It's Sunday morning, August 20, 2017.
Yesterday I spent several hours with Sue Skrovan doing the township's Fair Board for the Portage County Fair. For 51 weeks of the year, the board "lives" in the township hall, where anyone who attends a meeting can see it. For one week, it is in the Township Tent at the fair, along with those from most of the other townships in the county. Trustees and other township representatives put in a shift at the tent, usually. Vic always does on behalf of Mantua Township; not all throughout the county do.
For as long as I can remember, Sue has not only chosen and arranged the photographs on the board to show what the township has done during the past year, but she has also taken many to most of them. Vic has in the past taken some that show up on the board as well. He also made the large "sandwich board" that holds the heavy, framed and glassed shadow box for the display.
Yesterday we looked at the year's photos, took a few more, and then made up the new board. Sue is the brains in that; I cleaned the glass for the display board and then put photos on it as Sue designated.
It takes two people to move the board; Vic came by, and he and Sue did that so we could work on it. Then he went off to check on the work that had been done over at the school: the pad for the elevator had been poured, and so had the sidewalk to the entrance/lobby for the elevator.
A couple of things came to light when Vic did that--remember, this was a Saturday, and the job of trustee is defined by the State as "part time." I didn't ask what he did to remedy what he discovered. Part of it was that some work had been done which would have been better after the elevator cab had been delivered, an operation requiring heavy equipment and steel plating like we all see when some kinds of road work are being done. Vic has the plates.
Also, the building may have been left open, unless the crew was coming back after having had lunch.
So what's the point of this? The elevator is a major project, a major change for the building, and one involving many safety and security issues. Things and records are in that building that must be preserved and protected.
The fair board represents us to the rest of the county and whoever else comes to the fair.
At the August 17 meeting, John Festa commented that there were no photos of the veterans' memorial on the board. No offer to take any photos, or--something that would have been an interested, pro-active thing to do--no photos that he had taken to contribute to the board, and thus to the image the township presents in the county.
Nothing from Jason about either the fair board or the school, if I remember correctly.
Nope. But quietly and without fanfare, Vic and Sue took care of it. I'm not sure who will take the board to Randolph. The road crew has done it sometimes that I remember.
Here is my point: Forget about fine sounding sentiments at the meetings, which are on camera. Who is out there actually doing things that support the township, the things that everyone takes for granted?
Doing things--not just paperwork.
Vic and Sue.
And Vic does the paperwork, too. An example will show up in the blog for the August 17 meeting.
So, dear readers, think about the unseen things, easily taken for granted, that keep the township not just functioning, but living. Think about who does those things. And who just gives orders that they should be done.
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.
