Zimmann broadsides Latta over vets, wealth

Bob Latta, left, and Angela Zimmann. Enlarge

Fifth Congressional District candidate Angela Zimmann on Wednesday criticized incumbent U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green) for his record on veterans and for the size of his wallet.

Speaking to reporters in front of the Toledo VA Outpatient Clinic in South Toledo, Ms. Zimmann, a Democrat, said she would better serve veterans than Mr. Latta.

"My opponent in this race has a net worth of $2.3 million, and he seems indifferent to the needs of District 5 veterans," she said. "In fact, we can show how Bob Latta was part of an effort to cut housing assistance for 10,000 homeless veterans, leaving them on the street, while giving more tax breaks to multimillionaires like himself. The voting records of Congress also indicate that in October, 2009, [he] voted to eliminate school lunch funding for children whose parents were fighting overseas."

Mr. Latta did not respond to a request to be interviewed. His spokesman, Isabel Santa, said the net worth estimation by Ms. Zimmann was incorrect and that he is absolutely supportive of veterans.

Ms. Zimmann's source for Mr. Latta's net worth was a Washington Post report that used data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

As a congressman, Mr. Latta is paid $174,000 a year. Mr. Latta's wife, Marcia Sloan Latta, was paid $158,464 as senior associate vice president for university advancement and director of alumni development at Bowling Green State University. She left BGSU in February, 2011, to take a job at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.

According to his 2010 financial disclosure statement, Mr. Latta's year-end value of assets totaled between $1 million and $2.3 million. Ms. Zimmann, a Lutheran church pastor and BGSU professor, said she and her husband are worth between $100,000 and $200,000.

Ms. Santa also said it was incorrect for Ms. Zimmann to say the congressman opposed school lunch funding for children of veterans.

"[That was] an overall appropriations spending bill. On October 7, 2009, Congressman Latta obviously did not like the overall package," Ms. Santa said. "There were 151 Republicans who voted against it. He voted against the appropriations bill, not just that one part."

Ms. Zimmann Wednesday also cited data from the 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress developed by Abt Associates Inc. and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, that reports the one in four veterans ages 30 to 60 lives in poverty.

She also used data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs showing the unemployment rate for veterans ages 18 to 24 is slightly more than 20 percent -- more than double the national unemployment rate.

"The Congress would do well to look into promoting tax incentives for small businesses to employ our men and women in uniform. It's a win-win formula that can help our vets and the overall economy," Ms. Zimmann said."

Ms. Santa said Mr. Latta already has a track record of helping veterans: "Congressman Latta is committed to assisting veterans in making sure they have the support they need to secure and maintain employment."

She pointed out that Mr. Latta introduced stand-alone legislation, the TRICARE Continuity Coverage for National Guard and Reserve Families Act, that became law in 2009. Under the law, retired National Guard or service unit members with 20 or more years of service can now purchase health-care that was available to them during their active service, before the age of 60. Before the law, veterans were ineligible until that age.

Contact Ignazio Messina at: imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171