Letters to the Editor
Opaque Leadership
With the days of a gorgeous summer slowly winding down, I would very much like to learn how effective the GPD’s advertising campaign has been?
Even more importantly, I would like help in understanding why the leadership of the Geauga Park District felt a campaign advertising our parks outside of Geauga County was even needed or even a priority?
This advertising ran on Sports Time Ohio (STO) and local television stations across Northeast Ohio. This was apparently Probate Judge Grendell’s idea and was “rubber stamped” by his park commissioners at an estimated cost of between $150,000 and $180,000 to Geauga County citizens. I have little doubt that I was not the only person surprised to see these ads between innings of the Indians games (and yes, amongst the bucolic images of our beloved Geauga parks, there was also a photo of our probate judge.)
But this convoluted use and abuse of tax monies by the probate judge and handpicked commissioners — with a cumulative service to the park board of approximately 24 months — leads me to ask yet another question on behalf of the taxpayer in Geauga County: Why has the “open questions by the public” agenda item of the monthly commissioners meetings been eliminated?
Also, why are written requests to the Geauga Parks Director John Oros not answered?
Our county park district is the only park district in the state of Ohio’s 56 districts to have ” no open public question” on their agenda. Why is that?
Last February, Mr. Grendell wrote at length about the concept of fairness, due process and the law. The elimination of the “public comment and questions” from the park board’s meetings runs completely counter to Grendell’s tutorial to those of us who desire “transparency” in the governance of our park district.
It would be apparent the general “overreach” of this probate judge has manifested itself in an insurrection of sorts in Russell and now the Chester park districts, too.
The “opaque decision-making mind set” of this probate judge demeans the ideas of fairness, due process and the law.
I applaud Protect Geauga Parks for continuing to “shine a light” on this sad “opaque” leadership of the Geauga Parks since the tragic death of Probate Judge Chip Henry in 2011.
Bill Franz
Bainbridge Township
Get Involved
We are only months away from a historic election and I am very worried. I am worried because even though our country is deeply in debt, we are hurtling head long into the abyss of more debt. My worry comes from things I see right here in Geauga County.
Even when people are elected or appointed who want to find ways to save tax money, those who elect them protest. I have seen good people like Linda O’Brien and Charles Butters who are appointed and serving without pay, vilified and why, because they dared to ask “Can we afford this?” and “How will we continue to maintain this?”
Only two months into their appointment to the Russell Park Board, they were given the opportunity to vote on the Modroo Farm sale. I want to know who lives in Russell who bought their property without a written appraisal, who bought their property knowing they didn’t have the money to pay for it, who bought their property not knowing what they would do with it once they got it?
Yet, because Linda and Charles asked these questions they were subjected to derision. When they did agree to enter into negotiations to purchase the property, they were not congratulated, no, they were presented with the prospect of the formation of an additional Park Board for Russell Township.
Recently, the Park Board was criticized for wanting to employ a lawyer to look over the contract to buy the Modroo property. To me, hiring a lawyer is basic due diligence and demonstrates financial accountability.
At the county level, our Commissioners are continually berated for asking questions about budgets or contracts with outside agencies. One such incident was the tempest over water monitoring and the contract with the U.S. Geological Service. At a meeting in Russell regarding this, one commissioner, Skip Claypool, was barely allowed to speak to the issue.
The commissioners were not invited to be part of the panel and Mr. Claypool was berated because a misleading announcement, which he did not write or send, was made regarding the meeting.
At the federal level, we now are faced with the prospect of electing Hillary Clinton, who has never seen a government program that couldn’t do better by being bigger and using more of our tax money. She has used her office to enrich herself, selling her influence and access. Mr. and Mrs. Clinton set up a foundation that was the middleman in these transactions, funneling money for foreign governments, foreign businessmen, Clinton cronies, dictators and countries with abysmal human rights records, to get special access from the State Department.
We owe it to our children and grandchildren to be better informed citizens. If you want to know more about Mrs. Clinton, please watch the movie ‘Clinton Cash” on Brietbart.com.
If you want to know more about your local and county government, go to a Russell Township Park Board meeting or Commissioners’ meeting. Get involved and learn the facts for yourself.
Elsie Tarczy
South Russell Village
