When Robert Moody concluded his remarks, Frank Horack raised his hand. Mark refused to do a round robin, but held to the one-chance, five-minutes-per-person rule for public comment.
Larry Parsons: My question is that you have to do various things at the school to keep things going. This guy [Robert Moody] has been complaining about this [noise] for three years. Why not take a day for this gentleman?
Vic commented that the road crew has not been working at the school. [Blogger's note: I have been at almost every meeting for more than three years, and I do not remember Mr. Parsons being in regular attendance during that time. He may have been there and simply not commented, but I don't remember seeing him.]
Larry Lietzow: I wasn't going to say anything, but it's been four years [that Mr. Moody has been complaining.]
Vic--why can't you just go back there and drive a couple of posts in the ground? (This was Larry addressing Vic.)
Blogger: The rest of Larry's public comment was typical: he asked Vic a question and as soon as Vic got about three words out, Larry interrupted and overrode him. From what I have seen, heard, and learned, there is more to some of the situations to deal with and problems to solve regarding people's issues than Larry has taken the time to learn about. As I understand it, the aerator area has a number of underground pipes, and just walking over and driving some posts into the ground, willy-nilly, could do some damage. The pipes' locations have been marked.
Here's my take on it: This was a chance for Larry to appear to be taking someone's part--but it gave him a way to bully Vic. Doubtless something could have been and possibly should have been done before now. I wonder, though, if doing that would have meant that something else would have been delayed--thus giving another chance to beat up on Vic and Mark. Monday morning quarterbacks are always heroes, while the guys on the field on game day are bumbling fools on Monday. Right.
Lynn Harvey, Larry Houck, and Steve Zielinski had no comments.
Carole Pollard, 5359 Allyn Road: My remarks tonight have been a long time coming and are the result of much observation and reflection.
People with a long history with the Township say that, although at times in the past meetings could get contentious, they were not ugly.
With the 2009 election, everything changed. Things got ugly and have stayed ugly.
An anonymous letter full of inaccuracies, venom, and lies was mailed to a large number of Township residents. The meeting in which the sitting trustees were to choose a successor to complete Steve Oros' unexpired term was as close to a mob as I want to get.
Since then, a number of other anonymous letters have been inflicted on various people in the Township. Those letters, too, are full of lies. One was, in addition, so threatening that its recipient gave a lawyer a list of names to follow up on in the even of harm or worse.
Bagfuls of dead, split-open fish--stinking and maggoty--were dumped at the school during the hottest part of the summer.
A sandwich board announcing the Open House disappeared--the only time in years of that kind of announcement when the sign disappeared.
A particularly stomach-turning letter went to members of the Open House Committee--but not to all of them. One letter went to someone completely disconnected from the committee, but a well-known talker who this time remained silent.
The Open House was a smoke screen. Only five of the seven members of the committee received that letter. Why only five? Each of those five had criticized or opposed Jason in some way. That fact narrows the possible senders to a very small number--more than one, but a small number nevertheless.
Jason, this ugliness came in when you were elected. Since then, Mark and Vic have been bullied to the point of being brutalized in meetings. The lies, the packed meetings, the harassment, the anonymous, hate-filled letters whose writers if known could be charged with libel--all of that came in when you were elected.
Are you doing that? Of course not. But it's being done. For two years, you have said nothing to bring even a small degree of civility to meetings. You have told Terri Vechery and me to lower our voices. You have not reminded anybody else to curb their remarks, their venom, or their tongues. You have not told anyone muttering or sneering in the back of the room to be quiet while someone else was speaking.
I was going to mention people's names but decided not to, so the remarks I was going to make [and started to make] are irrelevant.
Silence is the equivalent of approval.
The effect is chilling. People who used to come to meetings stay away because of the poisonous atmosphere.
Fine people who at one time anticipated serving the Township--their home, after all--want no part of public service now. It has been made too painful.
None of that is my opinion. It is observation or the result of conversation with the people involved.
People had hoped for better [two years ago.] They didn't get it.
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.
