“We can’t afford to settle for half measures and kick the can down the road,” said Kettering Mayor Don Patterson at a Tuesday press conference in Columbus. While a tax hike isn’t popular, neither are potholes and lousy roads, he argued. “Six-cents doesn’t work. Six-cents puts a Band-aid on a pothole.”
Related: 6-cent gas tax hike passes Ohio Senate, dealing setback for Gov. DeWine
The bipartisan Ohio Mayors Alliance expressed optimism that the DeWine administration will work closely with local jurisdictions on a broad array of issues.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said they oppose attempts by the House in the transportation budget to make it more difficult for cities to use traffic camera technology.
Related: Ohio lawmakers target use of traffic, red light cameras
“We already won this battle in the supreme court. Let us not have the same fight again,” Whaley said. “We will sue again. We will win again. And we will have a bad relationship. We want to turn the page. We are showing that we want to turn the page. We’re asking the Legislature to do the same.”
Whaley said she likes DeWine’s operating budget proposal but is concerned about what changes lawmakers will make to it.
“Keep in mind, I’ve been hit in the face for eight straight years,” Whaley said of the policy changes and budget cuts made by the Kasich administration to cities. “So I’m excited to not get pummeled in the face by the governor. It’s nice.”
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