The GFWC/Ohio Woman's Club of Steubenville welcomed state Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville, as its guest speaker at the Monday meeting at the Steubenville Country Club where he was at no loss for things to talk about.
Like the rest of us at the start of the week, he was speculating about what Gov. John Kasich would have to say during his State of the State address on Tuesday at Steubenville High School, an historic moment given the speech has never before been given away from the Statehouse.
He said that made it a special opportunity for Steubenville that he welcomed though the topic of moving the speech elsewhere was a subject debated with rigor in the House and the Senate.
Gentile acknowledged "two women of importance" in the audience before his talk to the club members. That included his mother, Carm Gentile, and Dolores Dooley, both of whom I had the pleasure of sitting with and having lunch. Also at my table - or I at theirs - were Donna Phillips, Beth Rupert Warren, and like Carm Gentile, a guest, two other guests in Stella Panagis and Neove Young.
I always enjoy the conversations at these luncheons, where this time I had a chance to hear about Carm's early teaching experiences, including her innovative approach to helping a special education class at Lincoln School learn about trains, as well as a funny story offered by Dolores, whose grandson, Doug Blynn, and Lou Gentile were good childhood friends who went on to attend West Virginia University together.
Dolores, who turns 89 on Feb. 24, chuckled when she said an early celebration of her birthday prompted this comment from her great-great-granddaughter: "Happy birthday, but I'm sorry you're so old."
Well!
Gentile also singled out Eileen Krupinski, former state representative, thanking her and her husband Jerry, for their wisdom shared during their years of service in the legislature.
Program chairman Judy Brancazio introduced Gentile, who is serving his first term in the Ohio Senate, representing Southeastern Ohio in the 30th Senate District, but before that recent appointment, he served in the Ohio House of Representatives.
As a senator, Gentile represents Jefferson, Harrison, Columbiana, Belmont and Tuscarawas counties, but with new redistricting that takes effect in 2013, that district will stretch to include a much larger area and more counties, a geographic challenge that Gentile said he will work to have a presence in and represent the area the way it deserves to be represented.
"I'll be making an effort over the coming year to spend time in those counties to get to know those people and try to understand the issues and challenges facing them, which in many ways are similar to what we see here with the emerging oil and gas industry," he said.
"I think that we have a real economic opportunity on the horizon, but what I think is important is how we use that opportunity and make sure we do this in a responsible way, taking into consideration we want to create jobs here locally, we want our workers to have an opportunity to participate in this industry as they so choose and drawing on assets that we have like Eastern Gateway Community College to train our workers and get them into the workforce to be able to take the jobs that are coming, and to protect our environment, certainly our water supply, and make sure that landowners who are signing these leases are being treated properly and fairly and, last but certainly not least, reclaiming any damage that could occur to our infrastructure, our roads and our bridges as a result of this industrial process."
Gentile expressed hope that Kasich would address education in his State of the State address.
"Ohio has really kicked the can when it comes to funding our public schools," he said.
He also mentioned that he hasn't given up on "our ability in the state to manufacture. We have had for far too long the employees of RG Steel waiting on the sidelines to see what's going to happen, and I think this country nationally and at the state level really need to refocus on being competitive in manufacturing, and we're starting to hear a new term being coined called inservicing," Gentile said of companies making a return to produce goods here at home instead of overseas.
"Are we going to be a state to kick the can on education? Are we going to be a state that forgets about our rich tradition in manufacturing? I hope not, and while I welcome the opportunity we have with shale development I think it will certainly boost the economy in the short term. My concern for the long term are sustaining good-paying jobs in this area, and I am going to continue to push for that, to see that people in this district have those opportunities," Gentile said.
One committee Gentile is involved in will be dealing with the issue of exotic animals in the wake of what happened in the Zanesville area last year.
"Ohio has very lax regulations that need to be dealt with. Initially the administration was very reluctant to call for a ban, very reluctant to really emphasize this as an issue but I think as they started to realize there was outrage and concern for public safety, of course, and the well being of these animals that something needed to be done," he said.
"It's an important issue we need to take swift action on and do something in the best interest of people in the state so we don't have another incident like that occur again."
One question from the audience concerned whether anything is being done about fracking "where they're forcing the wastewater into the soil like in Youngstown where they have earthquakes?"
Gentile hopes for more funding in the division of geological survey. "It's the only agency we have in the state that monitors seismic activity, and my question is why at a time when we are going to be seeing more drilling, more of this brine water coming to our state from other states and more injection wells being drilled, why are we defunding the only agency that is charged with dealing with this issue of monitoring the seismic activity throughout the state."
At the end of the day, Gentile said his focus is for a climate in this area of the state where "young people want to stay and have opportunities for good-paying jobs so they can provide for their families, stabilize the housing market and get back on our feet, and that is a big part of my agenda. When I look through the lens of how am I going to approach legislation in Columbus that is where I look to as the ultimate goal of trying to satisfy that need."
President Kathy Mills expressed concerns about voter fraud, which Gentile agreed is an important issue, noting that opportunities for voting need to be in place but so do safeguards.
As a gesture of appreciation, the club made a donation to the Lee West family fund in honor of Gentile.
The club's next meeting will be held at noon March 5 at the Steubenville Country Club with the program featuring Carol Scheftic and her metal clay jewelry.
