Our Opinion: We’ve seen progress in community development

The Richland Community Development Group deserves praise for its ability to quickly mobilize a small army of energized people in a positive direction.

While there is lots of heavy lifting that needs to take place in the coming months, it appears those associated with this newly formed grassroots association have the energy to carry the goals that will help Mansfield and Richland County pick itself up economically.

The spirit felt Thursday night during the first sector report is evidence that Mansfield has the talent and ability required to solve the seemingly daunting problems highlighted by the demise of the local GM plant.

This make-up call came too late.

We applaud the entrepreneurial efforts of local leaders, but this effort should have begun years ago. Instead of trying to revive our lagging local economy, we should have positioned ourselves to leverage the assets that we now recognize are our best hope for the future.

Now as we move forward it is our hope that business leaders see the value of working together to lift ourselves out of the rut we have made.

Thursday’s report from the community to the community was an eye-opener for many who may not have been aware of the real talent we have locally.

From agriculture to social services, there are experts in our community that are making real change.

The manufacturing sectors are retraining and refitting themselves to seek new opportunities.

The beautification sector also wasted no time in getting things rolling this spring with 40 new planters downtown.

The transportation sector is busy trying to determine which thoroughfares should be made more bicycle-friendly and how neighborhoods can be better connected.

We encourage those involved in the various sectors of the new development group to continue to work to accomplish the visions they have laid out.

With a busy summer season in front of us, now is the time to follow through with the instant actions that can be achieved while the sun is shining.

Editorial: Ohio must keep after predatory lenders

Ohio legislators should pass House Bill 486 to prevent predatory lenders from skirting the law and preying on the most economically vulnerable members of our community.

Voters and lawmakers already have told lending companies that payday loans that charge exorbitant interest rates are not welcome in our state.

In 2008, Ohio legislators overwhelmingly passed the Short Term Lender Law, which places a 28 percent interest rate cap on short- term loans.

The idea was to halt payday lending that sent consumers into a long-term cycle of debt.

Before the law changed the typical customer borrowed 11 to 12 loans per year, which trapped them in high-interest loans for up t o 24 months.

After the governor signed the bill into law, lenders took the issue to the voters in the form of a referendum, which failed by a margin of nearly two to one.

Since then, lenders have found loopholes to continue their predatory practice in the form of the Mortgage Loan Act, the Small Loan Act and statutes governing credit service organizations in ways that were never intended.

The new bill, which will likely be voted on in the coming days, will protect legitimate forms of lending. At the same time, it bans huge check-cashing fees charged to the borrower.

It curbs the cycle of debt and limits the origination and credit check fees for loans of less than $1,000 to once during a 90-day period.

In prohibits brokering and Internet scams that send loan rates as high as 670 percent.
Gov. Ted Strickland supports the bipartisan legislation.

“In 2008, Ohio voters sent a strong message that they wanted to see greater consumer protections against predatory lending practices,” Strickland said. “Since then, my administration has been using the regulatory and rule-making tools available to the Ohio Department of Commerce to strictly enforce the letter and spirit of the law. This legislation is the practical next step to strengthen the laws on the books and close loopholes to enact safeguards for Ohio families.”

This move is not unique to Ohio. In fact, 16 states and the District of Columbia have capped payday loan interest rates or banned the practice.

House Bill 486 is a law that absolutely makes sense at this time in our state. It stops the economic predators who have found a way to take advantage of those who are the most vulnerable.

Our Opinion: Take advantage of your right to vote

On Tuesday, voters will have the chance to participate in a truly American activity.
Polling places will be open for the primary election, where we will be allowed to vote for issues that could have a great affect on our lives.

In the last few weeks we’ve told you how we would vote to best help our community, but here is a recap.

z Issue 1 authorizes the state to spend $1 billion in five years, through bonds, to fund the Third Frontier Program. Voting for this will help high-tech companies increase jobs. While Richland County has seen only limited dollars from previous Third Frontier funding this provides much needed incentives that could benefit our workers in the future.

z Issue 2 is a minor issue that if approved will allow a proposed Columbus casino to move from a site in the Arena District to a site once occupied by a former auto parts plant. We can see no reason not to approve this issue.

z Electric aggregation is a win-win for everyone. It provides grants for cities and other local governments and it lowers consumer power bills at little to no risk. A vote for this issue makes sense.

z Voters should approve all school levies and bonds on the ballot. Those of note include a bond issue and permanent improvement levy to allow for school construction in Shelby, and a bond issue for Madison Local Schools for a building to replace the crumbling junior high school building.

Depending on where you live, you also may find a long list of names of people running unopposed.

Voting for these people are mostly procedural, but it is part of the election process.

We fear that because there are no major issues or contested races, that few people will go to the polls. This is tragic, especially when there are so many people who say they are dissatisfied with everything from taxes to politics. This is a chance to speak out

Voting also allows every citizen to show their support for our democratic form of government. A democracy works only when its citizenry participates.

Find polling places online at richlandcountyoh.us/boe.htm.

Our Opinion: Lexington fails test on village property use

We are very concerned that the Village of Lexington is taking so lightly the case of its police chief spending village money on non-village business.

While the circumstances Brett Pauley put himself in certainly are salacious, they illustrate the lack of any standard to protect the village from those who are willing to take advantage of village resources.

Mayor Gene Parkinson’s statement about the matter is very troubling.

“While we don’t like it, we didn’t find anything criminal,” Parkison said in response to findings from a News Journal investigation of Pauley’s relationship with a woman who worked for the village.

Cell phone and e-mail records dating to May 2005 show Pauley exchanged thousands of communiques while on duty. The relationship ended in October 2009.

Pauley used his computer and cell phone to carry on his conversations at taxpayer expense.

Granted, any employer expects his employees to use company equipment for some personal use once in a while. Kids call their dads at work, company cars are taken home on the weekend, etc.

But Pauley’s actions clearly crossed the line and the village seems reluctant to examine this situation and make changes to its policy.

Additionally, this isn’t a private company. It is a local government that is put in place by voters who expect a level of service and professionalism in return for the taxes they pay.

At the very least, the village should investigate its policy on the personal use of village equipment.

To the village’s credit, the situation does seem to have brought a raised level of consciousness.

“I’ve spent more sleepless nights with this (situation) than almost anything in the last 30 years,” Parkinson said. “I just don’t have a black-and-white issue here. What I have is very gray.”

Simply feeling bad is not enough. We urge the city to re-examine its personnel policies to ensure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.

We urge village leaders to step up, take responsibility, get in front of this issue and restore confidence to the residents of Lexington.

From the Editor: News Journal will look different next week

David Kennard
News Journal

Newspaper newsrooms are typically pretty chaotic places, but in the past week our folks have been especially anxious.

Today’s paper will be the last of its kind — of sorts.
Remodeling a newspaper is a little like remodeling a house — design, demolition and then reconstruction.

The design and demolition phases went pretty well, but it’s the reconstruction phase that takes the longest.

Next Sunday we hope to bring you a thicker paper with more features and news.

Sunday has always been our biggest effort, so this is a project that we hope will follow that model. And for the first time in a long time, your paper will actually grow bigger. That is virtually unheard of in this era of vanishing newspapers.

When you first open the paper, you will immediately notice a bigger A section. This will be filled with local news, opinions and a new feature we are calling our Issue One Page.

From week to week this will contain important news of a national scope, but with local impact.
That will be followed immediately by the Community Conversation section that has become such a popular part of the paper over the last few years.

We are leaving the Sports section alone, although with additional pages, we hope to have an opportunity to bring you more of it.

In the Lifestyles section, you’ll find all the same features you’ve told us you enjoy. Additionally you find some other features that we’ve been working on — some brand new and some we’ve dug from our archives.

That’s a quick overview of what you’ll see in coming weeks. And as we move into this period of slow economic growth, we hope to tweak things even more to make your paper a better value.

David Kennard is managing editor of the News Journal. You can contact him at dkennard@gannett.com or 419-521-7204.

Column: Our economic future is what we make it

By David Kennard
News Journal

Success is relative.

It is odd that local businesses consider 2009 a good year based on the fact that they didn’t have to lay anyone off. But these are the times we live in.

In today’s paper you’ll find four sections of VisionQuest that paint an honest and mostly positive picture of the challenges we face.

Mansfield is not alone in its climb out of the economic mire we’ve been thrust into.

Crawford County faces similar challenges.

While both counties are looking at rough years of recovery ahead, each will likely take different approaches.

Richland County’s diverse job base will help in its recovery. And unless a white knight comes to the rescue to fill the chasm left by a mostly gone GM, we can expect that recovery to take years.

Crawford County, on the other hand, has an economy based largely around agriculture.

Agriculture, while seasonal, provides stability year after year. Farmers spend — or invest money — to keep producing annually. Much of that money goes to support other businesses all around the area. Growers also tend to be a relatively stable bunch that like to spend money locally.

The ag industry, however, has been hurt largely by tighter regulations that cut into profit margins. This will force producers to look at new technologies and creative methods.

In Richland County, manufacturing will continue to be a strong part of the local economy, but manufacturers will likely never carry as much weight as they have in the past, not as long as the global economy continues to reward cheap labor and substandard merchandise.

Instead we will see successes on a smaller scale. Those manufacturers who will succeed will be those that capitalize on local assets and adapt quickly to customer demands.

In a roundtable discussion here at the News Journal a couple of weeks ago, Gorman-Rupp president Jeff Gorman showed real insight when he said our community must focus on building on our greatest assets.

“There’s a tremendous amount of positive assets here that other communities would kill for,” he said. “(L)ook at our infrastructure, you look at our logistics location, our low cost of living and housing, our local higher education, our numerous recreation, arts and cultural attractions, water, regional health care center, etc. — the list goes on and on.”

Without question, some of our greatest assets are our workers. We can only hope that in the months and years ahead, employers will find ways to judge their success not in jobs saved, but in jobs created.

David Kennard is managing editor of the News Journal. Call him at 419-521-7204 or e-mail dkennard@nncogannett.com.

(Editorial) MedCentral setting a healthy example

MedCentral Health System took a positive step last week when it announced it would no longer hire smokers.

At first it may seem odd that an employer would issue such an edict, but after thinking it through, it makes sense that some businesses — especially health care providers — closely regulate the unhealthy habits of their workers.

Employers in highly skilled industries, such as health care services, rely on high functioning employees. These companies depend on employees that meet the physical demands required.

Sick days are reduced. Insurance coverage costs less. And customers are happier knowing health care providers walk the walk.

Plain and simple, hospitals are places of healing, and tobacco does not belong there.

New job applicants at Med- Central Health Systems will submit a urine test for nicotine use as well as drug use.

The 12 percent of the hospitals’ 2,600 employees who admitted to using tobacco will be required to smoke off of hospital grounds, but their employment will not be terminated.

The initiative is part of a wellness plan that began forming in July.

“Tobacco use was not our only focus,” said Brady Groves, co-chair of the wellness committee and manager of the health and fitness center. “There are health benefits to not smoking and we want to show this to other businesses and our patients.”

This move is not unprecedented.

Hospitals around the country have taken similar action. In fact in 2004, Bucyrus Community Hospital became the first hospital in Ohio to establish a tobacco-free campus.

There, anyone who wishes to use tobacco products must step off hospital property. This includes tobacco use in personal vehicles.

At Ashland Samaritan Hospital, employees cannot smoke while on duty, and hospital officials said they are watching the MedCentral policy to see if it is something they would initiate in the future.

Around the state, the policy exists at a handful of hospitals included the Akron-based Summa Health Systems the Cleveland Clinic and Medical Mutual of Ohio.

The main purpose of the policy is to ensure a healthy environment, but the policy brings a host of other benefits that just make sense.

(Editorial) Development group must make an impact

The best thing the newly formed Richland Community Development Corp. can do to quickly gain strength and credibility is to make something noticeable happen.

It doesn’t have to be a new employer coming to town with hundreds of jobs or anything close to that level of accomplishment, but it does have to be something residents can see and understand.

The new group announced its formation last week on the day before formal production ended at the Ontario General Motors plant. It is the closure of that plant and the dissolution of the Richland Economic Development Corp. that sparked the formation of this new group.

Instead of focusing on job creation through the recruitment of new businesses, the community development organization is going to attack quality of life issues here. The theory is that it will be easier to create new jobs if we make the community a place where people want to live.

We like the approach, particularly the idea of building upon our strengths. The group, which was put together by eight local business operators, is now doing an asset inventory to determine an attack strategy.

We are supportive of this entire venture and recognize that it will take time to put a plan together and begin execution of that plan. We encourage the group to keep the community posted on its findings, plans and achievements.

We also recognize, however, that a great deal of skepticism exists about the ability of any organization to reverse the downward force that seems to be in control.

Getting something tangible at least started quickly seems critical to arresting the skepticism.

Grant Milliron, one of the founding organizers, believes a beautification project that tears down blighted homes and commercial structures could quickly create a more positive view of Mansfield. He suggests that effort start with entrances to the city.

We like Milliron’s idea. It may not get at the root causes of decline, but it would be noticeable and could quickly change perceptions.

Chances for success of the overall community development effort will improve with the involvement of more people and businesses. Everyone should lend a hand at this critical juncture in the history of our community.

(Editorial) Our Opinion: GM was good for Richland County

The end of operations at the General Motors Corp. Mansfield/Ontario Metal Center also was the end of a way of life for workers and their families around Richland County.

On Friday, production ceased and the “top-of-the-line” machines used for stamping GM auto parts fell silent for the first time in more than 50 years.

The news of its construction in 1955 brought mixed emotion for many residents. Greeted with open arms by city planners, GM promised jobs, growth and economic stability. Others saw the plant as yet another factory that sped urban sprawl in northern Ohio.

But for good or ill, GM did bring growth.

By 1956 production at the new factory was under way, a new rail line addition was completed in 1964, and the factory continued to expand through 2005.

For those 50 years, our community benefited from all that GM brought to the area. Schools saw new facilities, homes were built in new neighborhoods and business came to town, bringing with it a diversified economy that led to better job stability.

But in 2006 things began to unravel financially for GM. That year the company sold off 51 percent of its stake in GMAC Financial Services.

In 2007, the company reported losses of $38.7 billion.

When gas prices topped $4 per gallon in 2008, the company said it would close four pickup and sport utility vehicle factories, shed 8,350 jobs and sell its Hummer brand. Later that year, executives sought help from the government. In December the company received $13.4 billion, but posted a $30.9 billion annual loss.

In March of last year, when President Barack Obama told the company it had not done enough to restructure, it was apparent that the Ontario plant was doomed.

United Auto Workers shop chairman Ron Willis described the situation best Thursday.
“We’re on the Titanic,” Willis said. “We’re just trying to find a lifeboat.”

GM filed for bankruptcy in June and announced the eminent closure of the Ontario plant.
To the credit of GM, it did what it could to retain as many jobs as possible. Unfortunately, it meant relocation for families that had built lives here.

What the future brings is uncertain. It isn’t likely that we will see another GM-type of operation soon, but as local leaders work to attract more jobs we remind them of the reasons GM located here in the first place. At the top of that list is the people.

Life for our residents will continue and we will look back at the GM days as a good time in our community’s long history.

(Editorial) Opinion Shapers: When your world falls apart, there are ways to heal

Mansfield residents responded with a strong voice this week when Adultmart unveiled its 80-foot sign Monday.

With no warning, neighbors and nearby business owners learned about the store that would sell lingerie, adult toys and pornographic videos and magazines at the site once occupied by Big Boy and Joe’s Restaurant.

Some customers who patronize businesses in the area already have said they will shop elsewhere.

How could this have happened?

Why didn’t somebody ask a few more questions?

Why did the city approve a sign without even knowing what it was going to say?

These are all good questions that damage the faith we put in our city leaders.

They also are questions with answers that may or may not have made any difference as to whether the store opened.

When the sign went up, residents immediately began pointing fingers at the City of Mansfield, but in actuality it seems Adultmart jumped through all the appropriate hoops.

So the outrage really comes from the lack of any warning that such a business would be opening. This is something that Adultmart owners planned very strategically.

When Dave Remy, the city’s law director, began investigating the situation, he didn’t find many red flags — which perhaps was a red flag in itself.

“The file was absolutely blank as to what was going to go in there, except as a mercantile establishment,” Remy said this week.

But, again, even if the file were full of information, it may not have mattered.

In the world of retail business, the old mantra “location, location, location” holds a lot of weight. Retail business comes and goes based primarily on how much profit can be made in any particular location.

City leaders, however, have lots of tools at their discretion that can help determine how a business operates — the size of signs, the shape and orientation of buildings, parking lot locations, even the colors used on the exterior.

In the case of Adultmart, the city has admitted to having the wool pulled over its eyes and is now scrambling to see if any “deception — for lack of a better word” occurred when the store obtained permits.

Whether or not the city can do anything procedurally to shutter this eyesore at the southern entrance to our city is yet to be determined.

But there is plenty the general public can do.

Remember retail businesses live and die by the amount of money that comes through the door and into cash registers. If Adultmart is unprofitable it will not last.

The strongest voice of all is the voice we use when we speak with our wallets.

(Editorial) Our Opinion: Ohio Third Frontier program a winner

A college professor once overheard a graduating senior fretting about the lack of jobs in the real world.

“How many jobs are you planning to have?” he asked. “All you need is one.”

That simple point remains true today, even if it doesn’t carry the same power it once did with our national, state and local unemployment rates hovering around 10 percent.

Mansfield and Richland County rank near the top of the list of Ohio communities hit hardest by job losses.

More people lost their jobs last month, bringing the current jobless rate to 13 percent of the work force out of work.

Not only is it far more difficult to find one job, it’s also quite possible one job won’t pay every bill or provide health insurance.

That’s why President Obama mentioned jobs an astounding 29 times in his State of the Union address, while fellow Democrat and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland focused almost exclusively on jobs in his State of the State address.

They know voter perception of who’s creating jobs will go a long way to deciding who holds political jobs after the mid-term Congressional and gubernatorial elections in November.

Thus, the age-old debate over creating jobs through government programs and incentives versus lowering taxes and regulation continues.

This can be seen in the current stalemate in the Ohio General Assembly over extending Ohio’s Third Frontier program. It provides capital to “build world-class research programs, nurture early-stage companies, and foster technology development that makes existing industries more productive ... .”

Independent research shows the eight-year-old program has created 41,000 jobs worth $2.4 billion in wages and benefits, providing taxpayers with a very impressive 10-to-1 return on their investment.

Voters need to extend the program, but lawmakers are squabbling over money as they prepare a May ballot issue, with the Senate approving $500 million and the House approving $950 million in a bipartisan vote. Given the results to date, why the Senate wants to reduce funding makes little sense.

Strickland, who is fighting to continue a program proposed by former Republican Gov. Bob Taft, wants Ohio to be a leader in the advanced energy sector, claiming the state was first in 2009 for creating new green jobs and renewable energy projects. He also suggests Ohio may be turning a corner, thanks to 2005 tax reforms that make Ohio’s business taxes the lowest in the Midwest. And he notes Ohio is the only state to grow exports every year since 1998.

In this sense, we believe Strickland might be correct, despite the pain and despair so many feel today. The state has made many wise moves in recent years to address the jobs issue on many fronts, realizing that any one program or concept carries a small punch.

Likewise, in a county such as ours where so much emphasis has been placed on manufacturing, the idea of bringing more diversity to our economic mix in the way of higher technology should be welcomed.

Attracting new jobs requires good communities with trained workers and a solid business environment, the complete package of opportunities for success. Even that’s not enough every time any more with technology and trade issues dominating the global economy.

Thus, it would seem quite wise for the Ohio General Assembly to keep the state’s momentum going by renewing the Third Frontier at its existing funding levels. After all, voters in need of jobs get the final say.

From the editor: The best letters are written by real people

BY David Kennard
News Journal

A few weeks ago, the News Journal received a letter to the editor written by a woman who claimed to live in Mansfield.

It was a nice letter heaping praise upon President Obama. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Like we do with all letters, we called the woman to confirm that she was the author. Everything checked out and the letter ran on the opinion page, where all letters run.

A few days later we saw the same letter begin to pop up in papers around the country, all written by the same woman. Problem was, she claimed to have a home in each area where her letter ran.

We were duped.

Besides providing news coverage of the local community, newspapers have historically been a place to foster conversation and develop public opinion and debate.

We take that role seriously, and letters to the editor are welcome in the News Journal.

We enjoy giving a voice to our readers. And we run nearly all the letters we receive.

Those that don’t make print are rejected for any number of reasons — like if the letter is from an anonymous writer.

When a letter to the editor arrives in the newsroom, my staff immediately logs it in, places it in a folder and carries the folder to my desk for review.

I spend a few minutes each day reading letters that have come in and giving them a thumbs up for publication.

The letter then goes to a clerk who checks it for egregious errors and other criteria, such as length.

Letters longer than 350 words are always sent back to the author for editing. To give you an idea of length, this column is about 415 words.

Regarding the fake letter to the editor, we eventually found out the woman writer was really a 51-year-old man from Frazier Park, Calif. What is the saying? “Fool me once?”

While we love to get letters, we also love to know who is sending them to us. My thinking is that if you really value your opinion, you ought to let others know who you are.

David Kennard is the managing editor of the Mansfield News Journal. You can contact him at 419-521-7204.

Nov. 16, 2009 - Utah Business; Entrepreneur Edge: Ready, Set, Rent

Considerations Before Wearing the Landlord Hat

by David Kennard

SALT LAKE CITY -- Falling home prices may have many thinking opportunity, but investors considering the rental market should proceed cautiously, according to some local experts.

Danny Gutierrez, a realtor with TruNet Real Estate LLC in Salt Lake and a landlord, says he sold nearly all of his rental homes when "the market was tanking."

Like many rental property owners, Gutierrez witnessed the simple principle of supply and demand; as more rental homes became available, landlords needed to lower their rates to stay competitive.

As real estate prices have dropped, however, rental investments have become attractive.

"Investors have come into the market and snatched up deals over the last year," says Andrew Oliverson, director of REO (real estate owned- property that goes back to the mortgage company after an unsuccessful foreclosure auction) sales at Green River Capital LC in Salt Lake."

While at the time the prices were good, we believe (and national contacts have advised) that we are in for a second, larger, more sustained surge of REOs.

"Buy Low, Rent High

As in any investment, rental properties can be more profitable if the initial investment can be kept as low as possible. Like owner-occupants, investment buyers should consider properties with a low cost per square foot and location, location, location.

"Think about where tenants want to be," Gutierrez says. "If you are the cheapest house in the area, you are always going to be able to rent it."

There are no real secrets to finding a low purchase price, Gutierrez says, but he has bought more than 50 homes at foreclosure auctions.

"The downside to buying homes that way is you rarely have time to do a walk through and you usually have to pay cash within 24 hours of winning the auction," Gutierrez says.

Homes going to auction can be found through legal notices published in local newspapers or online at utahlegals.com.

Realtors who specialized in bank-owned or REO properties can also help you locate rental properties. Realtors often know when a bank-owned property is about to go on the market and can help investors make an appropriate offer. And if the timing is right, sometimes a deal can be struck before the listing hits the Multiple Listing Service.

Buried in Maintenance

One of the hidden costs to rental properties is what many property managers call deferred maintenance. Manufacturers know that postponing equipment maintenance to reduce costs often leads to much higher costs down the road.

Investors should look at their properties the same way, Gutierrez says. Landlords are usually in the business for the long term and want to have homes that will provide a good return for more than the first few months. So, landlords should also be responsive if a problem with a property arises.

A quick response to a tenant's call can mean the difference between a $20 dollar leaky faucet and a $2,000 bathroom floor replacement. Landlords should be willing to do handyman-type work, or have a budget for repairs when they need to be done. And owning a rental property in Utah also means having seasonal tasks such as lawn care and furnace and air conditioning maintenance.

Finally, like any owner, rental properties should be inspected before any leases are sold.

The Lease Document

The document you use to enter into an agreement with a renter serves as a full-disclosure tool between you and your tenant. It can be as specific or vague as you like, but remember that you both will sign the document with the full intention of honoring the agreement.

The lease should include an outline of who pays for what utilities, who is responsible for lawn care, when the rent is due, and how much you will charge for a late payment or bad check.

It should also include a detailed list of things that the renter is responsible to do to the home before moving out, such as cleaning and repairs, and what the fee will be if those tasks are not done.

The Long Run

Turning your home into a rental property may be a viable option to selling at a loss, but if you become a landlord with the intention of making a large profit, you need to commit at least five years to your new investment.

After some calculations—which should include taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, as well as a value for your own time—you might find that your profit margin isn’t as great as you originally hoped. If it is, you may have what it takes.