Local

Why did Bryan Clark, who managed the anti-Issue 1 campaign last year, have a seat at the table at Columbus Charter Review Committee meetings? Last year Clark, chief policy advisor for Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, took a leave of absence from the mayor’s office to manage the campaign against Issue 1, the citizens’ initiative proposing an expanded City Council with district representation.

Issue 1 was defeated at the Aug. 2 special election. Many activists believed that Issue 1 lost because of an expensive propaganda campaign by the opposition full of blatant distortion about how large Council would get and the costs to taxpayers if Council expanded.

Clark was among several city employees who made repeated presentations at the Charter Review Committee’s 12 meetings. He was continually at the table in front of them to answer questions and make comments. He and J. Edward Johnson, city council’s director of legislative affairs, were so involved with the committee’s final recommendations that one member suggested calling it “The Clark-Johnson Plan.”

Alcohol is a big problem on college campuses and underage drinking is a major slice of the problem. The connection between excessive alcohol consumption and violence and sexual assault is well established.

Ohio State University has its share of student drinking issues, as have most U.S. colleges. When OSU decided to sell beer to students at football games last season, it needed a public relations gimmick to cover over a dubious decision.

So athletic director Gene Smith and his minions came up with the following story line: We'll use some of the beer profits to hire more OSU police officers.

It turns out that the first season of beer peddling netted the athletic department over $1 million. Recently, OSU held a PR fest to announce the hiring of more police with the beer money.  

Last time I checked the OSU athletic department's annual revenue was $167 million and it was turning a tidy profit of $13 million. Smith could put $1 million a year into hiring more police any time he wants to and hardly miss it.

Freep Hero: Tish O’Dell and CELDF

The Free Press hero is Tish O’Dell, who campaigned for and won a Community Bill of Rights that banned fracking in Broadview Heights, Ohio. O’Dell and her group, the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) have helped 28 communities including Columbus fight to protect clean air and water as a right. There will be a CELDF “Community Rights for Social Justice” conference at the Northwood-High building in Columbus Saturday, March 4. CELDF is making civil disobedience a democratic and civic duty.

The Free Press Salutes

What may be America's most dangerous, decrepit and disastrous nuke is facing Judgment Day. And it could cost you both your money and your life. The infamous Davis-Besse reactor, near Toledo, is at the breaking point. It is poised to lose hundreds of millions of dollars for its owners and Ohio rate payers. So, of course, the "free enterprise" Republican legislature is poised to give those nuke operators a massive bailout. To the tune of more than $4 Billion (that's not a typo).

Natural Gas is cheaper. New gas plants far in excess of DB are under construction. Ohio has tremendous wind resources, far in excess of anything we will ever need and far more than it would take to replace DB. Thanks to spectacular technological advances in recent years, that wind power—along with new solar panels—is cheaper, safer, cleaner and more reliable than the nuke, and would create thousands of jobs beyond the few hundred at Davis-Besse.

In February, Columbus City officials announced a massive giveaway to a major developer to build upscale housing at Easton. The city and school district will forego a total of $68 million in property taxes over the next thirty years. In return, The Georgetown Co. will make a total of $5.75 million in contributions toward development in the Linden area – $4.25 million of which will be repaid to them using a tax increment financing district, or TIF. The deal also requires Georgetown to create a total of 500 full-time, non-retail jobs over the next 11 years. Ostensibly the income tax revenue from these jobs would offset a portion of the lost property tax - but the penalty for missing the goal is only $100,000 per year.

Tuesday, February 28, 6-9pm
Kafe Kerouac,  2250 N. High St.
Learn more about the Green Party and the 10 key values.
Meet and greet Green Party current, prospective and past candidates.
Get involved! Learn about upcoming Green Party activities and how to help with campaigns.
Celebrate Connie's Birthday! Come and talk some politics with the Green Party state co-chair on her birthday.
This event is being hosted by Committee to Elect Connie Gadell Newton

The biggest news from standing rock is that the protest is not over. There are still close to a thousand protestors encamped in Areas around Oceti camp which was shut down by the government. While many protestors are still in a state of shock after being removed from the land they had occupied for nearly a year, this is an incredibly tough breed of activist. The largest and most organized of the remaining camps is Sacred Stone, where I am now encamped. While many are leaving, new protestors are arriving daily. I spent Friday picking up trash and helping to erect tipis that had been salvaged from Oceti.

Sunday, February 26, 5-7pm
Carriage House, 1021 E. Broad St., upstairs
Monthly collective check in
Potluck style please so bring something to eat or drink. 
Health, Saftey, Legal, Childcare and Housing teams will report on any progress made, work on building up the collective and planning future events.

Some of you may already know that Carolyn Harding of Columbus traveled to Standing Rock this week to stand with the people in that community standing up to protect their water and their community. Carolyn was one of the final arrests made. Carolyn has posted many pictures and accounts of her experience on her Facebook page.