Wrong message sent

Wrong message sent
EDITOR:
I am a dumbfounded voter who voted to renew the Jackson-Milton school levies. I can't help but wonder why the majority of voters would turn these renewals down. What were they thinking?
How nice for the future of our children. I'm sure that our votes have given the children a lot of incentive to work very hard toward their future. Too bad we didn't have such a support system when we attended school.
I am ashamed and shocked that this community is so ignorant of the facts and so against the education of our children. How many of them have taken the time to walk the halls of Jackson-Milton? There is a lot of talent and pride hanging on those walls. It is a terrible thing that our community would vote to watch them crumble.
LORI BENNETT
Lake Milton
Composure in victory
EDITOR:
I was delighted to hear that Tim Ryan won the election for Congress as I watched the election results on WFMJ's morning show Wednesday.
My bigger delight came when Scott Schneider gave Tim a chance to say one thing to Vindicator columnist Bertram de Souza, who was in the studio while Tim was standing in Niles in the rain. Through-out the entire election, I was very proud of how Congressman-elect Ryan reacted to some of the nasty, stupid things being said about him by his opponent and also by de Souza in his column.
Rather than taking this golden opportunity to let de Souza have it, he stood his ground and said the best thing about winning is that de Souza will have something to write about in his column.
Congratulations to Congressman-elect Ryan on his composure and maturity during a long and sometimes dirty campaign.
CAROL J. MANNING
Youngstown
Questions about wisdom
EDITOR:
I wish Tim Ryan the best for his future and for all of us in the Valley. However, I am still perplexed by the "Youngstown mentality" regarding single-minded, single party voting, even in light of all the corruption we have recently had to deal with.
It is long past time for some circumspection, but I doubt it will ever happen in this region.
Will people here ever learn that character, qualifications, experience and integrity really matter? I always thought that during political campaigns, these were the qualities that should be compared to see how each candidate measures up. There is no point in bringing out the list again now, because now it no longer matters.
We can only hope that Tim Ryan will surprise the judge who told him he did not feel that rehabilitation in his case was demonstrated. As a philosopher once said, "A man who has at one time been very foolish will at no other time be very wise." Let's hope this turns out not to be true. Let's hope also that in future elections we give more weight to things that really matter rather than just political affiliation.
ALBERT S. CELEC, DDS
Poland
Only in America
EDITOR:
Possibly only in America can an incarcerated felon be on the ballot for the congressional race. Probably only in the Mahoning Valley could he receive 15 percent of the vote, roughly 27,000 votes.
Maybe we have just contributed to a future plot for HBO's "Sopranos." As a script played out by actors it may be entertaining, but as reality we can only hope the rest of the country doesn't hold it against us.
CHRISSY FLESCH
Mineral Ridge