Today kicked off anti-SB 5 petition drive
YOUNGSTOWN
Sgt. T.J. Assion of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department recently spent six hours driving to and from Columbus, where he spent all of 15 minutes.
That was all the time he needed to achieve his only purpose for making the 340-mile round trip: to pick up loads of petitions for those who oppose Senate Bill 5.
He made time to take the trip at his own expense, which also demonstrated the length Assion, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141, went to express his opposition to the controversial bill, signed into law last month by Gov. John Kasich.
“It will eliminate our right to negotiate our health care, retirement benefits, overtime, shift hours, staffing levels, safety equipment and seniority,” said Assion, one of hundreds of people who signed such petitions during Saturday’s Mahoning Valley Signature Kickoff event at the Lemon Grove Café, 122 W. Federal St.
The two-hour gathering, coordinated by the grass-roots group “We are Ohio,” was one of nine such petition-gathering drives that took place Saturday across the state.
Get details of the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.