OHIO ROUNDTABLE - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The OHIO ROUNDTABLE, 11288 Alameda Drive, STRONGSVILLE, was established by a group of Northeastern Ohio citizens and business leaders in 1980 as a non-profit, non-partisan research and educational organization (think tank) dedicated to a mission of "Restoring traditional Judeo-Christian principles to American public policy." Original headquarters were at 31005 Solon Rd., SOLON, with a move to a 6000 square foot media production facility in Strongsville in 2001. In addition to the intellectual activities of the Roundtable, a subsidiary non-profit organization, the Ohio Freedom Forum, was also founded at this time for the purpose of direct Ohio legislative lobbying. Under early Executive Director, Rev. Ray Jeske, former pastor of the Kent Community of Believers, the organization participated in demonstrations against abortion and pornography. David P. Zanotti has been President of the Ohio Roundtable and Freedom Forum since 1986. During Zanottis tenure, the organization helped strengthen child protection laws in 1987 and helped defeat initiatives to allow casino gambling in Ohio in 1988, 1990, and 1996. In the 1990s, it succeeded in lobbying for term limits and campaign finance reform legislation and has defended the Ohio state motto, "With God all things are possible," against challenges from the ACLU. Roundtable and Freedom Forum have been particularly active, since 1994, in promoting school choice and supporting the Ohio Scholarship Plan, which in 1995 became the nations first voucher program providing public funds for children to attend parochial as well as other private schools. The Roundtable launched the School Choice Committee, a statewide organization, in 1998. The organization has also broadcast a radio program, The Public Square, hosted by David Zanotti, since 1989. In addition to its new headquarters in Strongsville, the organization opened offices at the State Capitol in Columbus in 2001.

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