MOUNT VERNON — Candidates for state representative and county commissioners vowed to do what it takes to help keep industries and jobs in the county, and to attract new ones. They spoke at a forum organized by the Mount Vernon-Knox County Chamber of Commerce and held Thursday at Mazza’s Restaurant.
Because of term limits, State Rep. Thom Collier is not running for re-election. Knox County Auditor Margaret-Ann Ruhl and former Mount Gilead mayor Thom Whiston are seeking the Republican nomination to replace him in the 90th District.
Ruhl has been the county auditor for the last 13 years and serves on the executive committee of the Ohio Association of Auditors. She also served as city auditor for 11 years. Ruhl cited her role in the development of the county’s geographical information system as one of her recent accomplishments. She said the system provides detailed, computerized information on properties in the county, which has been useful to other county agencies such as the Knox County Regional Planning Commission, Knox County Area Development Foundation and the county’s 9-1-1 service.
Whiston said he was mayor of Mount Gilead for 11 years and, prior to that, served on the Mount Gilead City Council. An Ohio State University graduate, he owns a family pharmacy in Mount Gilead. Whiston said he brings his experience in private enterprise to the political table.
“Government is a business, and as such, it must be run efficiently,” he said.
He said he helped keep the financial condition of Mount Gilead healthy and bring about infrastructure improvements there without raising taxes.
Whiston was asked to address an imminent increase in the cost of workers’ compensation to Ohio businesses, and asked what he thinks should be done to make Ohio’s workers’ compensation system more affordable and effective. He spoke about work done by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce to implement new efficiencies and reduce the cost, and to make sure money is paid to proper claims and the money collected is sufficiently utilized.
“I think there are still ways to improve workers’ compensation,” Whiston said. “It is an issue with other states and one we have to be competitive on.”
Ruhl was asked what can be done to improve education system, kindergarten through high school, as well as access and affordability issues with higher education. Her answer was met with laughter from the audience.
“If I had the answer to the school funding, I don’t think I would be standing here,” she said. “I do think there’s a lot of work to be done on school funding and I would be open to ideas.”
Asked to address efforts by the Service Employees International Union to require Ohio businesses to provide more paid sick days foremployees, Whiston said that as a small business owner, while he sees merits and difficulties of government making the mandate, he is not in favor of increasing the costs for business. He added that an unfair burden is often placed on companies which make it difficult for them to stay in business.
Asked what approach she would take to help reform Ohio’s health care system, Ruhl said she believes in working with state officials and medical insurance carriers to develop what she called health insurance pools. These pools would offer a kind of blanket coverage at a low cost for companies and employees.
“Putting health insurance pools together has lowered the cost in a lot of areas I deal with in the county, so I would look into that first,” she said.
To help combat the state’s growing deficit, Whiston said he would have to look into ways to cut spending and, unfortunately, laying off non-essential state employees.
Ruhl said that to improve the state’s regulatory environment and make it easier to do business in Ohio, all regulations should be examined. She added that small businesses ought to be given breaks whenever possible.
In the last General Assembly, legislators took action to change the corporate tax structure in Ohio by phasing out the corporate franchise tax and the tangible personal property tax, and reducing the personal income tax. They implemented the commercial activity tax, which has more businesses paying taxes but at a much lower rate.
Whiston said he supports continuing therestructured tax, adding that it has been a positive thing. He also said a business-friendly tax structure helps make the state more attractive for new industries and keeps Ohio competitive with other states.
Knox County resident Duane Grassbaugh, who is running unopposed on the Democratic ticket for state representative, said the state’s economic woes, school funding and a lack of affordable health care are all problems that have not been addressed by state leaders. He said he began running for state representative in 2004 and plans to continue to seek the seat until these problems are remedied.
“It’s important. Things are not going right. We can’t sit on our hands and watch the problems develop and do nothing about it,” Grassbaugh said.
