For Nick Owens, “we’re in this together” is more than just a often repeated slogan.
“We shouldn’t be some sort of protected class that doesn’t have to feel the pinch,” said Owens of public officials.
In 2017 lawyer Nick Owens became a member of the Board of Education for the state of Ohio. Currently he and his family are staying home, taking extra precautions to protect their 8-month-old infant.
“We’re all cooped up inside,” he said. “I’d like to hope that these projections of the Coronavirus are not as bad as it seems.”
On Tuesday, May 12th the State Board of Education met virtually. Owens attended the meeting from his home and saw an opportunity to share in the sacrifices that 11 million Ohioans are making.
Owens proposed that board members waive 20 percent of their salaries for the rest of the year. He was alternately praised and critiqued during the subsequent discussion.
“When you have 18 people it’s hard to get everybody to agree on anything,” he observed. Still, when the vote was held the resolution passed 16-2 which Owens described as “pretty overwhelming.”
Much as officials would have Ohioans believe that “we’re in this together,” the Coronavirus and the economic responses to it affect people differently.
Many dichotomies have been emphasized the past two months: essential versus nonessential, young and healthy versus elderly and immunocompromised, furloughed versus working from home.
At least when it comes to income, the state Board of Education – in a true act of solidarity – is eliminating that discrepancy.
Owens, repeatedly calling on his colleagues to lead by example, was asked if he had any particular leaders in mind to follow this gesture.
“Absolutely,” he began. “I’ve always been frustrated as a citizen at our leaders through all times of crisis when budgets are depleted because of lack of sales tax revenue, any type of revenue, anytime there are budget cuts or layoffs, elected officials always seem immune to budget cuts themselves… An elected official shouldn’t just cut everybody else’s pay and then continue to collect their full paycheck. I think that’s wrong.”
Per the directives from Columbus, 300 million dollars must be cut from across the 610 school districts in Ohio.
This doesn’t include 50 million dollars of operational costs from the Ohio Department of Education, which is where the salary cuts would be contributing. Owens explained that he was in communication with Board President Laura Kohler as well as Attorney General Dave Yost, to make sure this type of pay cut was allowed by existing rules.
“There is a state constitutional amendment that says that there can be no changes in compensation during a member’s term,” he said, “And that essentially says that you can’t vote yourself huge pay increases, it also protects the elected official from having retribution by the people that have authority on their pay, but… as long as you voluntarily waive and someone else doesn’t do it for you, that’s okay.”
In early May, Governor Mike DeWine announced cuts he would be requiring across nearly all departments in Ohio state government.
However, no other republican or democrat in any branch has generated the same level of energy as Owens regarding their own salaries.
“I would specifically call on the Governor and state officials and particularly the House of Representatives and the Senate in Ohio to reduce their pay by 20%,” Owens challenged. “We should do our part… We’re going to share in that pain as well. That’s the least we could do.”
Nick Owens is from Batavia, currently lives in Georgetown, and represents District 10 to the Board of Education. His term expires in January of 2021.
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