O’Neill ends silence, rips school funding

About a month ago, Ohio Supreme Court Justice William M. O’Neill refused to respond to questions on school funding.

“Cannot answer at this time as there is a significant education funding case currently before the Supreme Court. Will be free to address after I step down from the Court on January 26, 2018,” was his response to a Dispatch questionnaire sent to the nine gubernatorial candidates running at the time.

But last week in a campaign video announcing his running mate, O’Neill blistered the state’s “illegal funding system” for producing a “failing education system.” “It is illegal, and everyone knows that,” he added. Later he referred to the state’s “illegal funding scheme.”

As he noted, O’Neill remains on the court until the end of next week, so it’s unclear what changed.

Of course, many critics likely would say that’s just the latest out-of-bounds act by a sitting justice; judges are supposed to step down when they become a candidate for another office. Even though he has a campaign platform, website and has now named a running mate, O’Neill still is operating on the fact he’s not legally a candidate until he files his election petition and everything so far is merely an exercise of his free-speech rights.

Look for those judicial rules to become more specific once the O’Neill controversy dies down. announcement this Wednesday of his gubernatorial candidacy. On one side were directions and a map, while the other was a boldly colored mini “Kucinich for Governor” sign.

After seeing the color scheme, we just had to ask: Are you keeping the maize and blue? Because, yeah, that’ll play well in Buckeye country.

The response was quick: “Official colors, design, and graphics are being finalized. Michigan colors are most definitely NOT under consideration.”

Not Jake at State Farm

At least 44 times from Nov. 1 to Dec. 22, Jake Strassberger sent emails on behalf of Ohio Democrats that blasted GOP state Treasurer Josh Mandel, who was challenging Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. The titles of the missives ranged from “Josh Mandel Donor Convicted Of Racketeering, Fraud & Money Laundering” to “Josh Mandel’s 2017 By The Numbers: The 21 Weeks Josh Went Without Talking To Ohio Media.”

Alas, on Jan. 5 Mandel abruptly left the Senate race, citing his wife’s health.

Was Strassberger out of a job?

Not to worry.

Four days later, the Democratic operative had trained his sights on another potential GOP Brown challenger, Mike Gibbons: “Tax Bill Supported By Mike Gibbons ‘May Send Factories and Jobs Abroad.’”

And a couple of hours after Jim Renacci made public his switch from the governor’s race to the GOP Senate primary, Strassberger was the bearer of Dem oppo research on the Wadsworth congressman, calling him “the poster boy of Washington Republicans who’ve spent their time in office betraying middleclass workers to make life easier on the wealthy and well-connected.”

So it’s win-win: Jake keeps a job, and Ohio’s lofty political discourse continues.

49 minutes of futility

The state Board of Education spent almost an hour last week trying to decide whether to extend softened high school graduation requirements for another two years.

Then Rep. Andrew Brenner essentially burst into the meeting and said they were wasting their time. The Powell Republican, who chairs the House Education Committee, said the House GOP caucus already plans to address the problem, so any recommendation from the board would be superfluous, Reporter Cathy Candisky relates.

“There is really no need for a resolution to begin with,” he told the board, shortly before he exited the session.