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Thirty Ohio Mayors Band Together to Lobby Lawmakers and Promote State Policy Discussion

photo of Ohio Mayors' Alliance meeting
KAREN KASLER

Mayors from Ohio’s 30 largest cities have formed a coalition to discuss state policy and lobby lawmakers about the issues their communities are facing. 

The 20 Democratic and 10 Republican mayors are concerned about the state’s economic development and about home rule. Democrat John Cranley of Cincinnati says lawmakers need to know some state policies can cause local problems.

“We’re educating the state that we are the golden geese. We’re the ones who pay the taxes, and it’s not good to hurt your golden goose.”

The formation of the Ohio Mayors’ Alliance comes at a critical time – as lawmakers will be meeting for a lame-duck session and before a new session of the General Assembly convenes in January. One of the first items they’ll deal with is the state budget.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.