SALEM, Ohio — Ohio Gov. John Kasich made a stop in Columbiana County April 18 at MAC Trailer to share some of what he has been working on since being in office for 99 days.
Kasich was touring MAC Trailer where semi-truck trailers are manufactured. Their newest product is a pneumatic tanker that can be used to haul flour, sugar and sand.
The trailer could be an important part of the area’s future, Kasich said. It can be used for Marcellus Shale drillers to haul sand and other materials on to drilling sites in the future.
We need it
Kasich said if the geologists are correct, and eastern Ohio does have the deposits of gas they say in the Utica and Marcellus Shale layers, then it would be a godsend for the area.
“Pray about it. We need this in Eastern Ohio,” Kasich said.
Kasich said he has been thinking of the Marcellus Shale boom in longer terms, and that the people working and living here will be able to get jobs through the boom.
“It could give us a very big boost,” Kasich said.
He said he has a full team of people working on the Marcellus Shale issue, and it’s important that Ohio gets its share of what the drilling has to offer to the economy.
“We are in a deep hole, but we going to dig ourselves out,” Kasich said.
Jobs, jobs, jobs
Employment was on Kasich’s mind, and he wasn’t afraid to share the view with the crowd.
He said creating and maintaining jobs has to be part of the economic recovery process for Ohio.
Paul Lyden, owner of Lyden Oil in Youngstown, questioned Kasich about issues surrounding the transportation industry and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Kasich told the crowd his cabinet has a different mindset and that is to create jobs and stop harassing people who want to do just that.
He said the regulations that stop businesses from progressing have to be questioned and solutions have to be found.
But regs merited
However, he did point out that the rules and regulations for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, related to deep oil and gas drilling will have to be stringent. Fracking is the process that forces brine water down the well to open the fracture and allow the gas to escape.
Kasich said the drillers have to get it right, Ohio doesn’t want land or any part of the environment ruined during the process.
Privatize turnpike
One idea he talked about was the proposal to lease the turnpike out to a private company.
“The turnpike is an asset underutilized,” Kasich said.
Under his plan, if he can obtain $3 billion from the turnpike deal, a half billion will be used to pay down debt. One billion will be used to pay for infrastructure updates including bridges, highways, airport runways, river updates, dredge harbors and railway repairs.
The other billion and half will be used for job training and other benefits to keep Ohioans in Ohio.
S.B. 5 picket
Many people were lined up picketing outside of MAC Trailer before the governor’s visit. They could be heard shouting and holding up signs in response to the passage of Senate Bill 5.
Kasich didn’t shy away from the subject. He said his idea is to develop fairness between government workers and private sector workers.
He said he wants the government to be in line with what the private sector has to pay for in regards to health insurance and retirement benefits.
