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Americans for John Mitchel Press Release
John Mitchel claims Steve Austria, Kevin DeWine ignored constituents’ rights
Beavercreek, Ohio, Tuesday, January 8, 2008: Today congressional candidate John Mitchel criticized State Senator Steve Austria and Representative Kevin DeWine for failing to defend their constituents’ constitutional right to initiative petition. In March, 2005, Mitchel filed a grievance claiming that over 2,000 citizens were denied their right to place on the ballot an initiative to vote up or down on $14 million of Greene County tax dollars for financing The Greene, privately developed by Steiner and Associates. When former Attorney General Petro did not respond and former Secretary of State Blackwell denied jurisdiction, Mitchel claims Austria and DeWine should have stepped in.
Mitchel commented, “Based on a trivial technicality, an unelected bureaucrat withheld over 2,000 petition signatures from the Board of Elections, denying the citizens right to be heard. Our elected representatives in the Ohio General Assembly are the last refuge when the Executive and Judicial branches fail us, and that’s exactly what happened when Blackwell and Petro turned their back on the citizens of Beavercreek. The City Manager claimed the petitions were not valid because of the wrong color ink on the 5th Degree Misdemeanor Disclosure, when the simple truth is, he and our elected representatives knew full well the ballot initiative would fail if the citizens had their say, thus offending DeWine’s and Austria’s campaign contributors.”
Mitchel added, “Although Blackwell and Petro were voted out of office in 2006, Kevin DeWine continues to move up the political food chain. At one time and perhaps still today, DeWine was simultaneously on the payroll of Dayton Power and Light, the Ohio General Assembly and the Ohio Republican Party. In my opinion, that’s a triple conflict of interest, and now Steve Austria wants to represent us in Washington. I think it’s a legitimate question to ask if Mr. Austria has the capacity to represent over 600,000 citizens in the 7th Congressional District when he turns his back on 2,000 constituents in Beavercreek simply to stay in the good graces of his campaign contributors.”
Contact Information: (937) 427-8442
Email: mitch07ohio@sbcglobal.net
Website: www.reformcongress.com
Paid for by Americans for John Mitchel
