CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Ohio highway officials say they have shelled out $8,400 this year updating welcome signs along the state's border, and the changes eliminate all mention of former Gov. Bob Taft.
The two-term Cincinnati Republican left office in January with polls showing he was the most unpopular governor in the United States. His name, perhaps, frightened people away.
The signs now carry the names of Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, and they keep alive the tradition of having Ohio's top two officials welcome people into the state. The signs are on the major interstates and highways that cross into Ohio from Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Matt Naugle at Right Angle Blog has a post about ODOT budget shortfalls and notes that the 34 large border signs have been changed at taxpayer's expense. He questions whether it is a worthwhile investment of government funds to put a governor's name on a highway sign.
He has a point. But it definitely was worth the dollars to erase Taft's name. Having him there was like posting a sign that said: Toxic Governor Zone, Enter At Your Own Peril.
They(we) change those signs everytime we elect a new govenor, maybe we should just have 1(one) sign tha represents all of the govenors of this fine state!
ReplyDeleteHi Ridgeman --
ReplyDeleteI don't know what they even bother to put the governor's picture on the signs in the first place. A very warm welcome would be nice to see. Does anybody from Tennessee who is driving through Ohio really give a hoot whose picture is at the border crossing?