Anyone with a few brain cells could see that Ohio Governor John Kasich’s plan to privatize the Department of Development (dubbed “JobsOhio, or as we in Ohio call it, “RobsOhio” — and we’ll shortly see why), put his corporate friends in charge, and drastically lower oversight and transparency was not going to lead any place good.
First, in March, Kasich triumphantly announced that American Greetings, based in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn, would stay in the area, thanks to a large ransom payment (the usual threats to leave the state whether likely or not). Then he announced that, with help from more of our tax dollars, Bob Evans was going to move its headquarters from one side of Columbus — an economically challenged side — to another where there are more wealthy Republicans.
Now we’ve just learned the governor has decided to bestow $56 million of our tax dollars upon the Diebold Corporation — a $2.8 billion-a-year business that has been in Ohio over 150 years — to build a flashy new $100 million headquarters and consolidate its current offices scattered around the Canton-Akron area. The new headquarters will be located — somewhere in the Canton-Akron area.