Ban political signs at public expense
Wonder how we could add a few million to school funding- without impacting our wallets?
How about banning putting political office holders names on signs, plaques, vehicles etc. at public expense. You know the ones: Welcome to Ohio, Ted Strickland Governor, welcome to our rest stop, Ted Strickland Governor, This gas pump has been certified, Karl Keith Auditor, on County sheriffs vehicles- Dave Vore, Sheriff, at the airport, the pictures of the Dayton City Commission, etc, etc.
Quite simply- just ’cause you were elected, doesn’t mean you own it and get to put your name on it. Ohio belongs to us Ted, not to you.
If you want to plaster your name on things- from now on, it has to come out of your campaign money. And, you have to put aside funds to take your name down once we’re done with you.
Not only is this a huge waste of taxpayer dollars- it gives incumbents even more of an advantage when running- clearly not a good and fair use of our tax dollars.
Any of you agree with this?
Beyond brilliant idea. It has always bugged me to see my tax dollars used for such purpose, but to have a worthy alternative use for those dollars is truly inspired thinking.
The signs are a waste and arguably unethical, school funding, as it stands now is illegal and certainly unethical, and personally I would add immoral; it’s a win/win for schools and taxpayers.
And more importantly, this could be the one way to get taxpayers to pressure their elected officials to actually do something about school funding. It’s painfully obvious that changes are not going to happen until WeThePeople come up with an alternative that isn’t going to hurt AND feel strongly enough about it to light a fire under our public servants arses. This fits the bill perfectly- I’m in.
Teri-
This also goes for putting their name on public mailings- like the tax bill. The check isn’t to Karl Keith Auditor, it’s to Montgomery County Auditor- and if Karl wants his name on it- he should pay advertising rates. If it changes when you leave office – you pay for it. If it’s legitimate news- like The Mayor cut the ribbon at… then it’s OK.
Fabulous.
Good suggestion.
But my home state (Pennsylvania) carried this idea to a tacky extreme once. In 1987 our State Treasurer, R. Budd Dwyer,was embroiled in a kickback scandal. He called a press conference, ostensibly to announce his resignation, but blew his brains out at the podium instead.
The whole thing was taped…AND broadcast. But that’s not the tacky part. The truly tacky part was that when my unemployment check came in the mail later that month, Dwyer’s signature was XXXX’d out and the new guy’s rubberstamp was just above it.
I’m sure they saved lots of money on printing and processing by using up the stockpile of pre-signed checks…but still…
:)