I spoke with Steve Harsman, Director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections. He tells me that, by using only four polling places, the state will save $200,000.  The entire cost of the election is paid for by the state.

Mr. Harsman says that the decision to drastically reduce the number of polling places was a unanimous decision by the Board.  He said that, although the decision to slash the number of polling places will not directly save the county any money, one benefit to the county is that the state has provided and paid for some special equipment to facilitate this elections and, the county will get to keep that equipment without cost.

Harsman says, rather than suppressing the vote percentage, that based on the big number of absentee ballots already returned, he feels that the system of regional centers along with a vote by mail campaign should produce a bigger turnout than the turnout in the last Special Democratic Election — after the withdrawal of Stephanie Studebaker. The turnout for that Special Election was only 2.36%. No wonder Harsman thinks this new attempt will be better — how could it be worse?

Time is running short before the July 13 election to determine who of the three candidates — David Esrati, Guy Fogle, and Joe Roberts — will be the Democrats’ choice to run for Congress representing Ohio’s 3rd District, challenging the incumbent, Mike Turner.

Live-streaming requires a powerful, and expensive, system and such a system is called a T1 system. To pull together the internet debate / colloquy I suggested, I need to find a location that has a T1 connection.   I have two possibilities (explained below) and I should know by tomorrow (Thursday) if either will come through.

David Esrati and Joe Roberts have agreed to participate in such an event, and I received the e-mail below from Guy Fogle:

Mike:  My schedule is booked the next three days.  Also, I doubt there is an interest among folks in the community.  I agree with David’s comment about numbers. There were only 8 total in the audience at the last debate not affiliated with any of the three candidates.  Afterward, five said I was their guy, one said David, the other left before I could speak with him.  I did speak to Nicole and said I was clearly the strongest of the three.  Anyway, time is an issue.
Guy

And here is my response to Guy:

Guy,

I would not expect a large crowd to show up — the idea is to reach a whole new subset of people who would watch and participate via the internet.  I am looking for a location that has the T1 internet connection that would support live-streaming.  If I can find such a location, the idea would be to advertise in the DDN and on the internet and try to bring in a whole new group of internet viewers and participants.  Hopefully we would get a whole new set of people who would send us an e-mail and who would make a donation to a fund.  As I explain in my DaytonOS post, the thought is that the fund would be used to promote the creation of you-tube videos.

I’m trying to find a location that might have T1 capacity.  I’m learning that T1 connections have a cost of over $10,000 per year, so, I’m sure the cost is prohibitive for many organizations.  I have a call into an AFL-CIO manager named Ken Woolums and he is checking to see if he can find a location.  And I have a call into the president’s office at Sinclair College to the president’s assistant, Madeline Iseli.  I should know by tomorrow if either of these possibilities pan out.  If we can find a location, I’m thinking that I will try to organize an event for the day before the election, Monday, July 12.  That may not be an ideal time, but, if we can get this going, I think it would make a good precedent and I think it would be worthwhile in helping to  launch a strong challenge to Mike Turner.  I will keep you informed.     Mike

And here is my e-mail to Madeline Iseli, assistant to the president of Sinclair College:

Ms Iseli:

My name is Mike Bock.  I am a retired high school teacher, who, in 2006 became active in the local Democratic Party.  I am a member of the Montgomery County Democratic Party Executive Committee.

Next Tuesday, July 13, is the Special Democratic Primary to choose the person who will be the Democratic candidate for Congress for Ohio’s 3rd District, challenging the incumbent Republican, Mike Turner.  There are three men who will be on the ballot — David Esrati, Guy Fogle, and Joe Roberts.

I have contacted the candidates and they have agreed to participate in a discussion / debate, with the idea that the event would be advertised in advance and live-streamed over the internet.  I explain the idea here https://daytonos.com/?p=9088.

I am looking for a location we could use that would have the capacity to do such live-streaming.  What is needed is access to a T1 line.  We have the camera and other equipment that is needed.

Of course, we have no money, and so we are looking for a way to do all of this for free.

I am hoping that Sinclair might see facilitating this event as a public educational event and will make your facilities available as a service that is in keeping with your general mission of public education.  I’m wondering if perhaps a communications department or a government studies department might see this as an educational opportunity for students.

We would not expect a large crowd — so we do not need a huge space — a conference room should be large enough for the 40 or 50 people who might show up.  We are flexible as to when the event might be scheduled, but I’m thinking that Monday, July 12, would be best.

I spoke to your helpful assistant who suggested I send this e-mail, and make a request for using Sinclair’s facilities.  I will telephone back later this afternoon, or you may reach me at 298-8703.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Mike Bock