Lucas County Commissioner Debate notes..

After reading this morning's Blade a few things become clear. One, people should make it a point to attend these debates since that's the only real way they are going to get information. I took 8 pages of notes just during the Commissioner debate. Many really excellent questions were asked.


Both George and Ben agree on regionalism being important to this area, Ben stating that there is too much competition in Lucas County that we as a region need to compete together for jobs outside of this area and George pointing to Louisville and Indianapolis as examples of successful regionalism and he used the recent radio system coordination with the City of Toledo and Lucas County as one example.

On the Sports Arena and the 80 million dollar price tag, both candidates are cautiously optimistic and both believe it is important that Lucas County residents see no tax increase.

There was a very detailed question about why the Lucas County Dog Warden does not use a scanner to help owners locate lost dogs even though it was stated that one had been offered to them for free. The person who wrote the question wanted to know if the candidates would support this since the cost of training staff to use the scanner would be small.

Ben stated this was one example of how our County is behind the times in technology that we are years behind the curve. That he would like more information on the specifics but it was something he felt should be looked at.

George stated that he would also be interested in looking into this issue and learn more facts about it. He then brought up the issue of the Dog Warden not being available on weekends as a concern as well.

The question was asked as to how each candidate is different than the two current Commissioners.

Ben stated that he was not afraid to criticize the two current Commissioners and he gave two examples that he has promoted where he believes changes should happen. One was the switch to Open Source Software, the other was the better promoting/assistance related to Earned Income Tax Credits.

George said that with Tina having a background in Social Work and Pete having a labor background that he would bring his 24 years of Business and Professional experience as a contribution. He also felt that as a Republican he would bring balance to County government and stated that effective government is not a partisan government.

When the question was asked if either man would be a full time commissioner and would they quit their other employment, Ben answered yes with the exception of one class he had agreed to teach in the Spring on Election Law and he would donate the money earned for that class for a scholarship fund. He stated this was a part of his ethics pledge and he pointed out that George had not signed that pledge.

George said he would be a full time commissioner but he did not come out and state that he was going to quit his other employment. His response was that he had put in numerous hours as a City Council person, that he had treated that as a full time job and would make the Commissioner's Office his number one priority. When responding to the issue of the ethics pledge, George stated that the two current Commissioners had not signed it either.

It was asked how each candidate felt about the Urban Village model.

George stated that Lagrange is a good example of this being successful as well as Point Place but that the urban village model is not for every neighborhood.

Ben stated that this area is a sleeping giant architecturally and that he is all for the Urban Village concept.

Issue Three and Gambling is something most people know I have been paying close attention to. I respectfully disagree with the way Joshua Boak presented that answer. While George did make it very clear that he supports the concept of limited casino gambling in a location such as the Marina, he also made it clear he does not think Issue 3 is fair to our area and I think it's important for local voters to know how the candidates feel on Issue 3.

Ben's position as to being against gambling as written in the article is accurate, he stated that gambling creates societal problems beyond the financial gain.

If you read the closing statements in full as I've transcribed in the post below I think it shows you the differences in the two candidates as well as some of the information that I've posted here.