(04-20-2011 12:17 PM)Redwingtom Wrote: “More than 426,000 Ohioans have lost their jobs on Ted Strickland’s watch and won’t wake up tomorrow to go to work. But because he likes hitting the snooze button, he makes a small army of people fire up his plane, get it ready and then fly it from one airport to another so he won’t have to drive an extra 15 minutes to the airport ... . Putting aside the wasted money and extra wear and tear, could the guy do something more arrogant? ... Frankly, there needs to be a closer review of whether the plane’s cost can even still be justified at all.” ~ Rob Nichols, Current Kasich Press Secretary in 2010
Kasich state plane use off to fast pace
In his first 81 days in office, the Republican Kasich used the Hawker-Beechcraft King Air planes for 16 in-state trips and four out-of-state treks at a total cost of $31,400. By comparison, former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland spent $31,849 on plane travel during his first 13 months in office.
Just another hypocritical example on how politicians govern and how they campaign.
If the above is true than Strickland should come out and explain what he was using the plane for, as that may clear up any misunderstanding of his campaign promise vs. reality.
I’ve been close to aviation operations and traveling advance work on the state government level, and I defend its use when necessary to state operations and governance.
For instance, there was a big kerfuffle in Minnesota when the Governor was spotted tooling around in a black Tahoe with an unmarked police escort. People said
“Why isn’t he driving a Prius?” and
“Why does he need all that automotive firepower?”
I called in to three local radio shows with my experience with state aviation and advance work (while with the State of Illinois) and explained how state air travel is cheap and efficient when compared to any time spent at airports, it is secure for very real security concerns, and
most importantly it kept the Governor and his immediate staff connected to the government and to
any State emergency needs.
Remember, the Governor controls the deployment of the National Guard and other emergency apparatus, the last thing a citizen should want is a Governor incommunicado from the needs of the State
So long story short, State aviation and transportation needs of the local government are needed. And I realize what is posted above is a bit tenuous to defend in this current fiscal climate. I’m not saying these type of needs and operations shouldn’t be scrutinized, but they are needed, and often much less expensive than you think when compared to trying to do any sort of more “responsible” travel.
