Now that the political season is behind us, we need to address two issues in the Chester Township trustees race.
Now that the political season is behind us, we need to address two issues in the Chester Township trustees race. First is a story we ran about Assistant Fire Chief Karen Moleterno threatening legal action against the township and trustees. Some took to social media to question our motive in running the story prior to last week’s election. Others called us “fake news” and told residents not to believe what they read in our newspaper(s).
Let’s be perfectly clear: We did not create the story; we simply reported it. Township trustees had placed Fire Chief John Wargelin and Moleterno on paid administrative leave over the summer. No reason was shared as their actions were shrouded lawfully in executive session — even the chief and assistant chief apparently weren’t told why they were being investigated.
Then in mid-September, trustees issued a press release informing the media and the public that they had appointed an independent investigator to determine whether or not “any member” of the fire department had violated Ohio laws governing fire departments. Shortly thereafter amidst the frenzy on social media, the union president of the part-time firefighters association took to social media to call out the leadership of Wargelin and Moleterno. We gave all three trustees an opportunity to comment on the union president’s accusations and allegations. No one responded. So, we reported the story — the he said, she said, they said. Nothing was misreported or made up. The words came straight from the players involved. No one questioned the timing of our reporting or its veracity — or called us fake news.
In October, Moleterno, who had been “reinstated,” and her attorneys fired back. They sent a letter to township trustees detailing her claims against the township, the trustees and the outside firm hired — we now know — to investigate Wargelin and Moleterno. While the letter was addressed to all three trustees individually, only one trustee’s actions were discussed throughout the six-page letter: Skip Claypool. As was her right, Moleterno had her lawyers send us a copy of that letter. We immediately reached out to all three trustees for comment and eventually, as board president, Claypool responded.
During this time, we also obtained a statement from the union expressing a no confidence vote in Wargelin and Moleterno. We reached out to the union president with questions and he answered them. We also reached out to the lawyers for Wargelin and Moleterno, and they gave us statements as well.
Again, there was no misreporting and no misquoting. But this was political season, with warring factions waging social media wars. Claypool and his supporters felt we should have waited until after the election to publish our story. We guess they felt the township and trustees could place the longtime fire chief and assistant on paid leave, issue a press release stating they were under investigation, have the union president publicly question their leadership and administration, have the union issue a statement of no confidence, and be put on notice of possible legal action — and all this information be withheld from the public until after the election.
This story reminds us of just how important community journalism is to our profession. Community news organizations hold local officials accountable and timely provide the news and information to those who live and work in the community.
And for those ceaselessly screaming “fake news,” we would argue that a community with a free press and a reliable news source is one of the critical threads that binds us together and makes this fragile thing called a democracy work. As it relates specifically to elections, a free press is an important part of any democracy because it keeps voters privy to what is really going on.
This brings us to the second issue, a political flyer that was inserted into the Geauga County Maple Leaf as a paid advertisement without any disclaimer. We were told placing a political flyer in the newspaper without a disclaimer violated Ohio election laws. That accusation also was shared on social media platforms. What is “fake news?” That tale.
Under Ohio election laws covering political ad disclaimers, an individual, who is not a candidate, acting alone may remain anonymous and is not required to include a disclaimer on campaign materials. Ohio political ad disclaimer laws differ from federal disclaimer laws in this regard.
Ohio Revised Code section 3517.20, which governs political communications and identification of sources, applies to entities, candidates, political parties, political action committees, etc., and does not include individuals acting completely alone. As such, the Ohio Elections Commission does not require ANY disclaimer on those political ads.
For those ardent defenders of the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on this precise issue in the 1995 case of McIntyre v Ohio Elections Commission. In a 7-2 vote, the court held a then-Ohio statute requiring identification of authors on all election- and issue-related publications violated the First Amendment by unduly restricting the ability of individuals to disseminate their views anonymously. The Ohio legislature subsequently revised the law to eliminate individuals from the statute’s language.
Interestingly, one of the justices mentioned the Federalist Papers, which, although written by Hamilton and Madison, were published anonymously — and we dare say people would call them cowards. The various concurring opinions are also replete with references to anonymous political and literary works.
As newspaper publishers and advocates of the right afforded individuals under the First Amendment — which I know Claypool and his supporters feel strongly about as well — we have chosen to comply with and follow Ohio election laws pertaining to political ad disclaimers and not required individuals acting alone to identify themselves in order to exercise their rights. However, while they are allowed to remain anonymous, we have required that these political ads include “Paid Advertisement.”
