Board!
Imagine you have an idea for a nonprofit or company. The first thing you’d do is gather the brightest people around you to help you launch and run. Eventually, some of them will likely comprise your board. This board will make or break your venture.
People like to think there is some huge personality who runs large companies and charities. There isn’t. It’s the board. Everything begins and ends with the board . . . then the board tells the public spokesperson — typically the CEO — what to say and do.
There are numerous examples of bad and corrupted boards. Stories abound of mega companies being destroyed from within by someone neutering a board. In fact, there is a large Wall Street firm that’s reported to have paid an obligatory $80 million bonus to a departing chairman of its board after the chairman systematically replaced all of the members who would challenge him with yes-men and then bankrupted the company.
By removing the fail-safes, this chairman was able to take on unreasonable debt and take extraordinary risks. Since he controlled the board — and all the people who might have been critical of him had been removed — he got away with it for years. He got rich while millions of people lost massive amounts of money.
As you might imagine, conscientious boards put tremendous thought and time into finding and training good members. Critical to this process of checks-and-balances oversight is the ability of everyone to speak. After all, sometimes all it takes is one person with a different perspective to speak up for the direction of a conversation to change, possibly averting crisis.
In other words, boards must be filled with competent, assertive, knowledgeable people, preferably with strong moral character. And without fail, all must be permitted to speak.
This brings me to the Geauga County Republican Party Central Committee and school boards.
If you’re far-left and dislike the values represented by Republicans, you’re probably thrilled that the County Central Committee is a parade of failure. However, anyone who might want county Republicans to have a website, office, current list of members, speakers, recruiting, legitimate endorsements of Republicans, actions like putting signs up at polling locations on election day, a financial report, votes that aren’t hidden, open meetings, or even just the basic opportunity for elected members to speak at meetings without being shouted down, then be prepared to work on the derelict, nearly defunct Geauga County Republican Party Central Committee.
I’ve heard the GOP Central Committee referred to as the “Board of the GOP.” Rife with lawsuits, accusations of violations of conduct, an alleged assault, derelict financials, not allowing members to speak (some for years!) and having roughly zero concept of Roberts Rules of Order, ours is a board that needs a complete overhaul.
If you care, I encourage attention to the matter.
Jonathan R. Broadbent
Newbury Township
It’s Time for a Change
Unless you’ve been in a coma, folks, I’m sure you have heard of the train derailment in East Palestine. Seems like any times these sort of things happen in Ohio you hear all sorts of assurances from the Ohio EPA about them doing tests and the air is just fine.
Can we believe them? So far thousands of dead fish, other dead and sick animals, and complaints from folks with rashes, feeling sick, etc.
A number of those spilled and burning chemicals at the site are both highly toxic and carcinogenic. There is, frankly, no safe level of a carcinogenic chemical. As the exposure is decreased, the incidence of cancer will decrease, but it will not reach zero.
We in Geauga County are only about 50 miles from the disaster and wind has been blowing from the south/east for a considerable time since the disaster started. You can bet we have been breathing in some of those chemicals and we don’t even know what all of them are because as they mix and burn new nasty chemicals are created.
It is simply unacceptable that disasters like this continue to occur. If regulations were strict and strictly enforced they would not. It seems all we hear from the Republican party in charge of just about everything in Ohio is that we need less regulations and let’s cut, cut, cut and starve the agencies that are already understaffed.
To give you an idea of ineptness, here in Parkman Township there has been a problem with salt contaminating domestic water wells for years now. Opinion is that the contamination is coming from the ODOT salt dome near the center of the township. Seems nearly impossible to get any information from the Ohio EPA. ODOT or the governor’s office.
Has a study been done to source the problem? We don’t know. If the salt dome is the problem, are there plans to correct the problem? We don’t know. Who exactly is in charge of this problem? I don’t know; it seems like it is impossible to find that out. The Geauga County Health Department is as frustrated as many of us residents.
Time to fire the heads of some agencies and put people in as heads who would be responsive? You bet!
John G. Augustine
Parkman Township
Claypool Not Fit to Serve
Is there only one “correct” way to be a proper woman? Is there just one way to be a “real man?” Is there only one way to fall in love? Is there only one way to be a family?
Skip Claypool says yes — and it’s his way. You see, Claypool has a very narrow definition of who he believes is allowed to exist in Geauga County. Furthermore, Claypool wants to impose his narrow definition on all of us.
Claypool serves on Geauga County’s Board of Mental Health and Recovery. His recent comments about the LGBTQ+ community in Geauga County are baffling and backwards, leaving me to wonder, what purpose does he serve on the board?
Claypool’s comments are the usual discriminatory ones. They are not kind. In fact, they encourage bullying. Most importantly, they do not follow the guidelines set by medical professionals.
The mission of the mental health board is clear: Improving public health services by monitoring, educating, and promoting community and environmental health services in Geauga County.
The board has one job: improve public health…for everyone, not just those people that Claypool deems worthy.
He is clearly not helping to fulfill the mission of the board. Claypool’s recent comments show that his personal beliefs make him a mere distraction, inconsistent with the board’s mission.
Claypool’s tenure expires in June, and he has shown that he is not fit to serve again. As a replacement, I encourage the County Commissioners to appoint someone who follows the advice of medical organizations.
I encourage them to appoint someone who believes in the mission of the board.
Finally, I encourage them to appoint someone who believes that every single person in Geauga County has value and deserves county services.
Nicole Mulloy
Russell Township
Claypool Rants
How do you know if a news article is fair and represents the truth or is simply attempting to promote an agenda? You might ask did the author ask questions of the subjects about content, context, motive, etc. I received no such call and I was not questioned at the MHB meeting. It seems odd Ms. Steigerwald was called. You can decide, but I will tell you there were misrepresentations.
Let me offer this for your consideration. The mental health board is a volunteer position. Those that serve do so for a variety of reasons. I serve to try to make a positive difference. Based on what I see, I believe every taxpayer in the state of Ohio should be angry and concerned enough to do some “ranting.” Millions are being spent on failing programs and there is more money being allocated to setup new programs that I believe will waste your hard-earned tax dollars.
Results/outcomes are getting worse in every category! It is said we should make evidence-based decisions. Well, the evidence is clear. Money is not solving the problems, many programs don’t work and our strategies are focused on the wrong things. Drug addiction is increasing, depression is increasing, suicides are increasing, and on and on.
Moreover, if you look at the data, I mean really look at the data, being used to make decisions you can see problems. Look at the strategies created by the state mental health board and you see a focus on things like equity. There is not enough space in an editorial to provide details, but ask me.
I have 10 grandkids and I am concerned our culture is not headed in a good direction. But you know this. Our board funds programs and approaches that I think should be evaluated very carefully. Some do work, others don’t.
As I said, many programs are leading to poor outcomes. Changes should be made and I think we should discuss them. I believe programs such as SOGI/GSSN should be evaluated very carefully. I have seen evidence of impacts to children that are concerning. If true, then I believe there should be steps taken to mitigate the harm.
In the meeting referenced in the article we were meeting our obligations to seek solutions. So what is the answer? I think we must have board members who are willing to have adult conversations about the problems. We need board members that are not afraid to take bold action. Too often public board members are timid and/or are aligned with agencies they fund.
The board meeting that Amy wrote about was an attempt to start a conversation about policies. I am one person with one vote. But I can start a conversation. Conversations about difficult topics sometimes get messy. But, these are important issues which deserve the effort. Articles such as this tend to stymie fruitful conversation. If the board stopped doing our jobs out of fear of the press that would be very sad.
Walter “Skip” Claypool
Chester Township
