Grow Up Adults
There is a plague rampaging in Geauga County. No, I’m not referring to COVID-19 (which, of course, is very much still rampaging). I’m talking about all the anti-mask, anti-vax parents descending on school board meetings, causing superintendents and school boards to cave to political pressure instead of protecting our kids.
I, for one, am getting fed up with people thinking that their “I know what’s best for my child” attitude doesn’t effect anyone else. Guess what, this isn’t all about YOUR child. It’s about ALL the children, and their families, and their teachers, and their teachers’ families.
If you didn’t want your kids to wear masks in school, you should have listened to the CDC, the doctors and all the other health professionals who were urging you to get vaccinated, in the first place! Then perhaps we wouldn’t still be in this nightmare.
Grow up people, your kids are acting more like adults than you are.
Scott Richmond
Newbury Township
Taxpayers Deserve Answers
The Geauga Park District Board of Commissioners recently withdrew the handling of the park’s finances from the auditor’s office and set up a separate system controlled exclusively by them.
Why? Voters have always supported tax levies for our parks and expect the park board to spend our tax dollars wisely.
Why are they suddenly spending tens of thousands of dollars to set up a separate system when there was very minimal cost with the auditor’s office?
We taxpayers need straight answers to this strange turn of events. Stay tuned!
Rosemary Balazs
Chester Township
Support Your Libraries
I took great offense to the letter to the editor, “Libraries Are No Longer Safe,” in a recent edition. I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood, had friends of all races, religions and experiences. I thrive on having a “village” of friends and family who enjoy reading immensely.
The library is a place to open one’s mind. Yes, we have all grown up in different places, with different backgrounds, but that is what makes this country so great.
Opening one’s mind to someone else’s point of view, having a civil discussion and learning, yes, learning about one another is priceless.
I have been an avid reader all my life. My main choices are Michener, biographies and history of all kinds. I tend to learn more each day as I read, and enjoy discussions with others in a polite, well-mannered way. This is how we all grow.
Please support your libraries – anywhere.
Christine A. Hill
Chester Township
Buck Stops with Park Board
As a taxpaying citizen and park lover, I am appalled by the fact the Geauga Park District Board and Executive Director John Oros submitted a budget for approval to the county budget commission that was so egregiously in error. This shows a remarkable lack of oversight by a public board and director.
One would think that after the ridiculous debacle they created by separating the financial oversight from the county to an in-house fiscal officer — costing the taxpayers many thousands of dollars — they would be extra careful with financial matters and scrutinize the work of newly-hired Fiscal Officer Michael Frederick.
Unfortunately, this ‘transposition error’ shows that this is not the case. I voted for a levy to support our beautiful parks, but $1.9 million of that levy money will be forfeited due to failure of Fiscal Officer Frederick, Park Director Oros and each and every one of the board members: Mr. Bates, Mr. Dieterle, Mr. Ibold, Mr. Innocenzi and Mr. Preston.
No matter how much they try to push off the blame and criticize the budget commission, this is on them. If you look at the official minutes of the park board meetings for the past many months, you will see NO substantial questions from the park board members. All of the board members received a copy of the budget before it was submitted, but not one question at a public meeting.
Now they are considering hiring an outside public accounting firm to do the work that the new fiscal officer messed up. One wonders how many more tax dollars will be spent for the extra accounting work.
At the Aug. 20, 2021, special meeting, which was held without legally required notice, the Geauga Park District Board hired another law firm to evaluate the next budget. There was no public discussion of how much the new legal team will cost.
All of these errors make me wonder, is the board even paying attention? Are they asking pertinent questions or just rubber-stamping whatever Director Oros passes along from their boss? Could this be the kind of board oversight you get when all the board members are selected and appointed by one person?
Transparency and dedication to the public good should be the hallmarks of a public board, those are not in evidence here.
Kathryn Hanratty
Chardon Township
Embarrassment for Geauga
The dismissal of Tom Quade is an embarrassment for Geauga County. Tom was doing what he was supposed to do — promote vaccinations, promote masking and promote other steps necessary to protect us all from COVID.
I struggle to understand how people who have never taken a science class as an adult have become more knowledgeable than physicians, virologists, epidemiologists and public health officials who have spent their entire careers working in their specialties. After all, the anti-mask, anti-vax and anti-science strategy is working so well in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, etc.
How many adults and children are currently in an ICU for wearing a mask compared to how many are there from contracting COVID?
Tom was correct in recommending that the anti-vaxers pay for their hospitalizations. Every choice has consequences. Insurance companies and those who have been vaccinated should not bear the cost of poor decisions. These are not personal decisions; they are public health decisions that have an impact on people other than the individual.
Perhaps Tom should have recommended Ivermectin. He would have been hailed as a hero.
Terry Holland
Auburn Township
