Trustees fulfilled pledge to support home rule

Trustees fulfilled pledge to support home rule
EDITOR:
I am writing in response to a recent letter and article that appeared in The Vindicator. Both the letter and the article addressed the enactment of Limited Self Government by the Austintown Board of Trustees. There were a number of deficiencies in both.
First and foremost, the law applying to limited self government, or "home rule" as it is commonly referred to, has drastically changed since the last vote by township residents. To seek treatment differently under Ohio law from the 1,200 or so townships that are not over 15,000 in population, a township must first be a "Home Rule Township."
Second, the conditions of our community have brought to light some glaring deficiencies in our township's ability to address local issues. There is no federal or state law against alligator, crocodile or caiman ownership in residential areas. To exclude them as unwanted neighbors, we needed the limited self government afforded by Home Rule.
There has not been a single negative comment on the effect or impact of home rule on the residents of Austintown. Where are the catastrophes of home rule in Boardman or Howland? The truth is, there is nothing negative about having a tool available to address local issues on a local level. All three trustees who voted on home rule were elected in 2001. All three announced as part of their platform that they would vote to invoke home rule if elected.
I hope we can assume that the voters were just as informed when they elected these three trustees as they were when home rule was defeated by eight votes in 1997.
Hopefully, Austintown will recognize that these trustees kept their promises and will not be distracted by the anarchist and militia-minded residents who oppose all government in these United States.
WARREN "BO" PRITCHARD
Austintown
Taft's self-promotion wouldn't fly in California
EDITOR:
Out here on the West Coast, we have been seeing your governor, Bob Taft, on the airwaves quite a lot recently, all in the guise of promoting Ohio tourism. In fact, we see him on TV more often than even our own governor.
Funny thing, though, is that we never saw Taft's face on the tube here until just a few months ago. But, then, you do have an election this year.
Guess that's Taft idea of putting your tax dollars to work -- for his campaign, that is. National cable channels are seen in your state, too, after all.
Don't you people in Ohio have laws against that sort of self-promotion by an officeholder in state-paid ads? When our (now former) insurance commissioner did something similar here, he eventually resigned before he was impeached.
PHILIP ROBERTO
Los Angeles
Forces of evil conspire to remove God from schools
EDITOR:
A recent letter to the editor on intelligent design mirrors my thoughts exactly. Since our Supreme Court decided to throw out the Bible in the '60s and create everyday murder through abortion mills, we can see clearly what is happening to our public school systems.
It's been a dumbing down of our educational facilities ever since. The politically correct educated liberals of our state even have the audacity to accuse citizens who believe in creationism as nothing more than cult members. The only cult members are those teaching that we came from monkeys.
And for Christians to just stand back and let this happen to our state and to our educational facilities is a travesty.
WILLIAM R. GOTHARD
North Jackson