The Ohio Conservative Energy Forum was incorporated as a charitable organization in Ohio on August 4, 2016 by Columbus attorney and lobbyist Terrence O’Donnell.  See link to filing here.
 
According to his lobbying reports, O’Donnell represents a who’s who of left wing, alternative energy organizations.  These include Advanced Energy Economy, Apex Clean Energy, Carbon Solutions Group, EDP Renewables, Green Tech Action Fund, Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation, and Open Road Renewables.  According to its website, the Green Tech Action Fund is affiliated with the Energy Foundation. 
 
Tyler Duvelius is the current Executive Director of the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum.  He previously served as the State Director of the Ohio Christian Coalition.  According to the 2016 IRS 990 form for the Green Tech Action Fund, $79,000 was granted to the Christian Coalition of America to conduct a clean energy digital ad campaign and support the Ohio state director. 
 
According to that same tax return, a grant of $60,000 was given to the Advance Energy Forum to support a digital advertising campaign in Ohio.  Another $20,000 was given to the Wind Energy Foundation for that same purpose. 
 
Bill Byers and Greg Bennett have lobbied for the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum since 2015.  According to their lobbying reports, the address for the group is the same address as The Energy Foundation and its affiliated Green Tech Action Fund in San Francisco. 
 
Michael Hartley has been identified as both the founder and a consultant for the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum.  Hartley is a former John Kasich staffer and the current President of Swing State Strategies, a GOP public affairs consulting firm. 
 
As I have previously written, the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum is actually an effort by left wing, California based liberal organizations to coopt and corrupt Ohio Republicans.  There is nothing conservative or Ohio about this group.

Once again, some GOP hired guns using the name Ohio Conservative Energy Forum are touting a poll purportedly showing that Ohio conservatives just love "clean energy".  Don't be fooled.  There is nothing conservative or Ohio about this group.

In fact, this is just the latest effort by far left, San Francisco based liberals to infiltrate and coopt Ohio Republicans.  According to their lobbying reports, the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum is simply a front for the San Francisco based Energy Foundation.  Here's how Influence Watch describes the Energy Foundation:

The Energy Foundation is a left-of-center “pass through” charitable foundation founded by and supported by a network of left-wing organizations. The Foundation began in January 1991 as a $20 million collaborative between the Pew Charitable Trusts, Rockefeller Foundations, and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and has subsequently grown in partnerships and funding.[1] The Energy Foundation describes itself as a nonpartisan “grantmaker,” with a focus on building a “new energy economy.”[2] In reality, it is a medium for bundling vast sums of money from donors to far-left political causes, under the guise of philanthropy.

In December 2013, the Alabama Coal Association (ACA) accused several organizations of promoting a “war on coal.” The ACA cited roughly $3 million in grants given to anti-coal groups by the Energy Foundation, including the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Federal filings show that the grant intent was “the accelerated retirement of conventional coal-fired plants.”[34]

Don't be fooled.  The Ohio Conservative Energy Forum is a liberal, San Francisco wolf in sheep clothing.  ​

​Dear Fellow Republicans:

     I’m writing to ask you to join me in voting for our entire Ohio Republican Ticket on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.  I have enclosed a copy of our party’s official slate-card that you may take to the polls.
 
     I’m urging you to Vote NO on the Mount Vernon City Charter Commission proposal.  As I’ve written to you before, this charter scheme is a blatant attempt by the same people who recently raised our city income taxes to take away our votes.
 
     I’m also urging you to Vote NO on State Issue 1.  While there are some good things in the proposal, writing them into our state constitution is the wrong way to go in my opinion.
 
     Finally, I’m asking you to remember to vote for these key candidates; Jon Husted, Jim Renacci, Keith Faber, Bob Gibbs, and Andrew Brenner.  I personally know and can vouch for each one of these individuals.  In fact, I have known Jon Husted and Keith Faber for nearly 20 years and Bob Gibbs and Andrew Brenner for nearly ten years!
 
     Please join me in voting Republican on election day and voting NO on these two key issues.  Thank you.
    
Sincerely,
 
Scott Allan Pullins
 
P.S. Many of these races are still very close and every vote will count!  Please vote on election day!
 
Paid for by Scott Pullins

On every issue I can guarantee you that I will default to whatever maximizes liberty and freedom and work from there. That is why on the issue of prohibiting Mount Vernon businesses from selling vaping equipment and supplies to those that are 18-20 I would be a very loud no. I would work instead to make this ordinance match up with the smoking ordinance which is 18.

I would support allowing golf carts and other small vehicles on our city streets. State law permits this and our citizens want it. These vehicles provide low cost, efficient alternatives.
​
I would also work to reverse Mount Vernon's prohibition on medical marijuana and would work to eventually decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. It's time to bring our city into the 21st century on these and other important matters.

Dear Fellow Republican:

     I’m writing to ask you to join me in opposing the Mount Vernon City Charter Commission proposal.  Please VOTE NO on this issue that is contained in your regular or absentee ballot.
 
     This plan was hatched by Democrats and some gullible RINO Republicans, like Jeff Gottke, and quickly rammed through city council. 
 
     Why?  It’s simple.
 
     After 23 years as Mount Vernon Mayor, Richard Mavis is retiring and will not run again next year.  And the Democrats don’t have a candidate.  Additionally, Democrats are afraid of losing even more seats on city council. 
 
     Enter this ill-advised, and rushed, charter scheme.
 
     If passed, Democrats could eliminate the mayor’s office and put a highly paid city manager with a long-term contract in place.  Voters would have no say in who leads our city.
 
     Additionally, Democrats want to make our elections non-partisan.  That way they can hide their views from the voters.
 
     Don’t be fooled.  Please VOTE NO on the Mount Vernon City Charter Commission proposal.  Thank you.
    
 
Sincerely,
 
Scott
 
Scott Allan Pullins
 
P.S. Don’t be fooled by their slick ads.  These are the same people who raised our city income taxes!

​In 2001 a group of public school employee unions brought litigation against the State of Ohio, various charter schools including ECOT, and their management companies.  

Their contention?  

That the state’s charter school legislation which permitted privately operated schools to receive public money was unconstitutional.

The 2005 oral arguments are strikingly similar to the issues now being debated.  Those archived oral arguments can be viewed here.

Fortunately, the Ohio Supreme Court, by a narrow 4-3 majority, upheld the constitutionality of this system.

Unfortunately, those that want to shut down every charter school in Ohio haven’t given up.  They are now trying to overturn this seminal 2006 decision through a series of backdoor legal actions tied to the current ECOT litigation.  

Let me explain:

In 2016 during the midst of the presidential primaries, a group of school choice opponents within the Ohio Department of Education, along with the Governor’s office, discovered a way to go after online charter schools.   As a result of their actions, the largest online school, ECOT, was closed. 3rd Rail Politics has extensively covered this issue.  

Additionally, six other smaller online schools have closed while three are struggling on repayment plans.

Those efforts were just the beginning.  

Now, unless the Ohio Supreme Court overturns the lower courts and find those efforts unlawful, the path will be clear for bureaucrats and ambitious politicians to eliminate all of Ohio’s charter schools.  

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE

​News Flash: Timken, Husted and Pollster Neil Newhouse to Attend Speaker Smith's OHROC 2018 Candidate Seminar Tomorrow 
 
Speaker Ryan is holding the OHROC 2018 Candidate Seminar tomorrow.  The premise is to work with Republican candidates for the Ohio House including many of whom have never run for state office before.  3rd Rail has obtained a copy of the agenda which includes GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken, Secretary of State and Candidate for Lt. Governor Jon Husted and Pollster Neil Newhouse. 
 
It appears Speaker Smith has selectively picked who he wanted to attend the event as several top lobbyists were not included in an email invite blast that seemed to include those on the OHROC contact list.  
 
While one can understand why Chairwoman Timken would be invited to speak along with Jon Husted who shares a close relationship with Ryan Smith (and their puppet master bff Mike Dawson), Pollster Neil Newhouse’s attendance is raising some eyebrows! 

Read the rest of the article here.