Candidates face each other in League’s annual Forum

BY RYAN BERRY 

MANAGING EDITOR 

GREENVILLE – Candidates for the 2nd District Court of Appeals and State Representative – 80th District answered questions from the public at the annual League of Women Voters (LWV) Candidates Forum on Oct. 22. State Representative candidates for the 84th district were scheduled to participate, but Ronald L. Hammons, democratic candidate, informed the LWV earlier in the day that he was sick and unable to participate.

Jim Buchy, republican candidate, was given two minutes to introduce himself and compel voters to support him. Buchy praised Governor John Kasich and the current legislature’s record for creating jobs. Ohio has gone from 48th in the nation to fourth and is ranked first in the Midwest. He also boasted that the state was able to balance the budget despite and $8 billion deficit without raising taxes. Although Buchy has served in the state legislature for 20 years, his most recent term was an appointment to fill the seat vacated by Jim Zehringer who took an appointment to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Buchy is proud of his perfect attendance during his 20 years of service.

Candidates from uncontested races in the county were also given an opportunity to introduce themselves and ask for support on Election Day. These candidates included Diane L. Delaplane and Michael W. Rhoades, for county commissioner; R. Kelly Ormbsy, III, county prosecutor; Cindy Pike, clerk of courts; Linda Stachler, county recorder; Scott J. Zumbrink, treasurer; Jim Surber, county engineer; and Jason Aslinger, common pleas judge – probate/juvenile division. In addition to hearing from the candidates, the LWV also gave information on State Issues 1 and 2.

2nd District Court of Appeals

Carly Ingram and Jeffrey Welbaum, candidates
for the 2nd Court of Appeals, answered
questions from the public. (Ryan Berry photo) 

Second District Court of Appeals candidates Carley Ingram and Jeffrey M. Welbaum were the first to face questions from the public. Both candidates touted their credentials. Ingram won the support of the Montgomery County Bar Association who rated her more qualified than her opponent. Welbaum received the same support from the Miami County Bar Association. Ingram has practiced law for 32 years and has been providing appellate work for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office since 1983. She has argued before the State Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court where she won. Welbaum has served as a county prosecutor, judge for 16 years and special assistant to the U.S. Attorney. He boasts a diverse background with knowledge and experience in subject matters that would come before the Court of Appeals and a lot of appellate experience.

When asked of their goals for the future of the Appeals Court, Welbaum noted he would bring a new dynamic to the court. He believes his diverse background brings a unique blend of talent and experience before the court. He also believes he would improve the court and would “be the new ingredient to the court to make the court better.” Ingram pointed out she has a lot of respect for the court and her goal is to continue the tradition of bringing excellent legal scholarship so citizens will have a court they can rely on. She expressed her concern that three of the five judges are trial lawyers, “Putting another trial lawyer on that panel, I don’t think brings diversity.”

The cases that come before the appellate court include divorce, child custody, criminal, motions to suppress, probate and more. Ingram noted the Court of Appeals is important because citizens have a right to be there whether they filed the case or where filed upon. “If you don’t believe you’ve been treated fairly, you have a right to an appeal. That’s what those judges are looking at. They are tearing up the record in that case to make sure that the parties were treated fairly under the law.” Welbaum pointed out the diversity of the cases is the challenge of the Court of Appeals. He said, “As a Common Pleas Court Judge, practicing attorney, prosecuting attorney I handled all the different areas that are reviewed by the 2nd District Court of Appeals.”

Welbaum believes the toughest decisions are those where the law is ambiguous and may have been crafted by various interest groups and may conflict with another law crafted by compromise. Judges have to wade through these types of laws and try to determine what the legislature intended. Ingram agreed with the difficulty of these cases, “But that is the bread and butter of what an appellate judge does.” She believes the difficult cases come from criminal cases where someone is going away for a long time. “We know as a prosecutor that the person may have richly earned that conviction, but no matter what happens somebody is heartbroken. There is a child or mother.” She believes it is important for the appellate court to “make sure the law was followed and applied fairly so we can be confident, you know, even when the result is unfortunate and makes people unhappy that it is the right result under the law.”

80th House District

Candidates for the 80th House District seat,
Richard Adams and Dave Fisher, faced-off
in a debate over issues facing Ohio. 

Candidates for the 80th House District also had an opportunity to answer questions from the public. Dave Fisher (D) and Richard Adams (R) addressed issues ranging from redistricting to waste water from fracking. In his opening statement, Adams reiterated Buchy’s point that Ohio has gone from 48th to the 4th in the nation for job creation and first in the Midwest. He noted the work is not completed and there is still more work to do. Fisher believes he understandings what the middle class is going through and wants to be a solution to the problem and not a problem to the solution. He has never been elected to office, but has worked with the Miami County Board of Elections and has served as chairman of the Land Use Committee.

Fisher promises to listen to the electorate on the issues by developing focus groups throughout the district. Adams noted he will continue to listen to his constituents. He spends time at an enterprise in the district each week talking to business owners and organizational leaders learning what they need or changes that would help. Fisher challenged Adams on his record of listening. He claims Adams said Issue 2 (SB 5) would pass in Miami County 75-25 and it failed in Miami County and Darke County. Adams corrected Fisher by noting it didn’t pass by a big margin, but it did pass by 86 votes in the 79th District (current district for Adams).

On the issue of fracking, Adams noted he is opposed to other states trucking in waste water to pump into our wells, but he wasn’t necessarily against fracking. He believes there would have to be new technology available to make the water safe before he would support it. “It has to be done well before we support it,” he said. Fisher brought up a bill in the Ohio House that could allow companies to keep materials in the water a secret. Adams pointed out the bill addresses concerns from companies that if information is exposed it could compromise their patent or copyright advantage. Adams continued, “There is a concern that if there would be a need for a medical person to have access to that information they should know exactly what treatment they might be providing if that would happen.”

Neither candidate supports cutting funding to schools. Fisher addressed the Rolf decision 18 years ago and that no bill has come forth in the last 12 years to solve the school funding issues. He believes he would have a school funding bill in the first six months if he were elected. Adams pointed to Governor Strickland’s proposal to fund schools. Strickland’s model, according to Adams, did not work. Plus there was no money from Strickland’s administration to implement the model. He noted Strickland spent $8 billion from the federal government that would not be duplicated in the next budget. Strickland also took $1.1 billion in emergency fund and spent all but 89-cents. Fisher noted Adams cut school funding and local government funds and they were able to balance the budget, but called school funding a travesty. “Schools are hurting. Schools need money,” he said.

On the issue of Right to Work, Fisher noted he does not support the issue. He believes it is a bad idea. Adams supports Right to Work and believes it will eventually come before Ohio and will need thoughtful consideration. However, he also believes the voters will have to decide this issue.

Note: This is a partial list of the issues that were discussed. Please watch the video to hear all of the questions and answers.