Ohio Democrat implosion entirely enjoyable, but let's establish a mandate for coming four years

GOP and conservative activists are downright giddy at the complete collapse of the Democrat Party in Ohio in 2014.  If things remain on their current trajectory, Governor Kasich, AG DeWine, Auditor Yost and other statewide candidates will cruise to victory, and the GOP will retain sizable majorities in the House, Senate, and Ohio Supreme Court.

So, it's time to celebrate, right?  Well, not exactly.

FitzGerald, Neuhardt hop aboard crazy train

We have been so pre-occupied in following the foibles of Ed FitzGerald that we have missed the opportunity to analyze his crazy, liberal Cleveland Democrat positions in the race for Governor.  And that's unfortunate in that he is indeed just another crazy liberal Democrat from Cleveland.  For those of us from Cincinnati, Cleveland Democrats are a whole new level of crazy.

These guys in Maple Heights are funny!

As we reported here, late Friday afternoon, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Maple Heights City Council had to follow the Constitution of the State and place on the ballot a Charter Amendment that has been submitted to Council on a petition signed by more than 10% of the City electorate.  The Charter Amendment will effectively ban the use of red light and speeding cameras within the City.

Arrogance, stupidity combine to secure win against City of Maple Heights, OH

For the past six weeks, the Law Director and City Council of the City of Maple Heights, Ohio have refused to follow their duties under the Constitution of the State of Ohio by placing on the ballot a Charter Amendment limiting the use of red light and speeding cameras in their fair City.  The citizenry had obtained a sufficient number of signatures to secure ballot access, but the City fathers just did not seem to care.

So COAST did what COAST does, and we sued them.

Dispatch calls on OEC to give up the ghost

Today's Columbus Dispatch calls on the Ohio Elections Commission to end the litigation over Ohio's law banning "false statements" enforced by the Commission.  Last week, Judge Timothy Black declared the law unconstitutional and permanently enjoined its enforcement by the Commission.  The Dispatch editorial asked the Commission not to appeal that ruling, saying that an appeal "likely would fail and waste money."

Whining, Chris Seelbach tries to change the topic from his poor choice on the Streetcar

The subject of this post is a September 3, 2014 Facebook Post of Council member Chris Seelbach, and his letter to the editor in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Before we offer our commentary, we want to note that the topic of the Seelbach post is important, and certainly worthy of debate as a community priority.  We believe a thorough discussion of the reasons and cures for infant mortality and Ohio's #1 role in this scourge is entirely appropriate. 

COAST prevails in First Amendment Litigation

Four years later, COAST and Susan B. Anthony List - and all Ohioans - have their First Amendment Rights vindicated!

Ohio's law criminalizing false speech about a political candidate has been permanently enjoined by Judge Black.

Read more about the case, including the decision here.

Chris Finney discusses Red Light Camera Fight with Bill Wills on Cleveland Radio WTAM

Coast Attorney Chris Finney spoke with Bill Wills of Clevaland's WTAM to discuss the upcoming ballot initiative in Cleveland to ban unattended red light cameras and the Ohio Supreme Court fight to get a similar initiative on the ballot in Maple Heights, Ohio.

The city fathers of Maple Heights are fighting tooth and nail to keep this from going before the voters.

In face of funding failure, Flynn offers pathetic mea culpa

Kevin Flynn spent fifteen minutes with Willie Cunningham on 700 WLW last week explaining that he only violated his promise to voters to stop the Streetcar because some unnamed people mislead him. He was bamboozled by the empty promises made to him by people who promised him the operations funding ($4-$5 Million per year) were on the way.

The end appears near for the OEC's "Reign of Intimidation."

It's been a 4-year journey, but COAST is pleased to report that the reign of intimidation of the Ohio Elections Commission over political speech in Ohio appears to be coming to an end.