Blackwell's Snowjob: "Election costs could hit $3 million in Cuyahoga"

[EMunster]

Now this is pathetic -- Blackwell's transparent attempt at damage control. With everything else happening, he wants all of us to know what a burden we are.

http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1102761230230870.xml

Most questionable funds:

The board also spent $50,000 on extra voting devices and booths and $55,000 to advertise the names of people who submitted registration cards with incomplete information, a move aimed at exhausting its attempts to reach people and ensure they could vote.

this is almost laughable:

Also, the board mailed everyone on its registration list -- about 1 million people -- a guide to voting. Though the guides were not required by state law, the board wanted to ensure that people voted at the proper polling locations and knew how to use punch cards.

He's trying to switch the fault of the ballot/booth/precinct mixup onto the voter, "though the guides were not required by state law..." Huh? It'd be interesting if any of the Ohioans on the boards here remember receiving this guide.

I'm going to send an email to the reporter and tell him not to be such a dupe: [e-mail], 216-999-4849

[stopbush]

1. That's the price of trying to repair a broken system after the fix was in.

The issue isn't the cost. Ohioans should be up in arms that they have a SoS who is such a major fuck up.

[IAMREALITY]

2. Ok

I'd be quite interested to see the breakdown of where those extra machines were allocated for the 50 grand.

[EMunster]

4. very good question for the reporter eom

[Skwmom]

3. LePore did the same thing (blamed the voter). eom

[BR_Parkway]

5. Mailing not required, but cost at least as much as the $1.5 million

they keep whining about for a recount. Typical RePug Hypocrisy

[Straight Shooter]

6. Is this all you've got, Katherine B.?

Quit your bellyaching.

I would like to see that "guide to voting" and find out how garbled the language in it is. Maybe that's the reason so many people were confused.

[rock]

7. Let's see, what percentage of the 7 trillion dollar debt is that?

Meanwhile working on another trillion to be added.

[Straight Shooter]

8. My letter to the reporter, Mark Naymik

Dear Mr. Naymik:

Secretary of State Blackwell had no problem with incurring costs when he proclaimed that only 80-pound registration paper would be acceptable, and all the unqualified registrations would need to be redone. Thankfully that decision was quickly overturned. I've also never heard one peep from him about George W. Bush's visits to the State of Ohio (exactly how many were there?) and the cost to the State of Ohio to pick up the security tab, et cetera.

"Also, the board mailed everyone on its registration list -- about 1 million people -- a guide to voting. Though the guides were not required by state law, the board wanted to ensure that people voted at the proper polling locations and knew how to use punch cards." Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe what is happening here is an attempt to whine about the voters not knowing how to vote properly despite measures being taken to educate them. My question to you is, have you read this voter's guide? If you have read it, do you believe that the average person can easily understand the instructions? What about people with a disadvantaged education level, is the voter's guide comprehensible?

"The county elections board set aside about $1.8 million in its 2004 budget for the election, a figure based on the cost of previous presidential-year elections." I don't know when they set this money aside, but the amount is laughable considering what everyone knew would happen on November 2; i.e., unprecedented voter turnout. Also, how much was spent in 2000 and how does that compare to 2004 dollars? Did they set the money aside in 2004 before, or after, the pundits declared that Ohio would be "this year's Florida"?

These are just follow-up matters which should be taken into account as Ohio thumps its chest and bellows about the cost of democracy. To which I respond, at least it's not the approximately $5 billion a month that we're spending in Iraq.

Regards,
(Straight Shooter)

[kuozzman]

9. Apparently $3mil. is nothin' in Cuyohoga Co., just spent $6M on a park!

Not only that, but the bastards decided last year to try to seize the land by eminent domain.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," she said. "There is no justification, none, to doing this. They are talking about spending $6 million for land that was going to be in the public's hands anyway."

She also noted that the commissioners - while deciding to spend millions for a park - have told the county-owned MetroHealth Medical Center they don't have the money to boost the hospital's subsidy by $15 million.

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1102501956219520.xml?ncounty_cuyahoga

[kuozzman]

11. My God! Here's another $17 Mil. they just spent on jack shit!

This article is pathetic!
$7M=13 acres for future Juvenile Detention Center
$13M= Cleaning the fucking land????

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1102501907219521.xml?oxedi

This is not as difficult as some would have it. The county has the land: It bought the 13-acre site and spent about $7 million on consultants and studies and another $10 million scrubbing it clean. Now it sits idle, with no-trespassing signs where a new building should stand.

That's because the juvenile judges - known as a contentious lot - have lived down to their reputation. They say the site is too far from downtown for lawyers who want to take on juvenile cases while they are handling adult cases at the Justice Center.

That might be a fair complaint if the new facility were planned for the hinterlands. But the commute from downtown to 93rd and Quincy would be no more than 20 minutes. In addition, the new complex will have ample parking - something downtown lacks.

[TayTay]

10. Geez, I know people who can be bought for way less

Ohio is a pricey market. I know people who can be bought off for far less than $3,000,000.

[Aunt Anti-bush]

12. Even if that is correct, SO friggin WHAT???

We can spend a gazillion dollars for other countries' "elections" and "freedom", right? What's 3 million compared to all of the money going down the toilet in Iraq and elsewhere?