Chester Residents Beware
Chester Township Trustees put our Fire Chief John Wargelin on paid administrative leave for six weeks, ending Sept. 30, 2021, “pending further investigation.”
Trustees hired Clemans Nelson & Associates, a management consulting/labor relations firm out of Akron for $165/$175 per hour, with an appointed “investigator.” They also hired an attorney for $175 per hour and a part-time interim fire chief for an unspecified period of time for $55 per hour.
What are they investigating? What is the goal? They talk about controlling spending, but they
will spend thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on this witch hunt. (An invoice for $7,398.27 from
Clemans Nelson for services for the month of July was approved at the Sept. 8 BOT meeting. This is only the beginning!)
Over the years, under the tutelage of Chief Wargelin, Fire/Rescue has faced a variety of
Challenges, e.g., staffing, funding, equipment needs and state requirements. As a dedicated
Professional, he has steered the department 24/7 to protect us. Chester residents have historically passed levies to support our fire, police and road departments.
Claypool wrote letters in 2019 against a fire levy and, in 2021, he voted against placing a police levy on the ballot.
There has been talk of reducing the size of our fire/rescue department and going to a regional
fire department. Does this mean we will return to an all-volunteer fire department with no
ambulance service? Claypool thinks if you need an ambulance, the hospital should come pick you up.
On Feb. 25, 2021, University Hospitals presented a program to Chester Township in partnership with our fire department to provide residents with in-home fall and injury prevention solutions. Mr. Claypool is quoted as saying, “firefighters should be used to respond to fire/emergency
situations, not to babysit grandma in her house.” (See BOT minutes of the Feb. 25 meeting.)
On March 25, 2021, the BOT voted on motion 2021-109 to join UH in this Community Health Worker Program. Mr. Claypool was noted as not in favor of the idea and voted no to the motion. (See minutes of meeting for complete details.)
I believe the Chester Township is in jeopardy. The recent community survey indicates that
our fellow neighbors want the rural atmosphere to stay the same. Many people say that is the
reason they moved here. Most Chester residents don’t want small-lot zoning with condos or
apartments which would bring city water and sewers. Someone in Chester wants to put 30 homes on a 10 acre parcel. What Next?
I’m concerned about the future of Chester Township. You should be concerned, too. Hold our elected officials accountable and demand answers for their actions. Trustees are guided by the Ohio Revised Code as to what they can and cannot do. They are supposed to make decisions for the general welfare and safety of the residents. Decisions should not be made based on personal, private or political beliefs.
Go to the Chester Township website at chestertwp.org to read minutes of meetings. Better yet, attend township meetings and make yourself heard. Vote Nov. 2. Together we can protect Chester.
Linda Barnes Gifford
Chester Township
Fair and Open Election
Recently I attended the Geauga County Board of Elections’ preview of the new voting machine replacing the M100. Sadly, the presenter was interrupted a number of times with questions like, “What if someone tries to sneak in a false ballot?” and “How do we know there are no wireless internet connections sending out info?”
First, I think the concerned people need to work an election. I know the vetting of the voters is well done. Procedures at the polling place that handle voters’ questions and report election results are done with a member of each party both there, so nothing underhanded is done to influence a voter or the results. I would hate it if work done so well by elections workers is subjected to question. The words of forensic recount and fraudulent like in Arizona were being muttered. I don’t think they were deserved.
It’s my prayer that the action that makes this a great country — a fair and open election — can be held this November, and on into the future. Sure, your favored candidate and your ballot issues won’t always win, but hey, in kindergarten we learned than some things don’t always go our way, and there will be a next time to try again.
Diane Strahan
Burton
COVID Tribalism: Dividing our Neighbors and Friends
We should stop labeling legitimate dialogue with terms such as “anti-vax” or “dangerous misinformation.” These condemnations tend to come with a strong sense of being “morally” correct. This further polarizes an already polarized debate.
Some of the Geauga County Maple Leaf articles have reflected the practice of prefacing Geauga residents’ comments with data to imply the inherent value of an individual’s comments such as occupations, political party, education, number of children and even what kind of clothes they wear. We should not tear each other apart talking about irrelevant stuff; too many of us are arguing with emotions.
The CDC failed to provide needed information. As new studies and data blossom to answer basic questions Americans have been asking, let’s stop letting political opinions fill the vacuum.
Diane Pierce
Montville Township
Ground Zero
On September 11, 20 years ago, 2,977 Americans died in the most horrific terrorist attack on our homeland in modern times. Most were ordinary people, just like you and me. Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sons, daughters. They went to work on a sunny September morning and never returned.
403 of them were police officers, firefighters and port authority officers who ran toward an inferno to try to save strangers. They never returned.
7,054 American servicemen and women answered the call to defend their country in Iraq and Afghanistan. They never returned.
Four hours is the length of the ceremony at Ground Zero last Saturday to read the names of the dead, honor their memories and acknowledge their sacrifices.
One is the number of former presidents who didn’t show up to honor these heroes.
Lori A. O’Neill
Bainbridge Township
Just Show Up
I attended the Sept. 13 West Geauga Board of Education meeting and was proud to see our community come together to thank our school board for requiring masks in school buildings and defend them against the loud minority — many from outside our district — that seeks to score political points with the health of our children.
West G parents and grandparents spoke passionately about our community’s strength in looking out for one another, about their kids wearing masks to protect others and about how important it is to all of us that schools remain safely open.
Kudos to our community for pushing back against the unhinged nonsense that was hurled at the board at the last meeting.
This was my first school board meeting, as I generally trust our elected officials to keep our district great, and I was struck by how easy it was for West G parents to be heard over the cacophony of nonsense.
All we had to do was show up.
Matt Carter
Russell Township
