Tuesday, October 30, 2007

No Surprise Here

It's time. A week from today is Election Tuesday and we eligible Wellsville residents will be voting for the future of the ville. The item on the ballot getting the most attention is the race for mayor. We have a choice between incumbent Mayor Joe Surace and independent candidate Dave Lloyd. We at thevilleview endorse and recommend that we stay the course and re-elect Joe Surace for another term. We didn't come to this decision lightly.

There is no doubt in our minds that Dave Lloyd is a good family man but when it comes to leading our village into a hopefully exciting future we think he is lacking in four particular areas. Number one and the foremost detracting item is his failure to vote in the past six years. If a person that professes concern for the fate of our village not voting makes us question the sincerity of that concern. Mr. Lloyd publicly confirmed twice in the last two weeks that this is indeed true and that he has not bothered to vote. This is an issue that has nagged at us since it came out. How many issues have we voted on in the last six years? Many of us have found the time to get to the polls and voice our concern on those issues. In our way of thinking there is no excuse for not voting for that long. If someone feels that his government has let him down it is time to vote for changes. It is time to voice your concern and your passion for your home. It is not time to skulk away and pout.

The second distraction that bothered us is the reasons Mr. Lloyd stated for his decision to retire as a village employee. From his lloydformayor web site and we quote "In either 2001 or 2002 we were going to be declared in fiscal emergency again. I was trying to operate an emergency service on a shoestring and to go through more cuts and no money to work with, I took my retirement". That is a quote verbatim from the Questions and Answers segment of Mr. Lloyd's site. There is an old saying that goes something to the effect that "when the going gets tough the tough get going". In other words the tough stick with it, try to work through the adversities and see it through to the end. We agree that such problems may seem immense and insurmountable and the easiest solution would seem to be to simply walk away. Let someone else deal with it. That is what Mr. Lloyd did. For that reason we have to question his compassion & sincerity to make Wellsville a better place. Is Dave suddenly a born again concerned citizen? Can we have faith that he will stick with it in good times and bad?

Mr. Lloyd was quoted as saying at the Future Voters event that if there was one thing he could change it would be the attitude of us ville people. He said there is too much negativity which brings us to our third concern. It seems that Mr. Lloyd's most vocal supporters have no end to their smear and mud slinging. With Surace's quiet campaign it seems Lloyd's people are the greatest generators of the negative innuendoes and so far Dave has done nothing to refute the tone of their negativity. If it is such a concern than why are the Lloyd supporters continuing to use it? Are they ignoring his wishes? What are we to think of what a Lloyd administration will behold?

Our fourth concern is Dave's public appearances. Surace has been trashed to no end for his not attending the debate over in Lisbon and having his daughter speak for him at the meet the candidates night. Lloyd appeared at both but it is apparent that Dave is only showing up for events in which he will be showcased. How many council meetings has he been to in the last year? Did he join in the show of support for the Revitalization Committee's events? Did he attend the WFD open house this past Saturday? Is there a tone of self concern being shown? You decide but it loomed as a concern for us to consider.

Our choice, Joe Surace, was fairly new to politics when elected to his first term. There have been some blunders but we don't feel they were of an arrogant or intentional nature. We think that Joe's efforts were all for the benefit of the ville. Being new to politics we think Joe was and continues to be wise to seek counsel of others that have been there. We like what we have seen accomplished with the appearance of our village and also like what has been indicated and will continue to be an on-going effort. Joe walked into a mess with our village government and has been diligently working to improve matters. That is something that won't happen overnight and will continue to be a gloomy shadow cast over us until he can get attitudes of all concerned turned around. As Joe has found out not everyone is working together toward a common goal for the betterment of this place we call home. We like that Joe's emphasis has been on working as a team and his encouraging the formation of the various committees that have been enthusiastically working to make this a better place. We were glad to see that Joe has been able to work with- in the financial restraints of the limited funds of our village budget and has shown the initiative to seek out other sources of funding with grant money and donations. We also like that Joe has shown remarkable concern for people's feelings, positions and the welfare of the village. One of those main concerns is our Police Dept. The people involved there were in place when Joe took office. It is apparent that he has tried to let the WPD personnel work through their problems and was finally forced to take a public stand of intruding on their authority with the much publicized outside, impartial investigation. Since the completion of the investigation Joe has continued to be considerate of the sensitivities of all involved. In his way we feel he is dealing with this particular problem with dignity for all. Others have tried to make it an election issue showing no thought of all the complexities.

Somewhere along the line a while back someone said Joe was conducting a "gentleman's campaign". It has been frustrating for us and his opponent's supporters. If it wasn't for others we would have nothing to write about. Some say Joe is hiding but nothing could be farther from the truth. The mayor has an open door policy, has presented himself at many public events that were not centered around him and is present at council meetings. Anyone from a concerned resident to members of the media can easily approach Joe at any of these times. We do not call this hiding. Some of us would have liked to see Joe come out swinging but obviously Joe decided that wasn't necessary in this campaign.

We believe that Joe Surace has shown he has the best interest of Wellsville in mind and have been given no reason to doublt that he will continue in this manner. We believe Joe Surace is the man to lead our government into the next few years. We recommend that you good people re-elect Joe Surace to a second term.

ole nib

Monday, October 29, 2007

Another Staged Event

While decent people are attending church services, getting ready for the weekly family luncheon, tail gating and anticipating another Steeler victory Wellsville Councilwoman Diane Dinch calls a press conference in her own home. It happened yesterday on Sunday morning. She claims it was for altruistic reasons and that she did it as a public service for the residents of the ville.

Dinch is in the last few months "serving" as a council representative. She lost her bid for re-election in the primaries this past spring.

Read the articles. Draw you own conclusions. Both local newspapers had their write-ups on the front page. The stories are on-line at http://www.morningjournalnews.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=7490 & http://www.reviewonline.com/News/articles.asp?articleID=10754.

See if you think the real story is untold and hidden between the printed lines. Do you think Ms. Dinch had the best interest of Wellsville in mind? Do you really think she was doing this as a public service?

ole nib

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Not Amused With The Muse Brothers

At the last council meeting ville resident Tim Long brought up the coal dust problem. I guess this problem just won't go away. Mr. Long indicated he had some testing done and the results over whelmingly shows that the pollutant the folks in the lower part of the ville are seeing is coal.

We first wrote about the coal dust problem this past March in the Baffled With B.S. post and then there were two subsequent posts following up. Since the report on the council meeting James & Chip Muse have been going on the defensive in our local papers trying to misdirect the drag out problem as being our village's fault. There was an article in the Review on the 23rd and a Letter-To-The-Editor on the 24th in the MJ. They indicated that the pollution continues mainly due to the proposed road not being built. No where did they mention that the building of a new street is costly and involved. There are right of ways to be negotiated and a source of funding to be found for such a major expenditure for our limited finances. As Village Fiscal Officer Dale Davis said this ain't going to happen overnight.

With all the blustering of the Muse brothers going on there appears an article by Jeremy Lydic in yesterday's Review. In it Mr. Lydic reports that the Ohio EPA will be issuing another Notification of Violation to the Wellsville Terminals for the ongoing problem with coal dust drag out from the terminals. Evidently the folks operating the business there haven't been following up with their agreements. Now they have to deal with the EPA once again.

Instead of wasting all that ink the Muse brothers would be more productive in keeping their word with their proposed solutions. The problem originates at the terminal. It's nice to have them here and I hope they continue to enjoy a profitable business. Instead of pointing fingers they would be much better off taking care of doing business in compliance with their agreements and regulations they have to abide by. It may bite into the bottom line a bit but it would go a long way to proving to be good neighbors.

ole nib

Friday, October 26, 2007

Kudos To The Future Voters of Wellsville

I feel I would be remiss if I didn't congratulate the Future Voters of Wellsville Club before calling it a day. I must first apologize. Like Joe Surace I couldn't be there but I wanted to be. I'm sure Joe wanted to be too. He knows our future is in your hands. Also like Joe I asked someone to attend in my place. I wanted to get an impartial take on the proceedings.

From what I hear you members of the FVW Club can stand proud. You did something that none of us could convince anyone else in the ville to do. No one but you all took the opportunity to host this event. I previously suggested the Chamber-of-Commerce, the organized political parties or even the Alumni Committee do something like this. My buddy told me everything went smooth as silk and instead of being a first time venture it went off as if you guys have been doing this for years. I hope it was a learning experience for you. I don't care who your candidate is it was a learning opportunity for us all just for the fact that we got a chance for the different candidates to let us in on their platforms and visions.

I heard that the mayor couldn't be there because he was up in the "pool" rubbing elbows with the big shot from Baard. I hope you don't berate him for that. At this point in our village history Baard Ind. is a very hopeful and promising figure in our future. For quite sometime now Wellsville has been dying on the vine with the decline of first one industry after another drying up and closing shop. The prospect of Baard locating just outside our village is a dream coming about to give the ville a shot at survival.

I've been told that the mayor twisted his daughter Carrie's arm to attend your event in his place. I'm sure that took some serious convincing. I don't think I would have allowed to be put on the spot like that for my father if I were in her shoes. My buddy said she did an admirable job and was very honest with her responses. In my opinion she should be given an "attagirl" just for showing up.

From reading the article about your event in The Review a lot of the candidates spoke of the appearance of our village. Tony Cataldo said it could be possible to appropriate money for a demolition fund. Randy Allmon said fines need to be written into the Dangerous Homes ordinances. John McMahon wants to get as many streets as possible paved. Joe Soldano said the first thing people look at in our village is the buildings and the streets. None of them offered an idea on how they would finance anything. You can have ideas galore but when it is all said and done you still have to have a way to pay for it. That's part of politics that most candidates like to skim over. They don't want to tell us it's either going to be a tax increase, a grant application for "free" money or some hard budget crunching. However, that's all part of this thing they call politics. It goes on in all levels of government. You folks probably already realized all this without my bringing it up. Sorry to prattle on.

Again I would like to say the members of the FVW Club should be proud of themselves for undertaking this event. It gives us old timers hope for the future. Congratulations. Great job.

ole nib

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Lonesome Lloyd

The MJ/Channel 27 Candidates' Forum went off last night in Lisbon. There was really no surprises as far as Wellsville is concerned. Independent Mayoral Candidate Dave Lloyd was there all by his lonesome resplendent in coat and tie. Mayor Joe Surace did not get over there. From the couple of pictures in the MJ today Dave looks about as comfortable as I do wearing a tie.

To keep Dave company they seated him between New Waterford candidates Dennis Lappert and Mayor Sherry Felger. As a side note New Waterford's Mayor Felger was quoted in the MJ saying her "village infrastructure would not be able to handle a large number of new businesses and proposed making do with the businesses the village currently has". Loser. If I was a resident of that village she would have lost my vote right there and then. At least our candidates in the ville both offer some progressive thinking in attracting businesses to the community.

According to Casey Barto in his write-up, Dave Lloyd addressed the issue of attracting new business in his opening statement. Then he went on to give his thoughts on Ed Wilson going back to work and what he thought of the WPD investigation. Nothing new there if you have been following his comments in the past. I'm sure he knew he would be questioned on his not voting record. He "confirmed that he had not voted since 2001..." Then he went on that he would set up guide lines for all village employees and try to get those guidelines passed into a village ordinance. Again nothing new.

What did get my attention was his stated concern of "providing adequate housing for future residents who may relocate" here. He said he had several ideas on this but then gave an old political cliche that he "was not at liberty to elaborate". Is Mr. Lloyd going to propose that Wellsville get into the real estate & housing rental business? I really wish he would elaborate and explain just what he has in mind. Off the top of my head I can only see a financial nightmare for our village if that be the case. I think it best to leave that line of business with the private entrepreneurs who are quite adept to handle the responsibilities and risks involved with such ventures. The village government would better off concentrating on enforcing the building codes and ordinances and revamping them where necessary. We've been weak in that area. Tax incentives would be an enticement for those business people. There's lots of room for improvement and lots to do to get it accomplished. So Dave do us a favor. Tell us what you have in mind. You can't leave that carrot dangling there.

ole nib

Halloween Treats

Someone calling them self "Spooky" mentioned it on the last post but I thought it would be worth while to bring it up again. As announced at the boardwalk dedication the Revitalization Committee will be sponsoring a Halloween Walk at the boardwalk this coming Saturday from 5-7 P.M. There will be treats and I think prizes. Take your goblins & gremlins up there and enjoy. This could be a warm up for the big night. Hopefully the weather will be favorable. A big "Thank You" to the committee for all their work and efforts to provide this activity for our youth.

While we're on the subject it has been announced that Trick or Treat here in the ville will be Halloween Night which is next Wednesday, the 31st, from 5:30-7 P.M. Turn on your porch lights if you are passing out treats. Although it's getting to be more and more expensive it is very entertaining to witness the array of costumes and the excitement in the young ones. It always brings back memories of times long gone for yours truly. My favorite place to get to back in my youth was the couple in the neighborhood that gave out store bought candy bars and a quarter in each and every bag.

ole nib

Monday, October 22, 2007

Wilson Was Used

I was rather shocked and surprised with the blatant parading on four local web sites of Wilson's return to work. What should have been a quiet readjusting re-entry back into the work place was orchestrated into a shoddy political event in the early morning hours yesterday. A small group of supporters was pictured on the sites holding their morning coffee and quickly made posters welcoming Lt. Wilson in the presumption of being a Wellsville cop.

ORL blogger Matt Stewart has indicated all along that he is an ardent supporter of Dave Lloyd in Lloyd's bid for mayor. For quite some time now Mr. Stewart has been very biased in his postings in attempting to discredit and unseat the incumbent Mayor Joe Surace. Looking back to when the primaries were held he was pushing for anyone to run and oppose Surace, whether it was Lloyd or Don Brown. Since Lloyd doesn't bother to vote he got the nod to be an independent candidate for mayor without having to exert any effort in the primaries. Stewart jumped on his bandwagon from the get go.

In recent postings Stewart has shown he was willing to stoop to any depth of anti-social, inciting, mudslinging efforts in his support of Lloyd. This past Saturday in the wee hours of the day he chastised everyone that was involved when The Review published Surace's recent press release on his candidacy. He accused Surace of hiding even though press releases are a common and accepted practice in all levels of government, the business world and other entities. He blasted the newspaper as being unprofessional in publishing the release and indicated the reporter that presented it to the paper as being too new to realize his "errors".

In addition to trying to discredit the newspaper for that he took another swing at his former employer's professionalism for publishing Surace's late night statement that Wilson was invited to return to work. Although he is not the publisher, editor or even an employee of the paper Stewart even got on them for putting that notice on page 5A of that day's edition. Then in the same posting Stewart indicated that supposedly Surace supporters are stealing Lloyd-for-Mayor signs and sublimely encouraged that it was a contest to see who could collect the most signs.

So it is not surprising that Stewart would disregard the dignity of Wilson, the WPD or the Village of Wellsville. Nor is it surprising that Lloyd would stoop to the same level allowing his web site to be used in the same manner. Lloyd is obviously being coached in the same camp.

What is surprising is that Wilson himself would allow others to use him in a political arena. After refusing all along to do interviews or make any public comments he allows a group of misguiding supporters to malign his public esteem in a secretly staged political photo opportunity hiding in the parking lot behind Village Hall.

Also surprising is that the owners of wellsvilleohio.net would compromise their integrity as being an unbiased source of information for our village. Up until Sunday that site has been a business in support of Wellsville commerce without showing any favoritism. Although the owner has publicly stated her support for Lloyd elsewhere I'm surprised she got suckered into cheap political tricks to smear a previously unblemished and professional site.

Yea Ed, welcome back. Maybe when you wake up you'll realize just how much you were used. I'm not exactly sure what is on your agenda but you are certainly not helping yourself or the dignity of your profession or your career when you allow yourself to be paraded around like that. In this country any police officer is entitled to pursue their right to back any political candidate of their choosing. However that should be done as a citizen, not as a cop in uniform. Some of those people were there yesterday as friends and loved ones. Others were there to use you to make a point.

ole nib

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Next Move Is Ed's

According to yesterday's Review suspended WPD officer Lt. Ed Wilson has been "invited to return to the police force" by Wellsville's mayor. If you have been following this story you know that Wilson was suspended this past June. It was never specifically stated by Wellsville's Chief of Police for what reasons the suspension was issued. Mayor Joe Surace said it was for Wilson's failure to show up at the Yost murder scene when ordered. However, with what has been released we can't say if that was the only reason behind the paid suspension. Police Chief Joe Scarabino issued the suspension and he hasn't been very talkative.

Since the suspension Village Council authorized the mayor to engage an out-of-town law firm to conduct an independent investigation of the WPD. While this was going on Wilson filed a slander suit against the village and the mayor. It appears that the independent investigation is completed and the mayor is following the recommendations of the lawyers from Cleveland by notifying Wilson to return to work.

Now the next move is Ed's who, according to both the mayor & Review Reporter Rebekah Potter, has been unavailable for comment. There appears to me that there is some legal strategy being played out here. What happens to Wilson's frivolous law suit now? By no means am I an expert on legal matters but it looks like Ed is close to checkmate here.

You really can't pass judgement on the merits of Wilson's suspension. Other than rumors we don't have all the facts. It's painfully obvious that the village officials have tried to resolve the problems with the WPD for some time now. To me they have tried to keep it mostly in house and not drag their dirty laundry in the public eye. This is standard procedure when it comes to personnel matters. Even Ohio law permits closed door meetings when it comes to personnel meetings of government officials. You can't believe rumors and much to our chagrin we have to wait to find out all the particulars.

We will eventually learn all the details as is our right as taxpayers. I can only assume that Mayor Joe Surace is following the advice of the lawyers and at this point can not put all his cards on the table face up. Since this investigation is costing us a bundle of money I think that is in the best interest of the village. No, this is not a game. It's real life here. There's a lot at stake for both sides. We just have to bide our time to find out but at least this case is moving forward and something is being done.

It's up to Lt. Wilson now. It's his decision on whether he wants to presume his law enforcement career or pursue other avenues.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Relax & Enjoy



While Matt is ranting and raving & getting us all stirred up we should all take a moment to breath and appreciate what Ma Nature has to give us. While cruising through Racoon State Park today I was able to capture this chillin' photo of the splendor of a fall afternoon. Ain't it pretty? Now wasn't that relaxing....

ole nib

Thursday, October 18, 2007

What A Mess

What a mess Dave Smith has got himself into. I've been reading both papers and the comments on ORL. Again a lot of the comments range from one end of the spectrum to the other. There are folks that want to drag him out to the nearest tree & lynch him and at the other end there are people who think DUI is no big deal. Excrement happens.

The Sheriff lawyered up pretty quick and has got a continuation on his preliminary court appearance until the end of the month. I'm guessing they are praying fervently that the urine test results will give them a break. I've been told you can blow positive on as little as one beer if the barley and hops are still embedded on you taste buds. It's the blood alcohol level that is the best bet in cases like this. It takes longer for the alcohol to get into the blood stream.

At this point I'm kind of feeling a little sorry for the man. Tom Giambroni wrote the piece about the Sheriff driving a county vehicle when he got busted. To me that is a gray area. Networking is part of doing business and attending a state association meeting to learn the latest on the command communication vans made it a business meeting. I'm not familiar with what the county rules and regulations are about using county vehicles. The Commissioners are either not available or are "no commenting". If you're familiar with the I-70 route from Columbus you know that the Easton Mall is along the way. Having made that trip myself, once you start seeing the signs for Cambridge you know you don't have that much farther to go and all you want to do is get home.

The Buckeye State Sheriff's Association is back pedaling and distancing themselves from Smith as is folks around these parts. I imagine there is a lot of gruff going on with the trooper that busted a fellow lawman. It happens. However, that trooper's job is to look out for the safety of all of us. If Smith nearly hit a truck he needed to be taken off the highway. The trooper did cut him a break on the breathalyzer. My feeling is Smith knew exactly what he was doing when he inhaled.

My sort of feeling sorry for the guy stems from the fact that here is a man that probably put an end to his sheriff's career due to some bad judgement. He's being hung out in the media for all to see and is probably very despondent over what the future will hold. Lord knows if it wasn't for luck, my guardian angel or the grace of the Good Lord I could have been in his position more than once on the DUI charge. I'm still not the brightest star in the sky but back a few years ago I was stubborn about my ability to drink & drive. The Irish have a saying that the Lord takes care of old drunks and young children. Maybe my survival of those days was in my DNA. I'm not exonerating Dave Smith. I just feel a little sorry for him.

ole nib

Monday, October 15, 2007

Meet the Candidates

In case you don't keep up with the Wellsville Forum, (http://wellsvilleohio.proboards75.com/), the future voters have announced that their event has been rescheduled to Thursday - the 25th. That way our mayoral candidates are free to attend both the debate over in Lisbon on the 24th and the meet & greet here in the ville.

The meet & greet in the ville is scheduled for 7 P.M. at the Alumni Center a week from this Thursday. The MJ/Channel 27 debate is to be held at the David Anderson High School from 6 to 9 P.M. on Wednesday, October 24th.

Incidently, if you want to submit any questions for the candidates at the debate you can e-mail them to the MJ. They said any questions must be in by Monday, the 22nd and must be marked for the specific candidate.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Boardwalk Dedication




The Pete Amato Boardwalk between the floodwall and along Little Yellow Creek was dedicated this afternoon. It was a beautiful fall afternoon and everything seem to go smoothly. There was a lot of hand shaking and smiling. Pictured above is the boardwalk taken a couple of weeks ago and the plaque commemorating the event.
There was a small crowd on hand numbering somewhere around 50 folks including dignitaries, reporters and the Revitalization Committee. Since both our local papers were represented I'm sure they will have it well covered in tomorrow's editions. So I won't go into details on that.
Noticeably absent was Dave Lloyd which in my opinion was a shame. Although his opponent was Master-of- Ceremony this dedication was about Wellsville and not village politics. It was about a man who loved his home town so much he left a legacy for its improvement. It was also about a group of nonpartisan people who have dedicated themselves to those improvements. I may be wrong but if you profess to be concerned about the improvement of the ville you would wanted to be seen witnessing another step toward that goal.
ole nib

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Not Above the Law

It's been said that alcohol not only impairs your body it also impairs your thinking. Guess Columbiana County Sheriff Dave Smith experienced this first hand Thursday evening when he was trying to come home from a Buckeye State Sheriffs Association dinner in Columbus. Allegedly speeding and weaving along I-70 Sheriff Smith was pulled over by a State Trooper near Cambridge. The trooper said he detected booze on the sheriff's breath and administered sobriety tests. Apparently with blood shot eyes the sheriff didn't do too good following the pen and he reportedly registered .13 on the breathalyzer.

Thankfully the trooper did his job and took our sheriff off the road. Smith tried to influence the trooper with the "good old boys" defense begging that he be let go since he was a fellow lawman according to the papers. Smith was charged with OVI, speeding and failure to stay with-in marked lanes. His only hope now is that the pee test comes back favoring him. He's scheduled to be in court next Wednesday.

Smith of all people should have realized that he apparently had one too many to get behind the wheel. It's too late now to wish he had spent the night in Columbus to sleep it off. He's not the first person to get busted for enjoying a cocktail hour and maybe later on having one for the road but it looks like he was in denial that he was impaired. Now he has brought down a whole raft of crap on himself and his political career.

According to Tom Gaimbroni, of the MJ, Smith is up for re-election next year and is expected to be opposed by Wellsville native and Leetonia Police Chief John Soldano. We will have to wait to see what develops but right now it looks like there is a good chance to see a Democrat as our next elected sheriff. It's been decades since we've witnessed that.

ole nib

Tragic End

In both our morning papers today was news of the death of James "Billy" Yost who was found hanging by a bed sheet in the County Jail. As you all know Billy Yost was being held on a murder charge for killing his father here in Wellsville last June. He was being mentally evaluated to see if he was competent to stand trial. He had plead not guilty by reason of insanity on the murder charge.

Billy was isolated in a single cell and was on 20 minute checks by the staff at the jail. Within 15 minutes of his last check, when he asked to see an officer, he apparently hung himself. Obviously Billy had some serious issues going on and I'm guessing that would have come out when they went back to court in November. Now Billy has other demons to face.

My condolences go out to the surviving Yost family. With-in four months they have lost a father and now a brother. Hopefully the good Lord will provide them solace in their grief. Some will say that Billy did the honorable thing in bringing an end to this tragic story but I don't believe suicide is the right thing to do in any circumstance. Suicide is a selfish act in itself.

ole nib

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Heads Up Ladies

There was a small article in this morning's MJ reporting that WPD is looking for a man who has been trying to get women to get into his car. Apparently we have some guy driving around trying to pick up women. It's happened two different times so far.

According to the paper the man appears to be in his late forties, wears a baseball cap, has thin rimmed glasses and drives a silver four door car. The two different times he tried to pick up women he told them his name was "Rick". If this rings any bells call the police at 330-532-1522 even if you're not sure it's related. It may be the lead they are looking for.
The paper said calls will remain anonymous.

In the meantime if you're out walking go with a buddy and put that phone number on speed dial on your cell phone. There is safety in numbers. If this guy tries to grab you scream bloody murder and do whatever is necessary to get away - kick, gouge or whatever. Try to get a license plate number but more importantly get out of there. I seriously doubt this guy is just trying to be friendly.

Although this is negative publicity for the ville someone needs to be thanked for releasing this to the public. Unfortunately we're not immune to creeps like this guy. I'd rather have things like this come out than take a risk on someone being attacked.

Thanks to whoever...

ole nib

Monday, October 8, 2007

In Response to Holly Smith

In Sunday's The Review there was a letter written by Holly Smith Jr. of Loganville,Georgia. Miss Smith said she was a "marshal" in Georgia although she didn't specify what type of marshal. We can only presume she is in law enforcement. Do they call police people marshals in Georgia? I don't know nor do I know if she is a native of the ville.

In her letter she made comments on the appearance of our fair village with the over grown weeds and how this appearance could be discouraging for new business to locate here. She was also critical of our village officials for not using law offenders as free labor to clean up some of the areas in need of attention. What she did not mention or failed to take into consideration was the economics of not only our village but also that of the whole area.

If memory serves me correctly council and our mayor considered using law offenders as free labor but it was tabled because of the liability insurance issue. Also it would take away from our established labor pool such as village employees. Someone would have to supervise these indentured laborers which would take them away from their regular jobs. In short it would cost money to go this route.

I don't know Miss Smith but she could be too young to remember what life was like back when the steel mills, potteries and brickyards were booming in the area. Although we're going back years, in those days people had money to support local businesses. They bought cars. They bought houses and lawn mowers and other implements to spruce up their properties. That was back in the days when local businesses - the mom & pop stores - were our only choice. There wasn't a Wal-Mart underpricing every little speciality store in the area putting them out of business.

Considering all we've been through over the years I think we have done fairly well to maintain what we have left. Overall the appearance of the ville is in darn good shape for the budgets we are working with. Yea, there is room for improvement and that will come in time when we have money to pay for it. Our industrial base in the local area is next to nothing but we are expecting big things in the near future. The downward cycle is about to take a swing upward for our area economics. Miss Smith must have overlooked the contributing factors in her short sighted comments to the editor. I see Loganville is a suburb of Atlanta. Wouldn't it be nice to be in that economic base. I guess Miss Smith came to town to kick us around a bit and play up the way things are much better where she's living. They may be better down that way but it ain't home.

ole nib

Saturday, October 6, 2007

While I'm Wondering

I was wondering when I read yesterday's Review how Jeremy Lydic ever finds his way to the ville? No one answered my question asking if Mr. Lydic was Ms. Huston's replacement but it's becoming apparent he is. Now with a couple of articles published this week I'm wondering if he is real sure where we are located.

In yesterday's paper he had a story about the 140 foot long part of the new crane for the Port Authority coming to town and getting off at the wrong exit. According to Mr. Lydic the driver "was heading north via state Route 14 and took the wrong exit". Well if that driver was on Route 14 he sure as hell did take the wrong exit for Wellsville. Route 14 doesn't even come close to the ville. Route 11 is a little closer but it doesn't go through the ville either. Were you thinking of Route 7 Jerry? I know those four lane highways can get confusing.

This story came along after his reporting on this week's council meeting where Jerry told us "the fountain pumps along Main Street" are getting shut off later this month. At least those pumps won't be damaged this winter. Are they going to shut off the ones on Broadway too? I was also wondering about that.

Seriously Jerry if you're heading to the ville on Route 14 turn around. You're going toward Akron. You need to head southeast from there. Hopefully you have a direction finder gizmos for your car. Maybe in your spare time you can come down and get to know us a little better. We are a friendly lot and would be glad to point you in the right direction. Once you're in town it's easy to figure out where you are with the new street signs. Just don't ask about the flood wall on 7th St.

Just Wondering

Here's an item that came out in the newspapers this past week that to me just raises more questions. I've commented in the past that there is a lot of information pertaining to this matter that hasn't been made public. Consequently it is frustratingly difficult to figure out what is exactly going on and why. Personally I think it originated with the botched Craig Robert's murder investigation and has just gotten worse since then.

Suspended Wellsville police officer Ed Wilson has filed a slander law suit in County Common Pleas court against Mayor Joe Surace and the Village. Wilson was put on paid suspension right after the Yost murder this past June. According to the papers Wilson had already gone home when the police learned of that murder in the early morning hours. Since then Village Council and the mayor hired a Cleveland law firm to investigate the police department. In commenting to reporters from Channel 9 Joe was quoted as saying Wilson was suspended for "not going to the scene when ordered to". I believe Joe was talking about the Yost murder scene when Channel 9 was looking into the independent investigation. Now Wilson alleges he was "exposed to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, shame or disgrace that has adversely affected him..." to quote the article in The Review. According to the MJ's Tom Giambroni the "alleged slander occurred because Surace made these comments without "ascertaining the truth or veracity of the statements" and as a result "Wilson has been slandered and harmed emotionally and financially by the impact on his personal and professional reputation".

Both papers stated that Wilson left the morning of the Yost murder some three to three and half hours early and called it a night. They also indicated that Wilson was called and refused to come back to work. If I remember correctly someone commented on an earlier ORL post that they had seen the police log for that night and Ed was not called. Earlier accounts stated that the dispatcher called the vacationing Chief instead. Was Wilson called that night? Did he actually go home that early, a little less than half the scheduled shift? Did he get paid for those three or so hours? Is it common practice with WPD to allow that kind of dereliction of duty? If he did indeed go home that early it is a whole lot different that leaving ten or fifteen minutes early. Was he called or not?

This whole thing is becoming a campaign issue. Dave Lloyd commented on the Wellsville Forum yesterday that the investigation is just the Mayor's way of looking for someone to blame for all the trouble with our police force. The Mayor keeps telling us he is still waiting to hear from the Cleveland lawyers on their findings. And it goes on and on leaving one wondering...

I'm wondering if the filing of this slander law suit is a preemptive move on Wilson's part? Did he pick up on something in the investigation and is trying to sway possible actions before they take place? How has he been hurt financially when he's still being paid? Is he just playing dirty politics? Why didn't he and/or his lawyers include WTOV in the suit? Just so many questions and we are not getting any answers.

This frivolous law suit has made it a campaign issue and Dave Lloyd has stated that the WPD is one of the goals on his list to things to do. Surace needs to get this investigation completed and get any corrective actions started before the election. Joe could very well lose the election just on this issue alone. We people of the ville need a police force that is not distracted with all these rumors and innuendos. We also need some answers to just what our tax dollars are being spent for.

ole nib

Joe's Prescripton Discount Card

In a story Matt Stewart broke this past Monday on ORL it was brought to light about a prescription discount card that the ville's mayor got his picture on. From all I've read the card is legit and probably is sponsored by some drug companies. If I'm understanding it correctly the mayor got wind of it when the ville's union employees were given them over a year ago and it is honored at our two drug stores. The union that represents the ville employees got the cards for their members. According to the MJ's Casey Barto when the card is used to pay for a prescription the drug store checks on the computer what they have agreed to charge for that drug and the agreed upon discount is then taken off the price. Actually the discount card simply boils down to another benefit for paying dues to their union. The mayor got it for us and we don't have to pay any dues to use it.

The comments to Matt's question, and there were many, covered a wide range going from suspicion of conspiracy theories, to scorn, to folks investigating it and skepticism. Joe says it had nothing to do with his campaign. He only did it to benefit Wellsville residents. There are many people that can't afford insurance and make just a little too much for the freebies. There are people on fixed income that are hard pressed to pay for needed medicine. Every little bit helps.

So we can take Joe for his word and believe his only motivation behind the card was for the welfare of Wellsville residents. However, I'm a tad skeptical that politics had nothing to do with it. It is just too much of a coincidence to have his mug on the card and the timing of getting it out to us. Getting your name and likeness out to the voters is one of the necessities of campaigning. At any rate you got to give Mr. Surace credit for being unique. You see a lot of gimmicks used by politicians. This is the first time I've seen a discount card.

ole nib