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Mar
22
From Wayback Machine: “Mandel says he’s not running for state treasurer in 2010″”
Filed Under Campaigning, Elections, Government, Josh Mandel, OH17, Ohio, Politics, senate, Transparency, treasurer | Leave a Comment
Can’t make it up. From almost exactly two years ago to the day. And barely three months after he began his second term as a state representative for my district, Ohio 17th.
Read the entire post – to the end. You will be shaking your head all along the way – déja vu all over again.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:11 pm March 22nd, 2011 in Campaigning, Elections, Government, Josh Mandel, OH17, Ohio, Politics, senate, Transparency, treasurer | Please comment
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Mar
22
Although few people would identify me as an environmental blogger, I have in fact written many posts about environmental issues over the years. From the Asian carp threat to the Great Lakes, to the hydrofracking debates my City Council constituents care about. From the Harriman coal ash spill’s warnings for my state of Ohio to supporting Science Debate 2008′s efforts to keep science issues front and center.
Now, in recognition that my kids know more about and demonstrate greater concern for how we take care of our environment than sometimes I do, I will be writing in conjunction with a group of other bloggers who are also moms, like me, and care deeply about these issues too. The Moms Clean Air Force, with which I’m participating, is dedicated to providing information and opportunities for us to show support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulations released just last week (see here) which seek to establish, “the first-ever national standards for mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollution from power plants.”
It’s easy to go catatonic when we witness the toll that man-made risks, natural disasters and the two combined wreak on our planet. So being given the chance to give attention to an issue about which we can make a difference made a difference to me. Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:51 pm March 22nd, 2011 in Moms Clean Air Force, Politics | 1 Comment
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Mar
22
Today’s Awesome Woman of the Month: Miesha Wilson Headen
Filed Under BlogHer, Campaigning, democracy, Elections, Gender, Government, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Women, Writing | Leave a Comment
I love my writing work. I almost always get to write about topics I want to write about and that are important and that others are not writing about or writing enough about. I get to express what I want to about those topics, censored primarily by myself. And now, I’m at the point in my writing career where I get paid to do all that, even online (I’ll be posting shortly on my latest addition, blogging about the environment as part of the “Moms Clean Air Force”).
So imagine how thrilled I was when BlogHer.com (I’m a Contributing Editor there) told me that during March, they’d be running a series called a Month of Awesome Women and I should choose someone in the political sphere. I made sure that it didn’t have to be someone currently in the Hillary Clinton orbit and pitched the idea that it’s the local women, especially those with kids and families and full-time jobs in addition to city or small town elected offices to tend whom I consider to be awesome.
Once I got the go-ahead, I needed no time to select the subject: Richmond Heights City Councilwoman-at-large, Miesha Wilson Headen, now serving in her first term. Please take a minute to read, How Suburban Ohio Councilwoman Miesha Headen Got Elected and consider honoring an awesome woman you know, today. There are still nine days left this month but really, it’s never too late to tell someone how awesome they are – and what they mean to you.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 4:44 pm March 22nd, 2011 in BlogHer, Campaigning, democracy, Elections, Gender, Government, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Women, Writing | Please comment
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Mar
22
Does Running for Office Beat Being in Office? Not for Constituents
Filed Under Campaigning, Elections, Josh Mandel, Ohio, Politics, senate | 4 Comments
The Columbus Dispatch is tweeting & blogging that “State Treasurer Josh Mandel is leaning toward a run for the U.S. Senate in 2012 and will make an announcement this spring.” The backup for that assertion is an attaboy from ORP’s Kevin DeWine on what a “great campaigner” Mandel is and what a “formidable candidate” he would be – no direct quote from Mandel or his spokespeople.
Mandel was sworn into office as Ohio’s Treasurer of State just over 10 weeks ago.
Running for office is tough – no argument from me. And if you don’t do it well (see Martha Coakley and almost Lisa Murkowski as well as Mike Castle), you stun and disappoint and lose.
But when a person who is elected to be a public servant (not to be a great campaigner or a formidable candidate) is lauded first and only in regard to his or her ability to be a candidate, rather than for any accomplishment achieved as a public servant (or for what the individual can and could and will do as a public servant to all Ohioans if elected), well, to say that a focus on being a great candidate is a red flag for someone who thinks they deserve our votes to be a U.S. Senator – and not just run to be one – is a massive understatement.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:49 pm March 22nd, 2011 in Campaigning, Elections, Josh Mandel, Ohio, Politics, senate | 4 Comments
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Mar
20
Likelihood that Kasich doesn’t even understand consequences of his education funding recommendations
Filed Under Civil Rights, democracy, Education, John Kasich, Ohio, Parenting, Politics, Statehouse, Youth | 2 Comments
From the Ohio Association of Gifted Education Action Alert, 3/17/11 (in part, but please – read it all):
I should note that in the governor’s town hall meeting on the budget on Tuesday, a father of a gifted child asked why the gifted funding was eliminated. The governor’s education policy director, Bob Sommers indicated that gifted education remains a high priority and that gifted funding was maintained. Tim Keen, the director of the Office of Budget and Management, then said that districts all gifted funding in the basic aid funding for gifted children and will have to make the local decision about how to serve these students. Governor Kasich then took the microphone and said that Ohio is in the bottom ten of all states for having money in the classroom and the in the top ten for having bureaucracy. He recommended that if a parent has a gifted child that the parent should go into the local superintendent’s office and stand up for their child by demanding services. The interesting response seems to indicate that perhaps the unintended consequences for the gifted budget recommendation may not be fully understood by the governor and his staff. As gifted education is a small and unusual part of the education budget, that isn’t too surprising. But it does need to be fixed if gifted services are to be maintained in the majority of districts in the state.
Sigh – I’m not even going to respond to Kasich’s recommendation – thank goodness Ann addressed it very, very diplomatically (I would not have).
I’d been watching the action alert page anxiously last week and am glad that I’ve gone back to the twitter feed of OAGC’s Ann Sheldon (on Twitter, @anngift) to see that an alert has now been posted.
Here’s what you can do (and what you know I’ll be doing), also from the Action Alert: Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:23 pm March 20th, 2011 in Civil Rights, democracy, Education, John Kasich, Ohio, Parenting, Politics, Statehouse, Youth | 2 Comments
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Mar
20
Happy Purim
Filed Under Holidays, Jewish, Religion | Leave a Comment
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:00 am March 20th, 2011 in Holidays, Jewish, Religion | Please comment
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Mar
17
Transparency.Ohio.Gov Graded “0″ For Failure to Show Tax Expenditures Online
Filed Under democracy, Ethics, Government, leadership, Tech, Transparency, treasurer | Leave a Comment
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (or USPIRG – I love PIRGs) came out yesterday with its report, Following The Money 2011: How The 50 States Rate In Providing Online Access To Government Spending Data. Ohio barely escaped settling in with the majority of states and received a “B-” or just 82 points. And this is based on USPIRG doing its data gathering in 2011 (see p.43 of the full report), not 2010, with a February 14, 2011 deadline for submission of information.
Where does the Ohio government fail to be transparent? You can look here and see that Ohio lost points as follows:
Downloadable – 0 out of 2
Previous fiscal year info – 3 out of 5
Information on Tax Expenditures – 0 out of 10
Expenditures from quasi-public agencies – 0 out of 2
Financial information on local government – 0 out of 2
Total deducation from possible 100 total: 18 points Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:26 am March 17th, 2011 in democracy, Ethics, Government, leadership, Tech, Transparency, treasurer | Please comment
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Mar
16
FRIDAY: Feminist Icon, Author & Activist Gloria Feldt in Cleveland for Empowering Women Series
Filed Under activism, Announcements, leadership, Social Issues, Women, Writing | 1 Comment
You can read all the details here for the event,“Women Empowering Women” Series of Dialogue Scaling Up…Can I Dream Big, happening this Friday, March 18, from 8:30am to 1:30pm, at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Independence just off 77.
But all you really need to know is that Gloria Feldt is the featured panelist and keynote speaker along with several other powerful personalities who will get you motivated and moving (as if what’s been going on in Ohio this week hasn’t been enough to get anyone out of even the worst stupor).
I must also give a plug to say that Gloria has been a personal and professional role model and mentor to me. I am grateful for her letting me in close enough to really observe her and learn from her directly and indirectly. She is simply that warm and embracing, while also being a fierce, fierce advocate for women and women’s rights. Given that another woman, Connie Schultz, about whom I feel very similarly will also be part of this event, I feel extremely lucky.
And I’m not even mentioning that the fantastic Pepper Pike resident, Rita Singh, who was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame last year, is the organizer of this entire series for women. Ahem.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:45 pm March 16th, 2011 in activism, Announcements, leadership, Social Issues, Women, Writing | 1 Comment
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Mar
7
Why NY U.S. Rep. Peter King (R) & Hearing on Radical Islam Are Disingenuous
Filed Under Civil Rights, intolerance, Politics, Religion, Social Issues | 1 Comment
Because the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act of 2007 has been around for nearly five years, 400 members of Congress signed onto it in 2009, and it absolutely anticipated that radicalization, however they were going to define it, was not limited to any one religious, ethnic, political or cultural group (though one reason I was writing about the Act in the past was to say that I perceived that to be cover anyway).
Yet U.S. Representative Peter King is refusing to expand the hearings he has scheduled for this week beyond an inquiry into “radical Muslims.”
I’ve been writing about that 2007 legislation since…oh yeah, 2007. Now read the definition that concerned and convinced nearly the entire U.S. House of Representatives enough that they approved creating an entity to, in fact, examine the issue of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism:
[California Democratic Rep., Jane] Harman’s bill would convene a 10-member national commission to study“violent radicalization” (defined as “the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change”) and “homegrown terrorism” (defined as “the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States […] to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives”).
The bill also directs the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to designate a “center of excellence,” a university-based research center where academics, policy-makers, members of the private sector and other stakeholders can collaborate to better understand and prevent radicalization and homegrown terrorism. [my emphasis above]
King’s omission of looking at this topic in general and instead only focusing on Muslims isn’t wrong just because of its targeting, but it is wrong and dangerous because of the false sense of who he wants people to think are responsible for radical acts in our country, and the backgrounds of people who are actually responsible for radical acts in our country.
I stood against that act before and I believe King’s reiteration of this kind of inquiry shows just how inappropriately such a thing could be used.
This is dangerous, dangerous stuff to which we’re subjecting Americans – both those of us in the gallery and the exclusive ones King is planning to question.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:49 am March 7th, 2011 in Civil Rights, intolerance, Politics, Religion, Social Issues | 1 Comment
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Mar
7
A Woman A Day: Women’s History Month in the Plain Dealer
Filed Under Gender, leadership, Media, Ohio, Women | Leave a Comment
Looks like it might just be weekdays (?) but here’s a link to the women featured so far. Today it’s Jane Campbell, first female mayor of Cleveland, elected in 2002.
Are you commemorating Women’s History Month? How so? If not, why not?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:13 am March 7th, 2011 in Gender, leadership, Media, Ohio, Women | Please comment
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Mar
6
Women of the Revolution: Two-fer to watch from today’s This Week
Filed Under activism, democracy, Foreign Affairs, Gender, Hillary Clinton, leadership, middle east, Politics, Religion, Sexism, Social Issues, war, Women | Leave a Comment
women-revolution-lama-hasan-uprising-middle-east-libya-egypt-human-rights-politics-13069528While doing Sunday chores, I got to see the cover of the redesigned and Tina Brown-ified Newsweek about to come out, with a very powerful image of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the cover as well as watch with great interest an all-woman roundtable discussing the role of women in the revolutions occurring in N. Africa/the Middle East (Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia for example).
Here’s the cover (I can’t find the articles online yet but I’m very eager to see that 150 women list):
And here are the two clips about women of the revolutions. The first is a news item/reportage and the second is a roundtable conducted by Christiane Amanpour with Tina Brown (Daily Beast/Newsweek), Egyptian Writer/Activist Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, Zainab Salbi (Women for Women International ) and Sussan Tahmadebi (International Civil Society Action Network for Women’s Rights, Peace and Security).
You can see the 150 Women Who Shake the World here and the Hillary Clinton article here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:52 pm March 6th, 2011 in activism, democracy, Foreign Affairs, Gender, Hillary Clinton, leadership, middle east, Politics, Religion, Sexism, Social Issues, war, Women | Please comment
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Mar
6
Shout out to Strongsville Youth Commission and their focus on Gender Equality
Filed Under activism, Education, Gender, Jill Miller Zimon, Ohio, Parenting, Social Issues, Youth | Leave a Comment
Yesterday, I was the speaker at the Strongsville Youth Commission’s Modern-day Talk on Gender Equality. The audience ranged in age from elementary or middle school through seniors – not just in high school but as in our senior citizens. They let me talk for quite a while and then we discussed several deeper issues related to this topic. Their grasp and concern was as great as anyone would wish for. My goal was for them to leave with more questions than answers, and I do believe that was achieved, especially since, just on my way out, a few attendees were continuing to ask questions!
It was a delightful event and I’m grateful for having been asked to participate. Many thanks.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:52 pm March 6th, 2011 in activism, Education, Gender, Jill Miller Zimon, Ohio, Parenting, Social Issues, Youth | Please comment
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Mar
4
Mandel: “I made a mistake…I regret running the ad…”
Filed Under Campaigning, Ethics, Josh Mandel, Kevin Boyce, leadership, Ohio, treasurer | Leave a Comment
I have heard Ohio’s new Treasurer, Josh Mandel, mention that he was going to be breaking bread with former Treasurer Kevin Boyce (he mentioned it at his swearing in). Now, in an article that is part of the Washington Post’s series called The Rising, he is quoted as saying that it has in fact happened:
Mandel has stumbled a bit in his meteoric rise. He got some rare but intense negative press during the 2010 race after airing an ad that suggested his opponent was Muslim. The Toledo Blade threatened to take back its endorsement; the Columbus Dispatch said the ad’s reference to a mosque “seems to serve no purpose other than to play on some Americans’ post-9/11 fears of Middle Eastern people and religions.” His hometown paper endorsed the libertarian candidate instead.
“I made a mistake, and I learned from it and put it behind me,” says Mandel now. “I regret running the ad, and I’ve broken bread with my opponent and we’ve both put it behind us.”
I’ve stated my eye-roll reaction to most apologies in the political realm because it’s the behavior that follows the apology that matters most. That shouldn’t be too hard to observe once Josh launches his next campaign, whatever that may be for and whenever it occurs.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:50 pm March 4th, 2011 in Campaigning, Ethics, Josh Mandel, Kevin Boyce, leadership, Ohio, treasurer | Please comment
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Mar
3
OH State Rep. Anielski (R) reportedly “supported Walton Hills police officers when they decided to unionize” & she was mayor
Filed Under conservatives, Courage, democracy, employment, Ethics, Government, leadership, OH17, OH24th, Politics, Social Issues, Statehouse, Transparency, Voting, Women | 4 Comments
In today’s Chagrin Valley Times, columnist Barbara Christian wrote about our new statehouse representative, Marlene Anielski, a Republican and former mayor of the small (US Census 2000 says 2,400) village of Walton Hills. Christian seeks to highlight our preconceived notions related to party affiliation – the good, the bad and the as yet unknown.
In “Open mind may be hard to keep,” Christian describes a constituent event Anielski held at the Chagrin Falls library about ten days ago at which many attendees wanted to talk about SB5:
She had come to talk to constituents, one on one and face to face. She wanted to hear their concerns and maybe fix them. But while no subject was off the table, it appeared that the only one the majority of people wanted to talk about was one she was not prepared to address, Ohio Senate Bill 5. Read more
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:34 pm March 3rd, 2011 in conservatives, Courage, democracy, employment, Ethics, Government, leadership, OH17, OH24th, Politics, Social Issues, Statehouse, Transparency, Voting, Women | 4 Comments
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