Metro 03/02/15

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Since 1972

Foxcatcher ties See page 18

Legal pot petitions rejected

RESS March 2, 2015

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In time for St. Patrick’s Day See page 12 M

By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com

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She was the heart and soul of making it happen. Sandy Bihn See page 10

Young artists

The Birmingham Library offered kids from grades K-6 a chance to create a painting masterpiece using a variety of tools from oil and acrylics, to toothpicks and baby oil. At left, Brooke Acevedo displays her finished abstract painting, while DJ Whiteford (right) puts the final touches on his project. (Press photos by Ken Grosjean)

Fords coming from Southern Ohio

Should Oregon favor local bids? By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com Oregon council on Monday approved the purchase of four new vehicles for $89,252 from Lebanon Ford, of Lebanon, Ohio for the police division. The cost of the new 2016 Ford Utility police interceptor vehicles, originally priced at $110,152, was reduced because of a tradein credit of $20,900. Lebanon Ford provided the lowest quote for the new vehicles, and a higher trade-in credit, than Mathews Ford, Oregon. Mathews submitted a quote of $119,324, with a trade in-credit of $17,000, for a total cost of $102,324. Police Chief Mike Navarre said the transition from the sedan to the SUV Ford “provides a lot of advantages for our officers.” He said the Ford Utility police interceptor is widely used. “It’s the most popular police vehicle used right now in the U.S.,” he said. Navarre said Mathews Ford was aware of the state contract through the Cooperative Purchasing program, but bid much higher. “We got our hands on the state contract and looked at the bidding and had the vendor in Lebanon bid on our trade-ins. The state contract is a public record. Mathews

If we start playing around with the bidding process too much, we can hurt others from choosing to want to bid.

Just days after rejecting a petition for a proposed amendment to the state constitution to legalize marijuana, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine rejected a similar petition from another group. Last Monday, DeWine rejected the petition from the group, Responsible Ohio, entitled “Medical Marijuana and Personal Use Amendment” that would have added a section to the constitution to allow adults age 21 and older to grow marijuana at home. He found two defects in the summary language of the group’s petition: • The summary language omits that the proposed amendment permits the sharing of specified amounts of marijuana between adults 21 years old and older. • The summary language does not accurately reflect the manner in which proposed taxes would be distributed. “After reviewing the submission, I conclude that I am unable to certify the summary as a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment,” DeWine said in a letter to the petitioners. The petition included 2,879 signatures. On Wednesday, DeWine rejected the petition for the proposed “End Ohio Cannabis Prohibition Act,” saying the petitioners didn’t submit the required minimum number of signatures. His office received the petition Feb. 17 from the group, Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis, to also amend the constitution. Although the petitions included signatures from residents in 45 counties, boards of elections reported receiving a total of only 883 valid signatures. “Because your submission did not contain the verified signatures of at least one thousand qualified electors, we must reject it,” DeWine wrote in his rejection letter. “Due to your failure to meet the signature threshold, I have not made any determination concerning the fairness and truthfulness of your proposed summary.” For a constitutional amendment to

was provided access to it, but for whatever reason, their bid was $13,000 higher than the state contract. As much as we would like it to be local, I don’t think we can’t ignore $13,000,” said Navarre. Councilman Jerry Peach agreed, saying “$13,000 is a significant amount.” “I think you did the right thing,” said Councilman James Seaman. Local preference Councilman Joshua Hughes had suggested more weight should be given to local vendors. “I understand $13,000 is a lot of money. I don’t know why Mathews Ford wouldn’t choose the state minimum bid,”

said Hughes. He noted that council recently approved a contract with Asset Protection Corporation (APC) for $60,430 to provide labor, material and equipment to upgrade the security system of the municipal complex, water treatment and wastewater treatment plants and three fire stations, even though the city’s current vendor, Torrence Sound Equipment, had submitted a lower bid of $36,000. The city went with the higher bid of APC because it has provided the security system of the court and police division for years, and it would also eliminate a double card system. “If it’s simply about the money, we could accept Torrance’s bid at a savings… and still go with Mathews and come out on the plus side,” said Hughes. Councilwoman Kathleen Pollauf said Hughes “brought up a very good point.” “I understand there’s a process with bids,” said Pollauf. “Is there any way we could find a way to give a little more incentive to local businesses for bidding on things like this?” Mayor Mike Seferian said the city “makes every attempt to do just that.” The city hand delivered the bid packet to Mathews Ford, said Seferian. “Sometimes, for whatever reason, they Continued on page 2


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