GEOFFREY JUDGE

Not so long ago on a Sunday, I picked up the opinion section of the Columbus Dispatch. To my surprise, I found a column by the editor that was fairly scathing in its assessment of the Ohio legislature in 2003. I was surprised, because that paper is not usually so critical of the majority status quo in Columbus, yet this editor had a very low opinion of how our representatives had spent the year and what we have to show for it. Here's why. No one disputes that Ohio has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Our higher education is threatened by increasing budgetary problems. (Just this week OSU raised tuition again, this time by 13.4 percent.) Our elementary, secondary, and vocational schools are in a continual funding crisis, undermining all efforts to succeed-- which seems to please a perverse minority. Money is tight for infrastructure and for many things that make life livable and Ohio more attractive. Our tax structure is criticized greatly. The business friendliness of Ohio is suspect.

Yet, in 2003, two projects absorbed most of the time and energy of the legislature, neither of which ever gave much hope of directly influencing any of these issues in a positive way: a concealed carry gun law and the Defense of Marriage Act.

While these two laws dealt with issues important to many Ohioans, they represented a detour in Columbus from the main issues impacting our future together in a competitive world. Why detour?

Legislators just found it too attractive to avoid focusing on the difficult problems. The two issues they took up were easier and had the added dividend of energizing parts of the majority party's base constituency and certain check-writing special interest groups. It was painless, and it would pay off at election time. So, that's what they did in 2003. Meanwhile, Ohio and Licking County were and are at a crossroads. In addition to facing all issues general to Ohio, Licking County faces serious stress from the growth of metropolitan Columbus.

Not much has changed in 2004. The same serious problems cry out for us to sit down together to work in bipartisan good faith, with compromises likely to be required of all. That, however, would take courage, which apparently is hard to find. There are no easy answers. Our community is at this crossroads. One of the things we need most is representation in Columbus that is very interested in our futures, representation that is more interested in us than its party leadership. We need representation that wants to be in Columbus and Licking County to work to see that action is taken on the most important issues we face. We need representation that will work to influence others in Columbus to reorder priorities now, so we don't continue to address our most serious needs later in crisis. We need to find a way; not fiddle while Rome burns.

GEOFFREY JUDGE CANDIDATE FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE 71st DISTRICT NEWARK Tel. (O) 345-1601; (H) 366-1208 E-mail: geoffrey_judge@yahoo.com