Kasich’s ARC stance criticized

Some local politicians were speaking out here Thursday about gubernatorial candidate John Kasich's stance on funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission and remarks made by one of his campaign staffers.

St. Clairsville Mayor Robert Vincenzo, 95th Ohio House District Democratic nominee Lou Gentile and Ohio Sen. Jason Wilson were at the United Steelworkers District 2 Office for a press conference before local labor leaders, outlining their disapproval with the Republican candidate's voting record regarding ARC funding when he was in Congress.

"We know how important this funding is and what it means to Ohioans throughout Appalachia particularly here in the Ohio Valley," Gentile said.

According to Gentile, Kasich had proposed cutting funding and even eliminating the ARC while in Congress, which has had the support people in the two major political camps.

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Gentile, the former assistant director of the Governor's Office of Appalachia, said ARC funding brings about $10 million to Ohio Appalachia region each year. Half of that money comes from the federal government, and the other half is matched by the state. From that $10 million, possibility hundreds of millions of more dollars are leverage, he said.

The money is used for various projects, including many infrastructure upgrades. Locally, ARC funds have been used to help build the St. Clairsville bike trail and to do downtown revalidation. There have also bee water system improvements in Martins Ferry, the construction industrial park near Barnesville, the new Ohio 149 realignment road project in Bellaire and various county water and sewer projects, all done in part with ARC funding.

"The ARC is the life blood of small communities and townships and the county," Vincenzo said. "We've been the recipient of many ARC grants. When we are designing a project and figuring how the funding is going to come, we rely heavily on the support from the ARC grants. They have been very great and it gives us that avenue so we can proceed further without having to put that expense on our citizens."

He also said it helps to raise the standard of living for people.

"If we lose the ARC program, it would not only be a great loss to Belmont County and the entire Appalachian region," Vincenzo said.

Wilson said the ARC funding is an investment because the developments in the Appalachian region of Ohio, which makes up about a third of the state, gives people opportunities.

"I always have said that in my roughly three years in representing the 30th (Senate) district, that we need to take our values, our principals, our concerns, our wishes and dreams to Columbus," Wilson said. "We don't need to bring their values back to eastern Ohio and that's what ARC does. It allows us the opportunity to be successful. . . We aren't looking for a handout. We are looking for an opportunity."

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