I say what Columbus is afraid to say out loud
The Dayton Daily News did something unusual today. They ran my op-ed that does not blame “greedy teachers” or “bad levies” or “lazy homeowners.”
They ran my position that points the finger at the real culprit: the way Ohio built its house in the first place.
You can read it here:
“Stop blaming levies, Ohio built the house wrong”
Read it on the Dayton Daily News site
The core idea is simple enough that even the Statehouse should be able to follow it:
- Ohio has 600+ school districts sitting on top of 88 counties
- Each little kingdom has its own superintendent, treasurer and board
- We then stack 2,200+ villages and townships on the same tax base
- Then we bolt on a whole alphabet soup of authorities and “partnerships”
- The number of entities keeps growing, as does your tax bill
- The maps they never change are the 88 counties, set in 1888. Every other map they change like dirty diapers.
- And finally, we send you the bill and act shocked that you are angry about your property taxes
You do not fix that by swapping levy language or yelling at the county auditor. You fix that by redesigning the structure.
That is what I have been working on for years with my 501(c)(4), ReconstructingDayton.org. We have been saying:
- One school district per county, not a district for every political fiefdom
- Real metro government in places like Montgomery County, not a checkerboard of banana republics with letterhead
- A property tax system that stops taxing people on “value” they never realized, and starts treating homeowners like human beings instead of ATMs (the way the rich get treated with their stocks and bonds- only value is when they sell.)
Now the argument is on the opinion page of the largest paper in the region. That is not an accident. That is what happens when you put a creative problem solver in the mix instead of one more lawyer rehearsing talking points or a cable-news performer looking for a sound bite.
This is the kind of thinking I want to take to DC
The piece in DDN is local, but the mindset behind it is exactly what I want to bring to Congress.
Same approach, different systems:
- A real free payroll system for small businesses
So you can hire people without needing a Ph.D. in HR software and a stack of junk fees. Government already gets every payroll report. We can make that infrastructure work for the people who actually create jobs. - Donor registration and real transparency in campaigns
No more mystery money laundered through platforms and PACs. If you give, your donation gets tied to a verified identity, and the public can actually see who is buying influence, in real time, in a usable way. - OK Democracy, a voter information system that tells you the truth instead of selling you ads
One place where you can see who is running, who funds them, how they vote, and what they actually did, not just what their consultants wrote in a TV spot. - Paying the digital sharecroppers
Right now you create the content, the data, the value, and the platforms sell you back to advertisers. I want rules that carve a share of that ad revenue back to the people whose data and attention make it all possible.
All of this comes from the same place as that op-ed: stop accepting broken systems as “the way it is,” and start redesigning them so they are fair, efficient, equitable and understandable.
If you are tired of electing lawyers who memorize scripts and Fox News wannabes who live off outrage, this is your alternative.
You want creative solutions, hire a creative.
Send me to Congress, and I will keep doing what I just did in the Dayton Daily News, only with a bigger stage and sharper tools.