OH-18: Space (D) Talks Up RENEW OHIO-18 Project

This afternoon I participated in a press conference call with a bouyant Rep. Zack Space (D-Dover), clearly energized by this morning's kickoff for his RENEW OHIO-18 project, which he calls an effort to develop a long-term blueprint for the economic redevelopment of Southeastern Ohio. Space said he was very impressed with both the quantity and quality of the attendees at the Zane State College/Ohio University-Zanesville regional campus for the breakfast meeting, comprising about 150 business leaders, educators, researchers, labor leaders, and elected officials. The participants formed work groups to address four topics (broadband internet access, agriculture, alternative energy, and healthcare) which Space sees as emerging fields critical to the region's future economy, cross-referenced to the region's available resources. Summits addressing each area will be held in Coshocton, Nelsonville, and Chillicothe over the next three months, with a final summit in Zanesville on May 23rd.

Space described the project as involving "serious thought about where we want to be down the road," with the benefits to accrue not immediately but over the coming years, perhaps the next five to twenty. I asked him about reports of a recent spike in the number of residents living in poverty in southeastern Ohio, and what short-term measures were appropriate to assist them. He acknowledged the problem, citing hundreds of people standing in line at a food kitchen in Zanesville, senior citizens whose retirement incomes aren't keeping up with inflation, and minimum wage workers who are unable to feed their families. He said that 15% of the district's residents live in poverty (a greater proportion than have college degrees), and one county is over 30%. "We have a moral obligation to alleviate the effects of poverty," he declared, but the long term need is to stay focused on creating jobs.

Specifically, he mentioned improving education at all levels (including fixing the No Child Left Behind Act and helping to make college education more accessible and affordable) and improving broadband internet access as steps to make the area not just a great place to live but a great place to work and to start a business. "We didn't get into this situation overnight," he cautioned, "and we won't get out overnight, but [the RENEW OHIO-18 project] is designed to develop creative means to escape the cycle [of worsening poverty] that we've seen."

The four working groups in the project are charged with preparing a "white paper" on their area of focus, with proposals for federal, state, and local legislation and ideas for grants and cooperative projects, and the white papers will be synthesized at the final meeting into a single report to be distributed to business, labor, and local government leaders. "I hope that the wrap-up event will be more of a beginning than an ending," he said, "I want to create a sustainable and lasting program."

Space was asked about the new federal economic stimulus plan, which he described as a welcome step although not a "cure-all." He expects the tax rebates to have an immediate but not permanent impact, as middle to lower income taxpayers are likely to spend the money and thus boost the local economy. However, he said, as a "Blue Dog Democrat" he doesn't want the government to get into a habit of making hand-outs. "Is it perfect?" he asked rhetorically. "No, but I view it as a positive development."