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RESTORING PROSPERITY TO OHIO MEDIA COVERAGE EDITORIALS Massive duplication too costly for Ohio 09/12/08 – The Columbus Dispatch Keep politicians’ sticky hands off Third Frontier money By JOE HALLETT 09/10/08 – Cleveland Plain Dealer Ohio conference calls for major makeover A state heavy on government: Report: Ohio should focus on 09/13/08 – Ohio News Bureau center cities, not expanding By JOHN MICHAEL SPINELLI 09/12/08 – The Lima News Ohio must strengthen its cities 09/14/08 – Cleveland Plain Dealer NEWS Ohio’s rules hinder progress, business leaders say 09/10/08 – Cleveland Plain Dealer By TOM BRECKENRIDGE Ohio must rethink growth, study says 09/10/08 – The Columbus Dispatch By JOE HALLETT Ohio leaders discuss cities’ futures 09/11/08 – Canton Repository By G. PATRICK KELLEY Report: Cities building blocks for state’s success 09/11/08 – The Lima News By HEATHER RUTZ KEEP POLITICIANS’ STICKY HANDS OFF THIRD FRONTIER MONEY September 10, 2008 EDITORIAL About 1,000 civic, business and public policy That's all about keeping politics out of the deci- leaders will meet today in Columbus to talk sions. It also means there are clear winners about how Ohio can help revitalize its urban and losers -- not a dollop of peanut butter for centers. The conference builds on recent re- everyone. search from the Brookings Institution that iden- tifies metropolitan areas as the keys to innova- So far the administration has twice raided tion, and therefore prosperity, in the global Third Frontier money for other uses. Now it economy. wants to change the guidelines for Third Fron- tier grant-making to give itself a stronger voice. Based on his research, Brookings scholar Bruce Katz says state policies have too often That threatens to invite politics to the table and kept Ohio's cities from reclaiming or sharpen- endanger public support. Ohio's metropolitan ing their natural competitive edge. One big centers can't take that risk -- and neither problem he identified is Ohio's tendency to should this governor. spread development resources "like peanut butter," rather than concentrate on projects with the greatest potential. Let's hope the Strickland administration, which helped organize the conference, takes note. Because it's preparing to tamper with perhaps the smartest development effort Ohio has un- dertaken in a generation. Conceived by former Gov. Bob Taft and fi- nanced to the tune of $1.6 billion by voters in 2005, the Third Frontier invests in technology projects with potential to draw private invest- ment, seed new industries and create jobs. Key to its chances of success and to public confidence has been the Third Frontier's use of experts from the National Academy of Sci- ences to evaluate grant proposals. The Lima News A STATE HEAVY ON GOVERNMENT REPORT: OHIO SHOULD FOCUS ON CENTER CITIES, NOT EXPANDING September 12, 2008 EDITORIAL One only needs to consider the economic pay for the same services when they could going to do much to sway people who stand to pinch local governments are feeling to under- combine costs and either have money left for gain little or nothing from such a change. stand Ohio has too many of them. Local gov- other services or, even better, to return to tax- ernments compete against one another for in- payers. dustry, for residents and for state assistance - and there simply isn't enough to go around in Lima Mayor David Berger, who was among the Ohio. more than 1,000 Ohioans involved in the study, was understandably pleased with the But, according to a think tank report released findings. However, he and other center city ad- last week, Ohio's policies have left behind the vocates need to temper their enthusiasm. state's metropolitan centers. The 16 largest While state residents would be better served if areas in the state - Lima is one of them - ac- government services would merge, those in count for 84 percent of jobs, 81 percent of the the center city are going to be quick to assume population and 87 percent of Ohio's gross do- their municipalities would be the beneficiaries mestic output. The report was meant as a of consolidation. That might not be the case. method for Ohio to create "competitive com- munities," recognizing the importance of center Politically, trying to restructure how the Ohio cities on entire regions' well-being. Legislature divides funds will be a nightmare if those outside the center cities want to mount a Yet the state favors policies that promote spirited resistance. Republicans, the majority growth in new places. Ohio cannot compete in of whom do not live in the state's core commu- the 21st century with a system of local govern- nities, still control the General Assembly. They ments still set up for the 19th century, said are as good as listening to their constituents as Bruce Katz, vice president of the Brookings are inner-city Democrats. Institution. Reshaping Ohio governments will require co- Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland told The Columbus operation from all sides. Decades of trying to Dispatch he would use his position to encour- apply guilt to the suburbanites for fleeing - age the consolidation of governments - and whether in Fairborn outside Dayton, Grove City that's a wise idea. Ohio's population isn't grow- outside of Columbus or Shawnee Township ing as rapidly as other states' are, so more outside of Lima - hasn't worked. It's hard to be- governments are serving fewer people. It lieve a report suggesting the state needs to makes little sense for two small communities to consolidate and rethink government services is OHIO MUST STRENGTHEN ITS CITIES September 14, 2008 EDITORIAL On the very day when Gov. Ted Strickland an- Harris, who've shown they understand the im- ODOT stall the West Shoreway and stonewall nounced that the state's resources were thin portance of Ohio's cities. Last week's confer- the Opportunity Corridor, will be watching for and likely to get thinner, he also assured busi- ence, and a preliminary report distributed real change. ness, civic and academic leaders gathered there, offered some suggestions and sought to elsewhere in Columbus that he is committed to generate more. Ohio's cities, despite their obvious problems, renewing Ohio's urban centers. are rich in assets. With the state as a partner, Almost everyone wants Ohio to end its addic- those assets could multiply and lift all of Ohio. Obviously, that won't be easy. Cleveland and tion to "peanut butter" -- the political impulse to other major cities have endured decades of job avoid tough decisions by spreading goodies losses, population flight and disinvestment. evenly, so everyone gets a taste, but so thinly And yet research -- much of it by the Brookings that almost no one gets enough to make a dif- Institution, a co-sponsor of last Wednesday's ference. Instead, Ohio needs to make fewer summit -- shows that metropolitan regions investments, and to make each substantial wield disproportionate economic clout in the enough to have real impact -- the model of for- global marketplace. If the core cities of those mer Gov. Bob Taft's Third Frontier. metros are weak, they pull down entire re- gions. Brookings urban expert Bruce Katz notes that cities are rich in the anchor institutions -- hos- Bottom line: Ohio's economy won't be healthy pitals, universities, research centers -- that until its cities do better. The task facing Strick- drive a "knowledge economy." So why not ac- land is to use the state's limited resources to celerate development by focusing enterprise help those cities. Yes, a better national econ- zones on those hubs? But don't use them in omy would help; so would a more sympathetic areas that don't need the boost or to foster administration in Washington. But Ohio and its competition within a metropolitan area. cities can't control those things. So they had better use their own tools wisely. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher says the Ohio Department of Development, which he heads, plans to pro- To its credit, the administration -- which until pose similar reforms soon. That's good. It's now has not been very city-friendly -- asked also good that the Ohio Department of Trans- Brookings and Greater Ohio, a land-use reform portation, widely viewed as an agent of sprawl, group, for ideas to spur urban rebirth. They is working on a strategic plan that might evalu- were joined in that call by Republican House ate future proposals on how they boost com- Speaker Jon Husted and Senate President Bill petitiveness. Clevelanders, sick of seeing OHIO’S RULES HINDER PROGRESS, BUSINESS LEADERS SAY September 10, 2008 TOM BRECKENRIDGE Business leaders and top elected officials are calling for hoods. Fisher, who also heads the state's development depart- reforms to state policies that they say have hobbled ment, said a task force is considering changes to that Ohio's cities and stymied the Buckeye economy. The cities, from Cincinnati to Cleveland, are home to program and other tax incentives. seven of the state's 11 research universities; two-thirds More than 1,000 influential leaders gathered Wednes- of the state's 60 Fortune 1000 companies; most of the Under a new development strategy favored by Brook- day at the Greater Columbus Convention Center to hear state's ports and Amtrak stations; and 40 percent of the ings, Ohio will target technology grants and other re- a hard-hitting critique of Ohio's struggling urban centers state's registered historic places. sources at 12 "hubs" of innovation, such as the sprout- and how they can be restored.

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