Support Chester Police & Fire
As a child, I grew up in Philadelphia. Playing ball in the streets right outside my row home couldn’t have been any better. My home was actually 18-feet wide X 30-feet deep, attached to 30 other identical houses facing 30 identical houses. As a child, I thought about kids growing up in the country and felt sorry for them.
Following college at Kent State, my wife, Gloria, and I chose to move to Chesterland. Wow, what a change in my lifestyle. Raising two children here, Chelsea and Brody, has been an absolute blessing. So many activities to choose from, a great school district, fabulous neighbors, Kiwanis, Lions and Rotary that all support the residents of Chesterland with community events, a park board that runs the best park in Geauga County (Parkside), a government that does what is best for the community and the police and fire departments that help and protect us 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.
This is our 40th year residing in Chesterland and we feel so lucky that we chose to live in this community. It takes a village to raise a child and what a great place to live with all the supports available.
On the upcoming ballot, there will be an opportunity to support our Chesterland fire and police departments.
Let’s continue to keep Chesterland safe by supporting our police and fire departments in this upcoming election. Vote yes on the two renewal fire levies and the one new continuing levy for our police department. I know I will.
BTW, I’ve witnessed that children growing up in Chesterland are much different than the ones growing up in the big city. Sure glad we chose Chesterland.
Barry Leven
Chester Township
Stone, Berman & Wadsworth for Berkshire
I am writing to endorse Linda Stone, Dan Berman and Bryan Wadsworth for the Berkshire School Board.
As a retired educator and mother to three Berkshire graduates, I understand, and have witnessed firsthand, the necessity of a strong educational background for success in the world today. I am grateful for the outstanding education Berkshire Schools provided for my children that has allowed them to be successful.
Under the leadership of Linda Stone, Dan Berman and Bryan Wadsworth, Berkshire will continue to be an innovative school that offers many pathways to success for students.
The track record of this team clearly speaks for itself. Each candidate has worked tirelessly creating the great new facility our students now have access to. They have worked with local businesses creating partnerships and generating grants. This team believes in giving all students opportunities for success after high school, preparing them for college, trade schools or the work force.
In a world of uncertainty and stress, this team also believes the mental health of each student is critical. I was pleased to learn the number of counselors has been increased, and a social worker is present in the building, along with a resource officer, and possibly, a second officer. Security measures are constantly being evaluated and upgraded.
The most important quality this team possesses, other than valuable experience, is their ability to problem solve and work calmly and rationally with all members of the community as issues inevitably come up. This is critical for a positive school and community relationship.
I urge voters to look at all of the accomplishments this team has had with their work in the school and community. A vote for this team will enable Berkshire to continue to care for our children and give them the strong foundation they deserve.
Jackie Arnold
Burton
Responders & Non-Responders
Very perspicacious questions and responses from Dan Berman, Timothy H. Snyder, Linda Stone and Bryan Wadsworth.
Valentino did not return a Maple Leaf election questionnaire and Hunter chose not to respond to the questions, but returned the questionnaire.
For Kenston BOE, Joseph Deboth and Daniel Tutolo, chose not to respond.
The non-responders are probably Trump cult members. However, they will still receive votes.
Will they even vote for themselves? Maybe they will think and say the election was rigged and/or stolen.
As Tom Stoppard (1972) said: It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.
David Hancock
Chester Township
Munson: Three Good Choices
Until recently, Munson Township trustees meetings have been a center for cooperation and comity. Then, unfounded accusations surfaced ahead of the upcoming election. This was unfortunate and unhelpful. With two very necessary levies on the Munson ballot — one for fire/EMS, the other for road maintenance — voters may not understand what is going on and simply vote against these levies.
Munson trustee-candidate Nate McDonald strongly supports these two levies and recognizes the value these two township services provide. But there’s lots more to McDonald. He will work to secure the many available grants. This will help Munson augment the monies these levies provide.
Moreover, McDonald is skilled at collaboration, the ability to bring people together and get a consensus on issues. He looks toward long-term planning. This will serve Munson well for long-term budgeting and saving the community money.
As an attorney, he will be able to navigate the many laws and rules that apply to the township and county. The ability to read and understand laws and regulations will save the township many potential headaches.
Munson residents have three good choices. Vote for Nate McDonald, the fire levy and the road levy.
David Partington
Munson Township
Vote NO to Issue 1
“How Do You Kill 11 MILLION PEOPLE?” is a book that explores the idea of how people could kill 11 million other people in Nazi German, 61 million in the Soviet Union or 3 million in North Korea. How do normal people accept murdering their fellow citizens? I recommend the book. The answer it offered was “you lie to them.”
The German Nazi government lied to their citizens and dehumanized a whole group of people (Jewish). The German people accepted the lies and millions died. The Soviet Union created classes of people and pitted one against another (sound familiar). The result, millions died. All based on lies.
A few years ago, I was visiting Germany and had dinner with an older German couple. They were not Nazis, but lived through the war in Germany. They apologized to me and my wife because they did not stand up against what they knew was evil and wrong. I didn’t understand why they would apologize to me and my wife. But thinking about it, I realized they were so filled with guilt that they needed to seek forgiveness where they could find it.
We are now seeing our culture filled with so many obvious lies it is stunning. What is more stunning is people accept these lies. Some say an unborn child is not a life and millions have died (63 million since 1972) by abortions. How could this be? Are American so easily misled?
James Garfield issued a warning, ”the people are responsible for the character of Congress . . . if ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because people tolerate it (paraphrased).”
Vladimir Lenin used the masses “useful idiots” . . . and he and Stalin collapsed a regime and millions died. How do lies have power? Because people support the lies.
A man is a man; a woman is a woman. An unborn baby is a life. These are irrefutable truths.
The universe requires us to design our lives around ultimate truth or chaos is created. We are living this chaos today. We know that a life is created at conception and ending that life is wrong. Your DNA defines your gender and that cannot be changed. You can change appearance, but not the DNA that defines you.
Individual liberty is a gift from God and our government was created to protect it, and not to give us stuff or enforce fairness.
Issue 1 is built on lies; it is evil and it is immoral. If passed, the outcomes will be destruction of parental rights, abortion on demand up to birth, abortion for minors without parental involvement, sexual mutilation for all, including minors without parental approval or involvement. Reading the ballot language reveals the truth.
I appeal to all those reading this to search your hearts; you know what is true. Vote NO to issue 1 to uphold truth and to protect our kids and our society. If you support killing innocent life or corrupting children, you will someday need to apologize to relieve your guilt.
Walter “Skip” Claypool
Chester Township
Why a New Vision for Berkshire Schools?
I am thankful our Berkshire communities came together a few years ago and passed a levy that showed how much we support the future of children and our school by providing the necessary local funds for our new campus.
Those same Berkshire communities now have an opportunity, with our votes, to demand our school perform to a standard of excellence that should be expected when our students attend a new state of the art building. The time has come for our current Berkshire Board of Education and Administration to stop excusing their failing performance. Berkshire is currently ranked 387 out of 607 school districts in Ohio, which is well below the 50% line.
Current administration claims the focus is on preparing our students for their future beyond graduation. However, recent reports from Ohio Department of Education show a different result. Berkshire’s College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness results show a drop from 51.8% in 2021/2022 to 43.9% in 2022/2023. These results are not aligning with the promises and need to change.
Many of us personally know all of the candidates for Berkshire School Board, but when casting your ballot, I’m asking you to consider the following questions:
- What type of Board Member will this person be and will they work for excellence or settle for mediocrity?
- Will this person lead our Administrative team and School Staff to improve our school, or will they continue to follow the Administration that has led us to lower scores and a decreased readiness for life after graduation?
- How will my vote impact the future of our Berkshire students today and in the future?
As a Berkshire graduate, parent and grandparent of Berkshire graduates, I am asking you to do your homework and research the facts. Do not rely on someone else’s opinion, but attend one or all of the upcoming community meetings and meet the candidates to decide for yourself.
I believe if you do that you will agree with me that it’s time for a change on our school board. A vote for Valentino, Hunter and Snyder will provide a new vision for Berkshire Schools. Visit newvisionforberkshireschools.com for links to the Ohio Department of Education Reports on Berkshire Local School District.
Ken Burnett
Burton Township
Berman, Stone, Wadsworth Up to the Task
On Nov. 7, Berkshire voters can cast our ballots for three candidates in the board of education race. We hope you’ll join us in voting for Dan Berman, Linda Stone and Bryan Wadsworth. All three have shown leadership as Berkshire alums who have remained active in our school.
Dan, a dad of two future Badgers, was the treasurer of the successful levy campaign that enabled our community to build a state-of-the-art school campus for our kids. He also attended many meetings to establish our community’s vision of what the students’ education should look like.
Linda is a retired teacher and current board member who worked along with Dan and Bryan to pass the levy and, with them, is a member of the Berkshire Educational Foundation, which helps raise funds for the arts, athletics and technology.
Bryan, also running for re-election, is the father of two current Berkshire students.
Together with the rest of the current BOE, Linda, Bryan and the administration have much of which to be proud.
- They negotiated with KSU to obtain almost 42 acres of land at no cost to Berkshire taxpayers.
- They started the Berkshire Early Childhood Center and will partner with Footsteps2Brilliance, both for early literacy support.
- New math and English/Language Arts programs have also been funded along with summer reading and math camps.
- They strengthened our Career Education programs (Medical Assisting with KSU and Certified Production Technician and Diesel Mechanics with Auburn Career Center).
- College Credit Plus offerings that bring down the cost of college for Berkshire families have also been expanded.
Dan, Linda and Bryan all support the multi-layered school safety plan developed under the current board with guidance from a retired HSA agent. They realize that the plan, along with technology in the school, will evolve over time and will always need to be monitored.
We think Berman, Stone and Wadsworth are up to the task. Please give them your vote.
Mark and Ellen Edeburn
Burton
Theft of Election Signs
As the date of our next election on Nov. 7 approaches, it has become apparent there is a systematic dismissiveness of our right to post signs expressing our candidates/issues of choice.
What has ensued is a massive amount of signage being stolen and/or replaced.
Would everyone take this problem more seriously if they were aware this is considered criminal mischief and a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable with a fine and up to 180 days in jail? Food for thought…
Christine Stenzel
Munson Township
Munson: Is it Kinter or McDonald?
I believe choosing the best candidate for Munson is critical. Munson desperately needs strong decisive leadership to stop “kicking any decision down the road.”
We need leadership that invites input from the residents and directly returning answers to their questions in meetings. Sharing ideas results in good results. If Andy Bushman can do it, why can’t others?
After attending over 175 Munson Township trustees meetings since August 2016, I know Munson needs help. Help to be more fiscally responsible while carefully planning at least five years forward.
We need to choose wisely by comparing the candidates.
- Both are longtime residents of Munson.
- Both want to keep Munson rural.
- Both want us to pass our fire and road levies.
- Kinter has significantly more township experience because he is currently on the Munson Parks & Recreation Board and because he has real-time knowledge from attending Munson Township trustees meetings since last year, while McDonald has only been to a few recent ones.
- Kinter should have more time to serve Munson residents, 24/7, because he is a retired teacher with no young children to help raise, while McDonald will have less time because he is a bread-winning lawyer with a young family that will require integration of demands of a family.
- With both candidates capable of the job, I see Kinter getting the final point, because I would rather vote for a teacher over another lawyer.
To learn more, I met individually with each for several hours. Scheduling time with McDonald was more difficult because of his other commitments, supporting my concerns about his availability 24/7.
However, both were eager to learn while admitting they will need significant training to get up to speed. But, I was concerned that neither has:
– read the Ohio Township Handbook, which covers it all,
– attended “other” township trustees meetings to compare our procedures,
– expressed understanding tax levies or the cost versus service level relationship,
– experience understanding the laws governing only townships,
– had an opportunity to co-govern an operation with three CEOs that do not compromise well.
Both are good candidates, however,
I will be voting for Kinter. His township experience and time availability to serve Munson has my vote.
Please vote for Kinter this time, knowing that if he does not live up to your expectations, McDonald should be more than ready with experience to get your vote.
Rich Ferlin
Munson Township
