Local Dems contrast Strickland, Kasich on their support for ARC

A bevy of local Democratic elected officials gathered on Tuesday at the Athens County Courthouse where state Rep. Debbie Phillips and Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl slammed Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich for allegedly supporting repeated attempts to slash funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission during his time as a U.S. congressman.

The Kasich campaign responded by hitting Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland on the state budget, the economy and his record with regard to Appalachian Ohio.

Phillips and Wiehl said that the ARC, a federal/state economic development program launched in 1965 to address the unique needs of Appalachia, has greatly benefited Athens and other nearby counties.

“Here in Athens, the ARC provided critical funding for the Circle Drive Access Road and Ohio University’s HOME project and Innovation Center,” Wiehl said. “These funds help to stretch infrastructure dollars in a community that serves a large number of residents, with a much smaller local tax base.”

Phillips said that in 1993, then-Congressman John Kasich, who represented Ohio’s 12th District outside of Columbus, proposed a budget plan that would have frozen funding for the ARC. She also said that in 1995 his proposed budget would have eliminated the ARC in its entirety. While those efforts were stopped, the budget that was later passed cut in half funding for ARC’s anti-poverty programs, she said. A later press release from Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s campaign provided newspaper documentation of Kasich’s positions.

The ARC funded 34 Ohio projects in 2009, Phillips later said in e-mail, for a total of more than $6 million. Ohio is also unique among the Appalachian states, she said at the press conference, for its matching ARC funds to the tune of more than $4 million.

At the press conference, Phillips slammed Kasich for his attitude toward Appalachia.

“Two weeks ago, Congressman Kasich’s campaign dismissed rural Ohioans by implying that someone’s humble upbringing makes them unfit to lead Ohio’s cities,” Rep. Phillips said, referring to a Kasich campaign staffer’s remarks about Strickland’s upbringing in a “chicken shack” on Duck Run.

“These remarks are indicative of the difference between Ted Strickland and Congressman Kasich’s record on Appalachian Ohio,” Phillips continued. “Born and raised in Scioto County, Ted Strickland has consistently demonstrated that he understands the needs of Appalachian Ohio. Congressman Kasich, meanwhile, attempted to undercut rural Ohio by cutting funding for the ARC.”

She pointed to various measures Strickland has undertaken during his time in office to buoy Appalachia, including having supported broadband expansion, increased highway funding, and the use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to improve infrastructure in the region. Stickland has also served as the co-chair of the ARC, and last year the organization’s annual conference was held in Athens.

Phillips cited some additional programs that the ARC has provided funding, including monies for three-phase power at the Snowville Creamery, which she said would help expand the niche Meigs County dairy operation.

“The ARC also provided funds for the Chesterhill Produce Auction, which expands markets for farmers in Morgan County,” she said. “Finally, an ARC grant to Ohio University allows the Voinovich School to offer technical assistance to businesses and local governments in implementing energy-efficiency and renewable energy projects.”

Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols said Tuesday that at the time of Kasich’s comments in the 1990s, the federal budget was put under a microscope and analyzed by a team that he had put together to balance the federal budget.

“Every program was analyzed and looked at closely to make sure taxpayers are still getting bang for their buck, that taxpayer dollars are being used and spent wisely,” he said. “He will take that same principle and philosophy and apply it to the state government.”

Nichols said that Strickland has mismanaged Ohio into an $8 billion budget hole, and taxpayers need to be assured that their money is spent wisely.

“This governor loves big government, loves government spending, and that is why he has been unable to make any difficult decisions to keep us from falling into this $8 billion budget hole,” he said.

Nichols said that as chair of the (House) budget committee in Washington, Kasich’s principles led to a balanced budget and a period of historical prosperity.

“He plans to use that same skill-set to help Ohio through this awful budget mess that this governor has brought down upon us all,” Nichols said.

(Neither Kasich nor Strickland has provided any plan for how he will deal with the projected $6 billion to $8 billion hole in the next biennial budget.)

WITH REGARD TO ECONOMIC development in this region, Nichols said that once Kasich gets the Ohio economy moving, the whole state will benefit.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Jimmy Stewart, R-Albany, pointed out that as a congressman, Kasich didn’t represent the Appalachian region. Stewart also slammed Phillips for her vote in favor of the state budget last year, in which several Appalachian school districts saw funding cuts.

“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing stones,” he said, turning an old phrase.

Stewart also cited a recent report from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency that maps areas of concentrated economic distress in the state. However, Athens County is not included as one of these areas. Neither is Hocking, Vinton, Jackson or Gallia Counties; however, Meigs County is.

Ohio is getting $2.1 billion in federal funds to address mortgage foreclosures, Stewart said, as part of the “hardest-hit fund.”

The administration had to prioritize counties according to economic distress, he said.

Without these counties included, they will not be as eligible for foreclosure assistance as the other counties that were included.

“What they’ve done is basically excluded the bulk of Appalachian counties,” he said. “And they’re saying that these Appalachian counties are not areas of concentrated economic distress… If they’re claiming John Kasich has worked against Appalachian Ohio, look what the Strickland administration is doing right now.”

Stewart said he finds it ironic that counties such as Delaware, Warren and Butler are considered economically distressed by the Strickland administration, while Vinton and Athens are not.