charge cards; the Columbus mayor does not.

Dayton and Akron pay for their mayor’s travel. Columbus uses a combination of public and private funds.

In these three large Ohio cities, the policies on travel and expenses differ.

Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin is reimbursed for meals in the city that concern economic development or other official city business, said Kery Gray, a spokesman for the city commission, which is like a city council.

McLin, who is a part-time mayor — Dayton also has a city manager — has a city charge card but primarily pays for her expenses and is reimbursed, Gray said.

via Ohio.com – How mayors elsewhere pay their expenses.

Three trips overseas in the name of “economic development” while we’re holding up 3rd graders for user fees?

We have to focus on livability before we try to hustle people to relocate here. Would it make sense for the Mayor of Riverside to make those trips? Why do we have the Dayton Development Coalition? Isn’t that their job?

The Pinewood Athletic League has figured a way to work an end-run around the city policy by playing at the fields at Kemp School.

The only way I know to stop Mayor McLin from being the queen of Dayton on the taxpayers’ dime is to vote for Gary Leitzel.

If times are that tight that we have to squeeze the kids, it’s time to stop giving the Mayor a free lunch.

[UPDATE 17 April] The original title of this post was: “Obama unveils high-speed rail plan without Ohio on it”

My reader, Cartophiliac, found the link to a map- and yes- Ohio is on it. It seems Obama didn’t ignore us, just the New York Times.

However, there are comments, and some info about the Greyhound station moving- so this post will remain.

We’ve talked about a high-speed rail plan in Ohio for years. Now, when the Federal government is ready to push this green technology, Ohio isn’t ready with plans to put us on the map.

The government has identified 10 corridors of 100 to 600 miles in length with greatest promise for high-speed development.

They are: a northern New England line; an Empire line running east to west in New York State; a Keystone corridor running laterally through Pennsylvania; a southeast network connecting the District of Columbia to Florida and the Gulf Coast; a Gulf Coast line extending from eastern Texas to western Alabama; a corridor in central and southern Florida; a Texas-to-Oklahoma line; a California corridor where voters have already approved a line that will allow travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in two and a half hours; and a corridor in the Pacific Northwest.

via Obama Unveils High-Speed Rail Plan – NYTimes.com.

In Dayton, we’re having a whine fest over relocating the Greyhound terminal- missing the point completely that inter-modal transportation is the future.

Instead of discussing putting the Greyhound terminal in the new parking facility at the Airport, and running RTA buses to the airport. We have people unhappy that Greyhound might move to Trotwood.

In the meantime, bus transportation is making a comeback- in Cincinnati, with the Megabus. An associate just went to Chicago via Megabus, with wi-fi at her upper deck seat for $39 one way. Had she booked earlier- it could have been less.

It’s critical for Ohio’s future to have solutions that aren’t based on cars. Right now, our elected officials should be scrambling to Washington to get our high-speed rail line on their radar.

Sorry for the misinformation.

Sexting.  It sounds slightly perverse.  And it’s becoming the new buzzword for the righteous politicians who feel that it is their job to try to protect us from ourselves. Yes, let’s make sending pictures of our naked bodies via text message a crime, especially if we’re young.

State Rep. Ron Maag, R-Lebanon, and state Sen. Bob Schuler, R-Sycamore Twp., announced the legislation…. that would make teenagers sending sexually provocative or nude pictures of themselves or others through a cell phone a first degree misdemeanor. The legislation would apply only to teens younger than 18, separate from similar adult offenses which carry felonious charges.

via ‘Sexting’ legislation proposed to protect teens.

Do we really want to stigmatize teens with what, although it isn’t called this outright,  will almost certainly be looked at as a type of “sex crime”?  In my day, kids used Polaroid cameras to do the same thing- it’s just the format that has changed.  Lets tie up our courts, cost our citizens money, and put a black mark on the records of youth for what is more commonly known as a youthful indiscretion.

I think it’s clear that what adults do regarding messaging between themselves should be of very little interest to the government, especially if the harm is only to their credibility.  Regarding teens, do we charge young smokers with a crime?  Should we arrest them on sight?  If a health warning is good enough for cigarettes, maybe all cell phones should just have a government required warning:  Sending naked pictures via cellphone could cause you great embarrassment for the rest of your life, don’t do it.  Making “sexting” a crime is clearly a case of the government inserting itself where it doesn’t belong.

However, there has also been discussion of teachers being too available via text messaging, and the possibility of these tools too easily leading to unethical and immoral relationships with minors.  There are strict rules about relationships between students and teachers already in place to prevent authority figures from taking advantage of their position with juveniles, and avoiding this potential problem should be a matter of policy, not law.  Teachers should only have contact with students through school regulated e-channels.  No personal e-mail accounts, no text messaging to private cell phones, should be allowed in normal channels.  I say normal channels, because there are instances like school trips- where emergency contacts should be available.  However, State guidelines should be enough to manage these areas, with enforcement left to school districts.

The recent focus on sexting is just one more instance of sensationalism in “journalism”, thinking that the digital version of playing truth-or-dare (you show me yours if I show you mine) is newsworthy.  It’s not.  Do we really want government regulating our e-mail too?  Texting is just a shorter, more portable version of e-mail.

With serious problems facing our economy, a judicial system that is already overloaded, and many more important issues to address,  the sexting “problem” is really just an indication of the level of knee-jerk reactionist stupidity that our elected leaders have fallen to.

Sales taxes are often considered by conservatives the simple solution to taxation: i.e., a “flat tax” or “consumption tax.” They think that this will solve all taxation problems. On the surface, simplifying taxes seems, well, simple. However, as long as politicians or accountants are involved, simple will never happen.

The Dayton Daily News had a few articles about businesses charging the wrong sales tax in the wrong county. Many of these businesses had multiple locations, and some fall in both Montgomery and Greene County. Due to sprawl, the borders of the jurisdictions are confusing to many- and the reality is the roads you drive on to get to “The Greene” shopping center fall in both counties- yet only one is compensated for maintenance.

Reality is, internet shopping is hurting all county retail sales tax collections, nationally. While the few stores that may have their license in the wrong place may cost a county a little bit- Amazon is killing them.

I wrote about an option for a simplified National Internet Sales tax back in December of 08.

The Ohio sales tax rules are complex and full of loopholes. Look at the list of exemptions. It’s good to know that:

“Sales to a professional racing team of any of the following:

• Motor racing vehicles;
• Repair services of motor racing vehicles;”

are exempted. Go NASCAR! (that’s a joke).

The State had tried to get retailers to charge a sales tax based on where you live, further complicating sales of companies that deliver products- but that got rescinded before it fully took effect:

April 25, 2008 – Streamlined Sales Tax Effort Takes Step Forward

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Legislation signed by Governor Ted Strickland last week means that businesses engaging in delivery sales within Ohio will soon return to the state’s traditional way of calculating the sales tax: at the origin of the sale.

An emergency clause in the newly-signed bill – House Bill 429, sponsored by Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville – allows Ohio businesses now charging sales taxes based on the destination of their Ohio delivery sales to switch back to the traditional “origin” method as soon as the start of next month if they wish. Merchants who moved to destination sourcing of delivery sales have until Jan. 1, 2010 to switch back to the traditional method, according to the new law.

The new law is, in part, a response to small business owners who considered destination sourcing more complex than Ohio’s traditional “origin” method. “This law balances the needs of small business owners with the goal of creating a more level playing field for all Ohio businesses when it comes to Ohio’s sales tax,” Tax Commissioner Richard A. Levin said.

The vast majority of Ohio merchants have always collected and remitted sales tax based on the location of their store. For them, little will change. H.B. 429 also means no change for out-of-state retailers selling into Ohio; they continue to collect sales taxes based on the rate at the destination of the sale, as they do today.

But the new law means big change for a relatively small group of merchants who engage in delivery sales of tangible personal property, such as furniture stores and appliance stores. Since 2006, Ohio had been gradually moving such merchants to “destination sourcing” of the sales tax – charging sales tax based on the destination of the delivery rather than the location of the store.

This transition was part of Ohio’s effort to become a full member of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, a multi-state effort to harmonize sales tax rules across state lines and simplify compliance for multistate businesses. For years, the multistate group required states to move to destination sourcing in order to become full members….

Merchants who switched to the new destination sourcing system and who will now be switching back per H.B. 429 will eventually be eligible for compensation of up to $1,000 (for mandatory switches to destination sourcing) and $600 (for voluntary switches). The compensation won’t be available until July 1, 2009 at the earliest; more information will be available later on this subject from the Department of Taxation.

via Welcome to the Ohio Department of Taxation.

So much for a national simplification plan. And, now, the taxpayers are going to be paying for the changes in the law that never took place.

The reality is, the methods for collecting taxes in the State of Ohio are overly complex and could use a redesign. Each business location should have a unique tax ID number, complete with an online taxation profile- including e-mail notifications on what taxes are due and a simplified interface. One portal, all taxes, from employee wage and benefits, to sales and property taxes. All collected by EFT- and all with hooks for accounting programs to connect with.

The more time small business owners can spend working on making sales, instead of accounting for them, the better revenue will be for the State and our economy. Right now, this should be a number one priority for the State.

Unlike places like Chicago and Detroit, where they actually prosecute misdoings by politicians and their friends, Dayton turns the other way, or quietly ushers people out the door.

Forbes just added a corruption factor to compile the list, which Dayton would have made had we been honest in prosecuting the worst offenders (I’ll mention a few at the bottom of the post):

We compiled our rankings by looking at the 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., which meant those with a population of at least 378,000. We ranked those metros on nine factors: commute times, corruption, pro sports teams, Superfund sites, taxes (both income and sales), unemployment, violent crime and weather.

For this year’s ranking, we added the corruption component. We used the criminal conviction of government officials in each area over the past decade as compiled by the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice. This division of the Justice Department was created in 1976 to focus on “crimes involving abuses of the public trust by government officials.”

via America’s Most Miserable Cities – Forbes.com.

From the recent resignation of attorney Nicholas Gerren after his hiring by the County despite his low score and past problems, to the $900,000 logo by the Congressman’s wife on a no-bid contract, to the purchase of the Reynolds & Reynolds HQ by the Dayton Public Schools, to the sale of the Arcade for $36K to Thomas Danis, and his public payoff of Police Chief Tyree Broomfield to resign, Dayton has a long history of seemingly corrupt but accepted behavior.

The latest attempt to raise the hotel tax for the RG Properties private ice arena is only the latest example of how the process is polluted.

When Randy Gunlock pulled the trigger on his dream of building an ice arena at Austin Road, the Montgomery County Commissioners scrambled to try to boost the hotel tax to the max, without any public discussion. He didn’t even have to have a team, show drawings, provide proformas- nothing.

Now that Dayton Bombers owner, Costa Papista throws an alternate vision that makes a lot more sense and costs less, all of a sudden, all the negatives come out.

The big piece is money. The cost is estimated at under $30 million for a downtown arena housing the Dayton Bombers, and $60 million to $100 million for a hockey arena and events center at the Austin Pike interchange slated for Interstate 75.

“People should dream. They should have big ideas. But it has to be sustainable and you have to be able to pay for it,” said state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering. “But we can’t afford two arenas. That I’m pretty sure of.”

He and state Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, said the financially strapped state has no money to offer. The city and Montgomery County are also in difficult financial straits.

“Under any scenario this would not be a predominantly publicly funded facility,” said City Manager Rashad Young, admitting he is excited about the prospect of a downtown arena but cautions that a market study must prove there is demand for it.

“If you build this thing for people will they actually come?” Young said. “And you have to build that into the financial framework.”

Both arena projects require feasibility studies, financing plans, guaranteed tenants and solid revenue streams, experts say.

The Bombers would be a tenant for the downtown arena, an undetermined American Hockey League team is envisioned for Austin Landing, and both hope to draw youth hockey leagues hungry for ice time and willing to pay.

“Ice facilities are among the most expensive to build and the most expensive to operate. It’s hard to make money off them,” said Julie Skolnicki, the Columbus-based regional vice president of Brailsford and Dunlavey, a Washington, D.C., facilities planning and program management firm.

via Hockey arena dreams need cold cash.

Note that now, we’re actually requiring “experts” to weigh in, when it was just Randy Gunlock and Mandalay Entertainment(maybe) it was full steam ahead.

Dayton is still a good-ole-boy network town. Maybe that’s why we were bigger than Atlanta in 1950, but a small dot on the map today? Who picks these idiots we allow to run for office? Why did the County have their secret talking points memo for the Austin Road Arena, and two days after the Papista plan surfaces we’re seeing sabotage in the press? And, remember, Jon Husted just got hired by the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce on the side from his Senate seat. Did Papista not pay his Dayton Chamber dues and Gunlock did?

If this doesn’t stink to you, you aren’t paying attention.

How long does it take to invest in Dayton? Two years and counting if you are Nick Keyes Jr. of Key Ads.

With a myriad of city, state and federal laws to maneuver through, he’s tirelessly worked to identify a worthless parcel of land left over from the US 35 routing that was created before he was born, rezoned many times in his lifetime, and now stands to become a piece of revenue generating land for the city by the building of a modern electronic billboard.

Nick is an oddity in his business- one of the few local owners in an industry dominated by three giant companies. He’s a homegrown, all-American type guy, who does the right thing like give space to local charities because, well, it’s the right thing to do.

"We are all witnesses" LeBron James ad specatacular in Cleveland

He’s in a business that people love to hate. Advertising is intrusive, can be annoying, ugly and even crude- when done by amateurs (even the ones that pose like pros- see this years user generated commercials in the SuperBowl with snow globes being hurled at crotches) but it can also be beautiful, inspiring and part of the community (see the debate over the ad spectacular in Cleveland with LeBron James “We are all witnesses”). We buy DVR’s to skip TV ads, we listen to iPods to avoid the radio, we’ve stopped reading local newspapers as their news to ad ratio changed to more ads than content. The knee jerk reaction is “advertising bad, greenspace good.”

Never mind that local businesses are running out of cost effective ways to spread the word, which is one of the beautiful things about outdoor electronic billboards- they are one of the last media options that can’t be ignored- allow time sensitive, geographically relevant advertising that doesn’t cut down trees, or require huge lead time. A local pizza place can be hurting for business in a snow storm, and throw up an ad from 5pm to 6:30PM that day saying “Fresh, Hot Now” Pizza Factory 224-4477- and see a bump in business.

Except in Dayton.

There will be a billboard within a hundred feet of the spot where Nick had artfully worked to put what could only be described as a work of art: a gateway board with architectural quality features and including the words “Welcome to Dayton” as a prelude to the spot where you will first see the Dayton skyline as you come West on US 35 into the city. Working with local architect Alan Scherr of ASA architecture, Nick presented a concept that was elegant, mindful of the site and the neighborhood. The competition, which will be a static old school poster owned by a carpet-bagger, had to do nothing, because his sign location happens to fall within the lines drawn on a map that make no sense (the “residential district” line falls in the middle of the Westbound lane of US 35- and ignores the fact you can’t build on the highway).

Nick offered concessions: removal of six non-conforming smaller boards in 5 different parts of the city, promised to donate a sizable proportion of his inventory on the board to local charity (including the City of Dayton- which rightfully declared they wanted no part of it- because it looks like a kickback) and entertained this kangaroo court of five local yokels who voted 3-2 against granting “3 variances/waivers” for this project to go forward.

Never mind that this sign can also be used in cases of emergency or Amber Alerts, which the static sign will not.

Please note: the investment in time, the willingness to make concessions, the requirement to prostrate ones business in front of this travesty of homegrown snootiness, in a time when most businesses are NOT investing in the city would not be a pretty sight if being done by this writer.

Nick brought a bevy of local business people to the meeting in support of his cause. Ignored.

There were citizens who spent 2+ hours in this session of comedic drama who spoke in favor of this project.

Then there were the NIMBY contingent, who in the end will lose at the next level, or in the courts (I would hope) who were saying that an electronic billboard will distract drivers and cause wrecks (of course ODOT electronic signs that are harder to read, with cheaper tech don’t do this).

Dayton, in it’s infinite wisdom, has once again shown itself to be a PITA.

While we have a City Manager form of Government that is supposed to provide for professional management of the citizens business, we have polluted it with this kind of amateur hour in the name of citizen participation. 3 people who were nominally selected (the priority board system has become an impotent circus for blowhards and diehards- with an ever increasingly insignificant mission- thanks to our declining population and net worth) chose to put another delay into a process that just shouldn’t be this hard.

Watching this travesty last night, I was embarrassed for Dayton. It’s a wonder that business even attempts to locate here. I faced the same stupidity when trying to transform a vacant boarded former corner grocery store into my “award winning” office over 19 years ago. The building which I bought for $2,200 and a promise to pay $2,400 in back taxes, had to recieve at least 4 variances to exist. People came out and tried to sabotage my plan as well, making my vision out to be a pox on the ‘hood. At one time I had to tell a city inspector to get out of my office when he came to threaten me with closing me down because a visitor to my business had parked on a public city street in front of a private home. This is the kind of BS that makes Dayton a laughing stock.

We have to do better than this. Our future depends on it.

And, as a note, Gary Leitzell, chairman of the SE Priority board and sacrificial candidate for Mayor, was one of those who got up and spoke against this plan.

You’ve read this far- do you care? One of the reasons I’m running for City Commission is that it’s time to end this kind of craziness. Of course, I must be crazy- because I’m willing to waste my valuable time sitting in on this bunk and reporting back to you. In the delivery of any product or service, it’s all the little “touchstones” that make or break a brand. It’s how they take your order at Burger King or what’s on the bag, in addition to the actual food that is being delivered. Companies that care, are tuned into the experience of the delivery of service, Dayton hasn’t a clue about this.

I hope businesses who can vouch for this like Pacchia, the 5th Street Wine and Deli, Thai 9 etc. weigh in on their past experiences in Dayton to substantiate my point. These are just 3 high profile cases where the process almost killed what has turned into success in spite of our bureaucracy.