Forum rebuttal

In the recent commissioners candidate forum sponsored by the Clinton County Tea Party my opponent Mike Curry was asked why he didn’t use the 2005 sales tax increase for the stated purpose of debt reduction.

Mike’s response was that the Sales Tax Resolution did not say anything about the increase being used for the purpose of debt reduction therefore he could not be accused of having broken any promises.

I would like to point out that the way the sales tax was presented to the public is a different story. In a Wilmington News Journal article from July 21^st, 2005 it is stated “Both plans put a large chunk of the newly-generated money toward debt service.” Mike is quoted saying “we want to reduce the debt so that those dollars going to debt service are freed up to be used as operational dollars.”

It is disingenuous for Mike to use the wording of the resolution as his defense when it is clear from his quotes that the public was lead to believe the revenue would be used for debt service.

Mike also took issue with my comment that he had raised the sales tax three times. He said that would mean he lowered the sales tax twice.

Each of the sales tax increase resolutions are for a fixed period of time meaning that the one-half percent increase goes away at the end of the stated term. Subsequent resolutions are increases in the sales tax as evidenced by the wording of the resolution.

The recently passed sales tax resolution is titled “In the matter of levying an additional county sales tax of one-half of one percent. The resolution states “Pursuant to Section 5739.026, Ohio Revised code, and for the purpose of paying the expenses of administering the increase in the tax….”. It goes on to say “….there is hereby levied a tax at the rate of one-half of one percent in addition to the tax of one percent, currently imposed…”.

The resolution wording makes it clear that is a tax increase so my statement that Mike has raised your taxes three times is accurate.

The recently passed sales tax resolution is titled “In the matter of levying an additional county sales tax of one-half of one percent. The resolution states “Pursuant to Section 5739.026, Ohio Revised code, and for the purpose of paying the expenses of administering the increase in the tax….”. It goes on to say “….there is hereby levied a tax at the rate of one-half of one percent in addition to the tax of one percent, currently imposed…”.

The resolution wording makes it clear that is a tax increase so my statement that Mike has raised your taxes three times is accurate.

Who is running for commissioner?

In talking to voters all over the county it is apparent that there is a lot of confusion about who is running for County Commissioner in this year's primary election on March 6th.

There are two seats up for election this year.

I am running against Mike Curry for one seat.

Keith Collins, Bob Johnson, Kerry Steed, and Dave Stewart are all running for the second seat vacated by Randy Riley.

RWC Candidate Night Speech

Thanks to the Republicans Women’s Clubs of Clinton County for allowing me to speak at their Candidates Night tonight. The text of my speech is shown below (limited to 3 minutes).

* Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your attention and interest in these important races and thanks to the ladies of the Republican Womens Club’s for giving us this opportunity to speak tonight.

* Since our time is limited I’m going to skip the personal history and invite you to go to my website vanpratt.com to learn about my background and experience. Time will not permit discussing all the issues so I will focus on a few of the issues that are important to the taxpayers of Clinton County.

* Let me begin by saying that my opponent, Mike Curry, is a nice guy so please understand that with all due respect I am not focusing on my opponent's personality, but rather, on his record.

* As Republicans we are supposed to abide by certain principles, those detailed in the Republican Party Platform. This document states, “The American people believe that Washington is broken. Short-term politics overshadow long-term interests of the nation.” I submit the same thing could be said about Clinton County.

* My opponent has been responsible for the county’s budget for over 10 years. The same problems that existed 10+ years ago still exist today. Instead of making the needed changes, the can continues to be kicked down the road.

* My opponent’s budgets have not included the recommended 25% year-to-year carry-over so there continues to be concern about making payroll and there is no emergency fund to cover anything unexpected.

* I will implement a 5 year budget forecast to improve decision making. I will work to protect the hospital funds for the long-term benefit of county taxpayers and I will work to create the proper level of carryover so that the county will not continually face fiscal emergencies.

* This Republican platform states, “Spend only what is necessary, and tax only to raise revenue for essential government functions.”

* Back in 2005 when the economy was rolling along quite well, my opponent raised the sales tax, justifying the increase as needed to pay down debt and get the county budget in order. $12M in new taxes was raised but less than $2M was used to pay down debt. Instead, my opponent increased the average General Fund Budget by of over $2M per year.

* He increased taxes by $2M per year and increased spending by $2M per year.

* This Republican platform states, “Republicans will attack wasteful spending immediately. Government waste must be taken off auto-pilot”. “The problem is too much spending not too few taxes”.

* My opponent has since voted two more times to raise the sales tax. Instead of attacking spending he has increased it.

* It will be argues that all the cost cutting that can be done has been done but when compared to the seven next larger counties my opponent’s budget was $3.3M higher than theirs.

* It begs the question, how can other county commissioners run their larger counties for $3M less than my opponent can?

* The Republican platform says, “Each agency must be able to pass a financial audit and set targets for improving efficiency with fewer resources”. I will use the other counties’ budgets as a benchmark goal and will work with the various county agencies to cut budgets to meet these goals, reducing the burden on the taxpayers.

* Will this require hard choices? Yes it will, but as Ronald Reagan said, “There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right".

* With bold conservative leadership Clinton County can have a bright future once again, we can thrive not just survive.

* The record is quite clear; it’s time for Republicans to start acting like Republicans. I am your conservative choice for County Commissioner.

* Please visit vanpratt.com for more information.

* Thank you and God Bless.

Van Pratt for County Commissioner

After prayerful consideration and discussion with my family I have decided to run for the County Commissioner seat held by Mike Curry.

From what I know about Mike he's a nice guy but that can't be the only criteria for being county commissioner. For those of you that like Mike, I'm not running against his personality, I'm running against his record.

Mike has been a commissioner for over 10 years. The budget was and still is a mess in spite of the $2M+ additional annual revenue generated by the sales tax increase. Debt hasn't been paid off but rather spending has grown. The general revenue budget should have an annual carry-over of 25%. For years the county has basically has no carry-over. Things have got to change.

I am running to bring another conservative vote to the county commission so that we can begin the process of trimming the budget back down to size. It is going to take political courage to say no to the parade of people that continually ask for more. The residents of Clinton County have had to cut back. It's time the county government does too.

The company I work for was hit hard by the economic downturn a few years ago. A percentage of people had to be laid off and those of us that remained took a 5% pay cut. I lost friends in the reduction in force and of course the pay cut was hard to deal with but we made it through. Now, two to three years later the company is having a record breaking year. The point of this story is that cuts were difficult but necessary given the economic times. The cuts allowed the company to weather the storm and be poised for an astounding recovery. I believe the same thing can be true for Clinton County.