Democracy is Not a Game
Our local state senator, Sandra O’Brien, cosponsored Senate Joint Resolution 2 (SJR2), which was recently passed by the Ohio Legislature. It proposes several changes to the Ohio Constitution regarding public initiatives to amend that constitution:
- First, it raises the percentage of yea votes required for passage from a simple majority (50%) to 60%.
- Second, it eliminates current provisions which allow petitioners a 10-day period to respond with additional signatures to replace any deemed invalid.
- Third, it doubles the number of counties which petitioners must canvass (from 44 to all 88), significantly increasing the total number of signatures required.
Ohio’s current rules for grass-roots-led constitutional amendments have been in place for over a century. Changing these rules changes how our democracy works. The legislature has decided to hold a special election this August to try to rush these changes into effect. Why not wait until the November general election which would favor a larger voter turnout?
That, of course, is the point. Our state legislature, led in part by Senator O’Brien, wants to slip this referendum through quickly to try to torpedo a grass-roots pro-choice initiative targeted for November. The sponsors and supporters of SJR2 worry that they represent a minority opinion on the abortion issue, so they have chosen to modify the Ohio Constitution and democratic process to improve their chances.
Passions run high on the issue of legal abortion. But we also expect our legislators to be passionate about the democratic process, including its checks and balances. Is restricting the ability of our children and grandchildren to override unpopular actions by our statehouse appropriate? Is this the moral high ground?
Vote in August. And if, in the future, you see Senator O’Brien’s name on a ballot, remember SJR2.
Rich Sones
Munson Township
Ask Not for Whom the Bill is Due
Not much surprises me these days, particularly here in Ohio, where the former Speaker of the House — Republican Larry Householder — was recently convicted of accepting a $60 million bribe from First Energy, in exchange for passing a $1.3 billion bailout of their nuclear plant.
And yet, First Energy still gets to send me an electricity bill every month like nothing even happened.
A bill?! What happened to that $1.3 billion their Republican pals just stole from us?
But I digress. My mind has wandered and I’m starting to rant. This is Ohio. Corruption is rampant, greed is king and ideas like fairness and empathy grate on the nerves of the rich and powerful.
C’est la vie. C’est la guerre.
Jason Crawford
Auburn Township
Water Resources Fiasco
Someone in the county, be it the commissioners, board members, administrators , law enforcement or run of the mill employees needs to step up and take charge of this situation. Sort out what happened, why it happened, who is responsible, what needs to be done to fix it.
As it stands now, it all sounds like a poor re-make of Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First” routine.
The layers of supervision seem endless with very little real control being taken.
Dan Hercik
City of Chardon
Freedom
“Use it or lose it” applies to more than just foreign language. It also applies to our Freedoms and Liberties.
In Geauga County, as in the broader United States, we are seeing a battle play out between our foundational principles of personal liberties and the interests of what I’ll simply refer to as collectivism. All sorts of new double-speak has entered our lives. Being “safe,” for instance, has nothing to do with personal safety and now seems to apply universally to following rules.
Grassroots teams of patriotic Americans are referred to as “agitators” while well-funded, billionaire-backed outsiders are called “grassroots.” Racism is “racial justice,” crime is now pitched as seeking liberties, and worsening academic proficiency in schools is pitched as helping kids.
In jeopardy are our First Amendment, Second Amendment, public gatherings, seeking redress from our elected representatives and even our freedom to decide for ourselves what medical interventions are best, or a desire to raise family with a religious framework.
And we now face very real concerns about where to house the many millions of new illegal immigrants into the U.S. Many sources are reporting that the busses and planes heading out of our border states are primarily heading to Florida, Ohio and Texas. If true, this is a type of political warfare new to the United States.
We can look to Europe to see the implications of this . . . or parts of the United States that have become so heavily populated with people unaccustomed to our Freedoms & Liberties as to have effectively eschewed our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
There are now grave concerns about our once vaunted elections systems and the mechanisms behind it. Financial systems have been vastly corrupted.
It should come as a surprise to no one that the United States has enemies. Clearly, those enemies are no longer outside the proverbial gates. They operate within our borders. Large parts of our systems and the pillars of the United States are now in the control of people with keen interest in eliminating Freedoms and Liberties.
This is where the Republican Party should come in. We are the ones who fight for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
In Geauga County, as in much of the rest of the United States, the Democrat Party has moved far-Left and has been very busy pushing further Left. Meanwhile, the Republican Party have moved from scapegoat to . . . crickets. No newsletter, no comments on critical issues, no platform or positions, no subcommittees, no meetings or organizing, no social media.
I and people like me are sitting on all sorts of ideas, like ways to assure our 2nd Amendment Rights, but can go nowhere without a strong Republican Party. For my part, I am advocating for fundamental changes in local leadership. No, not me, I’m too much of a firebrand — and am now keenly interested in the citizen-led group that runs FortifyGeauga.com. They are doing the work that the Republican Party should be doing. Kudos to them!
Jonathan Broadbent
Newbury Township
Trash Bag Programs
Last December, Vivian Singer wrote a letter to the Chesterland News Editor about Waste Management discontinuing their Orange Bag program by the end of the year.
We studied, surveyed and scurried to find other options. One was Republic Services that had a similar Yellow Bag program. Guess what! They also will be discontinuing their service June 4.
These bag programs were a very inexpensive way to dispose of trash if you recycle or don’t have much to throw away. I generally only have a bag or less a month. Instead of paying $20-50/month on a weekly trash service, the bag programs could do it for $3-4.
Please take the survey below for an update about a potential alternate solution and to see if there is sufficient interest to move forward with it: https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/XcR9Jy
Please feel free to contract me if you have any comments, concerns, interest in helping/joining to find a better solution for disposing of our trash.
Ken Mantey
Chester Township
Munson Township vs. Munson Fire Department, Inc.
The SAGA continues…
Please don’t be fooled by the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
In this paper’s May 18 edition, Trustee McMullen made statements that are not entirely forthright and honest.
As I stated in a prior letter, there is enough blame to go around. Individuals, who the good citizens of Munson Township have placed their faith in, have let us down. Unfortunately, there is no way to make the unpleasant sound pleasant. The animosity toward members of the fire department still exists. It must be a primary obligation of our elected officials to remain objective and not seem conflicted.
As said previously, Trustees Bushman and McCaskey are level-headed and open to resolving any conflicts that might be embroiling the township and MFD. At the May 9, bi-monthly meeting of the Munson Trustees, Mr. McCaskey suggested numerous dates for a ‘Township and Fire Department workshop.’ It was Chairperson McMullen who procrastinated and didn’t want the workshop to be scheduled, citing a variety of reasons.
When challenged, Mrs. McMullen cited, “I want answers to my questions first.”
After Mr. McCaskey and Mr. Bushman inquired as to what questions Chairperson McMullen believed were not being answered, Chairperson McMullen could not, nor would she say.
Mrs. McMullen is one trustee of a three-member trustee government under which our township works. The remaining two trustees are Andrew Bushman and James McCaskey. Each trustee is elected to serve for a term of four years. One exercising logic would think that questions about the Munson Fire Department would be shared by all three trustees. This does not appear to entirely be the case since Trustees Bushman and McCaskey feel that a ‘workshop’ to discuss an impending levy to be in order.
Munson is extremely fortunate to have Chief Michael Vatty at its helm. One only needs to read a recent article about the Russell Township Fire Department and the number of their “unmanned” shifts due to a shortage of trained professionals to realize Munson Fire Department is truly fortunate and is not currently faced with this dilemma.
In the same edition, a reader read how a 4.9-mil levy in Bainbridge Township failed during a ‘special election.’ Once again, Munson is truly fortunate. Trustees Bushman and McCaskey want to exercise prudence and good judgement. They propose a ‘workshop’ now to decide the need and prompt manner for a proposed levy. A levy issue (costing taxpayers much less than the Bainbridge levy) would be on the ballot for the November 2023 general election.
If Mrs. McMullen succeeds, the township will not be so fortunate. Mrs. McMullen states, “Munson Township is entitled to have all residents decide for themselves appropriate levels for essential services.”
Mrs. McMullen writes a good argument. However, in practice she balked at Mr. McCaskey wanting to set a date for a ‘workshop’ to discuss the potential need for a levy. Mrs. McMullen’s reluctance might be in part because she may be up for re-election and for whatever reason she does not want her name to appear on the ballot with a levy?
Mrs. McMullen wants her cake and to eat it, too.
Munson is truly fortunate to have at its service a well-trained professional fire and emergency medical service staff that is always there for the residents regardless of hour or need. Singing praises about one’s character publicly and then making baseless accusations at a public meeting are two extreme opposites. McMullen recently had the audacity to question the professional development course work obtained by our firefighters. There is no racism or sexism as alleged by Mrs. Mullen. There is a real debate as to the level and quality of services which our township currently has and to what extent those services are to be supported.
As I spoke publicly before and will say so here: Munson residents deserve to have the best trained, well educated, professional and courteous fire personnel and paramedics possible, and furthermore, they deserve to know those services will be given as expediently as possible.
Glenn Kinter
Munson Township
Beware “Reproductive Freedom” Ballot Initiative
There are many nice looking, pleasant people all over asking registered voters to sign their ballot initiative for what they call “Reproductive Freedom.” I had one of these people come up to me for a signature. They politely made the above statement about “reproductive freedom” and a statement like “this initiative is only to get this on the ballot.” I declined to sign, and many people were signing.
Please make sure you understand what this initiative is all about so you can have informed consent about what you are being asked to sign.
Below are the items that this amendment would allow:
- It would make abortion a fundamental right, sweeping away all current laws to protect babies from abortion.
- It would allow kids to have abortions without parental consent.
- It would provide legal protection for those who coerce girls into abortion.
- It uses vague language that would open the door to children pursuing other procedures, like sex-change surgeries, without parental consent.
Don’t take my word for it. Look it up yourself at: https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/petitions
Sharon Madger
Hambden Township
Making of Informed Citizens
At the May meeting of the Chardon School Board, one of the members of the board objected to the inclusion of a social studies textbook in the eighth-grade curriculum, citing many problems, from his viewpoint, with the introduction to the teacher’s edition.
His objection was part of a larger debate, within the Chardon school system, about the role of teaching racial, ethnic, class and gender diversity in the middle-school and high-school curriculum.
I was struck by his approach: his commendable industry, conscientiousness and close attention to detail, qualities he has demonstrated throughout his tenure on the board. I was also struck by two features of his presentation that I found less praiseworthy.
First, at the end of his presentation, he declared the introduction to the textbook included principles of Critical Race Theory, or CRT. Yet, when another member of the board asked him to define CRT, he drew a blank.
I was taken aback. If one is going to condemn a book for embracing CRT, especially when that criticism is the speaker’s big takeaway, then one ought to be able to define that legal theory, at least in general terms. In fact, in its references to racism as structural and systemic, the introduction does allude to the fundamental premises of CRT, but in a form so watered down as to be, in my view, unobjectionable.
Second, and more troubling, the board member wondered whether this textbook, which encourages students to question authority, might lead to “anarchy” in the classroom. This reaction seems to me unnecessarily fearful, alarmist and dystopian.
I can remember moments in my middle-school and high-school education when teachers urged students to think for themselves, to question received opinion on social issues. In my years as a college teacher, discussions I had with students about the occasional controversial subject proceeded without ever fomenting anarchy in the classroom.
Ironically, in the May meeting of the school board, the board member himself questioned the authority of teachers in recommending this textbook, yet the debate that ensued was civil and respectful — far from the chaos he envisioned might erupt in the middle-school setting.
Granted, the members of the school board are mature adults, but eighth-grade students are mature enough to challenge conventional wisdom without staging a revolt. Our middle-schoolers are not seething rebels or reckless flamethrowers; they are normally — at least within the bounds of a well-managed classroom — decent, polite and respectful of others, capable of carrying on vigorous but civil conversations about, for example, racism in our society. It’s essential that these conversations occur to prepare our students to be active, informed citizens engaged, once they graduate, in the hard, daily task of making our nation a more perfect union.
John McBratney
Munson Township
