Cole and Williams Debate Issues Facing Ohio's 41st

• Author: Kyle Kutuchief
• Filed under: Ohio 2008, Williams / Cole
• Date: Oct 10,2008

The candidates for Ohio's 41st House District sat down to debate at Portage Country Club yesterday. The event was hosted by the Akron Kiwanis and the League of Women Voters. The questions were submitted by the audience and read by the moderator. It was two minute statements followed by 30 second rebuttals. The moderator did a nice job of mixing up the topics and the time keepers were consistently strict, which both candidates respected. Overall, the tone was very civil. Both men answered the questions they were asked and occasionally disagreed with each other, but it was very respectful and the two seemed to have as good a tone as could be expected in a hotly contested race less than four weeks from Election Day.

Brian Williams was able to use his legislative experience to his advantage through out the debate. As a Ranking Member on the Health Committee, Williams was able to give some legislative insight in response to a question about nurse to patient ratios. It should be noted that neither candidate committed to a number. From his work in the Akron Public Schools and as as a member of the Education Committee, Williams talked about his work with Governor Strickland to move toward fixing Ohio's school funding crisis. Williams mentioned Governor Strickland several times and it was a good strategy considering our governor's approval rating. Williams gave a solid performance and showed he understands the issues facing our state. I'll leave it up to Ben to summarize Cole's performance.

Ben: Kyle is right; the debate was a respectful one on both sides. It was the first candidates debate for either one; Williams said neither of his previous challengers wanted to debate him. I can sum of up all of the answers of Brian Williams this way: education funding. He tied virtually everything back to that. The only real tense moment I saw during the debate was when Cole said Williams claimed when he was elected he would be the "go to guy on education" and pointed out nothing had been accomplished on that front. Williams was not amused, though the assertion was true. I am not anti-education, but that can't be part of your answer for every question as Williams turned his into.

One major issue where they disagreed was the state rainy day fund. Williams said he would not want to tap into it. Cole said that times like this are what the rainy day fund is for and that is why the money has been set aside and some of it should be spent wisely in these days of budget constraints. Both said they were opposed to Issue 6 (casinos). Cole also encouraged everyone to support Issue 1, which will prevent the ballot from being bogged down with initiatives like California. Williams said he was for same day registration / voting; Cole said it could lead to problems. Cole touted his endorsements of the Akron Beacon Journal, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Sun Newspapers. The two also discussed clean coal in Ohio, the Akron "Sewers for Scholarships" program, and health care. Cole also brought up one of his major issues - maximizing one of our biggest natural resources, water. He talked about the Cuyahoga Valley National Park as a place that should be a destination for people outside of our area, tying that in with his work with the Ohio and Erie Canalway Association.

In the end, Randy Cole put forth an excellent performance and showed why he should be elected. It is too bad that all voters in the district did not attend. In my eyes, it was very telling that Williams did not point out any of his accomplishments in the Ohio House. That is because he has none. The debate wasn't like what you see between John McCain and Barack Obama; this debate was really locally focused, which made it both different and interesting.