GOP joins chorus of critics on privatizing (FL payroll system)

January 27, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Ongoing problems in the state's new payroll system are accomplishing what years of complaints by state employee unions and Democrats could not: Republican resistance to the idea of privatizing state government.

Six years after Gov. Jeb Bush began his push to outsource government services to shrink state employee rolls, Republican legislative leaders are starting to push back, saying the trend often has led to questionable decisions and lax oversight.

Republican leaders in both chambers say they will consider how to improve oversight of the state's contracts with private vendors. The annual legislative session starts March 8.

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Argenziano, who has been holding committee hearings on the topic since late last year with Senate President Tom Lee's approval, says she is convinced the governor's push to privatize services has often been short on process, leading to contracts that aren't always in the state's best interest.

Perhaps major contracts or outsourcing efforts should be reviewed by a legislative committee before they are signed, she said.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/27/State/GOP_joins_chorus_of_c.shtml


Can't wait till they try this with Social Security. What a nightmare.

Just as pathetically, the Ohio state government used the same consultant that sold the privatization idea to Florida (for the state payroll system), so people here got all excited about it. No one would listen to reasonable arguments against the idea. Don't know the status of anthing...things move so slowly in Ohio government that I doubt anything happened...

In fact Blackwell who years ago, wanted to do a lot of what Bush is doing now. I've read a lot about him. He had a mid-level position in Bush 41's cabinet. Call it a conspiracy theory, but he seems like he got ahold of "the GOP plan" for the next few decades and couldn't wait to get started on things. Here's a timeline(some things might be out of order) I started a few weeks ago:

10/23/1990-Washington Post
Blackwell, a former Democrat who switched after President Reagan was elected, last year was named a top aide at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He's had fund-raising help from first lady Barbara Bush, Vice President Quayle and four members of Bush's Cabinet. Luken has quipped that he's running against the ''secretary of everything.''

02/20/1992
The dispute hushed the usually noisy U.N. Human Rights
Commission and sent diplomats darting for copies of the speeches by
Deputy Foreign Minister Raul Roa and Ambassador J. Kenneth
Blackwell. Cuba, Blackwell said, should be ranked along with Iraq, Iran,
China, North Korea and Myanmar, the former Burma, as regimes ""that
wage an unremitting war against the rights of their own people,
displaying few if any scruples. ''

01/09/1994-Columbus Dispatch
Former Cincinnati Mayor J. Kenneth Blackwell is expected to be Gov. George V. Voinovich's nominee for state treasurer, replacing Mary Ellen Withrow. Voinovich has scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference for Monday to announce Blackwell's appointment to the $85,517-a-year job, sources say. If appointed, Blackwell would have the challenge of running a state office with 170 employees and a two-year budget of $22.2 million while also mounting a statewide election campaign this year.
Blackwell, a visiting scholar at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, served two years as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, resigning last year.

He was mayor of Cincinnati in 1979 and served on that city's council from 1977 to 1989. He was deputy undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1989.

03/11/1994-Columbus Dispatch
At HUD, Blackwell was deputy secretary for intergovernmental relations to Kemp.

From 1991 to 1993, the U.N. post involved worldwide travel to places such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he monitored Serbian prison camps for human-rights violations.

10/30/1994-The Columbus Dispatch
His demeanor and statements indicated as much when the two appeared before The Plain Dealer's editorial board last month. Blackwell sprawled across two cushions of a three-seat couch and said Sykes was completely unqualified to be state treasurer. Sykes sat on the third seat, appalled by his arrogant pose.

Sykes mentioned she won the nomination following a primary fight and said to Blackwell: "You had no competition."

Blackwell shot back, "I still don't. There's a difference between an opponent and competition."

Sykes responded icily, "Explain the difference - so I know. So I can understand it."

Recent polls show Sykes running slightly ahead. Maybe Blackwell can now define "competition."

11/09/1994- The Columbus Dispatch
Republican Treasurer J. Kenneth Blackwell scored as well in his bid to keep the job he has held by appointment since March.

His chief opponent - Democrat Barbara A. Sykes, a deputy auditor for Summit County - garnered slightly more than 40 percent of the vote. Independent Edward Licht of Garfield Heights, a retired U.S. Treasury agent, captured about 4 percent.

08/13/1995
For years, statewide office holders have put up exhibits in the Bricker Building of the Ohio State Fair - ostensibly to educate the public about the offices and, of course, to do a little politicking. Sitting at folding tables in front of background displays, staffers from each of the offices pass out brochures and gimmicky souvenirs.

This year, J. Kenneth Blackwell, newly elected treasurer and a man with an eye on the governor's mansion, has outdone his potential rivals, Secretary of State Robert Taft and Auditor James Petro.

Though Blackwell's display was limited to the same space as other officeholders, his is quite a bit more grandiose. The backdrop is designed like a bank, complete with Greek-style columns. And in the middle is a better-than-2-foot-high backlit color photo of Blackwell, suited up and on his way to the top.

12/23/96
Blackwell's message could be pretty well summed up like this: The party is wasting its time trying to get me to run for treasurer or secretary of state; I'll do what I darn well please, and I'll make up my mind by May 1.

Which prompted one reporter to observe afterwards: ''If ego were a grain of sand, he'd be a beach.''

Blackwell, 48, a good-looking, smart, articulate man, may be able to back up his talk. He's served at the local and federal levels, as mayor of Cincinnati and assistant director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and he has obvious political capital.

10/11/1997-Columbus Dispatch
BLACKWELL: LET'S TOSS IRS CODE;
TUNE-UP WON'T DO, OHIO TREASURER SAYS
The only way to reform the IRS is to overhaul a bloated tax code, Ohio Treasurer J. Kenneth Blackwell said yesterday at a conservative forum.

01/31/1998-Columbus Dispatch
With the exception of the governor's race, statewide GOP candidates hold a vast fund-raising advantage over their Democratic counterparts heading into the 1998 election.

Campaign finance reports reflecting fund raising and spending last year showed that across the board, Republicans had at least five times as much money on hand as did Democrats, and in one case nearly 100 times more.

Democrats said the early GOP fund-raising lead was to be expected, because most of the Republican candidates are better-known incumbents.

The surprise filing yesterday was by state Treasurer J. Kenneth Blackwell, who boasted before he quit the GOP campaign for governor this month that he would have about $1 million on hand. At the end of 1997, however, Blackwell showed $470,254 in the bank after raising $369,516 last year.

Blackwell yesterday filed an unrequired campaign report for January, showing he had collected $128,820 during the month and had $582,079 in the bank.

04/04/98-CD
Steve Forbes, the former and likely future presidential candidate, said yesterday that Ohio officials should be considering tax cuts instead of a proposed increase of the state sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent.

The millionaire publisher spoke at a fund-raising luncheon at the Adam's Mark Hotel for fellow Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell's campaign for secretary of state.

07/31/98-CD
Only a linguistic miracle that somehow enables Ohio voters to pronounce the name of Charleta Tavares, the Democratic nominee for secretary of state, stands in the way of Blackwell's election. Tavares really wants to be secretary of state, but in political campaigns, money makes miracles, and at last count she only had $52,717 in the bank, compared to Blackwell's more than $1 million.

09/10/98-CD
During a whirlwind Ohio visit yesterday to endorse the election of fellow Republican Kenneth Blackwell as Ohio secretary of state, former Vice President Dan Quayle renewed his earlier calls for President Clinton to resign, saying "resignation may look better" to Clinton if Congress begins impeachment hearings.

09/30/98-CD
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich will be the attraction at a fund-raiser for State Treasurer J. Kenneth Blackwell, who is running for secretary of state.

04/27/004
Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is planning to announce today that he will serve as national chairman for millionaire publisher Steve Forbes' presidential campaign, sources said.

Forbes headlined a $250-per-plate fund-raiser for Blackwell last year, and the pair agree on the need for Social Security reform, school choice and a single tax rate.

07/04/99
There's something about Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and the mass media - and not just because, in private life, he's a radio-station investor. Publicity-wise, newsprint is to Blackwell what Bounty is to spills.

10/10/99-Editorial
Joined at the Web

Al Gore wants to hook you up with Ken Blackwell. Really.

The vice president may be a Democrat running for the Oval Office, and Blackwell may be national chairman of Republican Steve Forbes' presidential campaign, but these wild and crazy guys come together on the World Wide Web.

Click on Gore's campaign Web site (www.algore2000.com) and go to the section that tells you how to register to vote; you'll eventually wind up on a page with lots of Ohio-based pro-Gore material and Gore's instructions to write to blackwell@sos.state.oh.us.

That's the main e-mail address for the Ohio Secretary of State's office, and Blackwell - the officeholder - isn't likely to sabotage any requests from Gore supporters.

Stephen Koff
03/08/00
"The more I think about it, it's something right out of the old Soviet Union," Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell said yesterday.
"It's unenforceable, it's confusing and it's potentially intimidating to voters, and it should be done away with,'' the Ohio Secretary of State said.
03/24/00
Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell says he's dealt with Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro, so he's not afraid to go mano a mano with the Ohio Lobbying Association.

May 31, 2000
COLUMN NAMES BLACKWELL AS BEST RUNNING MATE FOR BUSH
Although his name is being hoisted by prominent conservatives, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is not holding his breath for a Republican veep invitation from the presidential campaign of Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

"When Cheney calls, I'll let you know,'' Blackwell said yesterday, referring to former Defense Secretary Richard Cheney, head of Bush's vice presidential candidate-selection effort.

Blackwell makes sense as a Bush running mate for these reasons, among others:

* "Ohio is a swing state, and Mr. Blackwell presumably would make the Republican ticket a strong favorite.''

* As a former Cincinnati mayor, college teacher, HUD undersecretary and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, "Mr. Blackwell is one of the most substantive elected officials in the nation.''

* With a black GOP veep candidate, "there can be little doubt that the Democratic ticket would be discombobulated by the prospect of facing a Bush- Blackwell ticket.''

Blackwell earlier had been mentioned as a Bush running mate by such well- known conservatives as former House speaker Newt Gingrich and John Sununu, former chief of staff to President George Bush.

11/17/00
Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell popped up yesterday at Palm Beach County's Emergency Operations Center, where the hand count of more than 460,000 ballots was supposed to occur.

Blackwell said he paid his own way to the scene to show support for Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a Republican under fire for allegedly making partisan decisions. He said he would observe the count and act as a consultant to George W. Bush's campaign team.

But Blackwell, along with about 100 people who were poised to recount ballots, spent the day waiting for legal wrangling in several courts to wrap up.

"This is a tremendous and intriguing civic lesson, even for an election professional," said Blackwell. "It's an enormous opportunity. The Bush people want some advice on a prudent course of action."

While waiting for the court decisions, Blackwell joined the Bush "spin team," making the rounds of cable, national network television and radio broadcast tents.

In the parking lot outside the emergency operations center, the national media had erected a village of satellite trucks, camera stands and mini-studios covered by tarps, all marked off by duct tape stuck to the ground.

"Can't talk now. Gotta do an interview on Fox," Blackwell said upon arrival.

The day started with a fight over the tiny chad, the square of paper that is punched out as a voter pushes a stylus through a ballot to register a vote.
Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)

November 16, 2000, Thursday

Outside of the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell glided from one TV camera to the next -- CNN, Fox, MSNBC, ABC -- to wax eloquently about the drama gripping America.

Labeled by Democrats as a politician who never met a camera for which he wouldn't mug, Blackwell gladly accepted the invitation from the Bush campaign to make a whirlwind trip to Florida and lend his voice to the endless spinning over the contested election.

"I thought it would be a missed opportunity if I didn't come down and take part in this historic civics lesson,'' said Blackwell, 52, adding that his own campaign fund footed the bill.

Blackwell arrived in West Palm Beach at 10 a.m. and departed at 9 p.m., dutifully making the media rounds and back-slapping many of the TV network crews he recognized from frequent gigs on national talk shows.

Blackwell's take on the vote recount, repeated to The Dispatch, varied little in the TV interviews.

"Simply put, if you don't bring finality to this situation, you're going to undermine the confidence the people have in the system,'' he said. "We've had two legitimate vote counts, no evidence of fraud, and a hand recount of ballots that were not intended to be manipulated by hand may prove to undermine the accuracy of the count.''

As soon as Democrats saw Blackwell arrive, they loaded up with ammunition shipped down by the Ohio Democratic Party. Within hours, reporters were handed a two-page litany of voting problems that allegedly occurred in Ohio under Blackwell's watch.

"Is this all true?'' a CNN producer asked.

Well, not entirely, especially the accusation that on the "same night Blackwell was elected as secretary of state, a recount occurred in over 90 Ohio counties.'' Ohio has only 88 counties.

Florida Democrats viewed Blackwell as an unwelcome interloper.

"We don't need his help,'' said state Sen. Ron Klein of Boca Raton, a Cleveland native and graduate of Ohio State University. "I wouldn't dream of going up to Ohio to help Blackwell sort out all of his voting problems.''

Beyond serving as an election expert for the Bush campaign, Blackwell said his secondary mission was to voice support for two of Florida's besieged elections officials -- Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and Democrat Carol Roberts, a member of the Palm Beach County canvassing board.

Blackwell, who knows Harris and Roberts personally, said both were being unfairly accused of making politically motivated decisions.

"We have to stop this nonsense stemming from the notion that election partisans don't have the integrity to rise above politics in moments like this,'' he said.

02/07/01
Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is talking with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell about taking a high- level job in the State Department.

Blackwell, who is in Washington for a national conference, had informal talks by phone with Powell earlier this week to explore the possibility of becoming assistant secretary for human rights.

"Kenny's been approached, and he has indicated he has some interest in exploring opportunities with the State Department,'' Ohio GOP Chairman Robert T. Bennett said yesterday.

The New York Times reported Sunday that Blackwell is under consideration for the assistant secretary's job, which includes monitoring elections and reporting to Congress annually on human-rights conditions in other nations.

Bennett said that Gov. Bob Taft, President Bush's Ohio campaign manager, sent an e-mail yesterday to Karl Rove, Bush's senior adviser, and Ken Mehlman, Bush's political director, "strongly recommending Ken for that job.''

Through two prior jobs in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the adminstration of former President George Bush, Blackwell became well- acquainted with Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, LoParo noted. Blackwell had served in posts as ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and deputy undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.