Time for Reflection
By the time this letter is printed it will be at least one week since the events of Jan. 6 took place in Washington. Photos abound. A group of about 30 local people took a charter bus to D.C.
Now everyone has returned and has had a week to reflect on these events. All of those who claim to be Trump supporters, conservatives and tea party people have a great deal of personal introspection to do. We have seen the photos and videos of people engaging in a variety of illegal and violent behaviors. These are the very groups who champion law enforcement, law and order, and the Constitution of the United States.
Those videos and photos make clear those values were not present on Jan. 6. As the FBI begins to make arrests, we will find the false claims that far left groups were responsible are not true.
This letter is not about my personal condemnation, it is rather a call for those of you who were involved, present or a supporter to seriously reflect on the events and ask yourselves is this making America great? Is this the way we want to govern our country?
You must provide the answer to only one person, yourself.
David Partington
Munson Township
Danger to America
Words cannot express my sorrow at what transpired last week in our nation’s capital. To see criminals ransacking the Capitol building, violently attacking the Capitol Police and desecrating the seat of our democracy was almost inconceivable.
If the Republicans want to decry Antifa on the left and scream about socialists and how they are destroying our country, they need to also condemn the Proud Boys, the KKK and the anarchist on the right. There is no difference.
Those people who participated in the attempted violent overthrow of our legitimate government are not heroes; they are base criminals who defiled our country. The fact that people wearing t-shirts supporting the police then beat a policeman to death is insane.
The election results were challenged legally and were certified by Republican officials in all swing states, and Republican-appointed judges throughout the country did not see any evidence of voter fraud.
To challenge the constitutional right of states to vote for the candidate of their choice is an act of sedition. If Trump is allowed to get away with his continued lies and calls for the violent overthrow of our government, then he truly can “Shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose voters.”
He is a demagogue who has used the media to brainwash a large portion of our voters. He could say that the sun rises in the west and sets in the east and his followers would blindly follow him like lemmings over the cliff.
The man is a danger to our country and must be removed from office immediately before he gets us all killed.
Anita Marlowe
Middlefield Village
Dinosaurs and Humans
Do the good citizens of Northeast Ohio deserve a dope slap? (Not literally, of course.) But at the election in November they elected Sarah Fowler to be the new state representative for the 99th House District. Did the voters have any idea why they voted for her or what her views were on various issues? She has been on the state board of education now for some time.
When she was running for the state board position she attended the “meet the candidates night” run by the League of Women Voters at which folks had an opportunity to question candidates running for various offices. I was present at this particular candidates night and asked Mrs. Fowler if she believed that dinosaurs and humans existed on the earth at the same time. She answered in the affirmative, indicating she did believe that. Perhaps she acquired that “factoid” at the Creation Museum in Kentucky, an institution that claims the Earth is only about 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs existed at the same time as humans. (By the way, the science community has debunked these ideas longer than I care to remember.)
I attempted to question her further after her reply, but her entourage (a husband?) shouted me downs stating, “Let’s move on.”
So why did Mrs. Fowler win the election? Well, she’s an attractive, personable young lady and I guess that was a good enough reason for the majority of voters in November.
However, if we wish to have a general assembly that makes intelligent decisions at this most critical time in our history, we need folks in the assembly with a knowledge and respect for science and the scientific methods that have served us well and have been instrumental in determining truth for many centuries.
More people like Mrs. Fowler in such important decision-making institutions will likely result in actions that lead to more unnecessary human deaths like the 300,000 plus that have died from the coronavirus since March and continued destruction of our Earth’s climate and oceans.
We and the Earth should not and cannot afford to head in that direction.
John G. Augustine
Parkman Township
Geauga LWV Condemns Capitol Attack
The League of Women Voters of Geauga stands in solidarity with the League of Women Voters of the United States in condemning last week’s domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy and the nation’s citizens must reject the false claims and the inciting rhetoric that predictably fueled this insurrection.
We call for swift and full prosecution of those who terrorized and assaulted the U.S. Capitol, its occupants and the law enforcement officers charged with their defense.
We mourn the loss of Officer Brian D. Sicknick and demand justice for his family.
Further, we support prosecution and/or removal from office, of all who incited the rioters and enabled their seditious actions.
We thank Vice President Pence and the members of Congress, who, under extraordinary circumstances, carried out their constitutional duty to certify Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris as the rightfully elected next president and vice president of the United States.
Riotous, violent attempts to overturn election results cannot be tolerated in a nation built on laws. We call on all citizens to peacefully and constructively defend and support our democracy.
Shelly Lewis, President
League of Women Voters of Geauga
Ready to Serve 99th House District
Constituents of the 99th Ohio House District,
I am pleased to report that the 134th General Assembly was sworn in and conducted an organizational session on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. We have a new legislative aide, Lauren, who will be assisting me with phone calls and emails from the district.
Due to the governor’s work-from-home order, we are unable to be in the Columbus office continuously at this time, but will be staffing our offices virtually. Calls are being directed to voicemail and Lauren or I will return your call as soon as possible after receiving the message. Email and mail are still being received directly.
I would like to thank outgoing Rep. John Patterson for his efforts to smooth this transition. He called me last month from the hospital, while fighting Covid-19, to help establish valuable connections and ensure that no constituent need fell through the cracks. I sincerely appreciate his dedication to our district.
His aide Aleah has moved on to another position but also made herself available to ensure our constituents were connected to the services they requested.
Lauren and I are now fully prepared to move forward as we seek to serve the needs of the 99th district.
Please feel free to reach out if we can serve you.
Sarah Fowler Arthur
Ohio State Representative – District 99
Lack of Transparency
I write this public letter because I have deep concerns about the Geauga Park District’s lack of transparency with the public and avoidance of public participation.
The Geauga Park District has a pending proposal to amend its bylaws to essentially do two things: (1) change oversight of fiscal operations from the county auditor (free and independent) to a fiscal officer (an employee paid and accountable only to the park district), and (2) change the procedure for amending the bylaws to remove any opportunity for the public to learn about proposed changes before they happen.
I emailed the Geauga Park District Board Commissioners and Executive Director John Oros with detailed concerns about both the procedures used to introduce these proposed amendments — in my opinion, violations of both Sunshine Law and the park district’s own bylaws — and the actual content of the amendments — which I believe remove the only outside oversight of the park district’s day-to-day fiscal operations, substantially increase park district spending and allow the park district to further hide its fiscal activities from the public.
I received no response from any commissioner or from John Oros. In the past, the park district has stated that unsolicited communications from the public do not become public record, so I assume that my emails went into the garbage. I have no idea whether or not they were read by anyone before being tossed.
I attended the park board’s meeting on Zoom on Monday, Jan. 11. As has been the case for five years, there was no public comment allowed at the meeting. I was unable to ask whether anyone had received or read my email.
The Geauga Park District has plans to spend over $8,000,000 of our public money this year. I am troubled that I, and the rest of the public, are prevented from communicating with John Oros and the commissioners to express our opinions about what they are doing with our money.
I am troubled that it is about to become more difficult to track what they are doing with our money.
I call upon the commissioners to carefully consider my concerns about the bylaws amendments and reinstate a public comment time at every park board meeting.
Shelley Chernin
Russell Township
