On Saturday, April 9, Sue Skrovan and I set off to visit village and township halls and old schools in the county, gathering information for the Open House (date TBA, but we're moving towards it).
We saw many, although not all, and we came home sobered, thoughtful, touched, and sometimes saddened.
We're glad we went, because now we understand what the Mantua Township Trustees and Fiscal Officer (Victor Grimm, Connie Leedom, Steve Oros, Marie Stehli) set in motion in 2004 by purchasing the Center School.
What they did was give the residents of the township a vision rooted in our past and reaching into our future.
We came back knowing that what we have, thanks to them, is a jewel, something that we saw NOWHERE else in our travels.
Most of the township and village halls are modest, functional frame buildings, some proudly dating to the 1800's, like ours. Almost none, including a new purpose-built structure, are in the centers of their communities.
The fate of the vacated schools saddened us. One site still has demolition equipment and some rubble on it. Those purchased by private owners are clearly not doing well. One has been vandalized. All of them are merely concrete or masonry boxes with windows.
By striking contrast, this is what we in Mantua Township have:
We have the oldest school building in the county, I believe. But that building, concrete from foundations to bell tower, was built on stable land. Nothing has shifted in a hundred years. We can expect it still to be sound in another hundred years.
We have a building that was immediately taken over by the trustees when it was vacated. Thus, it has been maintained for its whole life. It never fell into disrepair, although of course it needs attention.
We have a building which predates the soulless efficiency of the box. Its design traces back to the proportions of Greek temples and reminds us of the roots of our democracy.
We have a building clearly visible at the very center of the township. The area defined by the Civic Center on the south to the north edge of the school property recalls the commons of the New England villages where we were born as a nation. People identify it that way: "Oh, that pretty little New England commons." One other community wants to develop their own center to emulate ours.
We have a building of over 18,000 square feet which can house the township business and records offices; meeting space for trustees and zoning; assembly area for all sorts of larger gatherings, including emergency shelter; and education/day care for children. It has its own water and sewage systems. It is large enough to be able to fill future needs and growth.
No other township that Sue and I visited has all of that in one place, one building.
We are convinced of these things:
In the Center School, what we in Mantua Township have is a heart, geographically, functionally, and symbolically.
What we have is a treasure.
About This Blog
The purpose of this blog is to give an accurate account of what is said during Public Comment at Mantua Township Trustees meetings.
Trustees' decisions are in the official minutes, available on request from the Mantua Township Fiscal Officer, Jodi Thompson, at 330-274-8443. The Township charges 10 cents per page. FAX, 330-274-8447. E-mail, fiscalofficer@mantuatownshipohio.gov. The minutes are also posted on the website after they have been approved. That means that there is usually a two-week lag between a given meeting and the minutes being available to read on the website.
Since meetings are the first and third Thursdays of the month, there is a three-week wait during months with five Thursdays.
Other items of interest or the writer's opinions will be included from time to time, clearly identified.
This is not a forum or chat room, but a source of information, so it is closed to outside input.
During the time I have been doing the blog, the posts have expanded to become very detailed accounts of the meetings. Doing that is time consuming, to say the least, and I am going to try to return to the public comment focus, with background and perspective (and the occasional pointed editorial comment). Such additions are usually enclosed in brackets. However, since some extended accounts of the meetings reveal significant things--and character--better than I could by commenting, there will probably still be a fair amount of semi-transcript. (Sigh.)
My thanks to the readers who have found the blog, and to the ones who from time to time tell me that they value it. You have encouraged me when the tedious work of keyboarding has made me wonder why I am doing this. Then you have reminded me, and I am grateful.
Trustees' decisions are in the official minutes, available on request from the Mantua Township Fiscal Officer, Jodi Thompson, at 330-274-8443. The Township charges 10 cents per page. FAX, 330-274-8447. E-mail, fiscalofficer@mantuatownshipohio.gov. The minutes are also posted on the website after they have been approved. That means that there is usually a two-week lag between a given meeting and the minutes being available to read on the website.
Since meetings are the first and third Thursdays of the month, there is a three-week wait during months with five Thursdays.
Other items of interest or the writer's opinions will be included from time to time, clearly identified.
This is not a forum or chat room, but a source of information, so it is closed to outside input.
During the time I have been doing the blog, the posts have expanded to become very detailed accounts of the meetings. Doing that is time consuming, to say the least, and I am going to try to return to the public comment focus, with background and perspective (and the occasional pointed editorial comment). Such additions are usually enclosed in brackets. However, since some extended accounts of the meetings reveal significant things--and character--better than I could by commenting, there will probably still be a fair amount of semi-transcript. (Sigh.)
My thanks to the readers who have found the blog, and to the ones who from time to time tell me that they value it. You have encouraged me when the tedious work of keyboarding has made me wonder why I am doing this. Then you have reminded me, and I am grateful.
Principles
Two ideas guide and support me:
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
______Attributed to Edmund Burke
GOOD PREVAILS.
Those ideas are also the reason I have been doing the blog since late February 2011.
I have discovered that a transcript is almost impossible to do and that verbatim accounts are usually not absolutely necessary. When in doubt, I check against a recording.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
______Attributed to Edmund Burke
GOOD PREVAILS.
Those ideas are also the reason I have been doing the blog since late February 2011.
I have discovered that a transcript is almost impossible to do and that verbatim accounts are usually not absolutely necessary. When in doubt, I check against a recording.
