As promised, Gov. John Kasich is pursuing job creation at every turn, but his biggest successes have involved offering packages of more than $240 million in grants, loans and tax breaks to convince a handful of Ohio companies to sit tight or move just a few miles rather than pack up and leave the state....
...The Ohio Department of Development declined a public records request from the Dayton Daily News seeking copies of the ROI-analysis on half a dozen high-profile deals. The state considers those calculations proprietary.
This contradicts what Kasich told the Dayton Daily News in Wilmington on Tuesday during another job announcement:
“They’re not trade secrets. We release all the numbers. We’ll do that for you today. ... You’ll be able to tell exactly what the payrolls are going to be, exactly what the gains for the communities are, and exactly what we provided as an incentive......"
As a taxpayer, I'd like to know where my money is being spent. I want to know--
- why some companies are getting money (Diebold? Bob Evans? Wendy's)
- and others are not (Kasich refused to provide money for NASA see Plunderbund)
- if anyone in the JobsOhio/Ohio Department of Development gets bonuses for finding these companies (as Kasich promised in a PlainDealer article published 1/20/11)
- which corporations or individuals have invested money in JobsOhio/Dept. of Development
- are investors going to be rewarded, if there are profits?
- why does Gov. Kasich think he can operate something in secret with our tax money when the Ohio Constitution does not allow it?
If we don't do something now to demand this public information, we'll be losing more money and jobs to another Ohio GOP scandal.
Vote NO on Issue 2.