Talking Points: Issue 8

Both sides seem to have their talking points down pat in one of the few face-to-face forums on Issue 8 and 9...not that everyone at the Town Hall meeting sponsored by the League of Women Voters seemed to have an open mind in listening to the other side.

About a hundred people were in the FirstEnergy meeting room in the basement of the American Red Cross headquarters on West Market Street, a decent turnout for a Saturday morning. It was pretty clear the room was half-for, half-against judging by the number of city and community officials in tow to push for the Akron Scholarship Plan and the half-dozen or so wearing lime-green t-shirts reading "Hate 8, Vote No" above a "City of Akron For-Sale" sign.Following the opening statements moderator Susan Vogelsang noted the tenor of the meeting was non-partisan, and said they wouldn't proceed with the rest of the program unless the t-shirts were either reversed or turned inside out. There wasn't much grumbling -- in fact, even a few smiles -- as opponents of Issue 8 complied and then sat down to the ten work group tables set up to encourage more focused debate and working together to come up with ten questions for the panelists to respond to.

My favorite "strange bedfellows" pairing was the table where Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth sat opposite frequent Administration critic Greg Coleridge of the Save our Sewers and Water Committee. Not exactly your normal buddy-buddy combination but both were far more civil than the normal chatter heard at Mayoral news conferences.

The questions:

1. Can the operator of the leased system commit the City to spending decisions?

No, says Akron Public Service Director Rick Merolla; rates can't go up more than 3.9% but he added EPA mandates have to be paid for regardless of who operates the system, and that falls to ratepayers. Save Our Sewers and Water Committee campaign chair Jack Sombati says the City can't make promises it isn't sure it can keep and it's tough to answer because no lease exists.

2. Why not look at another way to fund scholarships?

Sombati says they asked Mayor Plusquellic this when he first made the proposal and he wasn't interested; Children's Hospital CEO Bill Considine noted Akron is a generous community but raising $200 million privately won't happen. "We can't wait for someone to win the lottery," Considine said, adding "there's a sense of urgency here."

3. Explain Issue 9 pro and con.

This one was easy; both Merolla and Sombati agreed a "yes" vote was a good thing to make sure the public has the ultimate vote in the lease, transfer or sale of city-owned utilities.

4. How to you ensure compliance with EPA standards?

Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Washington-based Food and Water Watch, says we won't know until we see the actual lease agreement -- which doesn't exist. Merolla says nobody gets away with violating EPA options and there are a thousand municipal-run systems with problems just as there are with those run by private management. "I'm not going to sign a contract that puts Akron at risk," Merolla said.

5. What if the company breaks the lease or doesn't live up to its side?

Merolla: if there's a breach, the City takes back control with no payment to the lessee. Sombati says it would still be costly by the time lawyers got involved and used Akron Thermal (the bankrupt Akron municipal steam generator) as an example, noting the millions still owed the city in back taxes.

6. How do you link the scholarship plan with the business community?

Considine pointed to the BioInnovation agreement involving local universities and Akron's three major hospitals as programs bringing 2500 new jobs here in the next five years, and how they'd like to have those skilled jobs filled by Akron residents. Sombati charged the scholarship is really a loan program because of strings attached that tie graduates to paying Akron incomes taxes by staying here for 30 years, continuing Akron taxes if they leave or repaying the scholarship. He also noted Michigan's Kalamazoo Promise, offered up as a blueprint for Akron, provides a free ride without a 30 year commitment. Merolla shot back in a later segment the City was simply asking for a continued contribution to the community that made college possible, and wouldn't collect if graduates had no income (such as stay-at-home mothers or fathers.)

7. The City didn't enforce Time Warner's obligations for public access channels, why believe they will hold a lessee to an agreement?

I'll take this one...and note the cable TV issue has nothing to do with the City. The State of Ohio actually changed the law mandating cable companies hold responsibility for so-called local access channels, turning over the burden to local governments to manage. Not the same thing since it was the State, and not the City or a lessee, to actually change the rules.

8. We want more details on how the scholarship plan works.

Already covered above, but Merolla said 1500-1600 students would be eligible in the first class. The trigger on "repayment" comes with whether graduates pay Akron income tax by living or working in the City; Sombati says that's a loan, not a scholarship.

9. Who's responsible for storm sewer runoff?

More agreement; Sombati says the City is responsible and turned that into an attack on "just trust me" power voters would agree to without more lease details; Merolla countered the City is responsible and either way ratepayers would still pay the bill, lease or no lease.

10. What's the oversight, and how could we terminate the lease if needed?

Merolla: City still owns it, and there are plenty of examples of third-party managers doing city work -- such as highway construction and road resurfacing. Hauter says road maintenance isn't a good example since there's a big difference involving water and sewer quality.

11. Why does the Akron plan cover some communities but not others outside of Akron?

Suburbs are simply customers, says Merolla, and aren't owners so they don't have a voice in this decision. It's different for Akron residents who have children in non-Akron districts (such as Woodridge, Revere, Copley-Fairlawn, Coventry, and Springfield) because JEDDs have them in city limits but attending other schools. Sombati used this to say suburban customers will be just like Akron customers, at risk of big rate hikes because a lease operator will have to get their profits from somewhere.

It was interesting the Mayor wasn't in the house, but was keeping tabs on what was going on.

Proponents tell me this is by design because the Mayor doesn't want to have Issue 8 turned into a referendum on him, although that's probably a little late by now since he's already called those who disagree with him liars. It was a refreshing change to listen to competing sides made their points without calling each other names.

WAKR will air a live version of this town hall Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. and while we'll get the same points it offers folks playing at home the ability to pick up the phone and get their questions right from the source.