DO DEMOCRATS STILL CARE ABOUT DEMOCRACY? There's a very humorous Letter to the Editor in the PD this morning, from an Anthony Gorsek of Cleveland. Mr. Gorsek has somehow gotten the idea that Ohio Statehouse Democrats opposed SB 82, the bill to abolish local home rule on the residency issue. He writes: "How ironic that it was mostly Republicans who sided with labor and the colloquial blue-collar man and that it was mostly Democrats who sided with employers and big-government intrusion in the lives of its citizens."
Unfortunately, Mr. Gorsek is misinformed. The House passage of SB 82 on Wednesday was a solidly bipartisan attack on local democracy, with 25 Democrats voting to preempt home rule and only 14 to preserve it. As many Republicans as Democrats voted "no".
Among the "yes" voters was Rep. Chris Redfern of Port Clinton, the newly elected chair of the Ohio Democratic Party. Meet The Bloggers interviewers, take note!
Also worth noting: Ten of the fourteen Democrats who voted to preserve home rule are African-American. They are Key, DeBose, Smith and Mason (Cleveland), Sykes (Akron), Patton (Youngstown), Beatty (the new Minority Leader, from Columbus), Yates (Cincinnati), and Allen and Strahorn (Dayton). Only four of the House's twenty-five white Democrats stood with them: Koziura from Lorain, Otterman from Akron, Skindell from Cleveland/Lakewood, and Ujvagi from Toledo.
So, here's the question on my mind: In 2006, where exactly do Ohio Democrats stand on the principle of municipal home rule?
Do Democrats still care about democracy?
(Pictured: A poster from Democrat Tom L. Johnson's 1902 campaign for re-election as Mayor of Cleveland, from Johnson's autobiography, "My Story", at clevelandmemory.org.)