If I were elected Congressman from the Ohio 16th District, my first action would be to organize a task-force of leaders and private citizens from the 16th District whose task it would be to develop a comprehensive, sustainable development plan for the 16th District. This plan would also include the organizing of an oversight body that would have the responsibility for the development, maintenance, and revisions of the plan. Included in this body’s membership would be our local, state, and federal representatives. This would establish for the first time more direct integration of our elected officials into the direct, day-to-day development of the various entities in the District as a whole and allow greater coordination in utilizing the resources available to us through the various branches of government.
Presently, there is no such co-ordination or local oversight of our elected officials. They currently answer more often to their various party leaders than they do their constituents, which is why so much of the legislation that is developed and passed by Congress is geared to address only the needs of the wealthy party donors. We need and deserve representation that is focused solely on how to improve the living conditions in the communities that elected them and pays their salaries. They currently make in excess of $174,000 per year, and with added benefits, it amounts to over $1,000,000 per year. And for that money, they have absolutely no local supervision — no one in the constituent body is charged with the responsibility of making sure they show up on time, that they do the work required, that they even read the bills that they pass. They answer only to their party leadership, which is why there is so much legislation that favors party donors and so little that favors local constituents.
My suggestion is that we begin to end this party-dominated, wealth-favoring political process by:
- Establishing an oversight committee whose job would be to, as mentioned above, develop and maintain the Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan, which would also include recommending the necessary requirement of state and national representatives.
- Elect non-partisan candidates that have met the requirements put forth by the oversight committee and have their work with the committee on behalf of the District supervised and critiqued periodically and posted for the community to see.
All issues and problems confronting the voters in the District could be dealt with comprehensively, intelligently, and far more efficiently if we had some form of program such as I have outlined above. I would greatly appreciate both your comments on my proposal, and your vote if it meets with your approval. Thank you very much for taking the time to consider this proposal.
Dr. Bob Ross, Candidate for Congress, 16th District, Ohio
