Post-Election Thoughts

For complete results of the Lucas County election results, you can go here, to the Lucas County Board of Elections, who did a nice job of regularly posting updated results throughout the night.

To the winners, congratulations. Now the hard work begins as any incumbent knows. To the newcomers: you'll be a bit overwhelmed at first with all the things you don't know, but you'll catch on very quickly and your constituents are counting on you to keep the promises you made. I wish you success in this endeavor.

To those who lost, my sincerest thanks and appreciation. You offered the voters a choice, which is something not everyone had in this election. You gave of yourself in terms of your time and energy - and often in terms of your own funds - and you sacrificed attendance at other events in order to be where the voters were. Having been through this process, I recognize the great toll running a campaign can have on you, your family, and even your shoes. I hope that, despite your loss at the polls, you are rewarded by your participation, by the supporters who worked hard on your behalf because they believed in you, and the votes you did receive.

Congratulations to the Library and the MetroParks for their replacement levies. While I questioned the amount of the money requested in these difficult (for many) economic times, there was never any question of the quality of your institutions nor of the services your provide. I do hope, however, that you will constantly re-evaluate what you do and how you do it. Your levies will be up again and, at that time, many of the same questions asked this time around will be asked again. It would be nice if you had a list of things you've done to reduce costs and stay within the budget we've provided to you.

Congratulations to TARTA for their win, as well. But...your success at the ballot box should not be taken as a mandate for continuing to operate as you have in the past. Severe dissatisfaction with the way services are provided still exists and you now have yet another opportunity to examine what services you provide and how to provide them more efficiently and at less cost. Instead of reacting or continuing the status quo, it would be nice to see you anticipate and plan for changing needs in the future. It would also be nice to see you provide a financial explanation on the actual cost of operations, how much is offset by rider fees and how many riders (not rides) you actually serve. Your other levy is up in 2011 and many of the same questions will be asked if you don't do something now to address them.

As for COSI, I hope that being rejected two times will be all it takes for you to either decide to close up or find another way to finance your operations. Despite all the claims of how much such a facility is needed, this second vote clearly indicates that the public doesn't want to finance your non-profit organization with tax dollars. The challenge you've had since 2005 when your board first approached the commissioners to ask for public funding has not changed. But as I was told at that time, going to the public for a levy was the 'easier' way to approach your difficulties. You now have to make decisions you should have made two years ago - and it will be even harder to do so having waited this long.

To those who took the time to research the issues and then vote, my thanks. To the 71% of Lucas County registered voters who didn't bother to cast a ballot ... your lack of participation has allowed the other 29% of us to make decisions on your behalf. I hope you're happy with what we decided, because you've earned no right to complain.