Girard municipal judge has a history of misusing power

Girard municipal judge has a history of misusing power
EDITOR:
Girard Judge Michael Bernard, like some other judges, misuses his extensive legal powers.
Compared to other local courts, the Girard court has for years operated with a higher budget and staff compared to its caseload, while the city has suffered with deficits and cuts that have meant decreased services for our citizens -- the same citizens who pay for those services and the court. During this same time, the court has added employees and costs to the city. The judge has demanded and gotten money from Girard by taking the bankrupt city to another court to get it.
Meanwhile, the current administration has not had a day when it was free of debt. It has had to make extensive employee cuts to all departments -- fire, police, streets and others. It has cut services, such as ambulance, street and sewer maintenance. The court has suffered little compared to the taxpayers, employees and administration.
This same judge was very friendly to the previous administration. That administration built an expensive building for his court (with rooms named after them and his father), paid for in large part by the taxpayers without voted approval. The building costs were and are a large part of our bankruptcy.
For decades prior to the new building, the court and council shared a room. Sometime after he moved to the new building, while council still used the "old" room, Judge Bernard invited city council to use his courtroom for its meetings.
Well, now the judge says that council can no longer use "his" courtroom because of "personal attacks" on the court. This pettiness makes his "judgment" questionable and makes the Girard court look downright silly. He's even threatened to jail anyone who tries to use it. When the court's not in session, it's only a room, not a royal chamber.
He was elected to judge and to operate the court. He doesn't own the position, the courtroom or the building.
This embarrassment. Enough is enough.
DON REX
Girard
A transformation to behold
EDITOR:
Congratulations to the Youngstown Playhouse on its production of "Jekyll & amp; Hyde -- The Musical." This is a stellar production that could stand toe-to-toe with any professional production in the country. This production was a perfect example of the quality of performance talent in this area. It was also a shining example of two separate performance entities (YSU and the Playhouse), unofficially, combining talents to produce something of exceptional quality.
With one weekend of performances left, if anyone misses this show they have missed an event. As good as the Playhouse audiences have been for this show, they really should have been better. Especially when you take into account that people, unrelated to any of the actors or staff, have traveled to Youngstown from places like Indiana, Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York because of the praises on websites regarding this production.
At a time when the arts are being called upon to help rebuild Youngstown, there is still a noticeable lack of support in almost all of the surrounding local theaters. There must be a balance -- Youngstown will not come back based on new sporting events alone. The arts are a vital and important ingredient in the revitalization of any city, as witnessed in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and other places.
There was a time when opening night at the Youngstown Playhouse was the place to be. But that status was achieved with the help of city officials who made sure that they were "seen" at each opening night. It is time for Youngstown and Mahoning County officials to set that trend again and be leaders in the support of the arts.
Good quality live theater is available at all of the local theaters in the Youngstown area. Youngstown's future is partially dependent on the future of these theaters. The arts are addictive; the more you see, the more you want to see. With most theaters now gearing up for their new seasons, the people of this area need to make a commitment to the arts.
There is an old slogan, "Arts Change Lives" -- they also "Save Cities."
J.E. BALLANTYNE, Jr., president,
Youngstown Area Community Theatre Alliance