2006 Election Issue Voting Summary

Here is the link to the bal­lot [PDF] I’ll be vot­ing on in the upcom­ing elec­tion. Here is how I’ll be vot­ing on the issues and why:

Issue 1: Ref­er­en­dum on Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion:

Although I might be miss­ing some nuances to this leg­is­la­tion, espe­cial­ly in light of Bill Peirce’s stance against BWC, it appears to me that Issue 1 is pro­vid­ing some sen­si­ble amend­ments to cur­rent Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion law. As of now, I’ll be vot­ing for Issue 1.

Issue 2: Min­i­mum Wage Rate Increase:

I am vot­ing for Issue 2. Hav­ing felt the pinch of min­i­mum wage labor myself, I know how dif­fi­cult it can be sur­vive on a min­i­mum wage job.

Issue 3: Allow in-state gambling/casinos:

I am vot­ing against Issue 3. The rea­son­ing behind this is sim­ple. Every­thing I’ve seen about their cam­paign strat­e­gy is a three-card monte game, often gam­bling isn’t even men­tioned in the ads, only an appeal to emo­tion, “Please think of the chil­dren!” Also, fol­low­ing much of the dis­cus­sion at Brewed­Fresh­Dai­ly on the issue, I am con­vinced that gam­bling as an eco­nom­ic ini­tia­tive is fun­da­men­tal­ly flawed.

Issue 4: Smok­ing Issue #1:

This pro­pos­al would amend the Ohio Con­sti­tu­tion to allow indoor smok­ing in a vari­ety of pub­lic places and would coun­ter­act or cre­ate a loop­hole in any oth­er law that would ban indoor smok­ing in pub­lic places. This bill is spon­sored by tobac­co com­pa­nies. Vot­ing Yes in Issue 4 would mean you would want to vote No on Issue 5, which is in direct oppo­si­tion to this Issue. I’m vot­ing against Issue 4, because although every­one talks about how it will be bad for busi­ness, I think peo­ple like beer more than cig­a­rettes, and peo­ple who cur­rent­ly don’t go out to bars and oth­er places because of the smoke [like me] will be more like­ly to do so if smok­ing in enclosed pub­lic places is restrict­ed. Also, I don’t think an amend­ment about smok­ing belongs any­where near the con­sti­tu­tion.

Issue 5: Smok­ing Issue #2:

So I guess that means I’m vot­ing for Issue 5, which is just a law and not a con­sti­tu­tion­al amend­ment. I grew up in a two-smok­er house­hold and my asth­ma and the chunks of yel­low phlegm I used to cough up when I first start­ed run­ning are tes­ta­ment to the ill effects of sec­ond-hand smoke. I liken smok­ing in enclosed pub­lic places to any oth­er sort of dis­tur­bance. Take it out­side. Vot­ing Yes on 5 means you want to vote No on 4, oth­er­wise your votes will can­cel each oth­er out.

Issue 18: Cig­a­rette Tax to fund the Arts in Cleve­land:

Issue 18 would impose a 30¢ per pack cig­a­rette tax on cig­a­rettes pur­chased in the Cuya­hoga Coun­ty. The mon­ey from this tax would go to fund arts and cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions through­out the coun­ty. At a Neigh­bor­hood Con­nec­tions meet­ing I heard from a woman in favor of the Issue on the cur­rent state of Arts and Cul­tur­al fund­ing in the coun­ty. Appar­ent­ly all of the mon­ey to fund these insti­tu­tions is pri­vate, from the Cleve­land Foun­da­tion, or the Gund Foun­da­tion main­ly. Oth­er cities typ­i­cal­ly fund their arts and cul­ture through the hotel tax, but in Cleve­land that rev­enue goes to the Con­ven­tions and Vis­i­tor’s Bureau and to pay bond oblig­a­tions on pub­lic build­ings. Also, their cam­paign slo­gan is “It’s NOT a prop­er­ty tax.” which is the stu­pid­est way to con­vince some­one to vote for some­thing as I’ve ever seen. I am vot­ing against Issue 18, because while fund­ing Arts and Cul­tur­al insti­tu­tions and events is impor­tant, the prob­lem in Cleve­land is insti­tu­tion­al, some­thing a tax will only appear to fix.

Issue 19: Levy Adjust­ment to fund Health and Human Ser­vices in Cleve­land:

Issue 19 will reap­por­tion 1‑thousandth of a cent from an exist­ing levy for four years to fund health and human ser­vices orga­ni­za­tions. As this is a tax-pay­er direct­ed reap­por­tion­ment of fund­ing I will vote for Issue 19. The League of Women Vot­ers offers the pros and cons [pdf] of this issue.

Issue 42: Should a local gas sta­tion be allowed to sell beer on Sun­days:

There is a gas sta­tion down the street that wants to amend their liquor license to sell beer on Sun­days. That’s fine with me. I will vote for Issue 42.