Jobs, education and the economy are some of the top issues for both candidates in the Ohio 93rd District House of Representatives race - Democrat Linda Secrest of Cambridge and Republican Andy Thompson of Marietta.
Linda Secrest
"Job creation is my No. 1 priority, but not far behind jobs is education and infrastructure - you really can't have one without the other," Secrest said.
She said there's a non-partisan group of legislators from the Ohio House and Senate working on ways to solve the state's $8 billion budget deficit.
"They've invited budget management people from across the country to help solve the problem. I don't have all the answers, but if elected, I'm looking forward to working with this bipartisan group," Secrest said.
She said raising taxes is not the answer.
"We need to do more performance budgeting and shared services - to look at ways we can consolidate government services that are practical and make sense," Secrest said.
Performance-based budgeting refers to each agency developing its priorities and funding those that are most critical to its mission first, which helps ensure core services continue in tight times. Shared services are those common to agencies like payroll, invoicing, travel, human resources and others that can be consolidated into one operation.
Good infrastructure is also a key to economic development, Secrest said.
"We need to attract and direct resources to southeast Ohio to build our infrastructure - roads, water and sewer, industrial sites and broadband," she said. "If we have these, we can attract business and jobs. And I will work hard to alter the formulas that have kept economic development resources from this area. More resources are needed for areas that have the most need."
The candidate believes another key to growth is education.
"Industry doesn't want to locate in an area where schools are failing," Secrest said. "And where you live shouldn't determine the quality of your education."
She said Gov. Ted Strickland has not cut the schools budget.
"He's kept his word and commitment to education," Secrest said. "And the state just won $400 million in federal Race to the Top funding for education.
"There are areas of education reform that are not funded yet, but I will work hard as funding becomes available to bring those resource to our schools," she added.
Secrest believes adult education and training is also important, noting programs must be made available to train people for jobs today as well as for future employment.
Secrest has 35 years of public service experience, more than 32 of them as a counselor and executive director of a drug and alcohol program in Guernsey County. She has also served on several boards including the Guernsey County Health Department, and the Mental Retardation Advisory Board at Cambridge State Hospital.
"I bring 32 years of working with folks in southeast Ohio, not just on drug and alcohol issues, but on health, education and job training," Secrest said. "I've sat at their kitchen tables, helping solve problems and getting people on the right path.
"Now I want to do this work on a larger scale - to help a lot more people in this state," she said. "I will provide strong leadership and problem-solving skills, and will be a loud voice for southeast Ohio."
Andy Thompson
Thompson, an at large Marietta city councilman and the Republican challenger for the 93rd District House seat, says economic development and jobs are the major issues for southeast Ohio.
"We have to grow the pie for business in Ohio so we can encourage economic development," he said. "Finding good jobs is a challenge, and while the idea of government creating jobs seems OK, those jobs often don't last."
One of the best ways to develop viable employment options is to encourage more new business, according to Thompson.
"Entrepreneurs don't want to be punished for creating successful businesses," he said. "We need to get the message across that government works for the people. If it doesn't get that message, one day there won't be anyone working and paying taxes.
Ohio is facing not only an $8 billion budget deficit but also unfunded federal mandates, Thompson said, adding that the state needs to assert its sovereignty and work to put a stop to such federal mandates.
"For example, Eastern Local Schools in Senecaville (Guernsey County) told me if they could get rid of unfunded mandates, they wouldn't have to ask for more local monies," he said.
Thompson said the state's current school funding formula may work for larger cities, but not in smaller rural areas that can't afford to support school levies.
"And requiring things like a 16-to-1 pupil-to-teacher ratio in our public schools is not affordable to most school districts," Thompson said.
Thompson is also concerned that Ohio is losing businesses to other states.
"There's a great exodus of larger companies leaving this state; in some cases they're going overseas, many due to high income taxation and other issues," he added.
Thompson said the state Economic Development Committee could provide that function, but it has rarely met during the present administration.
He believes experience on city council will serve him and his constituents well.
"While chairing the council finance committee during the last term we took a lot of steps to save money," Thompson said. "And that was with a Democrat administration working with a Republican-led council.
"The recession has been difficult, but (Marietta) is in better shape now than most cities, due to the steps we took then," he said.
Thompson said his enthusiasm for entrepreneurship came from his own family where his mother and father established their successful Bird Watchers Digest business around the kitchen table in the late 1970s.
"The business was founded during a tough economy, but we all pitched in to make it happen, and that same thing can happen all over Ohio if the state will just let it happen," he said.
As a former leader of the National Federation of Independent Business Marietta Area Action Council from 2001 to 2006, Thompson said he's seen the connection between the business and political worlds.
"We need to instill the values and commitment that small businesses represent," he said. "One businessman told me he could have hired two people recently, but both were waiting for their unemployment compensation to run out first.
"That's not a good example to business or to our children," Thompson said.
