Ben Krompak, Lucas County Commissioner candidate, Glass City Jungle, and Metropolitan Government

Unigov, regional government, metropolitan government. Whatever terminology you may wish to use, I find the topic to be very interesting. That being said, I find the Glass City Jungle entry Krompak says metropolitan goverment offers solutions… to be very good reading, not to mention thought-provoking.

Unigov and Hooda Thunkit

There's a great entry about unigov over on the blog of Dave Zawodny that I believe people should read. I feel even moreso if you are a concerned citizen and you believe that government should be responsible, responsive, and accountable that you really ought to read Hooda Thunkit's (Dave Zawodny's) Blog Unigov..., Is Now The Time?

I think that more people should become better informed about government and take an active role. I am sick and tired of the ignorant passivity of a vast number of people.

Lucas County Educational Service Center: Transparent and Accountable OR NOT

Sometimes, I just have to wonder at just how responsible is the administration of the Lucas County Educational Service Center, aka LCESC.

My wife, Judy, recently ended 12 years of service on the LCESC Governing Board, having been elected three times to four-year terms. Prior to her service on the Board, I had three four-year elected terms on the Board. I made a conscious decision back in 1997 not to seek re-election to that body due to the lack of support from the other Governing Board members in attempting to have a progressive Board that made policy rather than having an administration that recommended policies which were rubber-stamped by the Board as a whole. For example, I remember a time when I questioned whether the administration documented telephone quotes that were obtained for purchases not requiring competitive bids; I won't mention that fellow Board Member Marcia Helman responded that it wasn't necessary because she trusted the administration. I also won't tell you that the Board was not told by the Superintendent that the Superintendent was an active player and key point person in developing the legislative proposal by State Representative Sally Perz to create chartered community schools in Ohio; I learned of the role of the Superintendent later when I read a book the Superintendent had written that was published. As far as my wife's reason(s) for leaving the Board, it is not my place to say.

All that aside, I am a strong proponent and supporter of the role of ESCs in Ohio; in fact, I have always advocated a larger role because of the financial efficiencies of services to local school districts and consequently the taxpayers.

Okay, so "now what is the gripe?" you may ask. Well, I also believe in responsibility, responsiveness, and accountability, Those are areas in which I believe there is room for improvement of the Lucas County Educational Service Center administration and its Governing Board.

I draw your attention to Judy's Jewels Website Updates. I also draw your attention to a previous Roland Hansen Commentary on the LCESC.

I ask you: Is the Lucas County Educational Service Center transparent and accountable, or not?

ref: all Roland Hansen Commentary entries concerning LCESC

Ben Krompak, Lucas County Commissioner candidate, and Police Proposal

Ben Krompak has an idea whose time has come! Below is a copy of a release he has issued on the subject of improving police protection tghroughout Lucas County, Ohio.

Commissioner candidate pursues long-term solutions to prevent future lay-offs, increase patrols, and improve response times

Toledo, OH – Seeking long-term solutions to strengthen and improve police protection throughout Lucas County, Commissioner candidate Ben Krompak is urging local officials to explore merging the Toledo Police Department with the Lucas County Sheriff’s office and establishing a metropolitan police department. Krompak will discuss the idea at a press conference today, in front of One Government Center, at 2:30 P.M.

Explore Creating A Metropolitan Police Department

Today I am calling on Lucas County and City of Toledo officials to begin exploring the creation of a new metropolitan police department as well as other options for cooperative law enforcement.

Now is the time. County government’s financial challenges are being felt by the Sheriff’s office and the city of Toledo is contemplating mass police lay-offs for the second year in a row. We must work together to save money and improve safety.

Mergers of city and county police departments have previously been undertaken in communities such as Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Charlotte, North Carolina. We can learn from their experience as we chart our course forward.

Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert White has said that their merger led to increased patrols and faster response times. In Hamilton County, Ohio, an analysis by the Cincinnati Enquirer finds that merging local police departments with the County Sheriff could cut costs to communities currently served by their own departments by $30 per resident per year.

Establishing a metropolitan police department is one strategy for ending duplicative efforts, improving efficiency, and increasing the number of police on the street. Other approaches might involve establishing contractual agreements for one entity to deliver law enforcement services to others or sharing services by combining certain functional units within departments.

In addition to the city of Toledo, I believe that suburban communities with their own police departments as well as institutions like the University of Toledo would benefit from a new countywide approach to law enforcement. But this can only be achieved through voluntary efforts between communities that see clearly the benefits of working together.

While threats to public safety posed by police lay-offs make law enforcement a good place to start cooperative efforts, let’s not stop there. Let’s merge the county and city of Toledo prosecutor’s offices, information services, economic development, building inspection, and any other departments that duplicate efforts.

Skeptics say these things can’t be accomplished any time soon. But time is not on our side. If regional cooperation remains a topic for white papers and blue ribbon commissions for another decade then public safety and other essential services will suffer. Now is the time to make regionalism real.

Come to think of it, in my opinion, this same concept can be applied in several areas of local governmental services. Bottom line: It's an idea that fits perfectly into the concept of regional government. While I am aware that some of my peers do not favor regional government, I believe it is long overdue.

Carnival of Ohio Politics: R.I.P.

After a long absence with no explanation by or from anyone (at least, not to the best of my knowledge), I feel it necessary (or at least a compelling need on my part) to announce the unseemly and sudden demise of the Carnival of Ohio Politics. It appears to be dead, dead, dead. No announcement. No explanation. Just suddenly gone since June 25, 2009. Cause of death is unknown, at least unknown to me. However, I cannot help but wonder what was the cause of death and why no explanation has ever been provided.

I say:
Rest In Peace to the Carnival of Ohio Politics.

Lucas County Educational Service Center; Often Overlooked and Underappreciated

I would like to refer readers of Roland Hansen Commentary to the blog Lucas County Educational Services Center Updates by Angela Zimmann. The Lucas County Educational Service Center (LCESC) is a public educational service organization with a multimillion public dollar budget governed by five elected governing board members that rarely gets any media attention and yet it provides many valuable services to the citizens in the general area of Lucas County. Isn't it about time that this public agency and its elected board receive the same attention of other public agencies and elected bodies? I believe the time is long overdue.

I certainly appreciate the updates provided by Dr. Angela Zimmann, member of the LCESC Governing Board and current President, through her blog. It is too bad that the LCESC website itself does not contain the Governing Board meeting notices, agenda, and past minutes including financial reports. In this modern day and age with the internet combined with the greater public demand concerning transparency and accountability of governmental public bodies, I would think that the administration of the Lucas County Educational Service Center would provide the Governing Board meeting notices, agenda, and past minutes including financial reports on its website. Perhaps the LCESC Governing Board should introduce and pass a motion at one of its public meetings directing its administration to do so.

Bye, Ben Konop. Hello, Harry Barlos.

Well, it seems that Ben Konop must have gotten the word. He has apparently decided not to seek re-election to the Board of Lucas County Commissioners. You may read about it here. Gee, I wonder if Ben ever read any of my Roland Hansen Commentary "Ben Konop" entries. I think the departure of Ben Konop is just fantastic news.

On another happy note, it seems as though Harry Barlos, former Administrator of the Village of Holland Ohio and former Lucas County Commissioner and former Lucas County Clerk of Courts and former Mayor of the City of Maumee, is coming back into elective politics. I first met Harry way back when he was a page for the late great Vern Riffe, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, and when he made his first attempt in the mid 1970s at elective politics in seeking the Ohio House seat that was held by incumbent John A. Galbraith. Harry has filed to run for the 46th district seat of Ohio House of Representatives. Mark Dansack is not seeking that seat this year, nor is he seeking the seat for Lucas County Commissioner, but Mr. Dansack has echoed my sentiments in wishing Harry Barlos well in his quest.