Christopher Gee

Under Ohio law, the Republican Central Committee is given the responsibility to appoint its nominee for this open position in the November 2nd election.

Gee commented, “The next Common Pleas Judge in Miami County must maintain the high standards established by Judge Welbaum and Judge Lindeman. The thirteen years I have worked with them as a magistrate has prepared me for this step. I worked with Judge Welbaum and Judge Lindeman in the prosecutor’s office. I have a background in civil and criminal trials. In private practice I worked closely with former County Prosecutor Bob Huffman. I pledge to maintain the court’s excellent reputation in the legal community and among Miami County citizens. I have the experience and commitment to the rule of law to be the next Common Pleas Judge in Miami County.”

Magistrate Gee has served as a magistrate in the Common Pleas Court under Judge Welbaum and Judge Lindeman since 1997. He has complete responsibility for a yearly docket of 650 cases and writes decisions in over 100 trials a year. These cases include contested divorce trials as well as protection orders for stalking, sexually oriented offenses and domestic violence.

Before becoming a magistrate, Gee was in private practice with Huffman, Landis & Weaks. He has over nineteen years experience in criminal and civil litigation. As an assistant prosecutor under Welbaum, Gee was responsible for all levels of felony prosecutions. Gee also served as an assistant municipal prosecutor for the City of Troy and the Village of West Milton.

Gee and his wife, Kathleen, have lived in Miami County for more than thirty years. They have three children and two grandchildren. His children graduated from Milton-Union High School. He has been an active community volunteer, serving as President of the Milton-Union Recreation Association. He was also president of the Milton-Union Soccer Board for twelve years. Gee also served on the West Milton Charter Commission and on the West Milton Village Council.

Gee stated, “I am confident that I can join Judge Lindeman and other county officials in maintaining the successful team management approach to fiscal responsibility that the citizens of Miami County have come to expect. I will do everything necessary to ensure that Miami County will continue to have judges with a firm commitment to the rule of law that makes it a safe place to live and raise a family.”

Please vote for William McCulloch to represent Ohio in Statuary Hall of the US Capitol Building.

William McCulloch played a key role in improving race relations in the mid 1960s. As a US Congressman from Piqua, Ohio, he was the ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee that drafted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. McCulloch’s support was crucial in obtaining the Republican votes necessary to overcome the opposition of Southern Democrats. Passage of these laws helped to diffuse the racial tension that threatened to tear our country apart. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in a letter to him wrote “You, more than anyone, were responsible for the civil rights legislation …”

The significant improvement in racial harmony since those days is due largely to these laws. A large share of the credit goes to William McCulloch. This is an impressive legacy that few Americans can match.

Currently, Governor William Allen represents Ohio in Statuary Hall.  He was a pro-slavery advocate who opposed the policies of Abraham Lincoln. The Ohio General Assembly has decided to remove Allen’s statue.

Let’s replace Allen with William McCulloch, someone who helped to bring our country together. We would be proud to have William McCulloch in Statuary Hall.

Please help make this happen. Open the attached ballot, mark the box beside the name of William M. McCulloch, and mail it to the Ohio Historical Society, 1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43211 or email it to ohiostatue@ohiohistory.org. You must send in your ballot for William McCulloch before June 12, 2010.

If you want to know more about William McCulloch, open the attached pamphlet or visit the web site http://www.williammcculloch.org/. To learn more about Statuary Hall, visit http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/

CLICK TO COMPLETE BALLOT

The Miami County GOP released their list of endorsed candidates following the 2010 Republican Convention. This information was found at the Miami County GOP website at http://www.miamicountygop.org/

John Kasich & Mary Taylor – Governor and Lt. Governor

Mike DeWine – Attorney General

Seth A. Morgan – Auditor of State

Jon Husted – Secretary of State

Rob Portman – United State Senator

John A. Boehner – Rep to Congress 8^th District

Darryl Mahaffie – Central Committee Man – 5^th District

Lisa Hayes – Central Committee Woman – 5^th District

Bill Beagle – State Senator – 5^th District

Richard N. Adams – State Rep. 79^th District

Maureen O’Connor – Chief Justice Ohio Supreme Court

Mike Hall – Judge Court of Appeals 2^nd District

While not listed on the Miami County  GOP website, Matt Gearhardt (R) is running for Miami County Auditor tomorrow at the polls.

No information was found on the Miami County Democrat Website http://www.miamicountydemocraticparty.com/ so we have requested a voter card for local Democrats and will publish it when we receive it.

**Update** Attached please find the Miami County Primary voter sheet with both Republican and Democrat choices.
Just Click to Download

Get out and VOTE!

Bill Beagle addresses Darke County GOP Women's Club

Monday Evening at the Brethren Home in Greenville, OH was the site of another candidate introduction Dinner. Hosting the event were the Darke County GOP Women’s Club.

Candidates for County Commissioner

Ed Huffman first addressed the group as a life-long resident of Darke County, and shared his experience both as a Parts and Service manager, and then as a local Realtor. Mr. Huffman is a member of the Greenville Masonic Lodge, was involved in the controversial sign code legislation, and was awarded in 1999 the Realtor of the Year award (a community service award).

Bob Robinson explained that he has lived in Darke County for 7 years, and served the community as the Editor of the Advocate, the Board of Directors of the local Kiwanis Club, a Member of Seniors Pride and as a member of the Public Access TV group. Mr. Robinson considers himself a “friend of business” who will help the commissioners “communicate better”.

Mike Stegall rounds out the trifecta running for commissioner as a life-long resident of Darke County, married to his lovely wife Rosemary who he referred to as the “first lady” should he win the nomination. Mr. Stegall has served the community as township trustee for 5 years and his motto is “if it is broke, fix it”, referring to those often ignored or politically sensitive issues that never get dealt with. In closing Mr. Stegall explained how he would work to prioritize the work that needs done.

Rep. John Boehner’s Report

Ryan from John Boehner’s office shared some notes about what Rep. Boehner has been working on in Washington, and answered a few questions from the crowd.

Candidates for 5th District Ohio Senate

Bill Beagle addressed the group first noting the common themes of the evening, fiscal responsibility, smaller government and good communication. “I want to earn this seat through voters’ confidence and not political appointment” (referring to current 5th District Senator Fred Strahorn) Mr. Beagle shared his confidence in meeting the aforementioned goals and highlighted his education (BA in Finance from Miami University and MBA from Cleveland State) and how his financial management background will help to rein in wasteful spending and put the 5th district “back on track”.

Joe Lemaster, a resident of Darke County, addressed the home-town audience noting his 21 years of exemplary service in the US Navy. Mr. Lemaster considers himself “not a politician” in the traditional sense, highlighting his current career as Pastor of a local church and as someone who won’t work to “protect sacred cows”. He shared with the group that he is interested in phasing out Ohio’s personal income tax and eliminating government handouts. In closing Mr. Lemaster stated he was a true conservative and that he is a member of the NRA and the Heritage Foundation.

Candidates for Court of Appeals

Mike Hall, currently is serving the County in the capacity of Common Pleas Court Judge for 1o years. Mr. Hall considers himself an experienced and practical jurist as he highlighted many of the criminal cases he has adjudicated over the years.

George Reynolds has served Greene County as it’s Chief Magistrate since 2001. He received his JD at George Washington University and as a member of the Ohio Judicial College faculty and curriculum planner. Mr. Reynolds shared that his wealth of experience demonstrates his readiness for this position.

Tipp City’s own Bill Beagle (R) met with Darke County Republicans at their annual Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday night. The event featured a keynote address from Rob Portman (R) who is a candidate this year for the US Senate. Bill Beagle is actively campaigning to represent Ohio’s 5th District in Columbus as State Senator.

Read more at DarkeJournal.com

Former Tipp City Councilmember Bill Beagle has announced he intends to seek the Republican nomination for the fifth district State Senate seat.

“I’m running because I’m fed up, and I want to take action by fighting the career politicians that treat this Senate seat like it’s an entitlement.  I want to go to the Senate to help businesses create jobs and to get the state’s financial house in order, not as a stepping stone.”

“I’m running because while state government is complex, simple rules should still apply.  The same rules that apply to all of us: live within your means, listen to the people you serve, don’t keep putting off difficult decisions, and help kids get a good education so they’re prepared for a world that is changing so quickly.”

“I’m running because there are financial storm clouds on the horizon for Ohio, but this Administration can’t see them because its head is buried in the sand of yesterday’s thinking.  Yesterday they used rainy day funds, tobacco settlement money, stimulus funds and other one-time dollars to keep spending.  Tomorrow those dollars aren’t going to be there, but the state bureaucracy and its fiscal demands surely will be.  They’ll threaten education or libraries or other deserving groups to make sure our money stays in Columbus instead of coming home to help in our own community.” says Beagle.

“My goal is to earn this seat through voters’ confidence and not political appointment.  I want to go to Columbus to do what’s right for the people of the district and the State of Ohio, not what will advance my career.  I intend to point out the differences on the important issues during this campaign, and I think the voters of the 5^th Senate district will agree and send me to Columbus to get the job done right for a change.”  Beagle concluded.

Mr. Beagle served on the Tipp City Council from October, 2003 until December, 2009 and served as Council President for two years.  Currently he serves on the Tipp City Library Board of Trustees.  Prior to the City Council, he served on the Tipp City Planning Board and on the Board of Tipp-Monroe Community Services.  He has also volunteered on various levy campaigns and other committees for the city, the Tipp City schools, and his church.

Bill graduated from Miami University with a degree in Finance, and earned his MBA from Cleveland State University.  Currently he owns two apartment rental firms, and prior to that worked in the areas of finance, operations, and branch management for GE Capital, Bank One, and Lexis-Nexis.

Bill has been married to Karen for twenty-two years and has three children attending the Tipp City Public Schools.

Sixot Designs, in collaboration with Bash Foo Social Media will be hosting the Miami County Rally to Elect John Kasich for Governor on Thursday evening.

This will be an opportunity for Mr. Kasich’s supporters to interact and celebrate the coming New Way and New Day for Ohio. Organizers of this event would like you to  invite your friends, neighbors, and fellow supporters of John Kasich to our gathering at 135 E. Main St in downtown Tipp City this Thursday, January 28th at 6PM and then stay and watch a live webcast message from John at 7pm on our big screen. Snacks and beverages will be provided.

What: John Kasich – New Way and New Day for Ohio
When: Thursday, January 28th at 6PM (video webcast at 7PM)
Where: 135 E. Main St. Tipp City, OH 45371
CLICK HERE TO RSVP for the event!

If you would like to learn more about John Kasich, please check out his Wikipedia entry.

The Society for Human Resource Management sent out the following action alert on Friday.  They are against the Democratic plan for Health Care Reform – but provide an interesting side by side comparison of the Dems/Republicans approaches to tackle this challenge. Following is the alert:

Debate on comprehensive health care reform is at a crucial stage.  The House of Representatives will consider H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act as early as this weekend.  While SHRM strongly supports comprehensive health care reform that strengthens the employer-based system, promotes wellness programs and health promotion initiatives, strengthens the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), increases purchaser and consumer access to cost and quality information and increases access to affordable health coverage, the House bill fails to achieve these goals.

Please contact your Representative today to urge a NO VOTE on H.R. 3962.

Background

On October 29, the Democratic leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled their long-awaited fix for the nation’s health care delivery system.  The bill, titled the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), includes many provisions of interest to HR professionals.

Click HERE to review a side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate bills.

Specific provisions of concern to HR professionals include:

Wellness Programs – Unfortunately, H.R. 3962 does not include provisions to facilitate greater availability of wellness programs among employers and employees.  In addition, the measure does not include meaningful cost, quality, or transparency provisions to ensure that both employers and employees have better access to health-related information.

Employer Mandate – The bill requires employers to provide and pay for “qualified” health care coverage or face an 8 percent payroll tax.  Employers must pay 72.5 percent of the premium for individuals and 65 percent of the premium for families.  In addition, even if an employer provides and pays for health insurance coverage for their workforce, that employer could still be subject to an 8 percent payroll tax if employees decline employer coverage because it is unaffordable – defined as more than 12 percent of the employee’s income.

ERISA – H.R. 3962 would erode the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by applying state law remedies to employer purchased coverage  in a health insurance exchange; prohibiting post-retirement reductions of retiree health benefits by group health plans, unless reductions are also made to active employees’ health benefits; and requiring employer-sponsored plans to meet detailed federal requirements that will increase costs.

Public Plan – The bill also includes a public insurance plan option that raises serious concerns about cost-shifting to private plans. Inadequate reimbursement practices under Medicare and Medicaid has resulted in significant cost-shifting to private plans, increasing costs for both employers and employees.

SHRM’s Position

SHRM is committed to achieving comprehensive health care reform that provides high quality, affordable health coverage to all Americans in a manner that strengthens the voluntary employer-based system.  HR professionals realize that the current system, which has health care costs rising faster than inflation, is unsustainable. That  is why SHRM has supported efforts to control costs.  To meet this goal, SHRM supports public policy that achieves the following:

• Strengthens and improves the employer-based health care system;
• Encourages greater use of health prevention, promotion, and wellness programs;
• Strengthens the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to ensure a national, uniform framework for health care benefits;
• Reduces health care costs by improving quality and transparency;
• Ensures tax policy contributes to lower costs and greater access.

It was a nail-biter up to the very end. The Tipp City Council results themselves provided a surprise with Joe Gibson topping out the incumbent Pat Hale for first place and former councilman Don Ochs will not be taking a seat at the dais. In order, Gibson, Hale, Black and Budding win City Council seats.

The school board race had Frame and Maus edging out Dehus for the win.

The biggest win of the night had to go to the Tipp City Public Library who’s levy passed by 67%. Mark Mabelitini, library director shared with us “The library will now return to the way that is was before, we will be able to afford office supplies again and provide the kind of service that our residents and patrons have come to expect.”

Bethel Township’s contentious race ended with Hirt and Van Haaren winning over Dick and Fessler.

The Tipp City Charter Amendments were all passed along with the Miami County Parks levy.

Instead of providing our readers with some more to read, I took some video interviews of winning candidates Gibson and Black at their campaign headquarters.

These were the results as of 11PM on Tuesday evening… One of Piqua’s machines wouldn’t read.. but these are the final results for Tipp and Bethel Township..

Tipp City Council
Total
Number of Precincts         7
Precincts Reporting         7     100.0 %
Times Counted         2965/7190     41.2 %
Total Votes         7624
KATELYN D. BLACK     1638     21.48%
BRYAN BUDDING         1374     18.02%
JOSEPH E. GIBSON     1713     22.47%
PATRICK HALE         1672     21.93%
DONALD H. OCHS         1227     16.09%

Tipp City EVSD Bd. of Ed.
Total
Number of Precincts         12
Precincts Reporting         12     100.0 %
Times Counted         4824/11279     42.8 %
Total Votes         6696
BONNY J. DEHUS         1839     27.46%
CARLA M. FRAME         2480     37.04%
FRANK C. MAUS         2377     35.50%

Miami County Park District
Total
Number of Precincts         81
Precincts Reporting         81     100.0 %
Times Counted         27318/72080     37.9 %
Total Votes         26810
FOR THE TAX LEVY         16932     63.16%
AGAINST THE TAX LEVY         9878     36.84%

Tipp Charter Amendment S. 4.04
Total
Number of Precincts         7
Precincts Reporting         7     100.0 %
Times Counted         2965/7190     41.2 %
Total Votes         2758
YES         2051     74.37%
NO         707     25.63%

Tipp Charter Amendment S. 4.05
Total
Number of Precincts         7
Precincts Reporting         7     100.0 %
Times Counted         2965/7190     41.2 %
Total Votes         2750
YES         2057     74.80%
NO         693     25.20%

Tipp Charter Amendment S. 8.04
Total
Number of Precincts         7
Precincts Reporting         7     100.0 %
Times Counted         2965/7190     41.2 %
Total Votes         2605
YES         1989     76.35%
NO         616     23.65%

Tipp City Public Library Tax Levy
Total
Number of Precincts         12
Precincts Reporting         12     100.0 %
Times Counted         4824/11279     42.8 %
Total Votes         4757
FOR THE TAX LEVY         3168     66.60%
AGAINST THE TAX LEVY         1589     33.40%

Tipp F Local Option D-3 application
Total
Number of Precincts         1
Precincts Reporting         1     100.0 %
Times Counted         411/945     43.5 %
Total Votes         402
YES         304     75.62%
NO         98     24.38%

Tipp F Local Option D-6 application
Total
Number of Precincts         1
Precincts Reporting         1     100.0 %
Times Counted         411/945     43.5 %
Total Votes         402
YES         278     69.15%
NO         124     30.85%

Bethel Township Trustees
Total
Number of Precincts         4
Precincts Reporting         4     100.0 %
Times Counted         1710/3701     46.2 %
Total Votes         3225
KAMA L. DICK         565     17.52%
DIANA M. FESSLER         698     21.64%
ROBERT HEPHNER         152     4.71%
JEROME L. HIRT, SR.         910     28.22%
BETH VAN HAAREN         900     27.91%

While you may be aware of the issues that Tipp City will be dealing with on November 3rd (Election Day) you may NOT be aware of the Great Sewer Debate in Bethel Township.

 Two of the four candidates for Bethel Township Trustee (Jerry Hirt and Beth Van Haaren) approached TippNews DAILY this week to help disseminate information and clarify some misinformation out there regarding water service, and sanitary sewer within the township.

There is WAY too much information to adequately cover the very detailed scenario taking place in Bethel however this reporter will try to hit the very tops of the waves.

• Bethel Township continues to be courted by Huber Heights for more and more annexation. As Huber Heights thriving service corridor (read.. fast food mecca) grows north, there is greater need for them to annex land on the outskirts of Bethel Township. Both Hirt and Van Haaren are against any further enroachment from their southern neighbor. (since 1985, Huber Heights has annexed over 1,000 acres of Bethel Township)
• Some water sources in Bethel Township have very high levels of contamination (read.. fecal matter) that could be eliminated with the implementation of sanitary sewer and water delivery. Some believe that this type of infrastructure improvements would “open the door” to Huber Heights annexation. Clean the water and they will come?

I have attached a document that Hirt and Van Haaren have distributed to help debunk the worst of the myths including that the township is going to force residents to tie-into the sanitary sewer and water service.

Thanks Hirt and Van Haaren for looking towards TippNews DAILY to distribute information about the township!