Fundraiser and Lucas County Fair Parade

We've had a busy and exciting week thus far on the campaign trail. On Monday, July 24, our campaign participated in the Lucas County Fair Parade in Maumee. I had the chance to meet many Maumee residents on the Parade route and my group had a great time.

These events are always fun for Heather, Caitlin, Sophie and me and we were joined by friends and supporters, greeting the people lining the streets of Maumee. Although these events don't allow for the one on one dialogues for voters to voice their concerns, we did receive a great welcome and positive response from those we saw along the way.

On Tuesday evening, I was priviledged to be joined by many supporters and friends at Loma Linda restaurant in Swanton as we kicked off the general election campaign with our first fundraiser. I want to thank all my family and friends (old and new) for coming out to make our event the success that it was. We were also joined by several Lucas County office holders and leaders from the labor movement and I am grateful for that support.

This weekend we'll be at the Democratic Reunion event at the headquarters on Saturday, July 29 from 6-8:00 pm and I hope to see some of you out there as we continue the campaign to restore integrity and ethics to our government in Ohio.

Have a great evening.

Mark

Look behind the message

From now until election day, you'll see some of the incumbents campaign "for the future", "leaving the past behind", in essence telling the citizens of Ohio, "our record for the past (fill in the blank) years doesn't matter, let's focus on the future." In other words they are saying, "don't concern yourself with the condition of our state under our leadership and with what we have or haven't done , because now we have a plan to do better."

I believe it is most important to focus on our future. We can move Ohio forward by fostering an environment in which the economy can grow and our people can prosper and provide for their families. We can move Ohio forward by working to solve our public school funding crisis which has been virtually ignored for most of a decade. We can move Ohio forward by prioritizing our state budget to focus on higher education, thereby ensuring that our citizens are educated for the jobs of the future, by making our state universities affordable for ordinary folks in our state. We can also move Ohio forward by restoring confidence that our elected officials are serving all of our citizens and not just a favored few special interests, by demanding high ethical standards, so we can get past our sorry recent past which is littered with numerous violations of the public trust.

Yes, it is safe to say that we'll see some of the current office holders "bash the messenger" for simply pointing out some of the shortcomings we've seen in Ohio as maybe they believe that simply not talking about our problems will make them disappear. Be wary of the fancy advertising and "endorsements" from past elected officials who also protected the status quo. Look behind these campaigns to see who is funding them. Real change can be seen in Ohio, but only if we face our problems and situations head on, and in doing so uncover opportunities for a fresh start and a turnaround in Ohio.

I'm optimistic that we can affect positive change in Ohio. Every day I speak with more Ohioans who are fed up with the "business as usual" policies that have negatively affected our hard working men and women. I sense a resolve that we need to take back our state from the special interests that have dominated the governmental landscape in our great state in the recent past. I just want to say "thank you" for the support and encouragement you have given me over the past few months and I look forward to meeting with many more of you in District 46 and sharing your concerns.

Thank you and good evening.

Mark

Mayors take the lead on school funding in Ohio

With little or no action by the Republican led state government over the past 10 years, Mayors of Ohio's cities are finding that they have little or no choice but to take the lead in the effort to find solutions to our school financing dilemma which has continued to see the property tax as the mainstay of local school revenues.

The Ohio Mayors' Education Roundtable was formed in 2004 and has grown in two years to include the mayors of Ohio's 21 largest cities, school superintendents and several educational groups which is a measure of the frustration with the seeming inability of Ohio's governmental leaders to resolve the funding issue.

These mayors are on the front line of this effort as they recognize the major impact of school quality on their local economies and they also see the ongoing trend of unfunded mandates in education being passed down to local entities.

It is encouraging to see some leadership being shown on this issue, as four times within the past decade, Ohio's Supreme Court has ruled our funding formula as flawed and unconstitutional. At the same time, we have seen little or no action from the majority in Columbus. And now that same majority campaigns for re-election, promising more of the same for Ohio's voters.

A major objective of the Mayors' Roundtable is to address property tax concerns with a proposed amendment to qualify for the ballot in November 2007. Hopefully this will spur some action on the part of our state leaders to take on this issue, instead of continually pushing it off into the future.

Radio Interview, 7/11/06

In case anyone has any free time tomorrow, please check out "The Nookular Option" on 88.3 on your FM dial. I'll be a guest on the show from 2:00pm until 2:30pm. Looking forward to meeting Don and Anthony and talking about the future of Ohio.

My thanks to Don and Anthony for inviting me to be a guest on their program on WXUT.

Fundraiser July 25

Good evening,

I've been contacted as a result of this blog by readers asking where they can send donations.
Asking people for money is one of my least favorite things to do regarding this campaign, but as the opposition will certainly be well-funded, we have to try to keep up.

We are having our first fundraising event at Loma Linda Restaurant in Swanton (10400 Airport Hwy.)
on July 25 from 5:30 pm until 8:00pm. The donation is $25 per person and includes your choice of four selected entrees and each table will have appetizers available. For more information, please call (419) 460-1084.

Contributions for the fundraiser as well as general contributions can be made out to "Citizens with Dansack" and sent in care of Michael P. Dansack, Jr., Treasurer, 3516 Granite Circle, Toledo, OH 43617. No corporate checks can be accepted. We hope to see you on July 25.

Thanks,

Mark

Independence Day

My family and I had a great time on this extended weekend, attending the City of Maumee's pre-fireworks party on July 3 and experiencing the great get-together held in the uptown area. Then, my daughter Caitlin and I stayed for the fireworks show and enjoyed a spectacular show from Golden Gate Plaza in Maumee while my wife and Sophie (age 2 in August) headed home.

Today we attended a traditional Fourth of July celebration at the Harvard Circle event in South Toledo and we were pleased to see Ted Strickland (our next Governor) in attendance to say a few words to the crowd. It will be great to see our state off to a fresh start with Congressman Strickland's election and I'm honored to be part of the statewide ticket with such great candidates as Ted Strickland and Lee Fisher and the rest of the fine slate.

I've met with Ted a few times and share his commitment to a new Ohio. As the campaign moves along, more and more Ohioans will get to know Ted's background and his program and I would feel very fortunate to be able to work along with Governor Strickland as we can certainly do better in Ohio than what we've seen in the last decade.

All in all, it was a great weekend for some family time. On a day like today it is also important to reflect on all the brave men and women of the armed forces who are putting their lives on the line every day so we can enjoy the freedoms we have in this great country of ours. We salute you and pray for your safe return from harm's way. Thank you.


Mark