NOACA’s ‘Tyrannical Communist Grip’
Danielle Render, of NOACA, is either misinformed, willfully ignorant or has the compunction to lie directly to the residents of Geauga County with a straight face.
In her response to the Maple Leaf’s request for comment last week, she makes the dubious claim that NOACA is tasked with “environmental planning” and it is under that alleged purview that they are developing this asinine climate action plan.
I was skeptical of NOACAs mandate to shove climate change down our collective gullets and a very brief search led me to ODOTs MPO administration manual. A quick search yielded not a single mention of the word climate in the manual.
Maybe the palpable disdain these Marxists show for rural and conservative populations renders (no pun intended) them incapable of considering that we can independently verify or debunk the lies they spew forth. The only mandate in the administrative manual that could be remotely related to climate is something called “congestion mitigation and air quality,” but that is related to clean air act compliance via E-Check, and no more.
As mentioned by others, NOACAs job is supposed to be roads and bridges; they and only they have taken it about themselves to conflate and shoehorn the ever illusive “climate change” with transportation infrastructure.
Their true goal is to usurp local land use planning authority, and that fact is deeply troubling when considered in tandem with Mr. Dvorak’s no vote last week on the reappointment of a county planning commission member based on her rebuke of NOACA.
Our elected officials are either apathetic to NOACA or will lead us to believe that we have no choice but to continue our membership. The former is disappointing, the latter is simply untrue.
Geauga County could absolutely leave the tyrannical communist grip of NOACA if our elected officials had the appetite to fight for their constituents and put in the hard work necessary to achieve such an outcome.
If they are unwilling or unable, then maybe we need to elect officials who will.
Chris Alusheff
Aquilla Village
‘Do You Job!’
This past week, the nation reached the debt limit without action by Congress to raise the debt ceiling. A few facts:
Raising the debt limit allows the nation to service existing debt obligations, which have been incurred as a result of past authorizations, not to enable new spending.
A great deal of that debt exists because of massive tax cuts the Republican congress voted on in 2017 and President Trump signed into law, tax cuts that largely benefited wealthy people and left working and middle-class Americans behind. Republicans promised the tax cuts “would pay for themselves” in economic growth. Guess what? They lied.
Now it is time to raise the debt limit to pay off all the debt incurred — tax cuts, COVID rebates, stimulus, etc.
Where are the Republicans now? Raiding social programs like social security, medicare, medicaid and the defense budget that pays our military and protects our veterans.
Make no mistake: Republican members of congress are planning to take money out of the pockets of hard-working, struggling, middle-class Americans, seniors and veterans to pay for the generous giveaways they offered their rich friends and campaign contributors. It’s just that simple.
I, for one, am fed up with the nonsense of holding the economy hostage every time an opposing congress wants to make a sitting president look bad. A recession hurts us all. Congress (this means you, Dave Joyce!), raise the debt ceiling and then get on to the business of helping everyday Americans by addressing inflation, jobs, immigration and healthcare.
Do your job!
Caroline A. Kovac
Chardon Township
Open, Receptive, Responsive
In a recent letter to the editor from Anthony Zaffiro, the issue of the number and time of meetings for the West Geauga School Board was raised. This was the first time this board or any of its members have discussed this issue. It was decided to bring this back for a full discussion at the next regularly scheduled school board meeting.
All regularly scheduled West Geauga School Board meetings have always been held, and will continue to be held, in the evening at 7 p.m. The only other regular meetings that have been held at other times are committee meetings.
Mr. Zaffiro stated this “board … already has a reputation for being unresponsive, out-of-touch and secretive.” To my knowledge, every time either Mr. Zaffiro or his wife have communicated with board members or administrators of the district they have been treated with respect, quickly responded to and invited to meet with board members and administrators to address their concerns.
They have made over 13 requests for documents amounting to hundreds of pages, and all have respectfully, not secretively, been provided to them.
The most recent example of this timely responsiveness is the email that I sent after receiving a communication from Mrs. Zaffiro concerning the meeting issue. My immediate response, and I quote, “Thank you Erica for your input and feedback on the question of the number of board meetings per month. I will make sure they are taken into consideration when we discuss this issue. Sincerely, Kathy Leavenworth”
This is all indicative of the openness, receptiveness and responsiveness of the West Geauga Board and Administration.
Kathy Leavenworth, Member
West Geauga Schools Board of Education
What Do You Say, Commissioners?
My hats off to Geauga Park District for purchasing a parcel of land adjacent to their existing Rookery Park. Hopefully they will do more of this land protection of fast-disappearing natural areas in our county before they turn into parking lots, housing developments, etc.
Land protection should be a #1 priority rather than the parks existing priority being spending millions on buildings, flagpoles, recreation, amusements and the like. Perhaps the two new park commissioners will show leadership in heading the park district in that proper direction. Many of us are also hoping they will show initiative in proposing to allow questions and comments at monthly public park commissioners meetings.
What do you say commissioners? Time for some “freedom of speech” or continued tape over the mouth of us county residents?
John G. Augustine
Parkman Township
