Ohio auditor race: Democrat wants to help state, localities cut costs

COLUMBUS—Having the name “Pepper” can be a political slogan-writer's dream, but coming out of Cincinnati, the name adds even more spice .

And it doesn't hurt when you have a campaign war chest five times larger than your chief rival.

David Pepper, 39, is the son of John Pepper, a high-profile former Procter & Gamble CEO whom the son describes as “an old-style business Republican who will still support Republicans, but he's one of those who looks at how far to the right the party's gone.”

The younger Pepper is a Democrat, an attorney, a Hamilton County commissioner, and a former Cincinnati city councilman who is stepping onto the statewide stage for the first time with a run for Ohio auditor.

He said he owes his success on the local front to more than his name.

“One of the reasons I think I've been successful in Cincinnati council and the county commission is I've never been that partisan in my approach,” Mr. Pepper said.

“That comes from growing up in a way so that that's not how I thought about politics. I've thought of it in terms of issues and policy and trying to make things work well rather than just being highly partisan,” he said.

Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor's decision to become GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich's running mate left the race for Ohio's top accountant wide open.

The office takes on added importance this year because the winner also will serve on the 2011 panel that will redraw state legislative districts that will guide elections for the next decade.

Mr. Pepper is locked in battle with Dave Yost, a Republican Delaware County prosecutor, and L. Michael Howard, a Libertarian and self-employed consultant.

Mr. Pepper received a bachelor's degree in international studies in history and then a law degree at Yale University. He served as an aide to former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski and then worked in St. Petersburg, Russia, on city economic development.

He said Ohio's auditor should beef up its role in helping state and local governments to not only detect and thwart fraud but to offer credible ideas on how to reduce costs at a time when both are seemingly turning over seat cushions looking for spare change.

“From the very beginning, you have to establish that the auditor is an independent office,” he said. “If it is viewed as political, that you're playing just one side, then [the auditor's recommendations] will be dismissed by everybody.”

The state auditor doesn't have a vote on state taxes or spending, but allegations over both have become the chief ammunition in a race that has otherwise so far remained below the public's radar screen.

“The traditional question is do you cut or do you raise taxes,” Mr. Yost said. “The new question is how do you cut. The auditor does have a role to play there. Through performance audits, the auditor can inform the management decisions that are made by the executive branch.

“Mr. Pepper's record demonstrates that his first resort is tax increases,” he said. “When he can't get a tax increase, his practice is to just cut everybody. I think both of those are the wrong solutions.”

Among other things, Mr. Yost has pointed to Mr. Pepper's vote as county commissioner for a half-penny increase in the local sales tax for a new county jail to deal with overcrowding. Voters rejected the proposal. More recently, he proposed reducing the size of a local property tax rebate that was tied to a stadium sales tax hike approved by voters in 1996.

“[Mr. Yost] has never reduced a tax,” Mr. Pepper said. “I have. I've reduced property taxes five out of seven years.”

He argued that his votes were fiscally responsible, noting that his unsuccessful proposal to reduce the size of a planned property tax rollback recently from $18 million to $12 million was because the county otherwise had to borrow money to meet the obligation.

“My vote was no new taxes to pay for an old tax break,” he said. “If we only have $12 million [in the bank], we only have $12 million.”

Contact Jim Provance at:jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.