Cates- Moving On

Journal story in today's newspaper.....

6 seek Cates’ Senate seat
All 3 of the county’s state representatives vie for Republican post

Cates is set to resign his seat May 23, and on that day begin his tenure as the senior vice chancellor for the division of Innovation and Enterprise Development with the Ohio Board of Regents. The board coordinates higher education in the state.

His primary focus will be on Gov. John Kasich’s charter — or enterprise — universities, and find ways to commercialize technology and research

“The governor sees a real opportunity to leverage our higher education institutions into centers for economic activity and job creation,” he said.

QUESTION:

If the governor has chosen Cates, based on his expertise, to "leverage our higher education institutions into centers for economic activity and job creation", why didn't we see Cates, as state senator, demonstrating his expertise and suggesting a plan to do this with Miami-U-Middletown/Hamilton and other colleges in his area when we started having job opportunity issues years ago? If the man has the skills to do this, and his interest is in the educational field, why didn't he suggest this to the Middletown leaders? There is no town in Cates' district that needed this type of help anymore than Middletown, which has been struggling with job development and economic activity for many years. In actuality, Cates has been a non-factor in Middletown's struggles. You would occasionally see him at some of the school board meetings, but in reality, try to recall what he has done to try to help our area of Butler County. I say, about as much as the Butler County Commissioners have done. Little to nothing.

Paul
I hope the Cate's coolaid tasted good.

Paul- I will be the first to admit that I was all wrong about Gary Cates. Please provide a list of Senator Cates' accomplishments since he has been our senator, AS IT APPLIES TO JOBS, GROWTH, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PEOPLE IN MIDDLETOWN OHIO.

With all due respect, being a "presence" at any social function or civic event, being a "presence" serving on committees, and being a "presence" at council meetings doesn't mean a thing if you don't take anything away from those committees, those council meetings and start taking notes on the plight of this town and use your influence and connections in Columbus and some influence with the Butler County Commissioners to bring some attention and resources from the state and county levels to acknowledge some solutions. Listening is fine, but if all you do is listen and never act, what good are you as a problem solver and as a salesman for your area of representation? It is like someone telling you he understands your problems, but never does anything about it. Cates to date, IMO, has done absolutely nothing for Middletown that he could take credit for. If he has, it sure hasn't been widely pubicized. Let's face it, he showed up at the recent Forest Hills event because there was food and booze. Have you ever read an article written by Cates acknowledging the problems here in certain parts of Butler County? I don't recall any correspondence from him.

You say Cates is an unassuming individual who doesn't say a whole lot.....perhaps.......then you say that his actions speak for themselves. THIS IS WHERE I HAVE MY DOUBTS and why I ask for your list of Cates' accomplishments to date so that we all may be apprised of his work to help us as a city. He very well may be a man of great wisdom and knowledge, but if you never put that knowledge to practice and produce results, you can conclude that that wisdom and knowledge is wasted. He may get your vote everytime, but I find it difficult to understand what he offers as to actual help for this city to garner such support.