Let me set the record straight about an article written by Akron Beacon Journal reporter Doug Livingston and published in The Lima News.
I began working at DHL’s Wilmington hub way back in 1984. For 25 years, I witnessed the business steadily grow. Then Ted Strickland became governor.
After he entered the governor’s office, Ted Strickland halted an $844-million scheduled income tax cut. He later followed up with a $1.5-billion fee increase on hospitals, garbage disposals and more. Then he emptied the state’s rainy day fund.
Unsurprisingly, Ohio lost hundreds of thousands of jobs during Strickland’s time in office – including my own.
It would be one thing if these jobs just disappeared. But they didn’t – they went to other states. In May 2008, I found out that DHL would be moving its hub to Kentucky, along with thousands of jobs that had made Wilmington home. Suddenly my coworkers and I were all without jobs – with no way to provide for our families.
Countless other companies followed suit, leaving Ohio for neighboring states where the governors weren’t destroying their economies. In fact, our state lost more than 350,000 jobs while Ted Strickland was in office – more than 46 other states.
Here’s where Mr. Livingston’s “news article” turns more into his own opinion. He argues that the ad twisted my words, but really he did all the twisting. I had the opportunity to tell my story, and I stand by the ad 100 percent.
There’s no doubt the recession was bad, but Ted Strickland’s policies made it worse. That’s the full truth.
— Joel Botts, Winchester
