The good people over at Progress Ohio have a very extensive analysis of Republican State Sen. Jon Husted's utility bills. Husted, who was elected to represent Kettering, spends 99% of his time living with his family in Upper Arlington, a suburb of Columbus. Several inquiries have examined his utility bills to question his residency with regard to his voting. Here are some excerpts from Progress Ohio:
Records supoenaed by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner show that Jon Husted's utility bills have declined significantly over the past 8 years at what he claims is his primary residence in Kettering.
Husted's utility records are a key part of an on-going investigation at the Montgomery County Board of Elections as to whether Secretary of State candidate Husted is actually voting illegally. Husted claims his residence is at a modest ranch in Kettering where his utility bills are almost non-existent during warmer weather months, as opposed to his home in Columbus where his wife and their child live.....
...One major exception to the utility drop is during the period between 2/6 - 3/7/08, during which Husted's consumption of electricity was twice as high 2000. The primary for the State Senate seat which Husted now holds took place on March 4th. After the primary his usage immediately drops off and from April 9th to May 7th his electricity bill is only 1/20th what it during election season. This continues during the summer and fall, even during months when the Statehouse wasn't in session. This is most starkly illustrated by Husted's water usage which registered a zero during multiple readings....
Progress Ohio has links to Husted's utility bills and other information under the resources section. Husted has stated that he lives in Upper Arlington so that he can attend to state business. Why aren't other elected state reps and state senators living full time in Columbus like Husted? Is he more important than anyone else? Do people look the other way because Husted is Republican???
***** Get out your tissues because this is a real tear jerker. Dayton Daily News is reporting that some area politicians lost money because of the stock market losses. Most notable of these was John Boehner.
Dayton Daily News:
....House Minority Leader John Boehner, who watched his net worth drop by at least $400,000 from last year to this year.
Boehner’s minimum net worth dropped from $2.1 million in 2007 to $1.7 million in 2008, according to financial disclosure forms filed in Congress.....
Boehner was not the richest lawmaker in the state. Ohio Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt (OH-2) had a reported net worth of between $2.7 million to $9 million, according to the Dayton Daily News (information from Schmidt's financial disclosure statement).