Sunday, May 22, 2011

PILL MILL CRACK DOWN CAN ONLY HELP NEW BOSTON

It was great news Friday afternoon that House Bill 93, designed to regulate pain clinics throughout Ohio was signed into law.

With the countless children and adults being victim to drug abuse in New Boston and the Scioto County area it is good to see state law in place to help law enforcement combat this plague that has hit southern Ohio.

I want to also particularly commend the efforts of Joanna Krohn and the SOLACE group formed in Scioto County that provides so much inspiration and hope to families that have suffered horrific loss due the crime, violence and death that has followed illegal drug sales throughout the area.

Also I would like to express my appreciation to Lisa Roberts, RN, of the Portsmouth City Health Department, who has worked tirelessly with the Scioto County Prescription Drug Action Team to make H.B. 93 a reality.

With the recent crackdown on pain clinics in Scioto County and the implementation of H.B. 93, and well as the leadership of people like Lisa Roberts and Joanna Krohn, a major blow has impacted the drug trade in southern Ohio. But let me caution all citizens that this is only the beginning. Like any other program, it can only be as good as we the people of New Boston, Scioto County and southern Ohio make it. We must continue to work tirelessly to expose pain clinics, report drug deals and support each other through this long and dangerous battle.

Again my congratulations to all who worked so hard for the successful passage of H.B. 93. Now lets make it work!

Mike Payton
5-21-2011

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

PRISONS FOR PROFIT - GOVERNOR'S PLAN TO DESTROY PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT CONTINUES

This past week I attended a forum sponsored by OSCEA and the American Civil Liberties Union involving the privatization of Ohio's prisons.

Governor Kasich's plans from the beginning of his administration has been to eliminate state public employeees jobs in all areas, i.e. guards, teachers, fire fighters, police, etc. He has also moving toward abolishment of unions, collective bargaining, and attacking state pensions.

The governor's latest attacks have been against Ohio's prison systems, of which two, the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility and the Ohio River Valley Juvenile Detention Facility, are here in Scioto County.

At this time Ohio's governor is planning to contract out Ohio prisons to organizations such as the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) which is the nations leading private prison operator.
This organization will employee staff that will work at dramatically reduced hourly rates, few and no benefits and absolutely no protection under any collective bargaining bill.

I would point out that many states have recently began ending their contractual relationships with private prison operators as they have found the costs and risks of privatization outweigh any short-term benefits. Statistics show that Ohio's proposal of selling five prisons will only yield a short-term surge of cash as the state will eventually loose all future revenue. Studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. General Accounting Office have shown that private prisons yield little or no long-term savings.

As New Boston, Portsmouth and the remaining areas of Scioto county continue to loose community members to other areas of the state or even out of state for employment, Ohio's governor continues to destroy public employment and endanger citizens throughout the state. Please continue to write our state Representative Terry Johnson and state Senator Tom Niehaus and oppose the privatization of state prisons.

Mike Payton
5-17-2011