September 23

An independent voice

Published: September 22, 2011 - 07:20 PM

Akron Beacon Journal

John Kasich insists that he doesn’t talk about policy matters with friends and former advisers who have set up lobby shops around the Statehouse. That is, except for one time, the governor telling the Columbus Dispatch in May about Don Thibaut sharing his disdain for the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.

The office did not fare well in the new budget that took effect in July, Republican majorities in the legislature following the lead of the governor, essentially cutting the office’s budget in half. Dozens of positions have been eliminated, resulting in layoffs, and on Wednesday, Janine Migden-Ostrander, the consumers’ counsel, announced she has had enough, stepping down after seven years in the position.

Her departing words were sharp. Most stinging was her relaying that she sought to talk about the proposed budget cuts, but the governor and Bill Batchelder, the House speaker, refused to meet. She noted the governor’s early talk about getting on the bus. She said she tried to get on board, but since has learned that she doesn’t “like where it is going,” adding: “The bus is running over consumers and has no brakes.”
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/editorials/an-independent-voice-1.236382