2014 Midterms in Dayton area (Hamilton, Montgomery: appointed, sales, rent)

[SWOH]

So the elections are over, and no real surprises came up.

Boehner, Turner, Beagle, Foley, Strahorn, Henne, Butler..... all incumbents, and all won again this time around. No surprises there.

I was hoping Leitzell, by some miracle, could pull off a win for the Commissioner's race... he did a great job as mayor. But it was a longshot, especially as an independent.

What did you all think about the recent elections?

[RDriesenUD]

Very happy with how things turned out locally and in the state. I really wasn't sure who I wanted to be Commissioner up until the end. I was actually okay with any of the 3.

Not really a fan of minimum wage going up in some states. It is supposed to be a job/wage that gets you started. Not something that you are supposed to live off of. This will hurt us, IMO. We need to get people better wages by increasing the number of good jobs, lowering costs in some other areas, etc....

[IDtheftV]

Originally Posted by RDriesenUD

Not really a fan of minimum wage .... We need to get people better wages by increasing the number of good jobs, lowering costs in some other areas, etc....

We need accelerated tax treatment for training costs.

Something has gone awry with the Depression we are coming out of. Someone with an accredited degree in something is pretty much unqualified for jobs that they haven't actually done.

If there were accelerated write-offs as tax credits, there wouldn't be such resistance to train people.

I don't care what they do with min-wage. The only thing I can say is that it needs to be bumped and then set on 'autopilot' ( to increase each year - maybe at the same rate that Social Security is raised or better ) so that there will be less incentive to argue about it.

There will be a raise every year, but it will be to hard to repeal that feature for those that want to keep the rate at historical lows adjusted for inflation.

I don't care that some people will get a raise from it and I don't care that some people will either lose their job or won't be able to get one because the rate is too high. I care that because the rate isn't on 'autopilot' we keep getting to hear either how hard it is to live on or how hard it is to hire someone at that rate.

If it's on autopilot, people will still whine about it, but not as much because the effort to take it off autopilot and either lower or raise it will be prohibitive.

Originally Posted by RDriesenUD

It is supposed to be a job/wage that gets you started. Not something that you are supposed to live off of.

Agreed.

They could raise it to $12/hour nationally, and it would still suck to live off of it.

[RDriesenUD]

Well said

[Natural510]

It was a slaughter, but that's what happens when large demographics of people don't vote, especially in non-presidential years.

[SWOH]

I'll just say I'm on the other side of the fence on minimum wage from you both, RDreisen and ID. Just because I've worked with a number of people caught in the minimum wage trap with no way out. But I digress.... that's good commentary for a different thread haha, or maybe I'll comment this weekend once my exams wrap up and I can put enough time into a detailed response.


Anyways, Nat, I think you hit it on the head. Small turnout + passionate GOP voter base = what happened. But I will disagree - somewhat - on the "slaughtering". Democrats can still filibuster in the Senate, only about 10 seats in the House were lost (out of 180-ish held pre-election), and they won all of the state races they were expected to win from the exceedingly gerrymandered districts they created. So no surprises there haha. Plus the President is still Obama. The only part that really scares me is the Supreme Court - it seems like they're the only part of government making waves anymore. Their future rulings are a worry.

On the topic of state elections though, did you guys think Dee Gillis had a chance against Beagle? I actually didn't realize she was a viable candidate until election day. If I would have known, I would have taken time to vote absentee! Oh well.

[Dayton Sux]

^
I was one of those. Politics is dominated by an old-boy network and money, and people like me have no say in what goes on. Besides, since I'm pretty far left vis a vis US political opinion, so I pretty much am a bystander anyway.

@@@

Down in Cincy, the "fix Union Terminal" sales tax passed pretty good, so it shows that people will support historic preservation, to the point of increasing their taxes to pay for it.

Seems like this would have been the solution for the Arcade, back in the 1990s, but that was never tried here.

Locally the human services levy passed, which always suprises me since this area is so conservative...social welfare stuff should be a hard sell here.

[SWOH]

^Agreed. If the Arcade is ever going to be renovated properly, Montgomery Co. will probably have to follow Hamilton Co's lead on how they're funding repairs for the Union Terminal.

What's interesting is the odds of passing would probably be decent if whatever group of politicians were able to make it happen. I'm basing this statement on the fact that the Dayton Business Journal recently ran a poll, and 53% of voters said it should be renovated, even with multiple "midway" options like saving the rotunda, rebuilding new with similar features (haha like that would ever happen), etc. Here's the link: Business Pulse Poll: What do you think should be done with the Arcade? - Dayton Business Journal

Nan recently formed a community group, and is friends with Cranley / follows Cincy politics (at least to some extent), so I'm sure she is familiar with what's happened in Cincy with Union Terminal. Maybe she'll make this happen! It'd be one heck of a good legacy to have as mayor, as long as you can get everyone else to play nice.

[hensleya1]

Originally Posted by OHKID

So the elections are over, and no real surprises came up.

Boehner, Turner, Beagle, Foley, Strahorn, Henne, Butler..... all incumbents, and all won again this time around. No surprises there.

I was hoping Leitzell, by some miracle, could pull off a win for the Commissioner's race... he did a great job as mayor. But it was a longshot, especially as an independent.

What did you all think about the recent elections?

Doesn't surprise me that the majority of the incumbents won. I'm glad that the Common Pleas judges I voted for all won, as well.

I'm disappointed that the Human Services levy passed by such an asinine margin. Good that the Huber levy failed again, though. There simply isn't the money for all the extra millage. Owning property pretty much anywhere in Montgomery County, especially without the appreciation that you normally get almost anywhere else, is such a losing proposition.

I was hoping Leitzell won, too, but he got less than 10% all said and done. I wish I would have known that he was going to lose by such a margin - if he was, I would have voted for Mike Nolan instead.

[IDtheftV]

Originally Posted by Natural510

It was a slaughter, but that's what happens when large demographics of people don't vote, especially in non-presidential years.

Do you think that D's tend to "not vote" more than R's? I doubt it. This happened to both Clinton and Bush. I think it means that people are wising up to the fact that the government doesn't care about you and once they get in and feel how wonderful it is to be so privileged.

They are like a type of barnacle that eats half of their brain and become impossible to dislodge once established. All congresscritters meet this description. They all have benefits and retirement plans that put them so far out of touch, that they can't relate to you ( both parties ).

Originally Posted by OHKID

I'll just say I'm on the other side of the fence on minimum wage from you both, RDreisen and ID.

Are you?

What about upping it to $11/hour and then setting it on "autopilot?" Then you are not on the crappy side of the fence.

I think you would be happy with $10/hour.

I would say that if someone is struggling at $7.25/hour then they take home about $200/week on 30 hrs/wk if you ignore Fed, state and local taxes.

To pick a totally random number of $10.86/hour then they take home about $300/week with the same assumptions.

You might see that person getting a 50% raise, but I see that person expanding their budget and finding things to buy that they "need" and still having a crappy life. Note that the person working for min wage with some kids is also getting food stamps and child support and rent subsidies that exceed their wages. The min wage increase in no way was a 50% improvement in their finances.

They need a full-time job ( not 30 hours ) with benefits ( not welfare ) and there is no way they will get there via the min wage. Even if min wage goes to $12/hour that's still only half of what someone needs to have a marginally decent life if you have children.

I guess I'm really getting off topic, so I better stop before someone out there gets mad at me and thinks that I'm talking about them. Then I'll get nasty DM's and my post will get quoted in its entirety without any specific point being addressed.

If all you have to look forward to in your work life is that tiny increase in the minimum wage, then you are already dead.